Daily News

Posted on Jan. 23: McMaster University honours top young scholars

They're the best of our best. Perfect 12s. Straight As. Almost 200 young scholars were honoured this week for their outstanding academic achievements and demonstrations of excellence. McMaster President Peter George and Ken Norrie, provost and vice-president academic, hosted a reception Wednesday to celebrate the 2003 recipients of the President's Award and the Provost's Honour Roll. A total of 166 students were awarded the President's Award in 2003. They are a select group of young scholars who were awarded entrance scholarships as they achieved averages of 95 per cent or more in their final year of high school. These top entrance awards are renewable in the second year provided that students achieve Dean's Honour List (about 80 per cent) in their first year of full-time study. President George congratulated the students for their achievements and emphasized the University believes that how students are taught is just as important as what students are taught. "We want to prepare you well for the future," he said. "For that reason, we place a great emphasis on helping you develop the skills for life-long learning."

Posted on Jan. 23: Forum to explore Aboriginal health ideas and experiences

A diverse array of McMaster students, faculty, respected speakers on Aboriginal issues, members of the greater Hamilton community and Canadians from throughout country will be in town Saturday for McMaster's Aboriginal Health Conference 2004. Organized by a group of students from the McMaster Student International Health Initiative (SIHI), the conference will focus on the inequities that are experienced by Aboriginal populations in terms of health. Conference co-ordinator and SIHI president, Simi Arora felt compelled to provide a forum in which persons could share their ideas and experiences with respect to Aboriginal health. "It is important that we come together to talk about these issues, instead of always focusing our attention outside of our own communities," said Arora. "The injustices that Aboriginal populations have faced historically continue to the present, and we need to put them at the forefront of our discussions of health." The conference will bring together speakers from a broad range of disciplines. Keynote speaker for the conference is Ovide Mercredi, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Hamilton resident Andrew Orkin will also speak at the conference. Orkin has been a key partner in the litigation surrounding the Red Hill Valley expressway project.

Posted on June 1: Chancellor tag-team begins third period at McMaster

Granting degrees to McMaster graduates at convocation ceremonies is a lot like football, says Melvin Hawkrigg, McMaster's chancellor, honourary degree recipient, alumnus, and a member of the University's sports hall of fame. There's a big crowd watching, you really need a quarterback to direct your next move, and it takes a while to learn the plays. In six years he's led more than 24,000 students to educational victory in one of the University's oldest and most important roles, and he's about to embark on a third three-year appointment as McMaster's 16th Chancellor. "I fumbled a bit at that first convocation," he laughs. "In trying to make it personal and chat with each graduate, I listened for their names but usually forgot the degree they were getting. I granted a few degrees that year that hadn't been thought of, let alone authorized, but everything worked out alright in the end."

Posted on Jan. 22: Origins Lecture in pursuit of new solar systems

While the search for planets outside our Solar System has had a long and dismal history, theoretical astrophysicist Alan Boss is on a mission to change that -- and fast. Boss is on a race to find new solar systems and will explain how at the fourth Origins Lecture tonight. Boss, a research staff member at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, DC., will present "The Race to Find New Solar Systems", Thursday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. in Chester New Hall, Rm. 104. As one of the world's leading authorities and lecturers on planet formation, Boss will discuss the search for planets outside our Solar System. To date, he says, more than 100 planets have been found outside our Solar System, ranging from the fairly familiar to the weirdly unexpected. All of the new planets discovered appear to be gas giant planets, similar to our Jupiter and Saturn. The next challenge is to find ice giant planets, similar to Uranus and Neptune, and eventually to find evidence of Earth-like planets, capable of supporting life. NASA has designed an array of ground and space-based telescopes that will carry out this incredible search in the next two decades.