Daily News

Posted on Jan. 19: Students, employees butt out during National Non-Smoking Week

Health and wellness promoters are making a deal with McMaster students and employees this week. Butt out and win. As part of National Non-Smoking Week, McMaster's Campus Health is joining campuses across Ontario in the annual Leave The Pack Behind initiative that encourages both students and employees to reduce or quit smoking. Those who are successful can win cash prizes, donations from local businesses and campus bookstore coupons. "Noting that Canadian 19- to 24-year-olds have the highest smoking rate of any age group and show a preference for cigarettes labeled light and mild, this Government of Ontario and Health Canada funded initiative will attempt to motivate students and employees of McMaster to quit, reduce or not start smoking," says Jane Radix, health education co-ordinator with Student Health Services. The week-long contest will run at McMaster, Brock University, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa, Queen's University, Ryerson University, University of Toronto and University of Windsor. The Let's Make A Deal contest offers cash prizes, donations from local businesses, and campus bookstore coupons to both students and employees achieving various levels of success in reducing or quitting smoking.

Posted on Jan. 16: The student experience is focus for new registrar

McMaster's new registrar is looking forward to working with students from the time they are considering which university to attend right through to Convocation ceremonies. Louis (Lou) R. Ariano has been named McMaster registrar. Senate and the executive committee of the Board of Governors approved his appointment earlier in the week. He takes up his new post on Feb. 1. Ariano said he was attracted by the broad scope of the role of the registrar at McMaster, including student recruitment and liaison, admissions, registration and records and Convocation. "I look forward to the opportunity to work with students from the recruitment stage through to Convocation," said Ariano. "I've always thought of McMaster as an institution that is held in high esteem, not only in Ontario, but across the university system in Canada and I'm looking forward to being part of this continued success."

Posted on Jan. 15: McMaster and NSERC mark 25 years of research excellence

Twenty-five years, more than 600 teams of researchers and more than $400 million of research support - that, in a nutshell, sums up the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's investment in McMaster's research enterprise. Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president of research & international affairs, told guests at a 25th anniversary celebration that their contribution to research is far more than just numbers. "What you have contributed to advancing research over the last quarter century is enormous and, simply, cannot be summed up by the numbers. This is indeed, one of those cases, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. These parts -- your contributions -- are significant, not only to McMaster, but for the Canadian research landscape. Many of you, through your early research projects, inspired new theories, new ways of thinking and new possibilities for subsequent generations of researchers." McMaster President Peter George echoed Shoukri's comments adding that McMaster has earned its reputation as one of the country's most innovative universities largely on the strength of its research community. "McMaster's research enterprise -- indeed the Canadian research landscape -- has changed significantly over the last 25 years.

Posted on Jan. 14: McMaster World Congress conference celebrates 25th anniversary

The 25th McMaster World Congress conference begins today (January 14) and runs until Friday, Jan. 16. For a quarter of a century, the Congress has been recognized globally as one of the largest and most prestigious conferences of its kind. The McMaster World Congress is unique in that academia and the corporate world are brought together in one international forum. This world-class event represents the largest and most prestigious collection of leading academic researchers and senior business executives working in the areas of intellectual capital, knowledge management, e-commerce, and corporate governance. This is the first global practitioner/academic conference of its kind to focus on the leadership and management issues surrounding corporate governance. Scheduled keynote speakers include Don Tapscott, president of New Paradigm Learning Corporation, John Evans, chair, Torstar, and vice-president of NPS/Allelix Biopharmaceuticals, Joe Chidley, editor-in-chief, Canadian Business Magazine, Michael Raynor, director, Deloitte & Touche Research, and Brian Chartier, senior officer, Subsidiary Governance, RBC Financial Group.

Posted on Jan. 13: Posters change attitudes, build dreams

What does the McMaster graduate recently hired as a fashion designer in New York, the student who enjoys traveling and has been to Italy and Greece, the student who works out at the Pulse, the one who enjoys chess and the other who cheers on Manchester United with his friends have in common? A disability and a dream. Disabilities Awareness posters featuring these students are intended to remind others that although they have a disability, they are not different in their ambitions. "I may have a sleep disorder, but I still have dreams," reads one of the posters fixed to a wall in the McMaster University Student Centre. Created by the Centre for Student Development (CSD), they are part of its Disabilities Awareness campaign that runs year-round. Two sets of five posters, featuring five McMaster students with a disability, have been created with the theme "Changing Attitudes, Building Community". "I wanted the campaign this year to focus on the acceptance and inclusion of all students," says Laura Cooper, who was hired last year as CSD's disabilities awareness co-ordinator. The fourth-year honours commerce student now leads the campaign on a volunteer basis.