Daily News

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.

Posted on Jan. 12: Fueling your home for less

Tomorrow promises to be yet another record breaking day for cold temperatures and Barna Szabados, professor of electrical and computer engineering, knows there's a good chance that homeowners will be shocked by their January hydro bill. While he has noticed that people are trying to become more energy conscious since the blackout last summer, he says in an interview with the Hamilton Spectator that, "I think people are talking about conservation more, but they're not doing anything about it." Szabados has some simple, basic, energy saving tips to offer to consumers at his January 13 Science in City lecture, Fueling Your Home for Less. Szabados, a trailblazer in the energy conservation field, will take a look at the province's current energy woes and explore solutions at the organizational level. He will also discuss how our greed for power negatively impacts the environment and will offer suggestions on how consumers might incorporate alternate energy sources such as solar and wind power. Szabados' talk takes place today (Tuesday, Jan. 13) and is free and open to the public. The lecture will be held in the Hamilton Spectator Auditorium, 44 Frid Street in Hamilton. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7 p.m. To reserve your seat e-mail sciencecity@mcmaster.ca or call 905-525-9140, ext. 24934.

Posted on Jan. 12: Paintings by the Singh Twins on display at McMaster Museum of Art

The award-winning paintings of Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh have been described by art critics as "some of the most optimistic images of our multicultural world." The London born artists and twin sisters are known for their controversial and often satirical paintings which combine elements of ancient miniature paintings of India with European techniques and contemporary subjects. The McMaster Museum of Art is the only Canadian host of Past Modern, a touring exhibition of 62 paintings by the Singh Twins. The Singh Twins assert their right to define their own cultural and artistic individuality' in a way that is meaningful and true to who they perceive themselves to be -- British Asians, Sikhs, artists and twins. In their renowned painting "Diana: The Improved Version", Princess Diana is transformed into a hybrid of Britannia, the Madonna and Child, and the Hindu goddess Durga. A painting in their "SPOrTLIGHT" series depicts David Beckham with his wife, Posh Spice, and their son as a new royal family. Geoff Quilley, University of Leicester, explains that the Twins' work "is located in the interstices between satire and religious icon, and between east and west, and ironically criticizes all the processes of cultural stereotyping through the reduction of complex identities to emblems."