Daily News

Posted on April 2: Students recognized for outstanding contributions

Nearly 250 people attended the McMaster Students Union's 23rd annual Student Recognition Night Monday at the CIBC Banquet Hall. The event held special significance, as it was the first time Student Recognition Night took place at the McMaster University Student Centre. This event recognizes the contributions of outstanding students to the McMaster community. "At this time of year there are a number of award ceremonies held on campus. The recent MSU teaching awards and the athletic awards are just two of many," said McMaster President Peter George. "But the Honour M Awards stand out. They are one of the most significant honours for McMaster students and recognize the outstanding accomplishments they make to their fellow students, the community and the University." This year's Honour M Award winners were Adam Spence and Joanna Ranieri. The Honour M Award is presented to students who show commitment to extra curricular activities both within the McMaster community and have rendered outstanding and valuable service to the Hamilton community and/or the McMaster community by any or all of the following: university government, student government, residence government, departments, clubs, societies, and/or university athletics. Adam Spence's contributions during his time at McMaster have included developing the Horizons leadership conference for incoming McMaster students, restructuring of the MSU Community Relations Committee and the MSU Environment Committee into services, serving as president of the Social Sciences Society, hosting the Social Sciences Education Symposium and starting the social sciences newspaper. Spence was this year's MSU vice-president education. Spence was also the recipient of the Rudy Heinzl Award of Excellence for his outstanding one-year achievement improving the lives of McMaster students as MSU vice-president education. Click here for Spence's citation. Joanna Ranieri has shown an outstanding commitment to the environment during her years at McMaster. Aside from chairing the MSU environment committee, she has worked to develop environmental policies for McMaster University. Ranieri has also co-chaired the Tupperware Challenge and organized cleanups of campus and Cootes Paradise. She also has worked closely with the City of Hamilton and on the development of the city's solid waste management strategy. Click here for Ranieri's citation.

Posted on April 1: Mini-Med School cancelled this week

To comply with the measures ordered by The Ministry of Health, that all Ontario hospitals take precautions against SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and restrict access to visitors, the April 2 McMaster Mini-Med School seminar has been cancelled. The student organizers of McMaster Mini-Med School are monitoring the situation, and discussing their options. The Mini-Med School Web page at http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/macminimed/ will be updated daily as new information is received. Conference Services (905-525-9140 ext. 22671) can also provide updated information.

Posted on March 31: Lecturer presents panorama of pleasure-providing patterns

Internationally acclaimed writer and cognitive science researcher Douglas Hofstadter will probe why patterns provide pleasure during a public lecture Thursday. Hosted by McMaster's Department of Philosophy, the lecture, "Patterns as Pleasure-Providers" will include a panorama of pleasure patterns, such as poetry, photography and physics. It will take place Thursday, April 3 from 8 to 10 p.m. in Burke Science Building, Rm. 147. Hofstadter is College of Arts and Sciences professor of cognitive science at Indiana University, where he also directs the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition. Born in New York City in 1945, he grew up largely in California. In addition to his native English, he speaks French and Italian fluently and several other languages at varying fractional levels. For more information about Hofstadter and his lecture visit http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~philos/Events.htm

Posted on March 31: Student athletes honoured

The 79th Annual McMaster Athletic Awards Banquet recognized the achievements of Marauder student-athletes in the 2002-2003 academic year. Awards were handed out in a variety of areas. The recipients are: Carla Cupido received the Les Prince Award. The member of the cross country and track program was involved in the Athletes Helping Athletes program and was president of the revamped outreach program for the past two years. During her past four years at McMaster, she has helped develop the Youth Leadership Symposium. This Les Prince Award is presented annually to a student athlete who has demonstrated leadership and outstanding community service through partnership in the Athletes Helping Athletes program. The award is in memory of the late Les Prince who was a founding board member of the AHA program. Bridget Sheahan was presented the Bruce Cochrane Award. Sheahan finished ninth at the OUA championships in the 60m hurdles and last year competed in the women's 4x400m relay team that placed twelfth at the CIS championships. She finished sixth at this year's OUA championship by establishing a new school record of 9.15 seconds in the 60m hurdles. The co-president of the McMaster Athletic Council has sat on a number of forums. The award recognizes Bruce Cochrane, who retired in 1995 after 25 years of unwavering dedication and service to athletics programs. Kipp Kaufmann received the Ray Johnson Award. Kaufmann won the 2003 OUA gold medal as part of the men's 4x200 freestyle relay. He was McMaster swimmer of the year in 2001, and has been a CIS finalist four times and athlete of the week in 2001. For the past three years he was captain of the men's swimming team and is co-president of McMaster's Athletic Council. Last year he was the swim team's outreach co-ordinator. The Ray Johnson Award honours the man who had a distinguished career as an athlete administrator, coach and faculty member until his retirement in 1993. Katie Coulson received the Edna Guest Award. Coulson, a member of the women's basketball team for the past four years, was captain of the team twice, she won the OUA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice and has been an OUA All-Star. The honours' student is Outreach Program co-ordinator of the athletic council. The Edna Guest Award was first presented in 1931 to recognize health through sport. Recipients are chosen for their athletic ability, are graduating and have participated in sport each year while at McMaster. Kyle Pyear was presented the Ivor Wynne Award. Pyear, who has been with the McMaster football team for the past four years, was the leading rusher in the country in 2002. He was honoured as a first-team OUA All-Star and a CIS All-Canadian, and this year was selected as homecoming MVP. The award recognizes Ivor Wynne, who served as director of physical education, dean of men and dean of students at McMaster from 1948-65. Established by the Alumni Club of Hamilton in 1971-72 and presented by the McMaster Lettermen's Association, the award is presented to an outstanding male intercollegiate athlete. Pam Wilson was chosen Female Athlete of the Year. The wrestler won gold at both the OUA and CIS championships this year, and adds these medals to an impressive resume that spans 15 years. The Female Athlete of the Year award recognizes the athlete who has distinguished herself to the highest level of performance while representing McMaster in intercollegiate competition. The women's and men's cross country teams were presented the Joyce Wignall Award. The cross country teams made an outstanding effort to connect McMaster teams and build a strong link to the community through the Big Brothers' organization. The team organized the golf, women's fast pitch and women's field hockey teams to take on the large task of redecorating the new Big Brothers' and Big Sisters' games area. Each team member devoted a minimum of four hours to strip, prime and paint the room, along with countless hours to co-ordinate this project. The teams made multiple visits throughout this week-long project to ensure the job was well done. Presented for the first time this year, the award recognizes Joyce Wignall, who during her 38-year tenure at McMaster embodied the values of the McMaster Athletic Council Outreach Program of teamwork, friendship, loyalty and community involvement. For more details about the award winners, and to view the list of MVP award winners for the various varsity sports, visit http://www-athrec.mcmaster.ca/whatsnew/releases/2003_awards_dinner.htm Also see Mac celebrates big year in the March 28 issue of the Hamilton Spectator.

Posted on April 1: Faculty of Health Sciences building closed to students

The Ontario Ministry of Health has now extended restrictions on hospitals within the GTA to all Ontario hospitals in order to contain Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Hospitals are now closed to students, and since the Faculty of Health Sciences building shares space with Hamilton Health Science's McMaster hospital, this restriction means that effective March 31, 2003, and until further notice, students, including non-health sciences students, are not allowed in the building. The exception is resident trainees (postgraduate M.D. students). Faculty of Health Sciences classes are cancelled until further notice. Non-Faculty of Health Sciences courses that are normally taught in the Ewart Angus Centre will be relocated. See http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/internal/ for classroom relocation. Faculty and staff are allowed in the Health Sciences building and are expected to report to work as usual. Health officials are emphasizing that to date there have been no cases of SARS documented in Hamilton Hospitals. Nonetheless, for safety's sake, the Government has implemented the following conditions for all hospitals in the province, including the McMaster Health Sciences Centre: 1. Access to each hospital site will be restricted. At the McMaster Health Sciences Centre, entry for patients is through the main, front entrance or the emergency room entrance. Faculty and staff will only be allowed to enter through the parking garage using the red elevators. Staff must present identification and be screened for their health condition, for each entry to the building. Click here for entrance restrictions on other Hamilton hospitals. 2. Staff and faculty will only be allowed to enter after showing Security appropriate employee identification and verification that the individual is not experiencing any of the symptoms of SARS including: i. Headache, malaise, myalgia ii. Fever (>38 degrees Celsius) iii. One or more respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing iv. One or more of the following: 1.Close contact with a probable case 2. Recent history of travel (within 10 days to Asia, especially in areas reporting cases of SARS) The Ontario TeleHealth service is available 24/7 and will provide you with the assistance of a nurse to help confirm if you are concerned that any symptoms a person has are related to SARS. For the McMaster community, the Campus Health Centre may also be called for assistance Monday to Friday at ext. 27700. It is possible that these restrictions may be modified in the near future. People are encouraged to check this Web site for updates. Specific directives on classes and clinical placements will be sent to students and members of the Faculty of Health Sciences by email by each program's administration.