Home Page

Posted on April 30: Indigenous Studies helps preserve botanical legacy

McMaster's Indigenous Studies Program is partnering with Ontario's Royal Botanical Gardens and Six Nations Polytechnic in an effort to preserve the botanical legacy of the Six Nations people. The one-year Community Leader in Indigenous Ethnobotany project enables a Six Nations member to train, research and document information on the knowledge and uses of plants by indigenous peoples. The three partners, in collaboration with the Six Nations community, will provide assistance and expertise. The Museums Assistance Program of the Federal Department of Canadian Heritage has invested funds to support the work. This project advances Six Nations' goals to address the imminent loss of current and historical knowledge about culturally significant plants, and to develop a leader who can keep this knowledge alive. It will also advance Royal Botanical Gardens' goals to document and conserve plant habitat and species at risk. Leading the project is Pat Hess, a Cayuga from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. She is enrolled in Honours Anthropology at McMaster University, where she also has a Minor in Indigenous Studies. "It is my dream in some small way to be able to help my community; I believe that this is definitely going to be a community-inclusive effort to restore and archive our knowledge for the youth and future generations," she said. Dawn Martin-Hill, director of Indigenous Studies at McMaster University, said the program is a component of the Six Nations community's efforts to preserve indigenous knowledge. "This relationship will benefit our community by identifying and documenting plant life that is vulnerable or extirpated at Six Nations," she said. Royal Botanical Gardens promotes public understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature. Gardens staff will assist with documenting the status of key plant species on the Six Nations reserve, and develop habitat conservation strategies. Cultural information about the plants, such as their various medicinal uses, will be curated by Ms. Hess and will be archived at Six Nations. "All project content will be controlled through extensive community consultations, which will determine ways in which the indigenous knowledge will be stored and preserved," explained Martin-Hill. "We are thankful for Royal Botanical Gardens' support and commitment and we're pleased that Pat Hess has agreed to take on this endeavour of conservation."

Posted on April 30: Human sciences researchers receive more than $1.3 million in peer-reviewed competition

McMaster social scientists and humanities researchers have received more than $1.3 million to study topics such as the cultural politics of computer game playing, restructuring of the police and prison guard systems and the workplace and mental health. The 14 standard research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada support research in broad areas such as the Canadian family, the new economy, globalization, arts and culture, environment and law and justice. The standard research grants, worth up to $250,000 over three years, support investigator-chosen projects by individual researchers and small teams. Researchers at more than 60 universities across Canada were awarded funding through this national peer-review 2003 competition. Three researchers received funding from the Initiative on the New Economy program for separate projects on executive compensation, firm performance and the quality of earnings; living standards, productivity growth and economic change and work organization and health in the new economy. The new economy research grants, worth up to $300,000 over three years, support research projects that focus on aspects of the new economy.

Posted on April 29: Occupational Health & Safety Week activities cover range of topics

In the event of a fire, would you know how to properly use a fire extinguisher? Well, if you have any doubts you might want to attend an information session being held at McMaster on May 6 as part of North American Occupational Health & Safety Week. Risk Management Services has lined up three days chocked full of information sessions and activities aimed at increasing awareness of and information about health and safety issues. The session on "Get a Handle on How to Use a Fire Extinguisher" will be held on Tuesday, May 6 beginning at 9:15 a.m. in the Zone 7 Parking lot. Rob Edge, a fire service technician for physical plant, will lead this hands-on training session. Other information sessions will be held at both McMaster locations on campus and downtown throughout the week. These will include everything from how to set up your computer workstation properly to personal protective equipment to investigating an accident. "This is an opportunity for all members of the McMaster community to raise their own personal awareness about health and safety, to keep our environment and the campus safe, and to also have some fun in the process," says Lisa Morine, safety officer, Risk Management Services. To view the complete list of activities planned at McMaster for North American Occupational Health & Safety Week, May 5 to 9, click here.

Posted on April 29: McMaster mails early offers of admission

As of last week, McMaster sent out approximately 9,100 early offers of admission. McMaster received about 44,000 applications from registered Ontario secondary school students, many of whom applied to more than one McMaster program. The Enrolment Management Team is releasing its offers of admission in two rounds. The first round, scheduled to be in the mail by April 30, were sent out one week early. Other institutions, such as The University of Western Ontario and the University of Guelph, also sent out offers earlier than anticipated, said President Peter George to the Board of Governors last week. The second round of offers will be sent out May 30. "Owing to the very large number of applications, the ongoing Enrolment Target Agreement negotiations with the government and the overall challenges associated with secondary school reform, we have elected to make the majority of our offers in round two," says University registrar George Granger. "This will give us the benefits of additional grade data and other analysis which contribute to the prudent selection of competitive admission averages. Our goal is to hit our target enrolment as closely as possible." Current estimates suggest the total number of offers will exceed 19,000 by early June.

Posted on April 29: McMaster and SARS Protocol for international travel and international visitors

McMaster continues to monitor updated information about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Although no cases of SARS have been reported in Hamilton, the University has decided to institute additional precautions to reduce the level of risk. All members of the McMaster community are strongly encouraged to delay or reschedule visits to campus by visitors who are from or have recently travelled to countries that have been identified by Health Canada as areas of higher risk. There are differences in the international advisories issued by the World Health Organization and Health Canada but the decision has been made to follow Health Canada guidelines. At this time these countries include China Hong Kong Taiwan Anyone travelling from these countries is asked to not come to campus for 10 full days following their arrival in Canada. This could have an impact on some conferences, group events and individual visits. The University also requires international graduate students, post-doctoral students and exchange students returning from these countries to complete 10 full days away from campus before attending university facilities. Those faculty, staff or students who choose to travel to these countries despite travel recommendations from Health Canada will also need to follow isolation protocols before returning to campus. International students currently at McMaster who would normally return home to countries affected by SARS for the summer and who wish to stay in Canada should contact the International Student Office at ext. 24748. The SARS situation changes on a regular basis and the McMaster community will be kept informed of any new developments or changes to this protocol. Please monitor the Daily News Web site for updates. Any questions regarding the University's response to SARS should be directed to the McMaster Crisis Management Team at ext. 24330, or by e-mail to team chair and vice-president, administration, Karen Belaire at vpadmin@mcmaster.ca. Ongoing updates are available on the mcmaster.ca Web site at http://www.mcmaster.ca/sarsupdate.html

Daily News

Resources for our community

More Stories

Upcoming Events

Daily News

Posted on April 30: Indigenous Studies helps preserve botanical legacy

Posted on April 30: Human sciences researchers receive more than $1.3 million in peer-reviewed competition

Posted on April 29: Occupational Health & Safety Week activities cover range of topics

Posted on April 29: McMaster mails early offers of admission

Posted on April 29: McMaster and SARS  Protocol for international travel and international visitors

Resources for our community

Follow Us

More Stories

Upcoming Events

Posted on April 29: McMaster and SARS Protocol for international travel and international visitors