Daily News

Posted on Feb. 11: Chinese ambassador to Canada visits McMaster

Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Canada Mei Ping is exploring McMaster and its strong Chinese connections. Ping, and his wife Mei Lin Sha, visited with students Monday in the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC). Today, he will tour the School of Business Trading Centre and AIC wing, as well as the Faculty of Engineering's Machining Systems Laboratory and McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute. He returns to Ottawa this afternoon. McMaster President Peter George hosted a reception and dinner for the ambassador Monday. Luke Chan, executive director of the Office of International Affairs, hosted a dinner Sunday. Born in 1943 in Shanghai, Mei became the ambassador in 1998. He is the fourth ambassador of China to visit McMaster. The number of Chinese students attending McMaster has increased substantially since 1994, when the University had three undergraduate students from China, according to the Office of International Affairs. In 2002, preliminary figures show McMaster had 635 undergraduate and 116 graduate visa students from China. In 2002, a total of 1,537 international students (undergraduate and graduate) attended McMaster. Photo caption: Pictured above, Ping and Lin Sha spoke with first-year social science student Bailin Li, top left, and first-year MBA student Chao Yu during his visit with students in the MUSC. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay

Posted on Feb. 11: Homicide in the City

Psychologist Martin Daly has found some intriguing connections between the homicide rate and income distribution in Canada and the United States. Daly, who desribes his studies of homicide as "a window on human passions and antagonisms," has found that the greater the inequality in the distribution of income between rich and poor, the higher the homicide rate. Daly will discuss his research at tonight's Science in the City lecture titled Competition, Inequity and Homicide, the second in a series of lectures sponsored jointly by McMaster University and the Hamilton Spectator. In an interview with the Spectator (Feb.8), Daly notes that "the more inequitable the rewards, the higher the rates of violence, presumably because it's more desperately competitive at the bottom." This free lecture will be held tonight in the Spectator Auditorium, located in the Hamilton Spectator, 44 Frid Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7 p.m.

Posted on Feb. 10: McMaster employees inspired from within

More than 150 McMaster employees gathered on Friday, Feb. 7 at the Burlington Art Centre to participate in the 'Inspiring From Within' conference a career-oriented day developed by a small group of McMaster employees. The conference was organized by the 'Working at McMaster' Career Planning and Development Steering Committee, whose objective is to promote the values of career planning and development within the McMaster employee community. The event featured several distinguished keynote speakers, session leaders and facilitators, including Jane Farrow, radio host of the CBC program 'Workology', who spoke on the 'Wild World of Work'. Gordon Cressy, president of Canadian Tire Foundation for Families and Community Investment, gave a presentation entitled: 'Dreaming and Doing: Inspiring From Within'.

Posted on Feb. 10: Faculty grievance hearing committee issues decision

A Faculty Grievance Review Panel Hearing Committee has issued its findings in a matter pertaining to philosophy professor David Hitchcock. The committee found that professor Hitchcock should have had one day unpaid leave for failing to teach his Philosophy 3F03 class during the MUSA dispute in 2001. Professor Hitchcock was grieving a decision that had placed him on 14 days unpaid leave for failing to teach the class and for not handing in an exam. The three-member committee ruled that the wages for the other 13 days shall be paid with interest. "There's a very clear process in these types of proceedings and that process has been followed in this instance," said McMaster provost Ken Norrie. "I am happy the matter has been resolved."

Posted on Feb. 7: Student Walk Home Attendant Team hosts two-week awareness campaign

For 11 years, McMaster's Student Walk Home Attendant Team (SWHAT) has been walking people home after dark. To raise the profile of this McMaster Students Union service, SWHAT is hosting its annual Awareness Week Jan. 31 to Feb. 13. A booth will be set up in the McMaster University Student Center Marketplace today (Feb. 7) and Feb. 11. SWHAT is run entirely by students and made possible by the work of hundreds of volunteers. Each SWHAT team is composed of one male and one female volunteer who both wear easily identifiable jackets and carry with them a flashlight and two-way radio. To request a walk home between 5:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., seven days a week, contact the SWHAT office at ext. 27500.