Daily News

Posted on March 13: Student forum combats racism

McMaster students will join together tomorrow armed and ready to combat racism. A Forum on Student Leadership in Anti-Racism is the second of a two-part series, led by McMaster student Shelly-Ann Riley, who planned and organized the forum as part of her fourth-year social work placement. "This forum aims to address solutions or proposals for addressing racism," she says. "It is also an opportunity to further educate students on the issue." It takes place Friday, March 14, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the CIBC Banquet Hall in the McMaster University Student Centre. The first forum, on Nov. 14, 2002, addressed the issue of racism in the academic community. "It was intended to create dialogue among students dealing with ways to deconstruct and then combat racism in our community," Riley says. "The forum on student leadership on anti-racism was structured on the assumption that students in attendance would identify and/or acknowledge our internalized racist attitudes by creating an open arena to voice our concerns and interested of how we address this issue." Two general observations emerged from the first forum, she says. First, most students have only minimal understanding about racism as a structural problem and second, many feel education about racism has been missing from their formal and informal education through their socialization. Organized under the Strengthening Hamilton's Community Initiative, the forum is organized by a committee, comprised of Shelly-Ann Riley, Patricia Daenzer, Pat MacDonald, Jane Mulkewich, Christine Sager, Gary Dumbrill, Madhavi Reddy, Shelley Dormer, Robert Cosby, Erin Dufresne, Bonnie Freeman and Marilyn McLeod.

Posted on March 14: Teaching Award winners inspire passion for discovery

The MSU Teaching Awards Committee held its annual awards ceremony Wednesday night at the CIBC Banquet Hall in the McMaster University Student Centre. "Teaching is an art and McMaster and our students are fortunate to have some of the very best teachers from whom they can learn," said McMaster President Peter George. "Each of you brings a special dedication and inspiration to your profession. For students, it means a chance not only to learn the essential elements of the their chosen field, but also to develop the passion for discovery and the satisfaction that comes from challenging themselves to learn and then to apply that learning to the building of better lives and better communities." Winners were named in three categories; Faculty Awards, Merit Awards and Lifetime Teaching Awards.

Posted on March 13: Pierre Berton, teller of tales

Hunched over a table in an army hut, exhausted from hours in a brigade obstacle course, Pierre Berton tapped away on his portable typewriter. He had a need to write. It was an urge that had been with him for as long as he could remember. Many years later, speaking to a 200-plus audience of aspiring, professional and hobby writers, Berton spoke of the years he served with the army and about the letters he wrote to family and friends, even when it was torture, even in despair, but mostly, because he couldn't stop. "The urge to write was there almost from the beginning," he said in his characteristic booming voice. Reading from his latest book The Joy of Writing in the McMaster University Student Centre this week, Berton reflected on his career as a writer, broadcaster, journalist and a teller of tales. He offered several pointers to successful writing such as, know and understand your audience, do not write down to your readers, don't use a $10-word when a 5-cent one will do, dig deeper, don't neglect the obvious, always describe the people and places, always check the weather and don't read reviews, measure them.

Posted on March 12: McMaster Libraries’ response to the double cohort

Thanks to the digital age, McMaster students can visit the library without ever leaving their dorm room. But even the most tech-savvy student will go to the library to find the books they need, says Sheila Pepper, assistant university librarian, Mills Memorial Library. "The book is not disappearing," she says. "Library staff will always welcome users who want to access services and assistance in person. However, staff are aware that our students, particularly undergraduates, live in a digital age with increased expectations for online service." As a result, McMaster Libraries has introduced a number of new services in response to the digital bent of today's student. "The library has tried to make as much of its information and resources as possible available on a self-help and at-point-of-need basis, so that students can complete efficient research wherever and whenever they need to," says Pepper. "With the impending double cohort, the library has had to find creative ways to accommodate the additional students on campus," says Pepper. But, she adds it is difficult for the library to respond to the double cohort in specific ways due to an uncertainty of where enrolment will be increased the most. "However, there are a number of general things we have done to try to improve the situation." The libraries have worked on an extensive reorganization of the combined libraries' Web site in order to make information on library services and resources easy to locate. "An integral part of the project was the provision of an electronic resources database (ERD) through which students can more efficiently select the appropriate electronic resource." With funding from McMaster's one-time academic priority fund, library staff developed DOT@MAC, an online self-paced tutorial that students can use to develop research skills. Both DOT@MAC and the ERD can be accessed through the libraries' homepage at: http://library.mcmaster.ca.