Daily News

Posted on Dec. 13: McMaster to construct second temporary classroom

A second temporary classroom will be constructed at McMaster to meet demands for increased student enrolment. The facility, to be located west of the first temporary classroom and facing Mitchell Crescent, will house two 200-seat classrooms. Construction of the facility will begin in April and it is anticipated the building will be completed in July and ready for classes in September 2003, says Tony Cupido, director of Physical Plant. The pre-engineered steel stucture will be similar to the existing temporary classroom, he says. "The facilities will look virtually the same. It will be the same width only a little longer." Construction of the building was approved by the Board of Governors Thursday. Use of the structure after the new classrooms are available in the expanded Health Sciences facility must be approved by the Planning and Building Committee and the Board of Governors. "We're trying to be proactive with the double cohort situation," said Donald Green, chair of the Board's planning and building committee. "We will be short of classroom space and in order to solve that problem we will need to add another building." The cost of the facility will be at least $500,000.

Posted on Dec. 13: Community invited to Commonwealth Games bid

The City of Hamilton's Commonwealth Games Bid Committee invites the community to the McMaster campus tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 14) as it makes its pitch to host the 2010 games. The media conference will take place in the McMaster University Student Centre atrium at 2 p.m. The Commonwealth Games selection committee was in Halifax earlier this week and in Hamilton today and Saturday to review the two cities' bids to host the games. The committee will be on campus to hear Hamilton's presentation. A decision will be announced Monday, Dec. 16 at 11 a.m. live on CBC Newsworld. Photo caption: McMaster's 'Mactron', the University message/score board, welcomes the Commonwealth Games selection committee to the McMaster campus.

Posted on Dec. 12: Senate reports on academic dishonesty

A report from McMaster's Senate Committee on Academic Dishonesty indicates there were 173 cases of academic dishonesty in the 2001-02 academic year approximately one per cent of the University's student population. Offences ranged from plagiarism from the internet to copying of assignments. "The Senate Committee has some unease with the fact that so many of the cases are plagiarism with the internet," said committee chair John Drake to University Senate Wednesday. "It is something I think Senate should take a look at." Four faculties with large enrolments experienced an increase of cases disproportionate to enrolment increases in 2001-02.

Posted on Dec. 11: McMaster student receives Lincoln Alexander Award for promoting racial harmony

Bikramjit Nahal, a first-year science student at McMaster University, received the 2002 Lincoln M. Alexander Award at a Queen's Park ceremony Tuesday for his leadership in promoting racial harmony and eliminating discrimination. Nahal was a member of the Anti-Racism Committee at Parkside and played a large role in implementing programs teaching students to learn about racism. He also created student interest in the annual Walk Against Male Violence Rally and began a Necessities Drive, collecting donated hygiene products and giving them to teens and adults sheltered at Wesley Urban Ministries. He organized a book drive to raise awareness about educational poverty, collecting more than 900 books for children in Poland, Russia, Africa, Lithuania and India. Nahal was recognized by the prime minister for excellence in leadership, academics and community, and has won several awards, including the YMCA Peace Medal a few months ago. Created in 1993 to honour the former Lieutenant Governor's commitment to support young people and promote racial harmony, the annual Lincoln M. Alexander Awards are presented to two Ontario youth who have worked hard to improve racial understanding, one in their school and the other in their community. Two young people, between the ages of 16 and 25, receive an award of $2,500 each and a framed scroll. The other 2002 recipient was Tamara McDonald, a student at Sir Winston Churchill High School in Thunder Bay. Click "Students prove making a difference a matter of choice" to read the story in The Hamilton Spectator.

Posted on Dec. 10: McMaster scientists find link between air pollution, genetic mutations

The billowing smoke from steel mills may not only make it hard to breathe, but may also cause genetic damage, according to new research by McMaster biology researchers. Scientists have long suspected that industrial pollution poses a significant risk to the health of human and animal populations, although much of the evidence is anecdotal or confounded by factors other than air pollutants. McMaster associate professor James Quinn and colleagues previously found a high rate of heritable mutations in herring gull populations nesting near steel mills. However, it was unclear whether the observed effect was due to emissions in the air or contaminants in the water. To isolate and examine the effect of air pollution, Quinn, PhD student Chris Somers and colleagues from Health Canada housed laboratory mice in ambient air one kilometre downwind from two integrated steel mills near Lake Ontario and a rural location 30 kilometres away.