Daily News

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: Teaching assistants collective agreement ratified

McMaster's teaching assistants and the University have ratified a new collective agreement. The Board of Governors' executive committee ratified the terms of a renewal collective agreement for the teaching assistants (TAs) earlier today. This follows the vote held by Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3906 Unit 1 (CUPE) during the last two days that endorsed the new agreement by an 85 per cent margin. "Teaching assistants play an important role both as employees and students at McMaster," said President Peter George. "They help us provide a quality educational experience. As a university, we have been working hard to develop a constructive negotiation process as part of our efforts to continually improve the working environment of McMaster employees. Throughout these negotiations both teams were focused on reaching an agreement that met the needs of everyone concerned."

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.