Daily News

Posted on Dec. 10: Main Street anthology features fiction, poetry of McMaster students

The author of Canada's current number one children's book, Hana's Suitcase, will speak at the book launch for the fifth volume of Main Street: The Anthology of the McMaster Certificate in Writing Program tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 10). Author and CBC producer Karen Levine will give a 30-minute presentation on her remarkable true story, which documents a Japanese woman's effort to find out what happened to a young Jewish girl, Hana Brady, in the Second World War. The evening will also feature Faculty of Humanities writer-in-residence Shyam Selvadurai, reading from his award-winning novel, Funny Boy. Main Street, the award-winning anthology series published by the Centre for Continuing Education, features selected short Canadian fiction and poetry from 34 students in the writing program. Several Hamilton and area authors will also receive awards handed out during the evening's festivities. Levine is a prize-winning producer with CBC Radio. She was formerly executive producer of As It Happens and currently works at This Morning as producer of the First Person Singular series. Karen has won the prestigious Peabody Award for her documentary Children of the Holocaust, and her production of Hana's Suitcase was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award, the Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch Award, and their new adult literacy award, The Golden Oak. Selvadurai, McMaster's writer-in-residence, was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He came to Canada with his family at the age of 19. He has studied creative writing and theatre and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University. Funny Boy, his first novel, was published to acclaim in 1994 and won the Canadian W.H. Smith/Books First Novel Award, and in the U.S., the Lambda Literary Award. The novel was also named a Notable Book by the American Library Association. His second novel Cinammon Gardens has been published in Canada, the U.K., the U.S. and translated into six languages - Italian, French, German, Danish, Spanish and Hebrew. It was shortlisted for Canada's Trillium Award, as well as the Aloa Literary Award in Denmark and the Permio Internazionale Riccardo Bacchelli in Italy. The Main Street book launch takes place Tuesday, Dec. 10 in the University Club from 7 to 9 p.m.

Posted on Dec. 9: Bertrand Russell Research Centre to put letters online

E-mail may be fast and convenient, but the historians of the future may regret the havoc wrought by the delete button on the records of contemporary social and political commentary. Researchers interested in the 20th century are more fortunate in having at their disposal the letters of one of the most intelligent and prolific writers the world has ever seen - the philosopher Bertrand Russell. Even in his 90s, Russell would commonly dictate several letters in a day on a staggeringly wide range of subjects. His correspondents included both well-known figures such as Einstein, Niels Bohr, T.S. Eliot, and Edna O'Brien, and countless ordinary people who would write to Russell requesting information or advice on topics as disparate as formal logic and marriage counselling. He was a rare private individual indeed, who could write to both Khrushchev and Kennedy at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, and expect them to read what he had to say. "Russell was ceaselessly and effortlessly fluent," comments Nicholas Griffin, McMaster philosophy professor and director of the Bertrand Russell Research Centre. "Whatever he thought of, he had the words to express it. He truly believed in the power of words to change a situation." And at times they did - as a kind of one-man precursor to 'Amnesty International', Russell met with some success in his letter-writing campaigns on behalf of eastern block political prisoners. The Russell Archives at McMaster hold more than 40,000 of Russell's letters. Faced with such an embarrassment of riches, the only problem for researchers is where to begin looking for specific information. "It can be like looking for a needle in a haystack" says Griffin, who has read more of Russell's correspondence than most.

Posted on Dec. 6: McMaster students get royal honour

They may be young, but the age-old adage of 'giving is better than receiving' is not a new concept for McMaster students Adam Green, Adam Spence and Sam Minniti. For cancer survivor Adam Green, volunteering is a necessity. "I don't see it as volunteering," he says. "I see it as something I have to do." Green, who was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer at the age of 15, volunteers for a number of agencies, including Shinerama, Terry Fox and at a camp for children with cancer. "When I see kids who have cancer and the hardships they go through, that's what makes me volunteer," he says. The fourth-year business student, Spence and Minniti were among 46,000 Canadians and 42 Hamiltonians to receive Queen's Jubilee Awards, given to those who have contributed up to 50 years of service to the community. The Golden Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth II commemorates the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty's reign as Queen of Canada.

Posted on Dec. 5: Little shut-eye for students preparing for exams

Crunch time's on. From a walk around campus, it's unmistakable. In the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC), baggy-eyed students are surrounded by papers and books. In lounges, groups are huddled in serious discussion. And libraries are the busiest they've been all term. The McMaster campus is a quiet place these days, with students preparing for the 60,277 examinations that will be written between Dec. 4 and 17. But studying might be a little less stressful because of accommodations made by University services and student committees. The McMaster Students Union Student Life Committee (SLC), for example, has co-ordinated an All-Night Study Program in the MUSC, where all floors are dedicated to students studying for exams. Silent areas and discussion areas have been established 24 hours day in meeting rooms, banquet halls, lounges and the atrium. Consideration hours are in effect 24 hours a day, while no tolerance hours are between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.