Daily News

Posted on Nov. 4: Campus Health Centre battles the flu

It's coming. Sniffles and coughs. Aches and pains. The dreaded flu season is just around the corner, but McMaster's Campus Health Centre is armed and ready to battle this loathsome bug. Free flu vaccination clinics will take place this week for all employees and students. Annual vaccination against the influenza virus is recommended for adults and children over the age of six months. "We're trying to increase the health of employees because healthier employees means happier and more productive employees," says Debra Earl, employee health education nurse. "We're trying to create a better workplace environment." Clinics will be held in Room 309 of the McMaster University Student Centre from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 5, 6, 13, 14 and 15. An additional clinic will be held at the Downtown Centre on Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Posted on Nov. 4: Chomsky lecture to probe intelligent life on earth

Noam Chomsky is coming to Hamilton in November. Those words tend to have one of two effects on people; either they are scrambling to find tickets, or they are saying "Noam who?" How is it that someone can be simultaneously so popular and so unknown? Chomsky has lectured all over the world, and has written more than 30 books on U.S. foreign policy, democracy, globalization and the thought control role of mass media. He first became known as a political dissident in the movement against the Vietnam War in the 60s. He has not traditionally received much coverage from mass media, which is a major reason why he is unknown to many. But more than ever since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, many people in North America are looking for answers to questions that Chomsky had been talking about for years. Chomsky's book 9-11 is a collection of interviews, which took place after Sept. 11. In the book, the professor from MIT states that "I have had considerably more access even to mainstream media in the U.S. than ever before, and others report the same experience." Chomsky will speak at McMaster on Nov. 12, as a Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor on the topic: "Is there Intelligent Life on Earth? The Role of the Intellectual Culture and Institutions". This lecture is sponsored by the Centre for Peace Studies, the Department of Labour Studies and the Russell Centre, McMaster University. The lecture will be at 8:30 p.m. in the Burridge Gymnasium, Ivor Wynne Centre, McMaster University. Tickets will be distributed by the Compass Information Centre in the McMaster University Student Centre on Wednesday, Nov. 6, in three blocks. Block 1 (350 tickets) available from 9:30 a.m.; Block 2 (350 tickets) available from 12:30 p.m.; and Block 3 (400 tickets) available from 6:30 p.m. There is a limit of two tickets per person, and no holds or reservations. Please do not telephone the Compass Information Centre. For information contact chomskyhamilton@yahoo.ca or 905-525-9140 ext 26119.

Posted on Nov. 4: Enrolment challenges extend beyond

It is less than a year until the official "double cohort" arrives. But the challenges the University will face extend well beyond 2003/04, says McMaster President Peter George. "We need to look at the long-range issues," he said to the Board of Governors Thursday. An increase in faculty retirement rates, higher student participation rates, increased graduate enrolment and enrolling a mix of international, Ontario and out-of-province students, are some of the issues McMaster will face, not just during the double cohort years, he says, but for years to come. "There are a lot of issues here that are long-reaching," he says. "The double cohort is just a lightning rod that is distracting attention away from the longer-term issues."

Posted on Nov. 1: Princess Marconi of Italy visits McMaster

Italian Princess Elletra Marconi is visiting McMaster today. The daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, known as the inventor of the first practical system of wireless telegraphy, is visiting with students, touring labs and facilities and participating in an interview with CFMU News. With support from the Ministry of Canadian Heritage, and as a guest of the Congress of Italian-Canadians, Hamilton-District, the princess is in Hamilton this week to participate in the Guglielmo Marconi Tribute. This tribute honors the wisdom of Marconi and highlights his story and Canada's place in the history of wireless technology. In conjunction with this event, Canada Post issued a stamp in Marconi's honour. Photo caption: Princess Elletra Marconi poses with Deborah Messina, fourth-year computer engineering student and chair of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. Messina presented the princess with a scarf, which has the Faculty of Engineering's colours.