Daily News

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.

Posted on Nov. 1: Eight Marauders named OUA all-stars

The undefeated McMaster Marauders got another touchdown, only this time, off the football field. Eight Marauder football players were named all-stars by Ontario University Athletics (OUA), as voted by the ten OUA football head coaches. McMaster's all-stars include star running back Kyle Pyear who led the OUA and CIS in rushing for most of the season. The two-time all-star also broke an OUA record for most rushing attempts in a game with 39 at McMaster's Homecoming game against Laurier on Sept 28. Other McMaster all-stars include: Dave Forde on the offensive line; linebacker Ray Mariuz; Colin Shanahan, on the defensive line; defensive-half Brandon Little; placekicker Michael Ray; linemate Fabio Filic; and cornerback Kwame Aidoo. The road to the Yates Cup continues this weekend as the defending champions McMaster Marauders will host the York Yeomen Saturday at 1 p.m. The Western Mustangs travel to Kingston to meet the Queen's Golden Gaels. The winners of each game will meet in the 104th Yates Cup Championship Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.

Posted on Oct. 31: McMaster bugs out on Discovery

Strange things happen at the Auchmar estate on Hamilton's mountain brow. For one thing, mayflies bite people and age them a lot faster than humanly possible. McMaster's Marvin Gunderman can be held partly accountable for the creepy things that take place at the 150-year-old Gothic-style estate. After all, it's this entomologist that put the insects there in the first place. The technical co-ordinator, curator of entomology and insect taxonomist in McMaster's Department of Biology, supplied the set of Discovery Channel's new program Strange Days at Blake Holsey High with the mayflies that were digitized for use in episode 5. In this episode, a student catches a mayfly, known for its short lifespan, and when the bug bites him, his genetic code is altered and he ages rapidly. "A special crew took digital images of the insects spread on a Petrie plate and they manipulated those images to make a prototype creature," Gunderman explains. "What they wanted to get across was that aging and life spans are both relative." The show will air Nov. 23 on Discovery Kids on NBC Saturday mornings. The half-hour action series is filmed on location in Hamilton at the Auchmar estate, once a monastery. The show is set at a boarding school called Blake Holsey High, nicknamed Black Hole High because of the bizarre occurrences that take place there. The episode probably won't spook Gunderman. "As a kid I loved insects," he says. "I always had spider collections and all of my science projects in high school were on insects."

Posted on Oct. 30: McMaster moves up to 7th place on $100M club research ranking

McMaster University has made a dramatic move up on two national top 10 lists that rank research income and intensity at Canadian universities. Sponsored research at the University grew significantly in 2001, moving from $106.9 million in 2000 to $184.4 million. The increase moved the University from tenth to seventh position in a national ranking of universities with more than $100 million in research income. The University also moved into third place from seventh position on the top 10 list ranking universities by research intensity, defined as research dollars per full-time faculty position. In 2001, McMaster averaged $197,000 per faculty position, up from $117,600 in the previous year. The rankings are part of the Top 50 Research Universities report that was published Tuesday by Research Infosource Inc. from data collected by Statistics Canada. Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research & international affairs, said that this significant increase in income is directly related to McMaster's outstanding faculty and their aggressive approach to research.