Daily News

Posted May 28: Three models of student leadership praised, recognized

Not one model of student leadership, but three. This year, University President Peter George is awarding his student leadership awards to three individuals whose exemplary scholarship and service to community provide models of leadership for their fellow students and all members of the McMaster community. Mary-Melinda Gillies (nursing), Arif Manji (Arts & Science) and Leila Salehi (biology) are this year's recipients of the distinguished awards, given to McMaster students in their graduating year who exemplify leadership. The students will receive their awards at Spring Convocation. For biographical information on each winner,

posted May 22: Mark May@Mac on your calendar

The flowers are blooming. The birds are chirping. Spring has sprung and it's May@Mac! May 25 is the date of McMaster's second annual May@Mac, an open house for prospective students that runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday. Event organizers expect 5,000 to 6,000 high school students will come out to experience the wide variety of events on campus--everything from participating in an auction market, touring a trading floor, taking an engineering challenge, finding out if your ankles and knees are stable--to learning how to overcome budget fears and successfully manage the cost of a university education. While most universities hold their spring open houses during March break, McMaster has taken a different approach. Student liaison officer Bonnie Crocker explains that May is the ideal time to showcase the entire university, "McMaster has a lovely campus, and it looks much nicer in the spring. It's also easier to get facilities when classes aren't in session. As well, it's good timing, because this open house falls right between the two rounds of offers of admissions that students receive." Two large tents--one in front of Burke Science Building and the other in front of the John Hodgins Engineering Building-- will house the McMaster Marketplace where prospective students can pick up a final schedule of events for the day, chat with current students, tour more than 40 displays, and meet with academic, student services and student organization representatives. Self-guided campus tours allow visitors to stroll around the campus at their leisure, with the option of stopping at various checkpoints where staff are available to answer questions and provide directions. Students will also have the opportunity to tour the residences. Athletics and recreation staff will give presentations on the university's competitive sports, intramurals, instructional and outdoor programs, as well as the facilities available, including "The Pulse" fitness facility. The department is also sponsoring a "Meet the Coaches" session where students can meet McMaster Marauder coaching staff. The Student Liaison Office organizes May@Mac and sent open house invitations to each of the 22,000 students who applied to McMaster. The office expects attendees to be mainly Ontario students graduating from high school this year. Since information about May@Mac has been sent to high schools across Canada, organizers are expecting out-of-province students as well. The final schedule of events will be available at the Welcome Tent (or in the Ivor Wynne Centre if it rains). Family and friends are welcome and parking is free for this event. (End of story)

posted on May 22: Medieval to Mud at the Museum

What would the Renaissance masters have made of scratches on tin foil, inkless prints and mud splatters? If you visit the current exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art you're likely to find the answer. The exhibition, entitled Medieval to Mud explores the development of prints and drawings from the intricate engravings of the late medieval period to the contemporary and sometimes unorthodox techniques of artists like Antoni T`pies and Richard Long. More than seventy significant prints and drawings will be featured in this exhibition. Highlights include Picasso's etched study for his masterpiece, Guernica, Goya's folio Disasters of War, prints by D|rer, Rembrandt, Hiroshige, Matisse, Ensor and Hockney. Of course McMaster's stellar collection of German Expressionist art will also be well represented. McMaster University possesses one of the finest University collections of works on paper in North America. Medieval to Mud is an opportunity to highlight strengths and notable recent growth as well as to present a number of acquisitions that have never before been exhibited at the Museum. Admission to the Museum and this special presentation is pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $2. Students, seniors and members are free. Museum Hours: Tuesday - Friday 11-6; Thursday evening 7-9; Sunday 12-5. (End of story)

posted May 22: Working at McMaster

More than 200 members of the University gathered in the foyer of the University Centre on Tuesday to celebrate the ways in which the University and staff are improving the workplace at McMaster. The Working at McMaster Achievement Fair was sponsored and organized by staff, mentors and facilitators who have been involved in implementing many of the recommendations that resulted from a staff survey and follow-up project. The event provided an opportunity for all involved in the process over the last two years to share and celebrate their experiences and inform other members of the community, including representatives from campus employee groups, supervisors and senior administrators, of the progress on the recommendations made by staff following the 1998 survey. In 2000, the University took up the challenge of responding to the survey by instituting the Staff Survey Follow-up Project, a plan to develop and implement recommendations flowing from the study results. In 2001, the concept of Working at McMaster was developed by an employee team as a vehicle to carry forward the spirit of the staff survey, for the long term. At the Achievement Fair, five active Working at McMaster task teams informed the community of what the follow-up has accomplished. Along with a general information table entitled "Staff Survey: Progress", displays set up featured specific projects that are under way as a result of the survey: employee lounges, Perspectives (an electronic, by employees-for-employees newsletter), career planning and development, and core competencies for McMaster's managers and leaders. The main feature of the Achievement Fair was the launch of the Working At McMaster Web site. The brainchild of the career planning and development task team, the site is service-driven and employee-oriented. Team members include Tina Horton (chair), Grazyna Ziolkowski, Delia Hutchinson, Barb MacDonald, Janet Walsh, Marvin Gunderman, David Lawson, and Cate Walker-Hammond.