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August 10, 2001

posted on Aug. 10: $1M for chair of Early Child Development

Dan Offord, director of the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk (CCSCR), would like to see every child in the province enter school ready to learn. Offord and his colleagues came closer to this dream yesterday when the Minister Responsible for Children, John Baird, presented a cheque for $1 million to establish a chair in Early Child Development. McMaster University will match the provincial government's gift. The money comes from the Early Years Challenge Fund, established as a result of the recommendations of the "Early Years Study", co-authored by Dr. Fraser Mustard, a former dean of medicine and vice-president of health sciences at McMaster. Baird noted that McMaster's proposal was "one of the most innovative" and commended the centre for being a "superstar" in the area of early child development. The centre has developed an Early Development Instrument that measures the abilities of Kindergarten students in five general areas: physical health and well-being, social knowledge and competence, emotional health and maturity, language and thinking development, and general knowledge and communication skills. The information will then be used to determine where schools and communities have been successful and where improvements are needed. Magdalena Janus, a research associate at the CCSCR worked with Offord to develop the instrument for the "School Readiness to Learn Project". She describes the instrument as a survey with more than 100 questions that would be done by junior and senior kindergarten teachers, 5 or 6 months into the school year. The chair of Early Child Development will lead the CCSCR in training schools and communities on how to use the Early Development Instrument. (End of story)

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August 9, 2001

posted on August 9: Welcome Day @ Mac embraces new students, families

Dozens of first-year students and their families will be on campus Friday, Aug. 10 to enjoy the activities provided at the annual Welcome Day @ Mac. The day is designed to acquaint new students and their families with the faces and facilities provided by the University. It's an opportunity to be welcomed to the McMaster community and helps students begin to feel at home in their soon-to-be new home. Various activities will be ongoing throughout the day including seminars about financing the upcoming year, living off-campus, using the University computers, libraries and a session titled "Flea's Eye View: How to Succeed at Mac." As well, students and their families can take tours of the campus, the Ivor Wynne Centre and residences. In addition to the tours and information sessions, there will be two tents set up on the lawns of the inner campus with students and University employees on hand to answer questions about the many student services and clubs. Lunch is available for $2 at the tent in front of the Burke Science building. Students and families that would like to spend a night on campus can arrange for overnight accommodation by contacting Housing & Conference Services at 905-525-9140 ext. 27222. (End of story)

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August 9, 2001

posted on August 9: Power outage darkens campus

The McMaster campus plunged into darkness this afternoon (Thursday) after a construction crew at the site of the new residence building hit a power line. No one was hurt in the incident. It took crews until almost 9:30 Thursday evening to restore power. The outage affected the air circulation system and left only emergency lighting in place. The hospital was also impacted by the loss of power but was able to use its back-up generators. Exams that were to be held Thursday evening were cancelled and will be rescheduled.

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August 8, 2001

posted on August 9: Biology student is a future leader in sustainable development

Christopher Somers, a graduate student in the department of biology, has been awarded a 5NR Science for Sustainable Development Postgraduate Scholarship Supplement. The $4,500 supplement is being offered by five federal government departments with the objective of encouraging young scientists to pursue research in environment-related sciences. Somers is one of ten high-caliber students from universities across Canada who are receiving the supplement this year. The supplement will help Somers, a PhD student, carry out his research on the rate of mutation in families of herring gulls on the Great Lakes. His research explores the results of the interactions between organisms and complex chemical mixtures in the environment. Somers will be receiving his award certificate at a ceremony on August 16 in Toronto as part of the Federal Public Service Youth Career Fair. His award is being offered in the name of Dr. Andrew Gilman, a Health Canada research scientist and Director of Health Canada's Sustainable Development Office. Dr. Gilman is a winner of the 5NR Science Awards to Leaders in Sustainable Development. He is being honoured for his work on the control of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the effects of those contaminants on Canada's Aboriginal population. The 5NR Scholarship Supplement and the 5NR Science Awards combine to recognize the importance of present and future generations of scientists devoted to sustainable development. They also aim to strengthen the links between the university and government science communities, while providing mentoring opportunities for gifted young researchers. The 5NR scholarship supplement is offered by Agriculture Canada, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Health Canada, and Natural Resources Canada. This program is done in partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). (End of story)

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August 8, 2001

posted on August 8: The myth of Europa a passion for graduate scholarship winner

The Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) are awards that McMaster's graduate students compete for with students from across the province. For each scholarship, universities are required to provide one-third of the $15,000 award, with the government providing the rest. The following is a profile of an OGS recipient: When Bridget Day learned she had been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) she felt "incredible relief." "I started crying. I was so relieved," she says. "For me to receive the OGS means I don't have to apply for the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP) this year. I can pay my own way." Day has a $45,000 student loan debt. "Every time I have to apply for OSAP again it is just heart-wrenching, When I received the OSAP renewal form it was great to be able to toss it out. It was the greatest feeling." In addition to financial relief, the OGS award also gives Day "a sense of personal accomplishment. I feel I've come into my own in my academic career. To have recognition is a wonderful feeling." Day is a PhD student in classics, the study of ancient languages. She received her first McMaster undergraduate degree in psychology, but a passion for "everything about antiquity in the Greek and Roman world" led her to obtain a second undergraduate degree in classics. She has two master's degrees from McMaster, both in classics. She is writing her doctoral thesis on the myth of Europa, kidnapped by the god Zeus, as it has been told in ancient Greek and Latin mythology over the course of 900 years. "I just love the story," she says. "Part of the fascination is how different poets have treated the story." Day's ability to understand ancient Greek and Latin means she can read the poems as they were originally written and does not have to rely on an English translation. Day defines classics as the study of the history, art and archaeology of the Greek and Roman worlds. Part of her fascination is "the puzzle of trying to discover what kind of a life it really was. There is always some new way of looking at a different angle of this puzzle and coming up with new ideas. Being a part of collecting a couple of new pieces for the puzzle is very exciting." (End of story)

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