Daily News

posted on May 3: Highlights from Board of Governors meeting

The Board of Governors met April 26 and discussed the following items: President's report President Peter George said he has "guarded optimism" the provincial government will solve the dilemma of providing universities with adequate operating funds when revenues are decreasing. There are no signs yet as to what the federal government plans are for university funding although the University is hopeful Ottawa will address the indirect costs of research. George said he was delighted the University and the McMaster University Staff Association agreed to voluntary arbitration to solve the recent labour dispute. He said he had been "very frustrated" because he could not speak about the situation. "The overriding concern that I have and that we not lose sight of is that this is not just about a disagreement between the university and the union, it is also about people. The cost and pain of this is significant. There is no doubt that tensions exist. An early resolution can only help us." George said he wanted advice from the University community on how to establish a "better code of civil and courteous debate" and expect a higher standard for discussion. He noted some members of the University's bargaining team were subjected to "extremely unfortunate, distasteful personalization of the issues" during the strike. He said, under pressure, some people "denigrated into blaming, fingerpointing and discourteous behaviour that has no place at a university.'' He added, "There are bridges to be rebuilt. I am committed to making this happen." The McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA) provided a letter to the Board asking that the University consider not using the services of "strike circumvention companies such as Accu-Fax in the future." Mark Haley, assistant vice-president human resources, said the Hamilton-Wentworth regional police advised the University to use a security services and surveillance during the strike. MUFA president Bernadette Lynn, responding to a Board member's question, said the association is opposed to the University using firms that bill themselves as "strike breaking organizations." Debbie Nifakis, a non-teaching staff representative, told Board members she was asked to convey some staff's concerns about the University's actions during the McMaster University Staff Association strike. "They have felt very disillusioned and dissatisfied," she said, adding she had met with President George earlier in the week and returned gifts from about 30 people that had been given to them by the University over the years. Risk Management Services report Department director Ron Angus reported there is an air quality study going on in the Arthur Bourns Building (ABB). Environmental monitoring results for ABB were reviewed, confirming there are no unusual levels of biological contamination in the air handling system. The results also confirmed there is no asbestos in the samples. Angus said work responding to the air quality study in the John Hodgins Engineering building continues. New filtration equipment, humidification equipment and steam supply coils are ordered. Angus said the Ministry of Labour visited campus in March in response to anonymous complaints about ergonomic conditions at a food serving station and ventilation in the kitchen and washrooms in the Commons food service areas. He said ministry officials did not issue any orders and concluded the issues should be dealt with by the University's Joint Health and Safety Committee and Risk Management Services (RMS). The ventilation systems were inspected and were functioning as designed and not obstructed. RMS is studying the ergonomic issue. Changing Tomorrow Today Campaign report University Advancement executive director Roger Trull said the campaign has raised just under $112 million to date, adding "We're quite pleased." He said about $84.5 million of the total has been received in cash which is a much larger percentage than was expected. The campaign officially ends June 30.

posted on May 3: New MSU president Sam Minniti is already cooking

The McMaster Students Union's new president pronounces bruschetta, prosciutto and bocconcini with the flair of someone who grew up speaking Italian and who loves to cook. "I'm not the typical MSU president, I don't really fit the mould," says Sam Minniti, who received more than twice the votes the other candidates garnered in the February election. Minniti, formerly MSU vice-president administration, took office on May 1. Born in Welland, Minniti grew up in Fort Erie, Ont. He is an only child and has a close relationship with his parents who immigrated to Canada from southern Italy. When he started university four years ago his parents would visit him once a week and he'd return to Fort Erie every month to play the piano at his father's Italian Pentecostal church and interpret his father's sermons into Italian or English. His parents still visit regularly and, when he can, he goes home to play the piano and to interpret at the church.

posted on May 7: Full-time undergraduate tuition increases by 2 per cent

Undergraduate tuition is going up two per cent for the 2001-02 academic year. The increase of $74.70 will mean full-time undergraduate tuition in the Faculties of Humanities, Science, Social Sciences and the Arts & Science program will be $3,931.50. The two per cent increase will put full-time undergraduate tuition in the School of Business at $4,305.60 and the Faculty of Engineering at $4,675.77. In the Faculty of Health Sciences the increase will put tuition for nursing students at $3,931.50. The fee for medicine students is unchanged at $13,500. Last year the Board of Governors approved a government-mandated tuition increase over a five-year period for most undergraduate programs. "McMaster continues to offer tuition fees that are lower than most universities in the province," said Fred Hall, associate vice-president academic. The tuition increase revenues will be divided with 40 per cent going to the Faculties for programming, 30 per cent to bursaries and 30 per cent for allocation by the Board's budget committee. The University will continue to charge a student levy (the amount ranges from $26.10 to $31.02 depending on the Faculty) for the Quality Enhancement Fund. This fund, established last year for a five-year period, supports improvements to facilities that directly affect the quality of academic programs. For example, last year the funds were directed to the University Library and associated learning technologies such as LearnLink. Graduate tuition fees are frozen at 2000-01 levels, $4,422 annually, except for the School of Business' MBA program. The Board of Governors approved a 25 per cent fee increase for the MBA program to $3,350 per term at its April 26 meeting. Vishwanath Baba, dean of the School of Business, said the increase in the MBA program fee will be used for a variety of purposes including a faculty hiring initiative devised to increase full-time faculty by 15 to 20 during the next four years to maintain effective student to faculty ratios. As well, the tuition increase will go towards increasing sessional teaching fees to attract high quality instructors and will aid the school in supporting information technology infrastructure projects and initiatives such as the Educational Trading Centre and the e-commerce annex. In addition to tuition fee increases, some students will see an increase in the miscellaneous fees they pay depending on the Faculty they belong to and whether they are enrolled full-time or part-time. For example, full-time undergraduate students will pay about 2.5 per cent more in mandatory supplementary fees for various McMaster Students Union items including the organization fee, the health insurance plan and the University Centre building fee as well as the Ontario Public Interest Research Group fee. The University collects these fees on behalf of student organizations and student societies and remits the money to them.

posted on May 4: With scholarship, they’ll travel

McMaster University's Undergraduate Council Awards Committee has awarded travel scholarships to 10 students to enhance their educational experience with travel abroad: Nisha Thampi, honours Arts & Science (biology), received the Russell T. Wilkins Travel Scholarship of $6,000 to travel to Zambia. Thampi plans to study the psychological problems facing orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. Thampi will work in four orphanages in the capital city of Lusaka and will live in one of the orphanages. Her work with the orphans will be considered fieldwork for her undergraduate thesis. Tania Wong, honours biology and psychology, was awarded the Russell T. Wilkins Travel Scholarship of $6,000 to travel to the Mount Everest region of Nepal. She will spend a month with Envirotreks Canada giving environmental workshops to elementary school children in the region and helping to clean up the Everest base camp. When she returns to McMaster in the fall she has volunteered to present her Mount Everest experiences to the university community. Aimie Johnson, honours French and modern languages, was granted the A. G. Alexander Travel Scholarship of $5,500 to study in Paris, France. She plans to pursue her interest in Blaise Pascal, in addition to attending language classes and volunteering at the Paris YMCA. She also will live with a family to improve her conversational skills. Johnson hopes her experiences in France will help her prepare for her chosen career as a French teacher. Claire Knight, honours history, was awarded the A. G. Alexander Travel Scholarship of $5,500 to study at Oxford University in England. She plans to take part in Oxford's Summer Program in History, Politics and Society and take courses entitled "Modern Russian Politics" and "The Fall of the British Empire, 1945-1997." Her long-term academic goal is to pursue graduate work in international relations. Elena Mallard, honours modern languages and linguistics, received the A. G. Alexander Travel Scholarship of $5,500 to study in Paris, France and Rome, Italy. She plans to study the Italian language and literature at Studioitalia in Rome for six weeks and then to travel to Paris, France to spend four weeks studying French at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Upon graduation, Mallard plans to complete an International Master's of Business Administration. Angelika Sellick, honours English and history, was granted the Joan Jackson Dunbar Travel Scholarship of $3,500 to study Shakespeare at the University of Cambridge in England. She will attend Cambridge's Shakespeare Summer School during the month of July. Sellick plans to pursue a master's degree in history after graduating from McMaster.

posted on May 2: 18 distinguished individuals to receive honorary degrees at Spring Convocation

Captains of industry, humanitarians, scientists, scholars, a tenor and comedian Martin Short -- McMaster University will honour a diverse and distinguished group of individuals at this year's Spring Convocation. The University will present honorary degrees to the following at eight Convocation ceremonies this spring: Divinity College (May 8, 8 p.m., Convocation Hall) Theodor Angelov, president, Bulgarian Baptist Union (Doctor of Divinity)** Rick Tobias, executive director, Evergreen Mission (Doctor of Divinity) Faculty of Health Sciences (May 11, 2:30 p.m., Hamilton Place) John V. Basmajian, McMaster professor emeritus, rehabilitation medicine (Doctor of Science) Richard Heinzl, MD, founder of the Canadian chapter, Midecins Sans Frontihres/Doctors Without Borders (Doctor of Laws) James Orbinski, MD, founding member of the Canadian chapter, Midecins Sans Frontihres/Doctors Without Borders (Doctor of Laws)** School of Business (May 30, 9:30 a.m. Hamilton Place) Anthony Fell, chair and chief executive officer, RBC Dominion Securities (Doctor of Laws) Ron Foxcroft, president, Fluke Transport**(Doctor of Laws) Faculty of Humanities and Arts & Science Program(May 30, 2:30 p.m. Hamilton Place) Pierre Conlon, McMaster professor emeritus, 18th-century French scholar(Doctor of Letters) Richard Margison, world-renowned tenor (Doctor of Letters) Martin Short, comedian and actor (Doctor of Letters) ** Faculty of Social Sciences (May 31, 9:30 a.m., Hamilton Place) Robert Giroux, president and CEO, AUCC (Doctor of Laws) ** Colin Millar, law enforcement educator and Hamilton's former chief of police (Doctor of Laws) Faculty of Social Sciences (May 31, 2:30 p.m., Hamilton Place) Mary Buzzell, teacher, scholar, clinician and advocate for the elderly (Doctor of Laws) Jack Pelech, lawyer, inductee McMaster Sports Hall of Fame (Doctor of Laws) ** Faculty of Engineering (June 1, 9:30 a.m., Hamilton Place) William Sinclair, co-founder JDS Optics (now JDS Uniphase)(Doctor of Science) Joseph Wright, president and CEO Pulp and Paper Research Institute (Doctor of Science) ** Faculty of Science(June 1, 2:30 p.m., Hamilton Place) James Bruce, meteorologist, senior associate, Global Change Strategies (Doctor of Science) David Strangway, president, Canada Foundation for Innovation (Doctor of Science) ** ** will give the Convocation address.