Maria Pacelli: Prized performer

You can almost hear her squirming at the other end of the phone -- Maria Pacelli is clearly uncomfortable about being interviewed. It's not that she's shy around the media -- far from it.

The Department of Anes-thesia's administrative secretary can be downright bold in approaching writers. But her goal is always to shine the spotlight on the faculty members in her department. Wouldn't I rather write about one of her professors instead?

The self-effacing Pacelli is the first winner of the new Anne McCormick Award for Excellence in the Faculty of Medicine, created to recognize contributions by outstanding non-academic staff. Pacelli says the connection to the recently retired McCormick, who was assistant to the dean for over 20 years, makes the award all the sweeter.

"I was forever calling her up, asking her for advice. She is a tremendous woman, afraid of no one. She is somebody who can take on the world."

Dr. Franco Carli, chair of the Department of Anesthesia, says that when word spread to his staff about the new award, several professors shared the same immediate reaction -- "We've got to nominate Maria."

"When people talk about Maria, it's with genuine affection," says Carli. "Maria is always filled with ideas, always filled with energy. When a problem emerges, she always seems to know who to call -- whether it's someone in the dean's office or in the Department of Immigration."

As administrative secretary, Pacelli tackles the sort of work one would expect -- she looks after the accounts, tends to the paperwork connected to staffing issues, makes sure that departmental committees have administrative support and handles the bulk of the department's correspondence.

She also does things you might not expect. And she does them exceedingly well. Carli likens Pacelli's presence to having an in-house fundraiser and publicist.

Pacelli edits the department's newsletter and set up its website. She led a $900,000 fundraising campaign that resulted in the creation of the Harold Griffith Endowed Chair in Anesthesia. She spearheaded an effort that saw Griffith -- the McGill professor who discovered the anesthetic properties of the drug curare -- commemorated on a Canada Post stamp.

Pacelli has a keen interest in the history of her department. She successfully applied for a traveling scholarship to Chicago's Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology in order to examine the museum's holdings on Wesley Bourne, founder of McGill's Department of Anes-thesia. She then co-wrote a published biography of Bourne. She established the department's historical library, organizes conferences and helps visiting professors and clinical fellows cope with the challenges of an unfamiliar city.

Pacelli says she's been lucky in working with a series of departmental chairs who've supported her in taking on projects out of the norm. "When I come up with a crazy idea, nobody ever stops me."

Her loyalty to McGill stems from the University's kindness towards her father years ago. When his health took a turn for the worse, Pacelli recalls her dad being visited in the hospital by a representative from the company where he worked. "He basically said, 'Get out of bed and go to work right now or there's no job for you.'" Pacelli helped her dad find a position as a porter in the McIntyre Medical Sciences Building. "My father was a proud, hard-working man and I've been grateful to McGill ever since."

Which isn't to say that Pacelli thinks McGill is perfect. She believes the University could do a much better job fostering promotion opportunities for non-academic staff who, even when they excel in their jobs, often have no way of moving up the ladder.

There's no mistaking her devotion to her department. "Anesthetists are often rather unfairly viewed as technicians and this is sometimes seen as just a service department. Our people are doctors and they're doing world-class research. I don't think they get the recognition they deserve."

With Maria on the case, that's likely to change.

Daniel McCabe

We'll do it. Just give us another 50 years or so. Human beings are curious animals -- we want to go to the moon to see what's there.


Earth and planetary sciences professor Jafar Arkani-Hamed, talking to Maclean's about the likelihood of living on the moon. Arkani-Hamed is currently analyzing data about the moon's gravitational field recently collected by NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft.

Law students Austin Bell, Elisabeth Preston, Kirsten Crain, and Leïla SahyounPHOTO: OWEN EGAN

"I'm so behind in my courses. I'm so behind in my readings," groans law student Kirsten Crain. That's the price Crain paid for entering a national mooting competition involving some of the top law students in the country. Crain and her teammates on the McGill squad put in long hours preparing for the tournament -- researching, writing and rehearsing.

The payoff was substantial. McGill was named best team, while Crain was singled out as top performer at the competition.

Eleven law schools took part in the moot, organized by Davies Ward & Beck, a Toronto law firm specializing in securities.

Preparations for the contest began in earnest in December when all participating law students were mailed the details about the case to be mooted -- a juicy dustup between a family-run publishing firm and a merchant bank intent on taking it over inspired, in part, by Charles Dickens's Bleak House.

Crain and her comrades -- Austin Bell, Elisabeth Preston and Leïla Sahyoun -- hit the books, gaining expertise in the legalities surrounding shareholder rights and takeover bids. They recruited securities experts from some of the largest law firms in Montreal to appraise their approach. Then they headed to Toronto to do battle. In the final round, with five real judges (two from the Supreme Court) keeping score, McGill bested UBC.

Crain might have been named best mooter overall, but she insists McGill's win was very much a team accomplishment. "In a competition like this, all the team members have to do well or you're sunk. We had a really strong team." She says their coach, law professor David Stevens, deserves credit as well.

The secret to mooting, says Crain, is to know your facts and to deliver them with flair. "It's not just about presenting the best legal arguments. You have to be able to tell a story effectively, you have to sell your client's position."

We're trying to preserve the 'liberal' in the Liberal Party.


McGill student Ayse Dali, a youth delegate at the recent national Liberal Party convention, speaking to The Toronto Star. Liberal youth members at the convention banded together to urge their party to support government benefits for same-sex couples, relax restrictions on immigration and push for a greater number of young candidates for the next election.

Quebecers love Formula One racing. Whenever native son Jacques Villeneuve takes to the track, TVs across the province are switched on to monitor the bleached blond's every move.

Félix Camiré and a group of fellow engineering students are taking their passion for Formula One cars to another level -- they're building one.

And what's the point of building a race car unless you race it? Come May 27, Camiré, the McGill team's captain, and the other students will be in Detroit, pitting their auto against cars built by teams from 80 other universities.

More than 30 mechanical and electrical engineering students have been busy building the McGill car -- many of them have been at it since November 1996. Using computer modeling software, they carefully planned the car's parts down to the last nut and bolt -- even designing a cockpit that conforms to the body shapes of the students selected as drivers.

"Building the different components is relatively easy," says Camiré. "Making sure that everything fits together properly can be the tricky part."

The Detroit race is organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the judges hail from the engineering departments of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. McGill entered the competition once before, in 1995. The University finished 23rd overall and was named the best new team. "This time, we're aiming for a top-10 finish," says Camiré.

Speed is only part of the equation. Teams are also judged for their car's design, craftsmanship and fuel economy, and on their salesmanship. "We all have to do a marketing presentation as if we're trying to sell our cars to a potential buyer," says Camiré. Once the marks for the various categories are tallied, an overall winner is named.

The McGill Formula One car will be unveiled on campus next month and it's already booked for appearances at the Montreal Casino and the Montreal and Quebec City auto shows.