Photo: Owen Egan
Research Centre opens
The Brain Tumour Research Centre opened to much fanfare Sept. 17. Dignitaries such as Quebec Deputy Prime Minister Pauline Marois and Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien took part in the opening ceremony and toured the state-of-the-art facility. The Centre will play an important part in the global fight against little-understood brain tumours.
Bullish McGill Bonds
Sept. 12, one hour, 150,000 bonds. That's how long it took for McGill's newly issued (and highly rated) debentures to be sold at roughly $100 per. The $150 million will be prudently invested in much needed resources, such as residence space.
Fresh start to senate
Senate starts with bang this year. From the procedure for externally funded chairs to the wording of McGill's environmental call to action, senators roll up their sleeves and get down to the business of orchestrating our University.
The walls have ears -- eyes, shells and tails
You'll never look at the city in the same way again. Redpath Museum curator Ingrid Birker has put together a nifty little book that reveals a rich world of urban minutiae. From cats to crinoids, animals have left their prints in Montreal's building stones.
An apple a day keeps the developer away
The orchards around the Gault Nature Reserve are banding together for solidarity in projects like supplying McGill's residences with apples. The University's support of the apple growers will help ensure that the reserve and the surrounding community maintain their green economy.
From Donkeys to Databases
Schooling and technology expert Sir John Daniel spoke to a packed audience on rethinking the tools needed for education around the globe. Computers are all very well, but the rural conditions many students face mean that donkeys and washing machines are even more important.
Testifying to hatred
Has the massacre in the Indian state of Gujarat early this year been given adequate media attention? Dr. Syeda Hameed, of the Muslim Women's Forum in Delhi, spoke to a McGill audience about region's politics and her experience investigating the impact of the massacre on minority women.
Renaissance in the Arts
The Faculty of Arts, the cornerstone of any university, will see a bonanza of new professors. Fifty new hires will be on board by 2004, to add on to the 24 profs employed this year. The Faculty is dedicated to lowering the student-professor ratio, increasing space and revitalizing research.
Stress, memory and social support
Psychiatry professor Sonia Lupien's studies on the elderly reveal the link between too much stress and decline in memory can be reversed with a steroid treatment to adjust the levels of the hormone cortisol. But if cortisol levels are too high, indicating stress, the treatment won't work. Furthermore, stress in the elderly is often linked to social isolation – boosting social support could be the most useful treatment of all.
Thought for food
Plant science professor Don Smith has put together a lecture series at Macdonald Campus called "Food for Thought," which aims to explore the links between science, agriculture, the environment and your dinner. They'll cover hot-button topics like genetically modified foods, climate change, population pressure, bio-diversity, food safety and water scarcity, all to whet your intellectual appetite.
Legal Sci-Fi
Law professor Richard Gold delivered a talk on "E-Governance: From X-World to e-World." He turns to sci-fi writer Ursula Le Guin for an out-of-this-world view on intellectual property law -- of the societal effects of public versus private ownership.
Gambling on our lives
The bleakness of suicide is felt acutely by those left behind. And suicides related to problem gambling on video lottery terminals can be a particularly heartrending issue for family members. Should the Quebec government be accountable for misleading VLT users?
Ripe for the picking
Fields of study take on a new meaning when you visit the gardens of McGill. From corn rows and melon patches at Macdonald Campus to crinkly kale growing behind the McGill School of Environment's downtown building, students and horticulturalists are constantly turning over a new leaf.
Also in this issue Kaleidoscope
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