McMASTER UNIVERSITY

From the Dean's

Desk

Well, we finally have the NUMBER; i.e., the size of the cut in McMaster's operating budget as a result of the recent economic statement by the Ontario government. The announced 16% cut in the postsecondary sector translates into a $17 million reduction for McMaster, a 10.4% decrease of our operating budget. By this action, the Conservative Government has done what, I suppose, we want all political parties to do -- carry out their election promises. No organization accommodates easily to a budget cut of this magnitude. But, after the obligatory period of venting, we might as well deflect our energies to the goal of maintaining and, where possible, enhancing the academic excellence of the Faculty and University within the constraints of the budget cut.

What are the consequences of this budget reduction to the Faculty of Science? It is still unclear whether the 11% will be implemented across the board or selectively. Even if senior administration decides on an equal 11% cut to all envelopes, we will maintain selectivity of budget reduction in the Faculty of Science. This has been our plan all along. As you know, the Faculty of Science Academic Plan operated on the expectation of a 16% reduction of budgets, representing an 11% budget cut and an obligatory 5% contribution to a reallocation pool. For us, therefore, things are pretty much as we anticipated. Early in the new year, budget meetings will begin with every Department to plan the 1996-97 budget. Concerns for us in this exercise will be to live within our means, to preserve the research/teaching capacity of the Faculty and to engage in as much faculty renewal as possible. To help us achieve these goals, we will be announcing a savings incentive plan in January (more on this later). In addition, we anticipate that the University will soon announce an early retirement incentive opportunity. The bottom line for us is that every serious and genuine possibility for budget savings will be explored and, as always, I am receptive to suggestions or advice you have to offer. I will not insult you or embarrass myself by saying that I am happy about this budget cut or that we will come out of this process unscathed, better than we were before, leaner (I wish!) but better, working smarter not harder, etc. The next several years will be difficult and hard decisions will have to be made. We need to do those things that, in our best judgement, will preserve the academic excellence of this Faculty. Faculty renewal is a critical variable in this context. Policies or actions that have turf protection or easing the life of administrators as their dominant purpose should receive lowest priority and as little attention as possible. I am thankful that I am Dean of a Faculty that has internalized so many of these latter sentiments.

I take this opportunity to wish you a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy, peaceful and productive new year.

Dean's Brown Bag

Lunches

The Dean of Science brown bag lunches have been moved to Thursdays in Term 2 from 12:30-1:20. These lunches are open to any individual interested in learning more about, participating in, or discussing the activities of, the Faculty of Science, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents of students, members of the community etc. Participants should bring their own lunch (not necessarily in a brown bag). The Dean provides beverage and dessert. To reserve a spot, or for more information, call Kathy Showkenik at 525-9140, Ext. 22615.

At the January 22 1996 Faculty of Science Meeting, the Dean will deliver the first "State of the Faculty Address". This address will review the current state of the Faculty of Science and outline the issues and plans for the 1996-97 academic year. Be there or be square.

Teaching

A Natural Sciences 1 Evaluation Committee has been established under the able stewardship of Peter Sutherland. The purpose of this committee is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current Natural Sciences I program and to recommend amendments or revisions of the program as the committee deems appropriate. In so doing; the committee will:

(1) examine the underlying rationale for the current program, and formulate, if necessary, a revised philosophy.

(2) conduct an inventory of all the resources (human, capital, financial) that go into the current program. It will also attempt to determine the success rate of the current program in meetings its goals.

(3) make suggestions as it sees fit on the better usage of existing resources, on the needs for additional resources, and the reduction or elimination of the use of some current resources.

In arriving at its decisions, the committee will be guided by "best practice" as identified by examining programs at other universities (both peer institutions in Ontario and the rest of Canada, and other schools that we might aspire to emulate). The committee will report by 1996 January 31.

The committee's activities are guided by several considerations:

(1) Nat Sci 1 has not been looked at for over 20 years.

(2) The program may be not well-suited to the needs of the students, especially since such a large fraction see the life and medical sciences as their goal. Our new president, Peter George, has emphasized "valuing students" in his Mission and Vision statement for the university. It almost goes without saying that the needs of students will not be exclusively determined by them, although the committee is engaging in active consultation with current and former Nat Sci 1 students.

(3) The current Nat Sci 1 program, with its reliance on 6-unit courses, is inflexible.

(4) For years there has been inadequate co-ordination among departments as to appropriate curricula.

All are encouraged to provide input to the committee. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is through e-mail. The committee members are:

Peter Sutherland (Chair, Physics and Astronomy) pgs@mcmail

Mike O'Donnell - Biology: odonnell@mcmail

Jacques Barbier - Chemistry: barbier@mcmail

Nick Solntseff - Computer Science & Systems: solntsef@mcmail

Brian McCann - Geography: mccannsb @mcmail

Jack Rink - Geology: rinkwj@mcmail

Bradd Hart - Mathematics & Statistics: hartb @mcmail

Dick Day - Psychology: dayrich@mcmail

Tonia Seli - '95 Class Valedictorian: u9107230 @muss.CIS.McMaster.CA

Rick Butler - Chair of Undergraduate Council: butlerr@fhs.csu.mcmaster.ca

Adrian Kitai - Materials Science & Engineering

ex officio:

Harvey Weingarten - Dean: weingart@mcmail

Tom Davison - Associate Dean: davison @mcmail

Associate Dean's Office

Grade Report Pickup

When: January 4th

Where: to be announced

January Drop & Add

When: January 10th, 11th, 12th 9:30am-11:30am 1:30pm-3:30pm

Where: General Science Building, rms. 116, 117.

Level 1 students must see Mrs. Kapshey at the times listed above, G.S.,rm 117.

Only levels 2, 3, and 4 may complete and submit a drop & add form to the office of the Assoc. Dean of Science earlier than this, i.e.,from January 3rd until January 12th.

Level 2, 3, & 4 students must return to pick up their copy of the drop & add form to determine if the change has been authorized.

All students requesting a limited enrolment course or a course that requires permission must attach the appropriate, signed permission form to their Drop & Add form.

Scholarship Reception

When: February 6th 5:30pm-7:00pm

Where: University Hall, Convocation Hall

Dress: informal

Research

Fellowships

Dr. Tao Jiang, Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science has recently been awarded a prestigious Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The fellowship will enable Dr. Jiang to visit Professor Y. Igarashi at Gunma University in June and July 1996 in order to continue his research into computational complexity and combinatorial algorithms. Dr. Jiang is currently on research leave in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Washington State University.

Documents of Interest

The following publications are available in the Dean's Office to sign out. Please contact Kathy Showkenik, x22615.

Integrity in Research and Scholarship: A Collective Responsibility. Conference Report held in November 1994. Published by the Medical Research Council, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, September 1995.

Electronics and the Dim Future of the University, Eli M. Noam, Science, Volume 270, October 13, 1995.

Health, Wealthy and Wise: A Framework for an Integrated Federal Science and Technology Strategy, Presented to the Prime Minister of Canada. Report of the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, April 1995.

Department of Biology

A Tulip Planting Ceremony was held on Friday, Oct. 20, 11:00 a.m. in front of the Life Sciences Building. Laila Bastedo, Computer Assistant in Life Sciences entered a nation-wide contest sponsored by various organizations in Canada and Holland, for which the prize was 400 tulip bulbs. The tulips were to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Holland by Canadian troops and the first gift of tulip bulbs to Canada by the Dutch people.

Since the bulbs had to be planted in a public place, Laila chose the front of the Life Sciences Building.

Science Computer Resource and Training Centre

SCRTC Training Courses - New Course Format!

In an attempt to address specific demands of course material, time constraints and cost, we have altered the format of our courses, effective January 1996. All hands-on workshops will be offered as 2-hour modules dealing with specific functions of each software package. Most courses will be taught utilizing courseware from Computer Courseware International. Please look for pamphlet coming out in mid-December!

New Courses in January 1996

Beginner's HTML; Microsoft Office Overview; Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

Lasparc

The Science SparcStation called lasparc (located in ABB-101), has been undergoing some changes/upgrades. lasparc is now running as an FTP server as well as Science web server, gopher server, and print server. The workstation will house various software for research use in the Faculty of Science. The installation of software began the week of November 5. Researchers will have easy access via ftp to copy software onto their systems. Some of the software which has been suggested includes: Unix software, licensed software, public unix software and tools, various public Unix tools, MAC software.

Anonymous ftp on lasparc

Currently contains the following information for downloading:

SCRTC.printer.drivers: printer drivers to enable access to the Canon Colour Laser Copier.

budget.review: sample 6 month review spreadsheet provided by Chris Sylvester (qpro6/win).

classlistmacro: qpro6/win macros for pulling classlists through Oracle and importing into qpro6/win.

electronic.report.pgm: Layout program for entering marks and then uploading to Registrar's Office.

keys: Paradox5/win keys database created in Object Pal.

mvsclasslistmacro: macros in qpro6/win for pulling down classlists from the IBM (MVS) to qpro6/win.

Windows95.printer.driver: printer driver for Windows 95 for Canon Colour Laser Copier.

External QuadSpeed CD ROM

Just a reminder that Faculty of Science can sign out the portable external Quadspeed CD-ROM through the SCRTC. The unit plugs into a parallel port. Please call extension 24228 for further information.

SCRTC Web Page and SCRTC Newsletter

The SCRTC will no longer be publishing a newsletter. Current software and hardware information as well as helpsheets and links to software-related web sites will be available on the SCRTC Web page. To access this, use the following url:

http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/SCRTC/scrtc.html

To find out how current this information is, please refer to dates at the bottom of each software information page.

Interesting Science-related URLs:

ScienceWeb!

http://scienceweb.dao.nrc.ca/

A Science and technology information service that focuses on Canadian activities.

Features include: guide to Canadian Universities, Technical schools, College Science and Technology, Cooped programs; Getting school children involved in science; press releases and hyperlinks from Canadian Scientific Institutions and more...

Canadian Community of Science Databases

Database to search for the following information: Researchers at specific institutions; Facilities at specific institutions; Add yourself to the database (McMaster not currently listed on this database); Inventions at specific institutions in Canada

MOLPE (Microsoft Office License Pricing for Education)

Microsoft Office consists of the following packages: Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Site-licenses may now be purchased in groups of 10 from the Microcomputer Centre in the Bookstore. An initial purchase of the software would cost approx. $185.00 and then you are permitted up to 10 users to install this package. The 10 users must pay a license fee (and sign an agreement) for approximately $65.00. The SCRTC has purchased a package which will be licensed to 10 of our systems for training.

Science Society Information

For information regarding the Science Society, please contact the President of the Science Society, Lynne Tessier, GS-B103, extension 23322.

Faculty of Science Computer Coordinator

by Ken Moyle

Use of CIS Labs

The computer labs in BSB and ABB are busier than ever before.

Instructors are making more use of programs such as Maple, MATLAB, Minitab, and Quattro Pro for course work, and a majority of students are now routinely using email, UseNet news and wordprocessing.

If you plan to have your students use the CIS labs for course work next term, please fill out a registration form as soon as possible, especially if you'd like to book lab time or need custom software installed. The registration form is available over the Web at:

http://www.mcmaster.ca/crsreg

or from the mcmail% prompt via:

crsreg

or

lynx http://www.mcmaster.ca/crsreg

or from another Unix workstation via:

% telnet mcmail

Login: crsreg

Password: crsreg.

Miscellaneous Comments

Extracted with permission from email message of October 11, 1995, regarding Faculty of Science Newsletter

On Wed, 11 Oct 1995, Peter Timusk wrote:

Hi and thanks,

As the son of one of the faculty members and a former employee of the institute for materials research, I thank you for starting the on-line newsletter. My father has gotten me reinterested in computing and staying on-line with the internet. So while I am living hundreds of miles away and studying in a local college, I can provoke memories of Mcmaster and my time spent as a first year science student. Maybe I'll come back to MAC to get that degree in Math someday. But I hope this newsletter continues and allows me the chance to stay in touch.

April Issue of the Faculty of Science Newsletter

The next issue of the Faculty of Science Newsletter will be distributed April. If you would like to submit information for this next issue, please contact Deane Maynard at extension 24228 or email maynard @mcmaster.ca by March 15, 1996.