December 7, 2000

Macdonald Campus students Gina Philie and Marilyne Simard are roommates in one of Canada's most unusual student residences, seen in the background. The EcoResidence, a formerly crumbling building renovated with recycled materials, outfitted with greenhouses and dedicated to environmentally friendly living, recently won a Prix d'excellence from the Ordre des architectes du Québec.
Photo: Owen Egan

Profs to head health institutes
Daniel McCabe
McGill professors Philip Branton and Rémi Quirion are among the top scientists selected to be scientific directors for the new Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Branton and Quirion will play major roles in defining the sort of research that goes on in this country in their respective disciplines.

Buszard is back
Bronwyn Chester
After an eventful and productive first term as the dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Deborah Buszard has signed on for more. Her priorities include several new facilities, a revamped curriculum for undergraduates and better tea-pouring skills.

In memoriam: Andrew Allen
Remembering the man who played a pioneering role in publicizing McGill

Keeping our best
Daniel McCabe
The top faculty who will be the first James McGill Professors and William Dawson Scholars have been selected. The McGill and Dawson programs aim to help McGill entice many of our best scholars to stay put, while freeing McGill to use Canada Research Chairs to attract top brains from other institutions.

Locating the brain's daily planner
Sylvain Comeau
If you're disorganized now, you would be in really bad shape if not for your prefrontal cortex, the portion of your brain that helps us keep track of our memories and intentions. Psychology professor Michael Petrides has done much to shed new light on this aspect of cognition.

Oxford on her horizon
Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
McGill's newest Rhodes Scholar sees Oxford as a stepping stone towards her ultimate goal -- becoming a doctor in a developing nation.

Lighting up Spanish history's "black hole"
Mark Reynolds
The Enlightenment didn't happen by accident in Spain, but scholars didn't have much of an idea about what paved the way for the country's Golden Age. McGill's Jesús Pérez-Magallon has filled in the blanks.

Your chance to save history
Leslie Stojsic
Some of McGill's oldest, most precious books are falling apart. Can you help put them back together again?

Canaries in an ethical minefield
Daniel McCabe
According to author Margaret Somerville, health care and the new emerging medical technologies are "an ethics laboratory for societies like Canada." She probes the topic in her latest book.

Also in this issue Kaleidoscope One of the best soccer coaches in the business, The politics of Star Trek, Is sex okay before the big game? Kudos On campus Aching ears in the North, Top teachers in medicine, Work Study's winning ways, Hungry students