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McGill Reporter
February 24, 2005 - Volume 37 Number 11
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So, a Russian, an American and a Dutchman walk into a giant tin can...


Caption follows
Getting spacey with Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke

It's amazing how the "Hey Wow" can rapidly turn into the "Ho hum." The International Space Station is a case in point. Hailed as a giant leap forward for mankind when it first opened for human habitation in 2000, the station has largely dropped from the public eye, quietly spinning around the earth and doing space station stuff.

McGill's Association for the Development of Aerospace Medicine (ADAM) hasn't forgotten. On March 2, the group will host not one, but two recent ISS residents: Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and American astronaut Mike Fincke, who were crew for Expedition 9 to the ISS, which launched from Russia. The duo returned in October 2004 from a 187-day sojourn aboard the close confines of the ISS, and are coming to McGill to talk about their mission, and the ISS project.

ADAM is an inderdisciplinary undergraduate group, with members from law, geology, medicine and other faculties and departments with an interest in space and space research.

Wednesday, March 2. Refresh-ments will be served at 3:30, lecture begins at 4 pm in Moyse Hall. Admission is free. For information contact adam@ssmu.mcgill.ca.

Dancing for dollars

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Dance the night away at the AIDS benefit
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Access to Essential Medicines Campaign was established by a group of McGill University Faculty of Law students with the goals of eliminating the barriers preventing access to essential medicines and promoting a broad response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The group is coordinating the first annual AIDS Charity Ball, a formal cocktail evening at Le Medley that is open to 1,500 students and members of the community - this includes law firms and various local businesses that have made generous contributions to the event. "The ball provides a great opportunity to unite students and members of the business community and to shine a bright light on a sometimes forgotten cause," says Erika Kurt, co-chair of the charity event. Organizers expect to raise over $10,000, which will go to Médecins Sans Frontières Canada.

In addition to tunes and tequila, there will be a photographer on hand to catch guests in all their glamour. The business community has provided prizes, though these do not include the bachelors and bachelorettes who will be auctioned off. As the guy in the commercial says, "play safe, kiddies."

Friday, March 4 at Le Medley, 1107 St. Denis. Tickets are on sale across campus at the Shatner Building, the Faculty of Law and the residences. To purchase tickets directly contact aidscharityball.law@mail.mcgill.ca. $25 in advance or $35 at the door.

Put on your rethinking cap

McGill, as an institution, has been spending as much time thinking about the future as an arts major on convocation day. What with academic planning processes, master-plan task forces and the like, tomorrow is big business today.

The folks at Rethink McGill are joining the game of prognostication. The fourth annual Rethink Conference on Environ-mental Policy at McGill is asking all members of the McGill community to imagine what they want McGill to look like in 20 years. Powered by solar cells? Toilets run by rainwater? Over-run with undergrads on methane-powered hover-bikes?

The conference will feature presentations on the environmental policy implementation at McGill, the Task Force on McGill's Master Plan and Vision 2025. Breakout sessions will include meetings on campus development, neighborhood and community, heritage buildings, environment and landscape, circulation and transportation, residences and other topics.

The conference will run from noon to 5 pm on March 11 in the Law Building. Seating is limited; register before March 4. For details on the conference and how to register, please see www.mcgill.ca/rethink/events.

He-Man of the seas

Long before Cartier, Columbus and Navarro, there was Zheng He. A Chinese admiral (and admirable He was), He sailed the ocean blue in seven famous voyages, the first of which was 600 years ago.

He (also known as Cheng Ho) commanded a fleet that reached the size of 70 vessels, with 30,000 men. He is reputed to have sailed over 50,000 kilometres in his voyages, and visited over 30 countries, including (possibly) North America. His nine-masted flagship, known as the Treasure Ship, was five times larger than the Santa Maria that transported Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. He is considered a hero in China and in the Islamic world - He was a practicing Muslim, and incidentally, a eunuch.

After He's death, the Chinese imperial government lost interest in state-sponsored voyages of exploration - possibly because they had more pressing problems with Mongolian invasions from the north.

Here at McGill, Jin Wu, a distinguished oceanic scientist and former minister of education for the Republic of China, will discuss He's voyages and the many celebrations that are being planned to commemorate the sexcentennial of He's accomplishments.

Zheng He's seven voyages (1405-1433): Historical background and contemporary significance, Tuesday, March 1, 4:30 pm, Arts Building, Room 160.

Plucky McGill grad returns


Jonathon Crow

Jonathan Crow, a McGill grad and principal violinist for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, will be scraping the strings at Pollack Hall as part of the Montreal New Music Festival. He'll premiere a violin concerto with the McGill Symphony Orchestra composed by McGill professor, Brian Cherney, as well as a 2002 orchestral compostion by McGill grad Nicolas Gilbert named for Tchal-Kouyrouk (the trusty steed of Toshtuk, Giant of the Steppes from the folklore of Kyrgyzstan). Henri Dutilleux's Symphony #1 rounds out the program, Alexis Hauser conducts.

Pollack Hall, March 4 and 5, at 7 pm. $10. See www.festivalmnm.ca for more info and other Montreal New Music Festival events, or call 398-5145.

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