School of Social Work’s Bill Ryan receives Martin Luther King Legacy Award for community service By Pascal Zamprelli About two weeks ago, Professor Bill Ryan of McGill’s School of Social Work received a phone call that left him “shocked, in the good sense, and surprised. More than anything else,” he added, “I was moved.” The call was [...] ... [Read]

Globetrotting, mountain climbing Brit finds right fit at McGill By Jim Hynes Ernest Ogunleye has been around the world and very nearly to the top of it. And the view from that lofty perch instilled in him an appreciation for what would end up being his career. These days, Ogunleye is more likely to use his mountaineering gear, [...] ... [Read]

Doing his part for the “great undertaking” By Neale McDevitt Although he grew up just outside of Halifax, N.S., and only assumed his new job as McGill’s Secretary-General on Nov.1, 2009, Stephen Strople was very familiar with Montreal before making a move from the Maritimes. “I had aunts who were living here when I was younger [...] ... [Read]

By Jim Engle-Warnick Esther lives in Carrefour, the epicentre of the Haitian earthquake. She is three. She has been matched to my family for adoption for more than two years. Recently, we received a document with the signature of the President of Haiti, putting the adoption into its end game. It took more than a year [...] ... [Read]

Not B-grade science fiction, but A-grade science fact By William Raillant-Clark Of the more than 200 million people infected every year with worm parasites released from snails, 20,000 to 80,000 will eventually die. McGill parasitologist John Dalton and his team have discovered how these killer parasites have managed to live inside our bodies, apparently invisible to our [...] ... [Read]

By Jim Hynes Canada Hockey Place will be packed to the rafters and millions of televisions will be tuned-in when the Canadian women’s hockey team faces Slovakia on Feb. 13, the first full day of the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics. But before the puck drops, there are still some smaller barns to play in, Midget boys [...] ... [Read]

By Pascal Zamprelli When one thinks of blogs, the word “academic” rarely comes to mind. Scholarly journals, for their part, don’t exactly scream “widely accessible.” A new variety of online publication, the academic blog, attempts to bridge the gap between the ivory tower and the expanding online community, and is gaining in popularity. A group of students [...] ... [Read]

Redpath’s unseen collection a treasure-trove of the weird and wonderful By Neale McDevitt As you enter the basement, a crocodile bares its fangs menacingly from atop a locker. On either side of him, a row of black-eyed creatures, from badgers to razor-toothed fish, grimace and scowl. Nearby, a python squeezes the life out of a hapless [...] ... [Read]

Here’s the first picture (credit to Autosport) of the 2010 McLaren MP4-25. Note the significant aerodynamic changes from the MP4-24, pictured below. The new car features down swept side pods and a sharper nose (presumably to reduce drag) and a pronounced vertical stabilizer running from the airbox to the rear wing. The 2009 McLaren [...] ... [Read]

Welcome to UDMan’s Video Friday, in which we take a look at the unbelievable auto related Videos from around the world, and show them here on Ride Lust. 1st up, this Ferrari F430 Spyder, that fell off the back of the delivery truck while being unloaded at Ernie Boch Jr’s Luxury Auto Dealer in Norwood, [...] ... [Read]

Valentino Rossi, five time MotoGP world champion and all around wunderkind, has tested a 2008 Ferrari F1 car at Italy’s Mugello circuit. Although done with no intent of Rossi switching from two wheels to four, his times were good enough to impress Ferrari. Good enough, in fact, for Ferrari to issue a press [...] ... [Read]

I’ve never really been a big fan of diesels. Not because I don’t like them, but simply because I really don’t have any real world experience with them. Hell, the last diesel experience I had was way back in 1981 with my Dad’s diesel powered Buick Riviera. I was 9 years old and only remember [...] ... [Read]

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) have determined that laws banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving do not reduce crash rates (press release here). Rather than utilizing real world accident data, the HLDI researchers studied “reductions in observed phone use following bans” to [...] ... [Read]

Welcome to UDMan’s Video Friday, in which we take a look at the unbelievable auto related Videos from around the world, and show them here on Ride Lust. Look what we have here, a couple of videos that showcase some vintage Group 6 racing iron, including Mustangs, Camaros, and Vettes. Just turn up the volume, [...] ... [Read]

By Neale McDevitt It may not have the highest profile among McGill laboratories, but the WOW Lab has to be the most fun. Where else do researchers spend their days flying kites, bouncing laser beams through cubes of Jello, and making running toy trains levitate using superconductors and magnets? Fun and games aside - although fun and [...] ... [Read]

By Neale McDevitt Try as she might, Kate Holland can’t explain it. But she is incredibly grateful. Holland is a Clinical Caseworker for the Big Brother/Big Sisters of Greater Montreal’s Prometheus Project that pairs up student “protégés” from elementary and high schools with adult “mentors.” Started as a dropout-prevention program 20 years ago, the Prometheus Project serves [...] ... [Read]