30 years ago
Broadening botany
Summer 1973 — The problems of Newfoundland
plants are the special research area of newly-appointed
biology faculty member Dr. Peter Scott. He is already planning
a detailed survey of the vascular plants indigenous to the
Placentia Bay area and to assess the effects of industrial
pollutants on these plants.
25 years ago
Sod turning for library
Summer 1978 — A sod turning ceremony by Her
Majesty the Queen is held in late July for the university's
new library, appropriately named the Queen Elizabeth II
Library. Planning for the new library has been underway
for several years and the university has received generous
support from students, faculty, staff and alumni towards
construction. The provincial government has made a commitment
to match the amount donated for construction.
In other news, it’s Northward Ho in August for five
young musicians from the Department of Music. A student
brass quintet under the musical director of Kjellrun Hestekin
spends three weeks touring 20 communities in northern Newfoundland
and Labrador as far north as Nain.
20 years ago
New arts degree
Summer 1983 — In co-operation with the Canadian
Police College, Memorial has designed a program leading
to the bachelor of arts degree (police studies) to be offered
this fall. Open to serving police officers, the program
consists of regular academic course work at Memorial complemented
by specialized professional training at the Canadian Police
College.
15 years ago
Oceans 2000
Summer 1988 — Oceans 2000 is Memorial’s
bold new initiative for the development of ocean science
at the university. It proposes the investment of about $850
million in government and private sector funding to position
Newfoundland, the Atlantic region and Canada among world
leaders in ocean studies and enterprise by the year 2000.
In other news, the documentary film The Last Chinese
Laundry has earned the Division of Educational Technology
the Award of Excellence from the Association for Medical
Technology in Education in Canada. The 30-minute film, produced
by Charlie Callanan and Fred Hollingshurst, documents the
history of the Chinese people in Newfoundland from 1885
to the present.
10 years ago
Summer Shakespeare turns 10
Summer 1993 — MUN Drama's Summer Shakespeare
is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a production
of As You Like It – a romantic extravaganza
with spectacular period costumes, an enchanting original
set, delightful music and songs and a large, multi-talented
cast.
Five years ago
Astronauts touch down
Summer 1998 — Hundreds of children and adults
crowded into the medical school’s main auditorium
to meet the crew of the space orbiter Columbia.
The excited youngsters peppered the astronauts with questions
from “What did you do with your garbage?” to
“Do you ever get scared?” The astronauts spent
16 days in space this spring on the STS-90 Neurolab mission
in which 26 complex experiments in the life sciences were
conducted to study the effects of microgravity on the brain
and other parts of the nervous system.
