get our latest news

THINK GREEN

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:56:56 -0400

BUSO PEER MENTORING

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 21:54:58 -0500

BUSO peer Mentoring Sections Winter Term will begin March 10th!

Please check our website for updates.

Our Peer mentoring program helps BUSO students in one-on-one relationship to provide guidance for their academic lives. Check our schedule and Visit us TODAY!

WINTER TERM SCHEDULE :

TUESDAYS:

11:30 am to 14:00 (contact : Daniel)

WEDNESDAYS:

9:30 am to 11:30 (contact: Paulina)

11:30 am to 13:00 ( contact: Brian)

FRIDAYS:

9:00 am to 11:30 am (contact: Daniel)

OFFICE LOCATION:

101C Vanier College

Volunteer for the LA&PS March calling campaign

Mon, 9 Feb 2009 23:12:42 -0500

Do you love your program of study? Do you love to talk? Why not combine your two loves and volunteer for the LA&PS calling campaign this March!!!

Students who have been admitted to LA&PS will be given the opportunity to sign up to receive a phone call from current students who are studying in their program of interest. Volunteers will congratulate the new admits, answer any questions they may have, and invite them to Spring Gala on April 4. We will make this a fun evening with food and conversation (and maybe even prizes!!)

If you are interested in volunteering, please send an email to Briana with your shift preference(s), your program of study, and your current year of study (1st/2nd/3rd/4th...). We have several shifts available so choose the one(s) that work best for you:

- Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 4-6pm or 6-8pm (or both shifts)
- Thursday, March 5, 2009, 4-6pm or 6-8pm (or both shifts)
- Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 4-6pm or 6-8pm (or both shifts)
- Thursday, March 12, 2009, 4-6pm or 6-8pm (or both shifts)

(LA&PS is the acronym for the new Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies which will combine the best that Arts and Atkinson has to offer.)

CONTACT:

Briana Sim
Events & Promotions Coordinator

Faculty of Arts, S812 Ross
bsim@yorku.ca
416.736.2100, ext. 30247

plato , theory of games and economic behavior

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 18:42:52 -0500

You might be right to think: What Plato s Republic, for instance, has to do with economics? Well, Plato does indeed address one of the most important question to philosophy, what is the good life? and perhaps more importantly why should I be good?, but how about economics? We know that the Republic is nothing else more than Socrates recipe for a just city and the search for what is desirable and undesirable in the political structure of the polis. But Plato is trying to solve a current dilemma in the Athenian society; which does not only impact the realm of philosophy and politics, but also economics.
At the beginning of book II, Glaucon wants Socrates to prove why justice can be superior to injustice (357a4-b2) and he explains that anyone would be unjust given the opportunity. Glaucon introduces the story of the Gyges and the ring and tells that one would be always unjust if one would not be punished for it. In Glaucons story, a man called Gyges receives a ring that gives him the power to become invisible. Gyges uses the ring to seduce the Queen and kill the King in order to take over the throne (359e-360b). The unjust man, who has a reputation for being perfectly just, would be rich and successful, and no one would ever suspect that his character was built on injustice. In contrast, a perfectly just man, who did not use the magical ring, would be easily exposed to others judgment and possible accusations of injustice. He will be poor and unhappy. Glaucon concludes that the Gyges and the rings is ‘a great proof that no one is willingly just but is compelled to be so, on the grounds that it is not a good in private, for whenever each person believes himself to be capable of acting unjustly, he does so’ (360c). Glaucon then induces us to the following question: from these two men, who is the happiest? What is better to be just or unjust?
In Glaucons dialogues what we have is a classical example of prisoners dilemma. The two individuals (the just and the unjust) can choose between two alternatives, either “being just” or “being unjust”. The idea is that each player would gain if they were both cooperating with each other by acting just. However, if only one of them decides to use the magical power of the ring, the other - who defects, will have the worse outcome. Glaucons arguments accounts for the fact that, just like the prisoners dilemma reveals how people come to be collectively worse off, one will always seek for the best possible outcome due to his / her egoistic nature. Well, the rest of the Republic will address this dilemma in a very peculiar way and it is a cue for Socrates to construct his ideal city. Suppose now that you have such a magic ring, what would you do? In the end, it is all a matter of how to analyze the optimal choice.

Academic Remediation: Accommodations, Adjustments and Modifications

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 12:29:37 -0500

Modifications Executive Committee of Senate Bulletin #6.

This document contains important information about the completion of courses. It has been issued by the Executive committee of Senate in order to identify the accommodations available to students, and adjustments and modifications that have been made or will be made. The document will be updated to reflect decisions about changes to schedules and academic regulations as they are finalized.

PRINCIPLES OF REMEDIATION

The Meaning of “Remediation” and “Remedial Actions”.
Remediation refers to accommodations for students, modification of normal academic regulations, and adjustments in class and examination schedules. The completion of courses will involve a combination of such changes.

Responsibility For Remediation
Changes to class and examination schedules and to academic regulations will be authorized by the University’s Senate, and these changes will provide the overall framework for the completion of courses. Senate legislation emphasizes that course directors are in the best position to determine other appropriate remediation for individual courses, and will do so in conjunction with their departments and with their students. Remediation will be governed by the principles of flexibility, discretion and academic integrity. Course directors are encouraged to be flexible in dealing with individual requests, and must not unreasonably deny them.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT COURSES, DATES AND ASSIGNMENTS

Tests and Other Assignments During the Disruption With limited and specified exceptions, all academic activities were suspended as the result of a strike by CUPE 3903 beginning November 6. Academic activities in this context means classes, examinations and other instructional activities, graduate and undergraduate, on or off campus. For all courses that have been suspended, this means

- no classes are held;
- no tests are scheduled;
- no assignments are due during the strike;
- due dates that fell prior to the beginning of the strike stand.

Concerns about classes, assignments and tests should be communicated to course directors or to the Chair of the applicable unit or to the Associate Dean of the applicable Faculty.

Dates When Academic Activities Will Not Be Conducted

The University is closed from December 24, 2008 to January 4, 2009 inclusive. There will be no classes from December 23, 2008 to January 4, 2009 inclusive,and no examinations will be held during that period with the exception that December 23 may be held as a reserve examination day by the Registrar’s Office.

Notice of Class Resumption

Academic activities that have been suspended will resume as quickly as possible,but there will be some lead time between the announcement of an end to the disruption and the resumption of courses. There will be at least 24 hours notice between Senate Executive’s declaration of an end to the disruption and the resumption of classes. The amount of lead time depends on such factors as back-to-work protocols for employees now on strike and the day of the week when the disruption concludes.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Accommodations That Are Available Now for Students:

Students who are expecting to complete their studies at York University by the end of the Fall Term and who must begin employment or return to another country in January are advised to (a) consult now with course directors and arrange a deferred standing agreement OR (b) consult with their course directors on appropriate remediation once academic activities resume.

Exception note: If the course director is a member of CUPE
3903, students will need to consult with their course director
regarding remediation once academic activities resume. Alternatively, they can contact their home department and/or Dean’s Office to arrange a deferred standing agreement.

For information on deferred standing:
http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/services/ds_faq.htm

CHANGES TO SESSIONAL DATES AND ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

Changes Authorized to Date:

The final day by which to drop a Fall term class without receiving a grade has been deferred until after the disruption is over.

Other Changes That Will Be Made:

The completion of courses will require:
- a reduction in the number of teaching days in all terms;
- corresponding changes in sessional dates, such as the date for resumption and
- end of Fall term, Winter term and full year courses and the date for the start and end of Fall term examinations;
- changes to deadlines that fell during the labour disruption (bearing in mind that due dates that fell prior to the disruption on November 6 remain in effect);
- a change in the date by which to opt for a pass / fail option (where available) from the first two weeks of the term to the final day of instructional period;
- students to have reasonable alternative access to course material;
- restructuring of examination schedules, and waiving of normal regulations (for example, no study day between the end of classes and start of exams; permitting tests worth more than 20 per cent of overall marks to be held in the final two weeks of class; converting formal examination schedules so that examinations may be held one week following the class at the same time; etc.).

OTHER INFORMATION

Student Client Services:
http://www.yorku.ca/scsweb/
The University’s normal mechanisms for petitions will continue to be available to students through their home Faculty. Senate has mandated evaluations by students for all courses. However, for theFall 2008 Term, course evaluations will be optional and will be conducted at the discretion of the course instructor.