| VOLUME 27, NUMBER 4 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1996 | ISSN 1199-5246 |
YORK, RYERSON, U OF T, AND COMMUNITY RESEARCHERS TO STUDY IMMIGRATION THROUGH NEW CENTRE
The Toronto Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration
and Settlement (CERIS) launched its first annual competition recently for $200,000 in funding for research on immigration.
The director of the centre, Morton Beiser, said he expects to receive quality proposals from university and community-based researchers eager to explore the impact and potential of immigration on Toronto's economy, schooling and education, and community life. The centre is a joint partnership between the founding universities (York, Ryerson, and the University of Toronto) and community partners.
"The centre will promote applied and practical research that will inform public and policy debate about Canada's immigration program," said associate director Valerie Preston, a faculty member in York's geography department.
The call for proposals was announced at a press conference held in a seminar room in York Lanes on Thurs., Sept. 12. About 50 people attended, including university researchers and representatives from community agencies interested in the impact and potential of immigration on the Greater Toronto Area. The centre will judge the proposals according to their quality and utility, Preston added.
The Toronto centre will award about $1.2 million in research funding ($200,000 a year) during its tenure. The centre will receive $2 million in funding over six years.
Located in Canada's leading destinations for immigration, the Toronto centre is one of four federally funded research centres addressing issues of immigration and settlement in urban areas. The centres were established last April by Immigration and Citizenship Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The other centres are in Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton. The federal government is hoping that the research will yield knowledge and information that can assist it in developing immigration policy in the future.
The research will aim to address such questions as:
* To what extent do current education reforms affect efforts to integrate immigrant students?
* What strategies are school boards and schools using to educate immigrant students and to involve their families?
* What are the costs and contributions of immigrant families to the economy of Toronto, Canada's leading immigration destination?
* How do government policy,
the media, and advocacy groups affect public attitudes about immigration?
"It is obvious by the turnout today that the topic of immigration is of great interest and concern, and it is appropriate that the government has taken the initiative in funding these centres of excellence," Beiser said. "This centre is going to make a significant contribution locally and nationally towards research on issues of immigration and settlement."
Ten per cent of the research monies will be devoted to community-based researchers. M.S. Mwarigha of the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto said, "This collaborative approach will lead to mutual learning, and will help make the research real and relevant to new immigrants and their neighbours."
Judy Young, an official in the multiculturalism section of the Department of Canadian Heritage, said, "It is important that all people who make up society are the participants in this project, and that the results of the research are useful and disseminated to them."
The centre aims to contribute to policy and program development by fostering applied multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research that will identify new strategies for realizing the positive potential of the Canadian immigration program and ensuring the successful participation of immigrants in their new home. More than 100 scholars will work under the centre's name. The centre's research program concentrates on three areas: economics; education and schooling; and community life. The objectives are:
* to promote innovative research on the integration of immigrants into Canadian society with particular attention to the GTA;
* to create a network of researchers, policy-makers and community groups for ongoing, collaborative research into immigration issues;
* to provide training opportunities for students interested in immigration issues;
* to disseminate research findings broadly throughout Canadian society.
The centre is governed by a management board that includes representation from: the three participating universities; the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto; the Ontario Coalition of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI); the United Way of Greater Toronto; and the Ethnic Relations and Population Studies Group of the University of Western Ontario.
"The challenges of immigration are becoming more complex and complicated, and for immigration to continue to be a success for Canadians, this program will have to be managed successfully," said Meyer Burstein, Citizenship and Immigration Canada's executive director on the project. "We knew that if we wanted to obtain this kind of knowledge, we should put this project in place, and that we would have to reach out to the academic community to obtain it, so we've come up with a new way of doing business.
"The overarching goal of this project is to create knowledge and a capacity to create knowledge," Burstein added. "This partnership is unique, and you will have many of the leading minds in the country doing this research."
Burstein said that the research will also have an international element, since the government of Canada is in partnership with approximately 120 countries to exchange knowledge and share information. Those countries include the United States, Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and all the Nordic countries, as well as organizations such as UNESCO, the European Commission, and the OECD.
"We are delighted this venture is getting off the ground," Burstein said. "A lot of hard work has gone into it. We have a total of some 15 universities and about 300 academic researchers across the country involved in this venture."
by Georgina Feldberg
Opinion
The Gazette solicits and accepts opinion pieces for publication, based on their relevance to the University and related topical issues. Articles should be no longer than 650 words in length and, if possible, provided on disk. Submissions should reach the Gazette 15 days prior to publication date. The York Gazette reserves the right to edit, based on space restrictions and/or suitability, and/or to refuse submitted material for inclusion in the Gazette without reason.
Recent newspaper headlines have heralded the resurgence of infectious diseases, identifying it as a major public health problem. Tuberculosis (TB), AIDS and "flesh-eating disease" are only some of the infections that North Americans once again fear.
The renewed threat of infectious diseases troubles North Americans because we have long believed the battles against polio, diphtheria, TB and other crippling infections to be won. During the middle decades of this century, public health departments in both Canada and the United States confidently celebrated the scientific achievements, the vaccines and the antibiotics that allowed them to conquer these diseases. Attention turned instead to the chronic killers: cancer and heart disease.
Three decades later, infectious diseases are back, and once again scientific and popular communities clamour for new vaccines and antibiotics. At the recent AIDS conference in Vancouver, for example, activists and victims chastised the scientific community for not yet having produced a vaccine to protect against HIV.
The history of TB helps us to understand both the resurgence of infections and current debates over their control. When Robert Koch identified the tubercle bacillus the organism that causes TB in 1882, he confidently predicted that a cure for the disease would soon be produced; however, it was not until 1924 that an effective vaccine was developed. Even then, the eradication of TB was not that simple.
TB was much like AIDS in that the disease itself, the conditions that bred it, and the kinds of people who got it represented threats to middle class values, institutions and prosperity. Early 20th century campaigns against TB consequently focused on changing behaviours. The spectre of TB was used to reform society through measures that improved housing and shortened the work week for industrial labourers. It was also used to transform individual habits, such as eating, dress and personal hygiene. The threat of infection led to the criminalization of activities, like spitting, that spread disease.
By the time of the Second World War, both antibiotics and BCG a vaccine believed to be 80 per cent effective were available. Following the Second World War, many countries, including Canada, Britain and France, began to use BCG to protect vulnerable citizens against TB. In contrast, the U.S. Public Health Service continually opposed mass vaccination. That decision only partly reflected scientific knowledge. In public statements, the U.S. Public Health Service repeatedly acknowledged that BCG was scientifically effective. It also realized the limitations of prescribing long-term doses of antibiotics, including the possibility patients would fail to take their medications and that drug resistant bacterial strains would emerge. Nonetheless, the U.S. Public Health Service insisted that long-term use of antibiotics, coupled with measures to change behaviour and hygiene, were more effective than vaccinations.
The different American and Canadian reactions to vaccinating against TB also reflected social assumptions about who got sick and why. For both Americans and Canadians, TB was primarily a disease of poverty. It preferentially affected Native populations, Blacks, the rural and urban poor, and other disadvantaged populations. However, Americans and Canadians responded differently to poverty. Where Americans opposed welfare and other measures that protected the poor, Canadians did not. The presumed relationship between poverty and susceptibility to disease melded with peculiarly American opposition to providing support for the poor to constrain administrative and legislative responses to TB. Unfortunately, the American commitment to controlling TB through broad social intervention was not accompanied by effective anti-poverty programs. When American social services for the poor began to be cut back in the 1970s and 1980s, the stage was set for the present resurgence of TB.
The history of efforts to control TB and of attitudes toward the disease help to explain its resurgence and that of other infections. The historical parallels between TB and AIDS also challenge us to recognize the consequences of the interplay between disease, class, social policy and health policy. In the cases of both AIDS and TB, responses to patterns of infection must be examined from both scientific and social perspectives, and the socio-political determinants and consequences of health policies should be considered.
Georgina Feldberg is the director of York's Centre for Health Studies and the author of Disease and Class: Tuberculosis and the Shaping of Modern North American Society (Rutgers University Press, 1995).
Guidelines and Criteria
for Research
The guiding principles for research performed through the centre are quality and utility. The centre will conduct an annual Request for Proposals (RFP) to stimulate research initiatives that address policy and practice related to immigration and settlement issues in the Greater Toronto Area.
To encourage training in this important area, at least 70 per cent of the total budget for funded research must be dedicated to the support of undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students. As well, approximately 10 per cent of research monies will be devoted to community-based researchers. Centre personnel will work with applicants to help them find external resources to further their research goals.
The research funding proposals will be considered by a number of peer review committees which will be looking for the following:
* implications for policy and practice;
* expertise of the research team;
* evidence of effective partnerships or collaborations among academic researchers, immigrant communities, public and private agencies;
* training opportunities.
Three research subcommittees one for each of the centre's domains of interest: economy; education and schooling; and community life will adjudicate the submitted research proposals. The subcommittees will each be made up of five members, including a chair who will be either the centre's director or one of the two associate directors, two university board members, and community members. Recommendations for funding will be made to the board of management who will be responsible for the final allocation of grants.
For more information or to submit a proposal, contact: Ted Richmond, administrative coordinator at (416) 946-3114 or send an e-mail to richmond@ fsw.utoronto.ca; or Joanna Rummens, academic coordinator, at (416) 946-3113.
by Joe Sheridan
Representatives from York's Faculties of Education and Environmental Studies and the Centre for Applied Sustainability brought together representatives from environmental agencies and educators from several environmentally-focused public schools, some from as far away as Victoria, B.C., and Parry Sound, for a recent three-
day workshop and founding of a pilot study at the Boyne River Natural Science School, near Orangeville, Ont.
The school is a 40-acre outdoor education centre next to a 350-acre biosphere preserve. While we were there, our goal was to help teachers and in turn their students, to understand the historic and contemporary effects of human habitation on the landscape, as well as to record a history of human settlement and its environmental consequences. The pilot study participants have established ecological monitoring and biodiversity plots along the nearby Niagara trail.
The pilot includes eight high schools in Ontario and British Columbia. The participants recognized the need for the integration of cultural databases in sustainability education. The schools will be building cultural landscape archives, based on community members being interviewed extensively by students about the places in which the community members live. As well, the schools will be surveying and taking environmental inventory on one-hectare forest plots near the participating schools, while designing curriculum online. We inventoried trees, mushrooms, and plants.
York's cooperation with Environment Canada's EMAN (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Network) will focus on ecological monitoring and biodiversity mapping through a careful inventory of species within the forest plots in Ontario and B.C. The research on the local plots will be complimented by research on internationally installed plots of land in those countries that have signed the Smithsonian Institute Biodiversity Mapping agreement. The studies will compare global environmental change with local environmental change.
Data will then be submitted to the EMAN World Wide Web site (http://www.cciw.ca/eman/). Validity checks of collected data are overseen by EMAN and environmental science teachers. Prof. Colin Mayfield, environmental information systems project director at the University of Waterloo, demonstrated cultural landscape mapping based on Ontario planning protocols. Cultural landscape mapping uses sources from the municipal archives of local communities such as photos, oral histories, and geneological data, and it is a method of recording and storing data about the natural and constructed environments of a place. Also showing this technique was Fred McGarry of the C.O.P.P.E.R. (Canadian Organization for the Preservation and Protection of Environmental Resources) Trust Foundation of Cambridge, Ont.
In doing this, Mayfield and McGarry were demonstrating how to map exact locations of cultural and natural database integration. Their educational software that will be used by the participants in the pilot. This online curriculum design will be ongoing with EMAN, York, and the pilot schools. Tree-watch software was distributed by EMAN project directors. It allows for careful inventory of the location, health, and variety of trees as ecological indicators.
David V.J. Bell of York's Centre for Applied Sustainability, praised the gathering as "a first for K-12 education in curricular integration of cultural and natural databases to build local awareness and activity toward achieving sustainability."
Barry Greer, who spoke on behalf of John Mills, director general of the Ontario region of Environment Canada, made the inaugural address, noting, "We encourage involvement of schools to learn about atmospheric change and biodiversity and their interrelationship. This collaboration among schools, universities, the private sector, and the government creates a partnership that will nurture the increased understanding of our environment and create shared understandings for improving the natural environment for ourselves and future generations," Greer said.
"The involvement of students and the applied use of environmental and educational technologies will provide Canadian youth with the opportunity to be at the forefront of environmental science education globally," he added.
"Canada's unsurpassed reputation in environmental science could create a new curriculum in Canada," Greer concluded. "This gathering holds the promise of making sustainability a central issue in education for the 21st century."
Among the participants from Environment Canada were: Adam Fenech and Don McIver; from York, the participants included myself, David V.J. Bell, and Chuck Hopkins; and from Lesley College and Harvard University, Ben Williams.
The retreat was organized by myself, Adam Fenech of Environment Canada, graduate students Susan Richardson (FES) and Gayle Finless-Hall (Education) and Chuck Hopkins, adjunct professor in the Faculty of Education and Canadian UNESCO Environmental Education representative.
Joe Sheridan is a York University professor who is cross appointed to the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Environmental Studies, and the Centre for Applied Sustainability.
York University will be the site for what organizers believe to be a North American first a conference on Sicilian culture.
Sicily Yesterday and Today, which takes place this weekend (from Fri., Sept. 27 to Sun., Sept. 29), will be an international conference examining Sicilian culture, past and present, from linguistic, literary and social perspectives.
Famed film director Giuseppe Tornatore (who won an Academy Award for best foreign film for Cinema Paradiso) has been invited to participate in the session titled "Images of Sicily and Sicilians." Organizers are hoping Tornatore will be able to attend, and say he has promised to be here, "unless he is directing in Asia," says Jana Vizmuller-Zocco, professor of Italian linguistics and the conference organizer.
The conference has two aims, Vizmuller-Zocco says. The first is to facilitate the collaboration among North American and Italian researchers whose concern is Sicilian language, literature and ethnography through scholarly exchange of up-to-date research findings. The second aim is to furnish information about Sicily to the general public who may not be aware of the complexities of Sicilian cultural life. "In particular, the conference will be of interest to young Sicilian Canadians who get an extremely distorted picture of Sicily through Hollywood images and other media accounts," Vizmuller-Zocco says. "These skewed images have a negative effect on many young people who are searching for identity and refuse to find part of it in their heritage."
Conference topics include:
* Language and Traditional Culture of Sicily Yesterday and Today
* The Origins of a Sicilian Sacred Representation Performed in Toronto
* To Rebuild Elsewhere: the Pagan Grace of Lampedusa
* Expectation and Anger in the Modern Sicilian Novel
* Images of Sicily Yesterday and Today Through the Eyes of Dacia Maraini
* Literary 'Language' and Dialects in Sicily from the 17th Century to Modern Times
* Linguistic Portraits of Emigration: Sicilians in the New World
* 'Taliano:' The Sicilian Dialect of Tampa, Florida
* The film La Sarrassine; What Makes a Sicilian?
* Oranges of Sicily: History, Traditions, Medicine
* Filling the Gap: The Missing Piazza
* One Needs Luck Even When Frying Eggs: The Notion of Destiny in Sicilian popular Belief
* Popular Religiosity in Sicily; Misogyny in Sicily in Language and in Traditions
* Sicilian Witticisms, Sayings and Proverbs: Forms and Analysis
* Magic.
The conference is sponsored by the Sicilian Cultural Centre and the Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian Canadian Studies and York University. There is a $25 admission fee. All sessions will take place in the Senate Chamber, N940 Ross Building. For more information about the conference, call Vizmuller-Zocco at ext. 55016 or e-mail to jvzocco @yorku.ca.
The York conference is being run in conjunction with Sicilian Cultural Week, which is taking place this week (Sept. 22-29). The week features a celebration of Sicilian culture sponsored by: The Sicilian Cultural Society, in collaboration with Centro Scuola e Cultura Italiana; the Columbus Centre; the Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian Canadian Studies; and York University. For more information about Sicilian Cultural Week, call Silvana Stifani at
ext. 88721.
Following the announcement that York University president Susan Mann will step down as president at the end of her term on June 30, 1997, a Presidential Search Committee has been set up by the University's Board of Governors.
The search committee is seeking input from members of the York community about the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead for the University over the next five to 10 years. The committee wishes to ascertain those attributes and qualities in a President that would best help York to meet those challenges and opportunities.
The search committee is headed by William Dimma, chair of the University's Board of Governors. Other board members serving on the committee include John Bankes, Chuck Hantho, Dale Lastman, Hugh Macaulay, and Nalini Stewart. York faculty members on the committee include: Kenneth Davey, Faculty of Pure and Applied Science; Robert Drummond, Faculty of Arts; and Stuart Robbins, School of Physical Education. The staff representative on the search committee is Marla Chodak of the Faculty of Arts. The student representative on the committee is Fiona Miller, a PhD candidate in history. As well, there are two resource people to assist the committee, including Malcolm Ransom, secretary of the University, and Jim Lundy of the Landmark Consulting Group.
If you are aware of individuals whom you think would provide the appropriate leadership for York over the next few years, you are asked to contact the committee to identify those individuals. Any biographical information you can provide is appreciated. All comments will be considered confidential.
Comments for the search committee should be sent to:
Dr. William A. Dimma, Chair, Presidential Search Committee, c/o S883 Ross Building, York Campus. Comments can also be sent by email to: ransom@yorku.ca
The search committee has been consulting widely, and will hold two open forums, to which all members of the University community are invited. Following the forums, the committee will produce a progress report available to the community which reflects the main themes and issues raised.
Here is a news update from Purchasing about the Ontario-Quebec Procurement Agreement.
In 1994, Ontario and Quebec signed an agreement aimed at opening procurement markets between the two provinces. Within this document was an obligation to extend coverage to municipalities, universities, school boards and hospitals the Broader Public Sector (BPS). In its original state, the agreement applied to BPS construction contracts with values in excess of $100,000.
An amendment to the agreement was signed on May 30, 1996. As amended, it now applies to BPS goods and services contracts with values in excess of $100,000. This amendment does not necessarily change the way we do business at York. It will, however, add a new dimension to the acquisition process.
After May 1, 1997, any goods or services with an annual aggregate value exceeding $100,000, are required to be advertised using an electronic format. For procurement initiatives under $100,000, entities are requested to respect the spirit of the agreement and make their best efforts. When in doubt about whether to utilize the electronic advertising format, it is best to err on the side of caution. The dollar thresholds of goods and services apply to University- wide acquisitions, not individual department acquisitions.
The Purchasing Department is in the process of analyzing procurement activity, and will be working with our clients (department and faculty) to explain the agreement in greater detail and assist in achieving compliance.
The province, with the assistance of the BPS representatives, has developed a number of one-day information sessions on the agreement. The objective of the session is to give the BPS a better understanding of the scope of the agreement and what impact the agreement will have on its day-to-day operations. The presentation will focus on the existing construction obligations along with the new goods and services obligations. In addition, it will discuss how the electronic advertising component of the agreement will be implemented.
The morning will provide a general overview, while the afternoon is intended to be more detailed and targeted to purchasing professionals and others whose jobs would be impacted by the agreement on a regular basis. For the Greater Toronto Area BPS, the information session is scheduled for Mon., Oct. 28, at Queen's Park, from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Room number to be announced.)
The target audience for this presentation is plant/facility staff, senior staff, departmental managers, purchasing and acquisition decision makers. We strongly urge that York University personnel in the above-noted categories attend this seminar. For more details about the seminar and to reserve a place, please call James Pertulla, Ministry of Economic Development Trade and Tourism at (416) 369-6940.
Purchasing Power is a service column provided by the Purchasing Department.
by Laurie Lyle
Here are some upcoming events at York.
This weekend - Sat., Sept. 28: soccer double header and Yeomen rugby on home field; men's and women's tennis vs. Waterloo and Western - Sun., Sept. 29: "Red Hot, Never Blue" Yeowomen and Yeomen soccer teams host rival Toronto Varsity Blues at 1 and 3 p.m. on the York Event Field.
* * *
The Ice Gardens at York University opens its doors on Mon., Sept. 30 for daytime recreational skating and pick-up hockey. For more info call (416) 736-5184.
* * *
Homecoming on Sat., Oct. 5 includes Yeomen football vs. Guelph, Yeomen rugby vs. Waterloo, Yeowomen tennis vs. McGill/Laurier, and double header water polo vs. Western and McMaster; York Yeomen Invitational Hockey tournament runs Oct. 5-6 in the event rink of The Ice Gardens with York, Toronto, Guelph and Laurier competing.
* * *
The Red & Blue Bowl, which is being hosted by York for the first time, makes its debut Thursday afternoon, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. on the York Event Field.
* * *
Prof. Patricia Murray will continue as director of Sport and Recreation for 1996-97 and Sheila Forshaw will be joining the School of Physical Education as Coordinator of Interuniversity Sport.
* * *
The CIAU National Men's Soccer Championship will be hosted by soccer Yeomen at York's Event Field, Nov. 7-10 25 years after the inaugural event was held at the University.
* * *
Sport York season passes are still on sale at a cost of $30 for an adult pass and $50 for a family pass. Your pass admits you to all regular season and exhibition tournaments for all sports. Check out the new facilities and make it a family outing. Passes can be purchased at any event gate or by calling (416) 736-5982. See you at the game!
Laurie Lyle is the communication and promotions officer in the School of Physical Education.
Norm Collis started working at York University's Glendon campus as a cleaner on Sept. 25, 1961. His starting salary was $1.34
per hour.
At that time, there were only two buildings, Glendon Hall and York Hall. What is now the boiler room at Glendon was a stable when he started.
In 1964, Collis left Glendon to come and work at the main campus. All of the roads on the campus were dirt roads. At that time, the only buildings here were Founders College, Vanier College, and Steacie. Collis was a cleaner in those buildings.
When the Farquharson Building was built, Collis became the caretaker there. There were five log cabins in the area where #2, 4, 6, and 8 Assiniboine now stand. These cabins are now located over at Black Creek Pioneer Village.
Collis is a driver in the Grounds and Vehicles section. A retirement reception was held for Collis on Sept. 13. in the Physical Resources Building's cafeteria.
Peter Struk, assistant vice-president (facilities and business operations), described Norm Collis as a "dependable, well-liked employee." Struk said Collis was a "cornerstone" in the department over the past 35 years who was respected by everyone he worked with.
by Paul Delaney
Periodically, about every six months or so, the moon, earth and sun form an alignment that allows a solar and/or lunar eclipse to occur. Such events can be truly breathtaking in their beauty.
Relatively dark total lunar eclipses were visible from our area on the evenings of Dec. 9, 1992, and Nov. 29, 1993. On Jan. 4, 1992, there was a stunning annular eclipse of the sun a Ring of Fire seen from the Los Angeles area. We here in Toronto experienced a similar event on May 10, 1994.
In the case of a solar eclipse, the moon slips in between the earth and the sun. This can cause a small portion of the earth to lose sight of the sun entirely, and a total solar eclipse ensures. However, as the apparent sizes of the moon and sun are nearly identical and the moon is moving in its orbit, the totality phase can last at the most seven minutes (or so). Unless you are in exactly the right area, an observer will more likely see a partial eclipse where only a fraction of the solar disk is covered by the moon.
By contrast, a lunar eclipse occurs when the moon slides into the shadow cast by the earth, meaning that the celestial alignment of the worlds is in the order: sun, earth, and moon. As a result of the earth being much larger than the moon, our shadow can often swallow the moon for more than an hour, and can be seen by a whole hemisphere. Thus, billions of people get the opportunity to witness this splendid event of nature.
Tomorrow night (Thurs., Sept. 26), most of North America will have ringside seats for a total lunar eclipse. Commencing at the convenient (local) time of 9:12 p.m., the leading edge of the earth's shadow will begin its journey across the moon's surface (the left side, from our terrestrial perspective). For the next hour, the bright full moon will steadily darken until totality commences at 10:19 p.m. By this time, the moon will be quite dark and will display a distinct reddish brown colour. Notice for this eclipse a significant contrast between the north and south polar regions. Because the moon is passing well north of the centre of the earth's shadow, it will be much brighter at the north pole of the moon. While the bright glare of moonlight is absent from the sky, check out the rest of the sky, especially the close proximity of Saturn, only three degrees south of the moon. Totality will continue until 11:29 p.m., at which time, the moon's eastern limb will leave the shadow. By 00:36 a.m. on Friday morning, the moon will have returned in all its brightness.
York University's Astronomical Observatory will be open for tomorrow night's event from 8 p.m. until just after midnight. Apart from the main telescopes in the campus observatory, a number of smaller portable telescopes will be available to enhance the viewing of the eclipse. Of course, you can safely observe this eclipse from anywhere, with or without optical aids. However, telescopes can add another dimension to this type of event, and limited opportunities for photography through telescopes will be available. Dress warmly, since the nights are a little cooler these days.
The observatory is located on the northwest corner of the York campus (in Room 404) of the Petrie Science Building. For more information about the observatory, call the information line at (416) 736-2100 ext. 77773.
Paul Delaney is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the coordinator of the York University Astronomical Observatory.
by Penelope Reed Doob
Speaking of Teaching is a regular column edited by the Centre for the Support of Teaching. The idea of "random questioning" was contributed by Keith Aldridge of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science. If you have an idea that works, a concern about teaching, or a view you would like to express, please send it to us in Room S834 Ross or call us at 736-5754, and we'll try to include it in a future column. Longer items will be considered for publication in the Core newsletter.
Item: The Globe and Mail's coverage of the Learned Societies reflects bemused irritation with both the content of many papers (often perceived as trivial) and the language used to express ideas (needlessly obscurantist).
Item: A graduate student writes an impassioned plea for the "inclusive classroom" in which all students, whatever their background, may feel welcomed and respected, and expresses that conviction in language that most students (and many faculty in other disciplines) would find incomprehensible.
Item: An undergraduate essay gets a D because it's crammed with vocabulary that is dazzlingly polysyllabic but, alas, completely misused, so that hardly a single idea is presented with clarity. The grade shocks the student aren't these the words he's been hearing in lectures?
These examples, all real, give me pause. It's not that technical terminology is inherently bad. "Neutrophil," "iambic pentameter," "rond-de-jambe", and "n-of- one" all readily convey specific meaning to the appropriate disciplinary audience, and we can't do without their ilk. What bothers me about the tendency of academic language to grow ever more specialized, exclusive, and broadly unintelligible is that we use that language when it is neither necessary nor productive, as if obscurity were a good in itself.
In the early history of universities, Latin was used to facilitate intelligibility throughout the community of the educated. Unfortunately and in part intentionally it also excluded a vast number of people (including most women) deemed incapable of academic debate. We all know what's happened to Latin (although I'm delighted to report that it's made a comeback in the Corel Presentations software manual check it out!) And sometimes I wonder how much of the sweeping attack on university funding can be attributed to a sense on the part of government and intelligent laypeople that the language and thought of the academy have become as obscure and irrelevant as Latin.
What does this have to do with teaching? Quite a lot, I think. Part of the indoctrination into a discipline is learning a lot of new language, and the better the student, the more seductive this learned new language becomes; it's a sign of being in the club, a kind of verbal Masonic handshake. Often we're so busy teaching students our specialized languages that we don't step back and realize that the kind of writing we're asking them to do isn't easily transferable to any other context in which they'll be writing once they leave university. This failure might make sense if, like medieval professors, we were concerned primarily with the select few who would themselves join us in our sacred halls. But fortunately the world has changed, and we're doing much more than training new generations of professors.
In many courses, students write only for their instructors for people who by definition know more about the subject than undergrads do. Yet in almost every piece of writing our students will do in any other situation, they'll be writing for people who know less about the subject and may not speak the specialized language. Aren't we doing our students (and indeed our disciplines) a great disservice if we don't provide opportunities to learn to write for a wide range of audiences?
Many York faculty have started doing just that, by asking students to write journals, for themselves and sometimes for their peers. This approach broadens the scope of writing substantially. Others encourage "op ed" pieces or similar kinds of writing intended to be generally intelligible. Still others ask students to read each other's essays, thereby encouraging a sense of writing for an audience of non-expert peers.
Such approaches and they could be expanded appropriately for every discipline not only potentially foster greater intelligibility but also provide writing experience that's applicable to many more situations than run-of-the-mill academic exercises. And, when peer reading and commenting is involved, they expand the opportunity for students to learn from and help one another.
If your courses call primarily for traditional essays written for an audience of one the expert instructor consider some of the options. You'll be helping your students learn to write for the real world, both you and they will probably enjoy the variety, and you'll be striking a blow for clear and appropriate language and perhaps even for the relevance of the academy to the world at large.
Penelope Reed Doob is academic director of the Centre for the Support of Teaching.
The Office of Research Administration (ORA) would like to remind faculty members of the following research opportunities with upcoming deadlines. Deadlines listed are those of the granting agencies. Applications for external sources of funding (i.e., outside York) must be submitted to ORA before forwarding them to the agencies. To assist in meeting these deadlines, it is recommended that applications be submitted to ORA one to two weeks prior to the deadline dates.
For more information, please contact ORA at -55055 in S414 Ross Building (e-mail: research@yorku.ca).
Ontario Mental Health Foundation
Fellowships
The OMHF aims to promote the mental health of people living in Ontario, to prevent mental illness and to improve diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. The Foundation offers fellowships in order to support the professional development of researchers. Fellowships include new faculty fellowships for newly appointed faculty, postdoctoral research fellowships to provide an opportunity for those with qualifications in basic research, and senior research fellowships to enable staff members to be released from some of their regular duties.
Deadline: November 29
SSHRC
Molson Prize
The $50,000 Molson Prize recognizes an exceptional contribution in the social sciences and humanities, and the arts. These prestigious awards are intended to encourage Canadians honoured with this distinction to make further contributions to Canada's cultural and intellectual heritage. Since each University is limited to one nomination in the social sciences or humanities, and one nomination in the arts, those considering submitting a nomination should inform ORA of their intent by October 14 in order to avoid multiple nominations.
Deadline: November 15.
Stanford Humanities Center (Stanford University)
External Fellowships
Rockefeller Fellowships in Legal Humanities
The External Fellowships offer research opportunities to scholars interested in humanistic issues. Fellows will be expected to make a contribution to the intellectual life of the Stanford community for one academic year. There are two categories of fellowships: (a) senior fellowships for well-established scholars valued at up to $30,000; and (b) junior fellowships valued at up to $20,000 for scholars who during the fellowship year will be at least three years beyond receipt of the Ph.D. and normally no more than ten. The Rockefeller Fellowship in Legal Humanities allows scholars to pursue research on theories of interpretation, intention, narrative and human agency in law and the humanities, especially as these affect subordinated populations. The value of this fellowship is up to $30,000 for a one-year period.
Deadline: November 15
NSERC
Information Session
ORA is coordinating an information session for science-related faculty members who are in the process of preparing applications for this fall's NSERC research and/or equipment grants competition (deadline: November 1). Brock Fenton, Biology Department, as well as Associate Vice-President Research, will lead the session. Discussion will cover a variety of topics including first-time applicants who may not be familiar with NSERC, as well as re-applicants with on-going awards who are now re-applying for continuous funding. This will be an interactive session with opportunity for questions and answers. Please confirm your attendance by contacting ORA.
Deadline Dates
Calgary Institute for the Humanities (University of Calgary): Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowship
mid-November
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC): Japan Foundation (Special Grants Program for Japanese Studies in Canada, Tanaka Fund Program for Japanese Language Studies)
November 15
Arthritis Society: Clinical Fellowships; Lupus Fellowship; Ogryzlo Fellowship; Research Fellowships
Bunting Institute (Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA): Bunting Fellowship (visual arts only)
Canada Council: Various grants in Media Arts, and Writing and Publishing
Centre for African Studies (University of Cape Town): Research Fellowship in African Studies; Visiting Associateships in African Studies
International Union Against Cancer (UICC): International Oncology Nursing Fellowships
Medical Research Council (MRC): Centennial Fellowships; Fellowships; Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada Clinical and Postdoctoral Fellowships
NSERC: NATO Science Fellowships; Postdoctoral Fellowships (for all disciplines except psychology); Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories
Royal Society of Canada: Various Medals and Awards
Social Science Research Council: MacArthur Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships on Peace and Security in a Changing World
SSHRC: Molson Prize
Stanford Humanities Center (Stanford University): External Faculty Fellowships; Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships in Legal Humanities
mid-/late November
Lithoprobe: Call for Applications for University Supporting Geoscience Projects
November 28
Calgary Institute for the Humanities (University of Calgary): Senior Research Fellowships; Visiting Research Fellowships
November 29
Ontario Mental Health Foundation: New Faculty Research Fellowships: Postdoctoral Fellowships; Senior Research Fellowships
Students in the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program take part in an orientation session for first-year students as part of the back-to-school activities that took place recently by the Common. This year's class of BBA students coming to to York for the first time had averages of 88 per cent. A total of 3,089 people applied for the 228 first-year spots in the BBA program.
According to an article that appeared in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, grandparents provide links to cultural roots. "Grandparents who tell stories, sing songs, show photographs or memorabilia are a very positive influence on children a real connection to their culture," says York professor Rachel Schlesinger (Social Science). For families in a situation where both parents are working, grandparents are often the natural choice for child care. In some families, caring for grandchildren is an integral part of the culture and carries on a tradition that goes back for generations. One of the most important things that grandparents from another country bring to their grandchildren is the chance to practice their mother tongue, often the only language the grandparents know. Grandparents can often provide a unique perspective on the various issues that the younger generation is struggling with.
* * *
York professor Martin Shadwick (Centre for International
& Strategic Studies/Political Science) was recently quoted in an article on Pierre Elliot Trudeau that appeared in the Post-Gazette (Oromocto, NB). Shadwick was asked, "What about Trudeau the man? Was he against everything military?" Shadwick says he can't find any evidence that is in fact true. He does say that Trudeau's big change in 1975 was a reluctant one. "He was not fond of writing out cheques to buy tanks," says Shadwick. "But he did it." Shadwick was also asked, "Is Jean Chretien a Pierre Trudeau when it comes to defence?" According to Prof. Shadwick, it is too difficult to say for sure. "I certainly wouldn't say they're identical," says Shadwick. "You have to factor in...that Chretien has been prime minister in the post-Cold War period, and Trudeau was prime minister during the Cold War." That makes a straight comparison difficult at best. Nevertheless, Shadwick sees similarities in a general sense.
* * *
The Toronto Sun reports that there is a disorder that leaves victims hung up about their body image. Victims of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) a preoccupation with less-than-perfect looks live a tortured life that's focused on their perceived ugliness. Often these people turn to dermatologists and plastic surgeons to remedy the flaws that are grossly exaggerated in their minds. If they do have surgery, they are not happy with the results. The affliction typically occurs during adolescence, but it can also strike children and older adults. York professor Gordon Flett (Psychology) says plastic surgery doesn't eliminate the critical eye of BDD sufferers. "These are chronically dissatisfied people," he says. "There's always something else to work on. In terms of appearance, they may be pleasing to look at but not to themselves." Although there is no cure for BDD, its obsessive tendencies can be controlled with some drugs designed to treat depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.
York University will be hosting an open forum next Friday (Oct. 4) to discuss issues related to the future of postsecondary education in Ontario.
Next week's forum on campus is aimed at generating discussion and input from students, staff, and faculty within the York community. York University president Susan Mann and vice-
presidents Michael Stevenson and Sheldon Levy will be available at the open forum to answer questions and receive ideas related to the government's discussion paper titled "Future Directions for Postsecondary Education in Ontario." That discussion paper was published in a special issue of the York University Gazette on Aug. 12.
An Advisory Panel on Future Directions for Postsecondary Education was appointed during the summer by John Snobelen, Ontario Minister of Education and Training. The panel is seeking input from a broad range of people across Ontario, including students, faculty, and staff of universities and community colleges, as well as anyone else interested in postsecondary education.
The panel is examining three fundamental questions:
* What is the most appropriate way to share costs among students, the private sector, and government?
* Are there better ways to promote and support cooperation between and among colleges, universities, and the secondary school system?
* How can we best meet the expected levels of demand for postsecondary education?
Written and oral presentations are welcome. Those who wish to submit written reports may forward them via the inter-office mail to the Office of the President,
S-949 Ross, or by email to: presidnt@yorku.ca.
A report from York University based on the ideas raised at the open forum will later be submitted to the province-wide advisory panel. Panel members include: David Smith, the chair of the panel and principal emeritus of Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.; David Cameron, chair of the department of political science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S.; Fred Gorbet, senior vice-president, operational services (U.S.), Manulife Financial, Toronto, Ont., and a member of the York Board of Governors; Catherine Henderson, president of Centennial College, Scarborough, Ont.; Bette Stephenson, former Minister of Education and of Colleges and Universities, Richmond Hill, Ont.
The panel will report to the Minister of Education and Training by Dec. 15, 1996. Briefs can be sent to the panel in writing or by email to the following address: 56 Wellesley Street West, 10th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M7A 2B7 Fax: (416) 325-4573; email: pspanel@ edu.gov.on.ca.
Applications for internal transfers/promotions should reach Human Resources no later than October 2, 1996. Application forms and detailed job descriptions are available in the reception area of Human Resources. Bargaining unit members with current Priority Placement privileges have already been considered for the following positions; the recruitment process may later be suspended if any YUSA member affected by job closure selects Priority Placement.
*Indicates position is exempt from bargaining unit.
ADVISOR: CLAIRE BARRETT-COPPIN
Administrative Secretary - Interuniversity Sport Program, School of Physical Education
JOB NO: 218K BAND: 6 SALARY: Based on an annual salary of $30,065 HOURS: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. [Sessional: August 1 to April 30]
Minimum level of formal education required: High school graduation with secretarial training or equivalent; some community college business courses preferred. Minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience required: 2 years' related experience (e.g., administrative, secretarial, scheduling, maintaining records, etc.) Skills required: Typing 45-50 wpm, accuracy essential; demonstrated skill/ability in the following areas: wordprocessing in a Windows environment; computerized spreadsheets; electronic mail; data entry; working effectively under pressure of frequent deadlines; conveying information in a clear and concise manner; good written communication skills; dealing courteously and effectively with people; good organizational skills, including setting priorities and meeting deadlines; working accurately with figures; working independently; exercising good judgement and initiative; pleasant and effective manner. Please attach a current résumé when submitting an application.
ADVISOR: BEV REZEBERGS
*Manager, Alumni Affairs, External Relations
JOB NO: 215R GRADE: P&M 9 (Under Review) SALARY: $48,983-59,269
Minimum level of formal education required: University degree or equivalent; York degree preferred. Minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience required: 3-5 years' experience directly leading and motivating volunteer boards; background in marketing or services preferred; previous supervisory experience; understanding of and affinity for the challenges and opportunities in the post-secondary educational environment in Ontario; knowledge of the Canadian University alumni environment. Skills required: Demonstrated skill/ability in the following areas: working effectively with senior executives in both the private and public sectors; tact and diplomacy; strong organizational and budgetary skills; working independently and on committees; effective interpersonal skills. Please attach a current résumé and covering letter when submitting an application.
Stacker - Facilities, Scott Library
JOB NO: 216R BAND: 3 SALARY: Based on an annual salary of $26,626 HOURS: 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. [Temporary to May 31, 1997]
Minimum level of formal education required: High school graduation or equivalent. Minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience required: 1 year's general office experience including experience in the use of complex filing systems; or 6 months library experience; expedience in handling cash transactions required. Skills required: Ability to lift and bend while shelving books and to push heavy book trucks. Demonstrated skill/ability in the following areas: dealing calmly, effectively and courteously with people; good oral communications skills; attending accurately to detail; handling cash transactions. Please attach a current résumé when submitting an application.
Campaign Secretary - Corporations & Foundations Sector, External Relations
JOB NO: 217R BAND: 5 Provisional SALARY: $28,853 HOURS: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (winter), 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (summer) [Limited term:
2 years]
Minimum level of formal education required: High school graduation, including office skills training or equivalent. Minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience required: 2 years' recent related experience (e.g., secretarial, arranging meetings, minute taking, computerized file management, etc.). Skills required: Typing 45-50 wpm, accuracy essential; demonstrated skill/ability in the following areas: wordprocessing using advance features in a Windows environment; minute taking; attending accurately to detail and working effectively under pressure of changing priorities, deadlines and high volume; providing information and answering enquiries in a clear, concise manner; effective interpersonal skills; good oral and written communication skills including good spelling and grammar; basic proofreading; discretion in dealing with confidential matters; working cooperatively and effectively in a team environment; setting priorities; exercising tact, diplomacy, good judgement and initiative. Please attach a current résumé when submitting an application.
