NEWSWIRE

York film student
appears in TV movie
about Dudley George
– and makes her own

York film student and actress Pamela Matthews joined a star-studded cast in CTV’s One Dead Indian which premiered Jan. 4. Directed by Tim Southam, the film One Dead Indian is based on Peter Edwards’ 2001 book of the same title. It tells the story of the 1995 skirmish between riot police and aboriginal protesters who had taken over Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ont., in which native activist Dudley George was shot and killed. Matthews, who is also working on her own film about the incident, plays the part of George’s sister, Carolyn, in the movie.

Real-life Hotel Rwanda hero will speak at York tomorrow
Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero of the movie Hotel Rwanda, who saved the lives of his family and over 1,200 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, will visit York University on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Rusesabagina will give a special lecture titled, "Speak Out Against Genocide".

Canada's poet: Irving Layton, 93, taught at York
Canadians are mourning poet Irving Layton, a former professor of creative writing in York’s Faculty of Arts and an instrumental force in bringing Canadian poetry on to the world stage.

York is U celebrates its student volunteers
People dressed up, danced, sang and cheered for more than 45 dedicated students as they became official members of York is U and were recognized for their volunteer work.

Grad team takes top two spots in world programming meet
A team of York graduate students took on the world and won in competitions held for the 2005 Text Retrieval Conference organized by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Osgoode student places third in law essay competition
Osgoode student Michael Abdelkerim received a plaque and a cheque for US$1,000 from the American Judges Association and the American Judges Foundation for his third-place paper in a student essay competition.

York writer-prof lives between two worlds
York welcomed Shyam Selvadurai (BFA' 89), professor of creative writing at York, as the latest author to present a reading in Atkinson's Canadian Writers in Person series.

Postman didn't have to ring twice for this artist
Sholem Krishtalka, a second-year student in the MFA program in visual arts at York, opened his door recently to find a mailman standing on the doorstep with some very good news - and a cheque for $12,500.

Fulbright Fellow picks York for anthropology research
Asiya Malik, a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Virginia, has been named a 2005 Canada-US Fulbright Fellow and will use her award to research Canadian East African Asians at York.

Atkinson alumnus receives YMCA Peace Medallion
Ron Cunningham wasn’t looking for a medal – he just wanted to do something to help inner city kids in his native Jamaica and keep himself busy while he looked for ways to continue his career as an accountant in Canada - but he got one anyway.

Film festival highlights work of film & video alum Simon Chung
The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival has been making waves across the Asian diaspora ever since it was founded in 1997. At the ninth annual festival, York alumnus Simon Chung had the distinction of being this year's featured director.

New book illuminates growing field of animation
Animation has come a long way, and as Chris Gehman, a graduate student in York's MFA Film Production Program, points out in a new book, it also has a rich life beyond the cinema screen.

Shepherd reflects on WINDII project
Gordon Sheppard (far right) still remembers the early evening of Sept. 12, 1991, when the space shuttle Discovery was launched. It carried a device Shepherd and his team of York researchers had spent years developing so they could measure winds in the stratosphere.

Glendon's DayMUN reviews the UN at 60
Glendon's second annual DayMUN – Model United Nations Day mounted by the Glendon students' Model United Nations Club – welcomed 50 delegates composed of club members and high-school students.

FES honours students past & present
York's Faculty of Environmental Studies hosted its first annual Awards Gala to honour current and past student award recipients and the generous donors who make the awards possible. The event celebrated the Faculty's long tradition of student achievement and community involvement.

German studies centre celebrates post-wall unity
The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies and the York University Foundation hosted a "friend-raising" evening to mark 15 years of post-Berlin Wall German unity.

Glendon professor examines Canadian embassies
Marie-Josée Therrien's new book reviews the architecture of Canadian embassies in various parts of the world and offers a thorough summary of political trends and events in our country.

Memorial today for Anne-Marie Wall of LaMarsh Centre
Anne-Marie Wall, a professor in York's Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, passed away suddenly on Dec. 8. There will be a memorial service for Wall today, from 10 to 11am in the Scott Religious Centre chapel, Central Square, Keele campus.

York breaks down
barriers for internationally educated nurses
Nurses arriving in Canada as immigrants would normally have to go about the lengthy, costly and frustrating experience of starting their education from scratch – but a unique program at York has recently opened its doors to bridge this gap.