MEDIA

Stratus decides to step out of the ring

Stratus' contract expires this month, and the timing couldn't be better: She's due to be wed Sept. 30, and retiring after today's event allows her to say goodbye in front of her hometown fans. "I actually read one comment where a fan said she had followed me throughout my entire career. She asked, 'What do I do now?' It's pretty crazy to think of that." Stratus' path to the WWE was even crazier. It began in 1997, when she was attending York University in Toronto, studying biology and kinesiology with hopes of becoming a doctor. A faculty strike that winter sent Stratus looking for work, and she found it at a local gym.

Traditional lectures sent to the back of the class
Universities keen to please their young and wired students by steering them to the Internet for everything from course selections to online lectures could take a lesson from York student Michelle Buscemi: she just wants some human contact, reported the National Post Sept. 20. "What's happening now is we're really losing the sense of the human touch," Buscemi says. "We're losing our choice as students at universities to get to speak to professors."

The 22-year-old, who has just begun the teacher-training program at York University after earning her undergraduate degree at the Toronto school last spring, must confound university administrators. They know students are more likely to surf the Internet than watch television and text-message friends than chat with them on the phone, so they have tailored their programming to feed these habits. Any student backlash against academia's fascination with all things online could come as a relief for many professors who loathe e-mail and online chat groups in favour of old-fashioned office hours and traditional class discussions. But it would also present a challenge to institutions that have invested time and money to meet the new generation on its terms.

The new 2006 Technology and Student Success Survey, commissioned by education publisher McGraw-Hill Ryerson, found that hybrid learning – a combination of traditional lectures with online learning features – is now the norm on campuses. In 2003, 59% of faculty taught exclusively face to face. This year, that number has dropped to 31%, the national survey of Canadian universities shows.

The Post said York University has introduced wikis, a Web-based tool for collaborative writing that allows multiple people to work together to write a paper or produce a group project, for the fall term. A course director at York has also started using the Video iPod (right) to deliver lectures and learning materials to first-year students in her philosophy course. This is believed to be the second course in Canada to provide lectures via video podcast (or vodcast), but the York instructor has taken the concept one step further with the introduction of digitized lecture materials viewable on the iPod.

For Buscemi, the overall effect of these developments has not been positive. During her four years as an undergraduate, she says there was only one professor with whom she communicated on the phone and in person. "If I had a question, it was always via e-mail. Sometimes you need a voice, not a typed letter, some compassion through a voice. You can't get that on e-mail."

Grad schools get $240-million boost
Ontario's universities plan to increase the number of graduate-school spaces by more than 50 per cent as they prepare to accommodate the double-cohort class, reported The Globe and Mail Sept. 21. Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Sept. 20 that the government will provide $240 million for the expansion of graduate schools, although university officials expressed concern about the tight time line they have been given. Under the plan, universities will add 12,000 new spaces next fall, and another 2,000 by 2009-2010, bringing the total number of grad students in Ontario to around 39,000. McGuinty's announcement comes as the so-called double-cohort class enters its final year of undergraduate studies. Toronto, Ryerson and York University will be creating about 4,500 new slots by next fall.

• The Toronto Star noted Sept. 21 that, for the 2007-2008 year, York University will be allocated 1,135 masters and PhD spaces.

Students fear security backlash
Amid the shock, grief and sadness following shootings at a downtown Montreal college, Toronto students are guarding against a heavy-handed response to safety on their campuses, wrote the Toronto Star Sept. 21. "If you put too much security in a learning environment people aren't going to want to come here," says Chelsea Gallagher, 18, of Oakville, a first-year arts student at York University. "High school feels like an armed camp and that takes all the fun out of it," she says. "One of the charms of university is that it's an open environment."

At least one parent called York University immediately after the shootings in Montreal to ask about campus security, says Alex Bilyk, York's director of media relations. He says there are no plans to add to the University's 180 security officers. It's a response favoured by fourth-year York kinesiology student Shyn Huh, 21, who says the way to combat the act of this madman in Montreal is not through a show of force. "I don't know what more we can do from a security point of view," says Huh, of Scarborough. "It's a much bigger problem – making a guy who's this alienated feel more a part of society."

York student joins those at Queen's Park honouring veterans
As a Lancaster bomber droned and a Spitfire fighter buzzed overhead, a 30-metre-long granite memorial wall honouring Canadian veterans was unveiled on the front lawn of Queen's Park Sept. 17. York University student Carmen Sanchez, whose mother's family lived through the Nazi occupation of Alsace-Lorraine, said she was at Queen's Park because, "I'm French. I want to remember the people who helped free my country. Those are the ones that I'm here for."

Humble start is about to evaporate for The Ghost is Dancing crew
While their kindergarten classmates were hooked on "Sesame Street", Niagara Falls tykes, now York alumni, Jamie Matechuk (BA ‘05) and Jim Deluca (BA ‘05) had a different kind of addiction: John, Paul, Ringo and George, wrote the Niagara Falls Review Sept. 22. "We were obsessed with The Beatles," recalled Matechuk, one of the founding funnymen of The Ghost Is Dancing. "We'd spend all our recesses singing Beatles songs a capella out on the grass."

Members of TGID ham it up for the camera

Along with pals Kevin Corlis and York student ‘Odie’ Ouderkirk, the childhood chums let their love of music simmer through grade school and high school without getting past the "air guitar" stage. Finally, Deluca made the crazy suggestion to form an actual band. "Jim was the only one who actually ended up taking music lessons," said Matechuk. "As we grew older, none of us played instruments except for Jim. He kept saying, 'Guys, come on, why aren't you learning music?'" It wasn't until [three of] the gang attended York University in Toronto five years ago that things got serious. Living in a rented home on French Avenue – rumoured to be inhabited by the Barenaked Ladies at one point – they started accumulating their friends' instruments.

"We knew we had good taste when it comes to music," Matechuk said. "We knew we had no skill at all, but we thought, 'Maybe if we throw a bunch of members in and they play a different note at the same time, it might sound like something more complicated.'" From such humble beginnings came The Ghost is Dancing, a Niagara/Toronto hybrid building plenty of indie cred. Signed to Hamilton-based label Sonic Unyon Records over the summer, the band's self-titled debut was released Tuesday.

Graduate student finds flying ‘cathartic’
The skies over Grand Manan, NB, were full of small airplanes over the weekend when 25 female pilots touched down on the island, reported New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal Sept. 18. The pilots are all members of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed female pilots. They were landing on Grand Manan as part of the Canadian chapter's annual Gold Cup Rally. Jean Franklin Hancher (right) and Marilyn Dickson were among the first to land on Grand Manan Saturday. Hancher, an attorney who is currently working on her PhD at York University in Toronto, was interested in aviation from an early age. "I was 15 when I had my first flight and I knew as soon as I had my first flight that I wanted to fly," she says. "When my first husband left me, I knew I needed to do something for me – that's when I learned to fly." She calls flying cross-country with a group of women a cathartic and therapeutic experience.

Canada must lead in Darfur, writes Osgoode student
On Aug.31, the United Nations moved one step closer to bringing about an end to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, wrote Ben Fine and Josh Scheinert, a student at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, in the National Post Sept. 18. It passed Security Council Resolution 1706, calling for up to 20,600 troops and police to help stabilize the troubled region and protect its vulnerable civilians. To make this protection a reality Canada will have to answer the call. Resolution 1706 refers to Sudan's "responsibility to protect" its civilians, a Canadian diplomatic initiative adopted by the UN's General Assembly one year ago. Given that Sudan has manifestly failed to protect its population from ethnic cleansing, the resolution rightfully "invites" the Sudanese government to consent to the troop deployment, rather than requiring it, wrote the pair. Scheinert is communications director for Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND), Canada.

Student is impressed with Pitfield’s campaign promise
Toronto Councillor Jane Pitfield, David Miller’s chief rival for the mayor's job in November's vote, chats for more than 10 minutes with Andrea Kissendal, 34, a York University student worried about what she calls police harassment of black youth and the lack of recreation facilities for local kids, reported the Toronto Star Sept. 18. Pitfield tells her she wants the city to pay school boards to use their pools and gyms after hours. "We can't afford to build even one gymnasium, we are managing our money so poorly," she says. "A lot of politicians make promises. If I don't deliver what I promise, I won't seek re-election." Kissendal, who had never heard of Pitfield, is impressed. "It's very good that she's here," she says.

Former Lions lineman coaches at Ottawa school
They're expansion teams but the enterprising coaching staffs at the Ottawa Technical Learning Centre and Immaculata are taking a university approach to creating high school football programs, reported the Ottawa Citizen Sept. 17. And the enthusiastic group of 40-plus players of varying skill levels on both teams are quickly benefitting from the knowledge of young head coaches, who were successful university players, as the two schools prepare to enter the National Capital Secondary School Athletic senior A league. "We're trying to run our program and practices like we did at university," said York alumnus Ntare Bainomugisha (left) (BA ‘01), the Ottawa Tech head coach who was a York Lions lineman for five years and the 2004 Ontario University Athletics nominee for the Russ Jackson Award for academics, athletics and volunteerism.

Canadian university degrees are valuable, writes Schulich student
I take great exception to the comments of letter-writer Heinz Klatt, wrote Annesley Hatton, a student at York’s Schulich School of Business in a letter to the National Post Sept. 16. For a professor emeritus to argue that "Canadian university degrees signify...little about education" cannot be construed as anything more than the prose of a particularly discontented higher education apostate.

As an experienced consumer of Canadian post-secondary education, with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, a graduate degree in materials science engineering and currently a part-time student in the Schulich MBA program, I've never asked for or wanted "high marks for poor work." Only a fool would. But for my money, time and full effort, I expect that professors will metaphorically sweat to create a dynamic, fully informed and experiential learning environment that brings out the best in me, my fellow students and the academic community at large.

My university learning led to my current role as a nuclear engineer. Occupying university seats beside, behind and in front of me throughout my years in post-secondary education were legions of international students paying full freight for the Canadian degree program. The evidence is in. If Prof. Klatt participated in doling out "meaningless degrees," then shame on him.

York student introduces Mayor dad at campaign speech
Former Stoney Creek councillor and retired school principal Mayor Larry Di Ianni is running for a second term as mayor of the amalgamated Hamilton, reported the Hamilton Spectator Sept. 20. At a recent campaign speech, he was introduced as "my daddy" by daughter Stephanie Di Ianni, a York University student, while his wife Janet, and sons Robert and Paul faced a crowd of several dozen supporters.

Friendly reminder to stop drivers from idling
York graduate John Brown (BES ‘06) and York student Harpreet Singh are Brampton's new Idling Control Ambassadors and they will be patrolling the city's idling "hotspots"– GO stations and city recreation centres– talking to drivers about idling and asking them to make a commitment to turn off their engines when they are not moving, reported the Brampton Guardian Sept. 17. "I won't get too technical," said Brown, who just graduated from York's Faculty of Environmental Studies. "I'll remind them how much gas they're wasting and how much money it is costing them." Singh, who is in his last year in York's Environmental Studies program, said he believes it will be a challenge to educate drivers in a short period of time. "They're not going to know too much about what we're doing," he said. "At the sites where there is more idling, people are going to be in a rush."

Ready on the field
Football has always been a passion for Tim Burke, father of York Lions player Timothy Burke (right) , reported the Niagara Falls Review Sept. 19. Tim was a star quarterback in his day. His wife Juliann has learned to love the sport. "I just enjoy watching them, and my adrenaline gets going. Football is now quite a focal point in our family," said Juliann, whose 22-year-old son Timothy is first-year receiver and quarterback at York University in Toronto.

Maddix balances both sides of brain
If Henry David Thoreau was right and most of us lead lives of quiet desperation, it could be because the creative life and the need to make a living too often seem mutually exclusive, wrote Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner Sept. 19. Not for former York student Melanie Maddix. The Richmond Hill resident is determined not to exclude anything. A computer programmer by day, she spends many of her remaining hours indulging a love of music and writing. For a while now, she has played the trumpet with two quite different bands. After high school, she studied creative writing at York University for three years before switching into computer programming. But she continued writing on the side and taking creative writing and poetry workshops.

Psychology student is one of Canada’s top ballroom dancers
Kingston Whig-Standard features editor Sarah MacWhirter and assistant editor Michael Onesi entered the Kingston Cup ballroom dance competition so they could interview the competitors, including York psychology student Anna Borschch. "In ballroom dancing, [the crowd] is encouraged to cheer and scream the number of the couple. When you watch a ballet, you have to wait until the end, you have to be very quiet. A ballroom dance competition is like a [European] soccer tournament," says Borschch, 19. She and her partner, Anton Lebedev, 26, are the top Canadian competitors slated to dance at the competition.

• The Kingston Cup has become one of the most coveted prizes in the world of ballroom dancing, reported the Sudbury Star, Sept. 16. It is one of the few competitions in Canada sanctioned by the IDSF (International Dance Sport Federation) and thus attracts the best dancers in the world. This year the competition also determines the North American champions. Two of the world's best ballroom dancers don't have far to travel for the competition. Anton Lebedev, 26, and his 19-year-old partner Anna Borshch have been practising all summer in a Thornhill dance studio for this competition. They won the Canadian ballroom dance championship last April at a Toronto competition after having finished second the two previous years. Winning in their category at Kingston will earn the couple valuable points in the world ranking of ballroom dancers.

Rhombus founders 'at the end of the road', says Weinstein
For more than 25 years, Rhombus Media has been synonymous with prize-winning films about the arts – it's known in Canada as the little company that could, and acclaimed at festivals around the world, reported the Toronto Star Sept. 20. But during this month's 31st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, it became apparent that Rhombus is unravelling, and its four founding partners – who have been together since they were students at York University’s Department of Film in the 1970s – are on the verge of divorce. "We've been openly telling people in the business that we're at the end of the road, even though we haven't sat down to figure out exactly how it will happen," said Larry Weinstein (above) (BFA '80). [The partners (right) were also awarded honorary doctorates by York in 1998.]

"My comment is that I have no comment," said Niv Fichman, the flamboyant jet-setting producer who runs the company. But within the Toronto film community, it's no secret that problems have been festering for more than a year. One big reason: Fichman's preoccupation with producing big-budget international epic movies is at odds with the interests of his partners: Weinstein, Sheena MacDonald (BA ‘77) and Barbara Willis Sweete.

Formed in 1979, Rhombus celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2004 with the mandate to make films that put a human face on classical music, dance and the other arts while bringing them to a wider audience. Fichman will be moving on without the old gang from York U. What happens to the Rhombus name and infrastructure, and its film library, remains to be sorted out. But Weinstein, Sweete and MacDonald are braced to reinvent themselves as independent operators. And an important chapter in Canadian film history is coming to a close.

Special section on MBA programs features York’s Schulich School of Business
The Toronto Star published a special section on MBA programs Sept. 21 and York’s Schulich School of Business featured prominently in many of the articles. Below are several stories that included comments by York faculty members and information about Schulich’s MBA Program.

• While a business school's reputation remains its key draw when it comes to attracting new MBA students, the various ranking systems offered by publications such as Business Week, the Financial Times and The Economist seem more about selling newspapers and magazines than helping would-be MBAs make career choices, suggested the Star.

Charmaine Courtis (left) , executive director of student services and international recruiting at York's Schulich School of Business, is more bullish on ranking systems. In fact, Schulich's standings in the polls have become a major marketing strategy, complete with glossy 32-page brochure. "I think they are important because they help students prepare a short list of schools they might like to attend," she says. "They can help give insights into where students come from, what the specialties are and how they compare with other schools."

• Students with roots in South Asia are flocking to Canadian MBA programs – and transforming the culture, wrote the Star in a story on the changing demographics of business students. What's driving it all is profound economic change half a world away, says Ashwin Joshi (right) , professor of marketing and director of the MBA Program at York University's Schulich School of Business. "There's been a dramatic increase in the prominence of India. The world has come to recognize the economic powerhouse that the region is becoming and that really is at the bottom of all of this – a fundamental recognition that the global economy has shifted and that South Asia is a major player."

Schulich Professor Steve Weiss (left), offers a course in international business negotiation using the real-life case of a US software company that set up an outsourcing operation in India. Divided into teams, students participate in an intense, weekend-long simulation in which they go through all the bureaucratic hoops necessary to get permission to launch a corporate campus in Hyderabad or Bangalore, the cities known as India's Silicon Valley. The course, offered once a year for only 36 students, has a long waiting list.

• Some of Canada's top business schools are opening up branch schools in exotic locations around the world, with local schools or on their own, wrote the Star in a story on international campuses. York University's Schulich School of Business, has embarked upon an ambitious program of international expansion. It opened a school in Beijing in 2004, followed by two more in Mumbai, India, and Seoul, South Korea, last year. Schulich is currently in discussions to establish three more dual-degree programs overseas.

"We are, in North America, the most internationally oriented MBA program," says Schulich Dean Dezsö J. Horváth (right) , citing a Financial Times survey of international business schools that found 70 per cent of Schulich's students came from outside Canada. "The next Canadian university is maybe 50 to 55 per cent; US schools are typically 30 or 35 per cent," he said.

Horváth acknowledges that opening branch sites outside Canada, whether they be exchange partner arrangements or dual-degree programs with schools such as Kellogg, serves to recruit students for the Toronto program. It also builds the Schulich brand in emerging industrial powers such as China and India. Horvath says his school's strategy mirrors the borderless business world today. About 75,000 multinational corporations control 80 per cent of global competition today.

"To follow those companies, business schools need to do the same" and work across national borders, says Horváth, who was named international dean of the year in 2004 by the Academy of International Business, for "outstanding leadership in various aspects of internationalization, including programs, research and curriculum development, and outreach."

• The Star also noted it was hosting a virtual round-table discussion on choosing an MBA program, Sept. 21, that included Matthew Wallace, a second-year MBA student, specializing in finance, at York's Schulich School of Business. He has an honours bachelor of science degree in molecular biology and worked as a business development specialist in the mutual-fund industry before starting at Schulich, wrote the Star.
• In an item titled "Finding the right school", about QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd., which bills itself as the world's largest post-graduate education information resource, the Star included a photo of a class at York University's Schulich School of Business getting down to business.

NASA sees more debris floating near orbiting shuttle
Seamus O’Regan, host on CTV’s "Canada AM", asked Paul Delaney (right) , professor of physics & astronomy in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, to speak about unidentified debris that delayed the landing of the space shuttle Atlantis, on its broadcast of Sept. 20, before the shuttle landed successfully the following day. Below is a partial transcript of the sometimes light-hearted interview.

Delaney: NASA will probably never know exactly what it was that floated away. We didn't get very good imagery. There is no scale in space. It could literally be as small as a second plastic bag.
O'Reagan: What are we looking at here?
Delaney: Well, that's a real good question.... The fact that material floats out of the payload bay on a reasonably regular basis – and they actually saw a plastic bag float away yesterday – gives people a lot of confidence that it was just a little piece of debris that didn't get picked up.
O'Regan: Is that the second piece of debris that the astronauts saw through the window but didn't necessarily get picked up by the camera?
Delaney: That's correct.
O'Regan: That was a plastic bag?
Delaney: That's correct.
O'Regan: It's amazing. But they can't take any chances on this.
Delaney: Well, you don't know.
O'Regan: You don't know, exactly.
Delaney: But, you know, the other thing to remember is that the shuttle had a lot of consumables on board. They had a crew that worked very hard for the space station for the whole week that they were there. The crew is delighted to hang around with just about nothing on their agenda for an extra day in orbit.
O'Regan: A little R&R.
Delaney: That's right. Well, [York alumnus] Steve MacLean, this is his last flight, he's going to love being up there for an extra day, floating around.

York announces appointments of new governor and deans
Marshall Cohen, Chair of the York University Board of Governors, and Lorna R. Marsden, York president & vice-chancellor, announced several appointments in The Globe and Mail Sept. 21.

Mark Lievonen (left) to the University’s Board of Governors. Lievonen is president of Sanofi Pasteur Limited and a member of the company's North American board of directors. He holds BBA (1979) and MBA (1987) degrees from York’s Schulich School of Business, and received his chartered accountancy designation in 1981. Lievonen is the Chair of the Board of the Ontario Genomics Institute and Vice-Chair of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and YORKbiotech. He is also a member of the board of directors of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. and BIOTECanada, and has served on several industry and community boards, including chairing the United Way of Greater Toronto Cabinet. For his exemplary achievements and service to the health sector in Canada, Lievonen received a Queen's Golden Jubilee Medallion in 2002.

Harvey Skinner (left), inaugural dean of York’s new Faculty of Health. Skinner received his PhD in psychology from the University of Western Ontario and is the author of more than 100 articles and seven books. He is a pioneer in eHealth, linking behaviour change and information technology. Skinner has a special interest in global health including peace building initiatives in the Middle East and is a board member of the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO), an NGO leading peace through health initiatives in the Middle East. Previously, he was a board member of the Canadian Public Health Association, an expert adviser to the World Health Organization, US Institute of Medicine, National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Fogarty International Center, and Chair of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto.

Nick Cercone (left) , dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering. Cercone holds a BSc in engineering from the University of Steubenville, Ohio, an MSc in computer & information science from Ohio State University and a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Alberta. Cercone was formerly dean of the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University, Chair of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, associate vice-president research, dean of Graduate Studies and international liaison officer for the University of Regina, and director of the Centre for Systems Science at Simon Fraser University. He has served on the Canadian Genome Assessment and Technology Board and the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) Research Committee, and was elected Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2001.

Justice Taylor returns to Kitchener
A face already familiar in Kitchener courtrooms will soon be presiding over them, reported The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo) Sept. 20. York alumnus Justice Gerry Taylor is moving to the Kitchener Superior Court of Justice, less than a year after his first appointment as a judge, in London. It's a homecoming for Taylor, who spent 18 years as a federal drug prosecutor in Kitchener. Taylor was appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court last December, at the age of 54. He graduated from York’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 1975 and was admitted to the bar in 1977.

Seymour Schulich donates $22.5 million to 'the MIT of Israel'
After giving away more than $150 million over the past decade, multimillionaire investor Seymour Schulich still had a couple of to-do items on his philanthropic checklist: He wanted to advance the science of chemistry and to achieve something in Israel, reported The Globe and Mail Sept. 19. Now, Schulich is accomplishing both goals in one action, by giving $22.5 million to the highly regarded Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, which is naming its chemistry faculty after the Toronto-based resources magnate. "I'm a flunked-out chemist, which makes the story even better," said Schulich, 66.

As a result of his donations, the Schulich name graces the music school at McGill, the engineering school at University of Calgary, the medical school at University of Western Ontario, and the business school at York University. York's business school leads the recipient list with $27 million given over the years, with the other three Canadian institutions close behind, said the Globe. He has also donated to University of Nevada, in a state that has contributed greatly to his wealth through gold-mine investments. But the Technion donation is his largest outside Canada.

Film professor fits festival screenings into her schedule
Alwynne Gwilt, professor of film history, criticism and theory at York University was featured in a profile of people attending the Toronto International Film Festival in the Toronto Star Sept. 16. The Star asked:
Are you taking any time off work?: I'm working it into my teaching schedule. I'm not actually taking time off.
Years attended: A long time. I live in Toronto and I've been coming since 1978 or '79, off and on. Well, pretty much always.
What brings you back?: The opportunity to see all these films. Some will come out in various forms after this but it's still nice to go to a film festival and see them for the first time on the big screen. Especially films you're looking forward to seeing.
How many movies are you seeing?: I've seen about a dozen so far and maybe three or four more.
What's the movie you've enjoyed most?: I enjoyed Climates by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, a Turkish filmmaker. It was nicely made with an interesting storyline. And it was beautiful, both visually and in terms of what he's doing.
What movie are you looking forward to?: Belle Toujours. I like the director's work and it sounds very interesting.

Company helps women get into theatre
For more than 20 years now, I've taught theatre students at different levels from here to Singapore, in institutions such as York University in Toronto, the National Theatre School in Montreal, and now St. Mary's College here in Calgary, wrote columnist Eugene Stickland (left) in the Calgary Herald Sept. 16. Strickland was writing about a local theatre company with a mandate to create more opportunities for female artists. All of the classes I have stood in front of and dazzled with my erudition and knowledge have had one thing in common: the ratio of females to males has always been at least five to one, if not greater. In some cases, I have taught classes comprised entirely of women.

York's Ute Lehrer part of Condo BOOM
Condo BOOM, a multidisciplinary show that runs from Sept. 21 to 31 at the Theatre Centre (1087 Queen St. W.), addresses gentrification of areas like Toronto’s Parkdale community, wrote the National Post Sept. 16. The event promises to be a hodgepodge of fun stuff: arty installations, discussions, walking tours and a visual component (you know, the usual Queen West "what the heck does that mean?" kind of exhibit). Still, it helps that Condo BOOM has corralled an impressive lineup. You'll find Professor Ute Lehrer (left), of York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, the folks from the Center for Urban Pedagogy in New York, local artists Luis Jacob and Amos Latteier, who will present elements of Pigeon Condo (pigeoncondo.com), an outdoor installation consisting of luxury condos for pigeons, and much more.

Saskatchewan football star coached at York
A "where are they now feature" in The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) Sept. 16 featured former York football coach Dave Pickett. He was the All-Canadian football star, the paper said. He had class, character and was awarded the Hec Crighton Trophy as the most outstanding Canadian university player. Although he made training camp appearances with Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Calgary, Pickett was never signed by a CFL team. "I think I probably could have played," says Pickett. "It was really hard to get there at the time." His playing days over, Pickett turned to coaching. He joined the staff of the York University Yeomen in Toronto as an assistant from 1977-1980 and was head coach at York the following three seasons. He later was an assistant coach with the Huskies before returning to Toronto.

Toronto and York Region will share subway costs
Toronto and York Region have finally reached an agreement on splitting the hefty price tag for expanding the Spadina subway line to York University, reported CTV News online Sept. 16. The province announced in March that it would pay one-third of the cost and gave the two municipalities a deadline to figure out how they would split their third.

With that deadline approaching at the end of September, Toronto has agreed to pay 59.96 per cent of the municipalities' third, while York Region will pay 40.04 per cent. The parties are now waiting on the federal government to come up with the remaining third of the cost of the $2.1-billion, 8.6-kilometre extension. The deal is still tentative, however, and must be approved by the respective councils. It will be presented to York regional council on Sept. 21 and to Toronto city council on Sept. 25.

• Now the focus of the 8.6-km project – 6.1 km in Toronto – shifts to the federal government, the final funding partner, wrote the Toronto Star Sept. 16. Yesterday's agreement will increase pressure on Ottawa to pay their third share so that construction can begin next year, York Region Chair Bill Fisch said. "I think the federal government will come on board," Fisch said yesterday. "I think this is the beginning of looking at transportation issues in a different way by all levels of government."
• York Region will also hand over a cheque for $30 million to pay for work the TTC has already done in preparation for the subway's extension, wrote The Toronto Sun Sept. 16. "It's a fair deal," said Toronto’s budget chairman, David Soknacki.

University presidents fear writs will fly after top court rejects appeal
The Supreme Court of Canada has opened university presidents to possible lawsuits as public officials after refusing to hear an appeal by York University's top administrator, reported the National Post Sept. 16. York University President and Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden sought leave to appeal the April, 2006 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that a student can sue her for misfeasance in public office.

The top court on Thursday dismissed with costs Marsden's application for leave to appeal the Appeal Court's decision. York had hoped the Supreme Court would hear the case and close the door on this question. "It's a matter of principle. Universities are independent. University presidents are independent. You can just decide it as a matter of principle," said Chris Wayland, counsel for York in the case. Wayland said York will argue at trial that university presidents, as leaders of autonomous institutions, are not public officers in the sense of state actors and do not hold public office within the meaning of the tort of misfeasance in a public office. And in any case, Marsden did nothing wrong, he said.

University of Toronto law Professor Peter Rosenthal, who is representing York student Daniel Freeman-Maloy, said he wishes York would use this opportunity to settle the case. "Make a reasonable settlement now, and save taxpayers' money," he said.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruling is binding in Ontario and persuasive in other provinces, particularly since it comes from the largest appeal court in the country, said the Post. But the fight over this question is not over. York University spokesman Alex Bilyk said the matter of whether the York president is a public official will be decided at trial. "We look forward to defending this case vigorously in the Ontario courts in the years head," he said. The story also appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, the Victoria Times Colonist and the Montreal Gazette.

• The Supreme Court of Canada has cleared the way for a Toronto student activist to sue York University for "public misfeasance" after it barred him from the institution for three years because of his role in two noisy protests, reported The Globe and Mail Sept. 18. The University’s lawyers had insisted that if allowed to proceed, the lawsuit could seriously impinge on traditional academic freedoms and "cast an unwarranted shadow of potential liability over Canadian universities and their presidents."

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, reported the Globe, former York University president Harry Arthurs warned that great danger could flow from a university president being deemed to hold public office. "In my opinion, the issue of whether it is open for a court in Canada to find that a university president holds a public office is of urgent and national importance," Arthurs wrote.

Are bilingual video gamers the fastest?
York University psychologist Ellen Bialystok, a professor in the Faculty of Health, studied whether people who speak more than one language react faster in a series of computer tests than people who speak only one language, reported CTV News online Sept. 16. While she discovered that bilingual people performed better on the test, the study also showed video game players also did better than non-video game players. "The video (game) players were faster on all the conditions and on all the tasks," said Bialystok. "They're very fast." Regular video gamers performed better than non-players. But bilingual people outperformed the gamers on more difficult tasks. "What video game playing improves is speed, and speed is nice but it's not everything," said Bialystok.

Why do bullies get away with it?
Bullying is all around us, and not just on television, wrote the Toronto Star Sept. 18. Government, business and sports all have successful bullies. Is it any wonder, ask those trying to curb bullying, that impressionable young people aren't buying the message of peaceful cooperation? Jennifer Connolly, director of the LaMarsh Centre for Research in Violence and Conflict Resolution at York University, says, "Children are growing up in a culture that tolerates levels of bullying, meanness, verbal name-calling and, at the same time, is telling them to be non-violent. We need to crank up the volume on that (non-violent) message."

Attorney-general calls for review of legal aid by Osgoode professor
Rejecting allegations that his government has plunged its legal-aid plan into a deep financial hole, Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant nonetheless pledged yesterday to appoint a noted expert to find ways to end the program's dependence on the whims of cabinet funding, reported The Globe and Mail Sept. 21. He said the review will be conducted by John McCamus (right) , professor at York's Osgoode Hall Law School, who undertook a similar task in 1999 and produced a blueprint for the future of legal aid.

Writer says don’t just ‘ask why’, ask York prof ‘who’
In a series of articles examining the issue of poverty, the Toronto Star challenges its readers to ask themselves a sobering question, wrote Avvy Yao-Yao Go, director of the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, in the Toronto Star Sept. 21. Why, asks the Star, is it that, in one of the richest countries in the world, a mother working two jobs cannot afford to buy a sofa and has to ration food among herself and her two children. To complete our journey, wrote Go, let’s pose a second question: "Ask who?" Who are the poor? Just ask scholars like Ryerson Professor Grace Edward Galabuzi or Michael Ornstein (left) , director of the Institute for Social Research at York. They could tell you that there is a large income gap between members of racialized communities and the rest of the population.

Second-generation leaders are sometimes judged unfairly, says Schulich professor
In a story Sept. 21 about Galen G. Weston, who is replacing his father as executive chairman of Loblaw Companies Limited., the Toronto Star looked at second-generations in family businesses in a story Sept. 21. Succession issues can be very difficult in family businesses, particularly for children coming into the company, said Eileen Fischer, director of the Entrepreneurial Studies & Family Enterprise Program at York's Schulich School of Business. "They're often going to be [judged under] a set of assumptions that may not be fair, like ‘you got this job because you're a family member,’" Fischer said. The challenge is balancing the needs of the family against those of the company.