NEWSWIRE

York researchers float
in zero gravity aboard
final Bordeaux flight

York University researchers floated in zero gravity Sept. 29 aboard an airplane modified to simulate weightlessness, in order to investigate why astronauts become disoriented in space, and what can be done about it. The research, funded by the Canadian Space Agency, took place aboard the same airplane that hosted a zero-gravity surgery earlier in the week, which made international headlines. The team, from York’s Centre for Vision Research, has been conducting experiments on the flights from Bordeaux, France, aboard a specially-designed Airbus 300.

CineSIEGE: York student films
sparkle on the silver screen
A juried selection of cutting-edge productions fresh from York University’s Film Department will be screened Oct.11 at the Royal Cinema in CineSIEGE, the department’s annual showcase of outstanding student films. CineSIEGE will feature riveting dramas, provocative documentaries and genre-defying experimental works selected from a shortlist of 23 productions.

Toronto approves cost-sharing for subway to York
Plans for a subway to York University and Vaughan passed another milestone on Sept. 27. Toronto city council unanimously approved an arrangement with York Region for splitting their one-third share of funding for the Spadina subway extension, putting the spotlight on the federal government to confirm that it will pay the final third of the $2-billion bill.

Osgoode students travel
to Kenya to research
judicial education
Four students from York's Osgoode Hall Law School have returned to Canada following a trip to Kenya to research judicial education. Through an agreement between Osgoode’s International Legal Partnership and the Judiciary of the Republic of Kenya, the four students went there to research policy options toward the establishment of a National Judicial Institute.

Doors open in Arts
Founders Assembly Hall was bustling with more than 500 students who attended the inaugural Faculty of Arts Open House, showing off departments, clubs, faculty, services and information resources. First-year law & society and communications studies student Jill Lumsden said she truly enjoyed the event. "I loved the scavenger hunt and made a new friend."

Afua Cooper brings Copper Woman to York
As Afua Cooper finished reading her first poem, an awkward silence filled the lecture hall in York's new Accolade West building. The students, gathered to hear the first speaker in the Canadian Writers in Person series, perhaps didn't know how one should respond to someone so apparently serious as a poet. With tongue in cheek, Cooper gave them an idea: "You may clap."

Glendon celebrates its top achievers
Scholarship recipients were honoured at Glendon College's annual awards ceremony on Sept. 21 in the historic Glendon Hall ballroom. The number of scholarship recipients reached new heights this year with 335 students receiving awards. Louise Lewin, associate principal (student affairs), praised the quality of Glendon's students, noting that close to 20 per cent of the total enrolment receiving one or more awards, and a total of more than $700,000 in scholarships.

Performances celebrated African and other cultures
The strings of a West African kora mingled with the sound of a saxophone at York University this past weekend during the first annual Humanity in Harmony performance collaboration. The event brought together music, dance, theatre, poetry, visual arts and many other art forms, in a unique interdisciplinary celebration of African and other cultures.

Nuit Blanche: A Russian cosmonaut and yellow school buses
The literal English translation of Nuit Blanche is "White Night," a night without darkness; a night for new discoveries; a sleepless night. From sunset Saturday, Sept. 30 to sunrise on Sunday, Oct.1, Toronto was buzzing with activity when the barriers came down between art and public space.

York researchers receive over $1.4 million in funding
York University researchers have been awarded over $1.4 million to support their leading-edge research to study topics ranging from a study of tumor suppression to invasive species and mapping of atomic structure using cold positronium. The awards were announced Sept. 25 by Ontario Premier and Research & Innovation Minister Dalton McGuinty.

Lions roll to 12th Red & Blue Bowl victory
The York Lions football team broke out of a scoring funk to post a 39-11 victory over the University of Toronto and claim their 12th-straight Argo Cup in the Annual Red & Blue Bowl on Saturday at York Stadium.