NEWSWIRE

York students
win with
joyful noise

York music students dominated two recent competitions for classical voice, snapping up first and second place at the regional level and numerous awards at the local level, including an opera trophy for best performance. In late November, York music student, soprano Vania Chan, added another honour to her résume with a first-place finish in the fourth-year women's category at the National Association of Teachers of Singing district auditions. The NATS judges also lauded Chan's classmate, Vanessa Lanch, awarding her second place in the fourth-year women's category. The following week, Lanch was honoured at the Newmarket Voice Festival with two scholarships.

How did feminism affect girls who grew up in the 1970s?
Sociologists like Nancy Mandell call women who are now in their 50s a generation in transition. "Many social norms changed with this generation," says the York professor. They came of age during the social turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s when they suddenly had more educational, career and marriage options than their homemaker mothers ever had – and a feminist ideology encouraging them to strike out in a different direction.

Joseph Boyden and Shauna Singh Baldwin read at York
"I've lived much of my recent life in New Orleans and it's a tradition there to throw things from the Mardi Gras float," said Joseph Boyden as he began tossing chocolates into the crowd at the latest reading in the Canadian Writers in Person series.
As one student remarked, Shauna Singh Baldwin has a beautiful storytelling voice and when she reads from her work, her characters emerge fully-formed and distinct, accents included.

York United Way Campaign reaches $150,000
"We are 70 per cent of the way to achieving our goal," said United Way Campaign Co-Chair, Danielle Chateau. York University students and staff recently had an opportunity to see the United Way in action. They were participants in the annual Day of Caring event which took place at the community gardens at Chalkfarm near Jane and Wilson.

Geography professor maps
the politics of education restructuring
Mention the possibility of school closures and you'll elicit strong, emotional responses from children, parents, educators and school board members. That's one reason why York geography Professor Ranu Basu brings a critical bent to a scientific method looking at educational restructuring, diversity and social justice using geographic information systems.

Top marks awarded to Schulich
by The Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit, the business research and intelligence arm of Britain’s The Economist magazine, has ranked the Schulich School of Business at York University in the top tier in the world for both open enrolment and custom executive education programs.