CAMPUS NOTES

Blood drive comes to York March 12-16

Each year, York staff, faculty and students show their community spirit by donating blood to the Canadian Blood Services. On average, one unit of blood helps three people, so York’s donations will help hundreds of people in the Greater Toronto Area.

If you would like to donate blood to the Canadian Blood Services, visit the blood donor clinic any day next week in Central Square. The clinic will be accepting donations Monday to Thursday from noon to 4pm and Friday from 9:30am to 1:30pm.

For more information on how and where to donate blood in our community, visit the Canadian Blood Services Web site or call 1-888-2-DONATE.

Canadian Blood Services is hosted by York’s Health Education & Promotion, located within the Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development.

Free tax-return clinic runs March 5-16
The York University Student Centre will sponsor a free tax clinic in March to help York students complete their 2006 income tax returns. The returns will be prepared by York students who are trained by a Canada Revenue Agency representative.

Members of the York community may be entitled to receive GST credits, HST credits, tuition refund, income tax refund and credits for books and transit passes. International students can also gain from filing their taxes.

The clinics will be held weekdays, March 5 to 16, from 11am to 6pm, in Rm 313 of the York Student Centre.

Students and others should bring all tax and other receipts with them and forms such as the T2202A* / T4A* tuition forms, which are available online at www.yorku.ca/osfs/taxforms/. (T4s for employment income will have been mailed to students' home addresses by any company/organization they worked for in 2006.)

As an ongoing effort to improve its services to York patrons, the York University Student Centre Tax Clinic will be hosting its first small business seminar for students. More and more students are starting their own businesses on the side. With this free seminar, learn more on how best to prepare returns for their business. A qualified Canada Revenue Agency representative will lead the seminar and provide valuable insight into the topic.

This seminar will take place on March 9, from 10am to 3 pm, in Rm. 307 of the Student Centre. Interested persons should register online at www.yorkstudentcentre.com/tax. Please note that spaces are limited.

For more information about the tax clinic or the small business seminar, send an e-mail to yusctax@yorkstudentcentre.com or visit the Student Centre Web site.

A guide to getting involved in York's student elections
York's Student Community and Leadership Development has created a Web resource for students interested in student elections. Elections York offers a one-stop-shop for all student elections information.

Interested in running, want to take a look at the candidates, or review the referenda questions? Get involved and find out more at www.yorku.ca/vote.

Join York's team on the World Community Grid
The World Community Grid, powered by IBM, uses idle home or work computers – PC or Mac – joined by grid technology to provide researchers with a large system of massive computational power that far exceeds the power of a few supercomputers.

York has established its own group on the grid, the "York University Research" team. To join the York University Research team, individuals should go to York’s World Community Grid Web page. They will be asked to download and install a free, small software agent onto the computer – either home, school or office. The York page explains how to register as part of the York team.

To learn more about York University’s involvement in this global research effort, and for information on how to register and join the York University Research team, visit York’s World Community Grid Web page.

Maintaining Passport York
York’s Computing & Network Services has introduced a fixed maintenance window. The fixed window will assist members of the York community with planning around possible disruptions to service. During the maintenance window, Passport York authentication may be affected. Passport York maintenance will take place every Wednesday, between 5 and 7am.

Maintenance may consist of any number of activities including hardware maintenance and renewal, applying software patches or installing upgrades to software.

Although the maintenance window may not be used on each occasion or for the full duration, it is expected that for most weeks, the service will be unavailable during the two-hour period.

Services which might be unavailable during this time include: all Student Record Services and Applications – REM, STAC, etc.; Manage My Services; NoteBox; Atlas Updater; CEO-Deux; GEO-Deux; Roaming Access; Class Lists; eReports; AirYork; YorkNet; VPN; EVote; InfoMart; EForms; PTVNET; Go-Card; Parking Services; and off-campus access to software available from CNS.

Questions or concerns about the maintenance window should be directed to the CNS Helpdesk in the Computing Commons, at ext. 55800, or e-mail helpdesk@yorku.ca.

Founders College book drop reinstated
Returning borrowed items from the York University Libraries has just been made a little easier and  more convenient. Aside from returning items directly to the library’s circulation counter, patrons may also take advantage of returning library items at authorized book drops.

The authorized book drop once located in the Founders College foyer has been reinstated. For more information on authorized book drops and their locations, visit the Borrow Renew Return Web page located on the University Libraries Web site.

Parking & Transportation Services reminds drivers of campus driving regulations
Traffic on York University’s campuses (streets and parking lots) is regulated through the Parking & Traffic Regulations at York University. Rules of the road on campus are the same as elsewhere in the province of Ontario. York’s Parking & Transportation Services and Campus Security Services together are responsible for the enforcement of traffic regulations on University property.

What are the speed limits on Campus?
In parking lots and garages, the speed limit is 10km/h. At the Keele campus, the speed limit on the streets is 40km/h, unless otherwise indicated. The Glendon campus speed limit is 20km/h, unless otherwise indicated

Road safety
The following will be considered serious incidents and the offender may be issued a trespass notice and or Toronto Police Services may be contacted to investigate an incident under the Criminal Code of Canada for:

• dangerous operation of a motor vehicle,
• dangerous operation causing bodily harm

Who to contact?
If you witness dangerous driving on campus, report the incident immediately to Security Services. For all general enquiries, call 416-650-8000 or ext. 58000. For urgent matters, call 416-736-5333 or ext. 33333.  

The Keele campus Security Control Centre is located in Room 228, William Small Centre. Glendon Security is located in the Greenhouse, Glendon campus, 2275 Bayview Ave.

For more information on parking & traffic regulations at York, visit the Parking & Transportation Services Web site.

Important dates for 2007-2008 are now available online
Dates for York's Summer 2007 and Fall/Winter 2007-2008 sessions have been published online. This important notice, the official source for sessional dates, uses a new calendar format to list University closures, make up days, class end dates and the like in an easy-to-follow visual format.

To view the updated list of important dates, visit the Registrar's Web site.

What is the smoking policy at York University?
All Ontario universities and colleges are bound by the requirements of the Smoke Free Ontario Act (2005). There are a number of areas on York's Keele and Glendon campuses that are designated as smoke free.

A copy of York's smoking policy and spaces on campus that are designated as smoke free is available online. For more on the Smoke Free Ontario Act, visit the Ministry of Health Promotion Web site.

Scholarship for students with disabilities studying rehabilitation
York University students are now eligible for the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Scholarship in Rehabilitation-Related Research for Graduate Students with Disabilities. The scholarship provides $20,000 and an individual supplement for educational expenses incurred as a result of the student’s disability.

Applicants must plan to be enrolled in a rehabilitation-related graduate program leading to a masters or doctoral degree at one of the following universities: McMaster University, Ryerson University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, or York University.

Fields of study must relate to rehabilitation but are not limited to any particular discipline. Eligible disciplines may include but are not limited to biochemistry, biology, biomedical science, biostatistics, chemistry, computer science, disability studies, early childhood education, engineering, kinesiology, labour studies, music therapy, nursing, physical education, physics, psychology, public administration, rehabilitation sciences, social work, sociology and women’s studies.

Applications are encouraged from international students and final year undergraduate students. The next round of scholarships will be awarded for the 2007-2008 academic year, with an application deadline date of May 1, 2007.

The scholarships are awarded by the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and are made possible by the financial generosity of the TD Bank Financial Group. For more details click here.

City now enforcing parking bylaws in The Village
York’s Security, Parking & Transportation Services advises all members of the York community that parking restrictions in the Tribute Communities development, The Village at York University, located south of the Keele campus, are now being strictly enforced by Toronto's parking bylaw officers, effective immediately.

Contact Parking & Transportation Services at ext. 55335 or by e-mail at parking@yorku.ca if you have any questions or would like to discuss daily or permit parking options on campus.