| VOLUME 28, NUMBER 23 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1998 | ISSN 1199-5246 |
Dr. Ralph W. Nicholls, distinguished research professor of physics (emeritus) at York and director (emeritus), Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science (CRESS), has been appointed to the Order of Canada.
Professor Nicholls' career at York began in 1965 when he joined the University as professor and founding chair (1965-69) of the Physics Department, and founding director of the Centre for Research in Experimental (now Earth and) Space Science, CRESS (1965-1992), and director of the graduate programs for physics and CRESS.
Prior to that, Nicholls had been senior astrophysics demonstrator, Department of Physics, Imperial College, London (1945-48); successively, instructor, lecturer and assistant/associate/professor/senior professor, Physics Department, University of Western Ontario (1950-1965). Between 1951 and 1965, he was director of the Molecular Excitation Group in that department. He spent the 1959-1960 academic year in the Heat Division of the US National Bureau of Standards, Washington as a GS14 in the Condensed Free Radicals Spectroscopy Group
In 1982-83, he was Walter Gordon Research Fellow at York. In 1983, he was made distinguished research professor of physics. Since 1996 he has been distinguished research professor of physics (emeritus) and director (emeritus) of CRESS. He is still very active in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and in research.
His research career has been devoted to many experimental, theoretical and observational aspects of the spectra of small molecules. This work has emphasized diagnostic interpretation of intensities of molecular spectra from laboratory, atmospheric, space and astrophysical sources in terms of the physical conditions existing in remote light sources, and absorbing atmospheric columns. He has been associate editor of the Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer since 1960, and was editor of the Canadian Journal of Physics, 1986-1992.
Nicholls was made Fellow of the American Physical Society (1976), the Royal Society of Canada, (Academy of Science) (1978), the Optical Society of America (1978), the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (1979), and the UK Institute of Physics (1956). He has been visiting professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, for parts of 1964, 1968, 1973 and 1990, distinguished visiting scholar, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, and visiting lecturer, NASA Ames Research Center, Mountainview, California. In the Summer of 1991 he was a member of, and lecturer at, the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Space Systems in the Space Environment, Pitlochry, Scotland.
He is, or has been, a member of the TRACER, SPEAM1, MAPS, MAPS on MIR, HiRES and MICROMAPS2 Space Science Teams. He was the recipient (1995) of the NASA Group Achievement Award to the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) Experiment Team. He was also the recipient (1997) of a Canadian Space Agency award "in recognition of an outstanding career contributing to the Canadian Space Science Program."
During his career, Nicholls has published more than 300 papers and book chapters in the scientific literature. He is co-author with Baxter H. Armstrong of Emission, Absorption and Transfer of Radiation in Heated Atmospheres. He has supervised to successful conclusion, 35 PhDs and 32 MSc's.
He is a member of the International Astronomical Union and was president of its Commission 14 (Fundamental Spectroscopic Data (1983-85). His many Canadian committee memberships include: chairman, NRC Associate Committee on Space Research (1984-86); member of the ad hoc committee on the future of the Royal Society of Canada (1981-82); member, steering committee of the Royal Society of Canada study of the consequences of nuclear war; founding chairman Canadian Advisory Committee on the Scientific Uses of Space Station (1985-89); and founding member, Solar-Terrestrial Research Advisory Committee of the Canadian Space Agency.
Professor Nicholls was born in Richmond, Surrey, England on May 3, 1926, son of the late William James and the late Evelyn Mabel (née Jones) Nicholls. He was married in Bayfield, Ontario on June 28, 1952 to Doris Margaret (McEwen), PhD, MD. He was awarded Canadian Citizenship in 1957.
Nicholls was educated at the County School for Boys, Hove, Sussex; and at the Royal College of Science, Imperial College, London (1943-1945), supported by a State Bursary in Physics with Radio. He was awarded an ARCS (first class honours, physics) in 1945. As a result he was also awarded a first class honours (special) physics BSc from the University of London in 1946. He was awarded a self-supervised (external) physics PhD from the University of London in 1951, and a DSc (Spectroscopy) from the University of London in 1961.
In Ontario, midwifery used to be neither legal nor illegal says Dr. Ivy Bourgeault. "It was alegal."
A postdoctoral researcher with York's Centre for Health Studies and the recent recipient of a two-year, $60,000 National Health Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bourgeault is investigating how midwifery, "a uniquely feminist-based occupation," is being integrated into Ontario's health care system.
Bourgeault is the first postdoctoral fellow at York to receive the prestigious National Health Fellowship. It is usually awarded to institutions affiliated with medical schools. Her work is linked to other research on women, work and health-care restructuring underway at York's Centre of Excellence for Women's Health Research (one of five Canadian centres funded by Health Canada).
The Fellowship provides her with the opportunity to continue her work in what has, up to recently, been a very under-researched area, Bourgeault says. "I hope my research will offer important insights into the intense change underway in the midwifery profession. As more and more parents choose to give birth with the guidance of a midwife, and as the profession becomes more mainstream, we need to evaluate how the people and institutions that deal with midwives are changing, too."
With the passage of Ontario's Midwifery Act on Dec. 31, 1993, midwifery became a self-regulating health profession, distinct from medicine and nursing, and fully-funded by the provincial government. Until then, "Canada was in the embarrassing position of being the only industrialized nation that did not have any formal provision for midwifery services," Bourgeault says.
When the act came into force, over 60 midwives were fully licensed and funded to attend both home and hospital births. At the same time, a government-funded, formal university curriculum was established to prepare other practitioners for the profession. In September 1993, Ontario's first midwifery baccalaureate program began at Ryerson Polytechnic, Laurentian and McMaster Universities. (The program is provided in French at Laurentian.)
Alberta was the next province to regulate midwifery and British Columbia followed after. The other provinces are taking longer to accept midwifery as a profession, including Newfoundland where the longest tradition of practising midwifery prevailed until the 1960s, then disappeared.
"Although it is a widely accepted form of maternity care in the U.K. and elsewhere, in Canada midwifery has generally been regarded as an alternative health profession," says Bourgeault. "Prior to the late 1970s, there were few midwives in Ontario and their practice was neither legal nor officially recognized." Any regulation of the practice was client-directed and training was through informal apprenticeship, she explains.
Thanks to the dedication of an elite group of educated and articulate midwives and their supporters, and a combination of factors that included the Ontario government's recognition of the potential for substantial cost-savings, over a remarkably brief period a radical alteration in the official attitude toward midwifery was effected.
Government support was enhanced by the fact that several key bureaucrats and politicians were female, including the last four ministers of health prior to integration, says Bourgeault.
Opposition from the ranks of physicians was weakened when, early in the process, the medical profession was in the midst of a confrontation over physicians' right to extra-bill, Bourgeault says. Nor did it hurt the midwifery cause that doctors' incomes are no longer as dependent on obstetrics as they once were. "There has been a massive exodus of general practitioners from obstetrics, in recent times, due mainly to rapidly increasing malpractice insurance. The fees for normal obstetrics aren't very high and birthing is more high-risk, so if you're a family physician doing only 10 births a year, it's not worthwhile."
It took a little over a decade for midwifery in Ontario to move from obscurity to an officially mandated position within the health care system, Bourgeault says. "Not only is it remarkable that midwifery achieved integration in such a short space of time, but the form in which midwifery was integrated is equally astounding."
En route to integration, "the organization of the midwifery community evolved from an amorphous social movement of birth attendents, consumers, and supporters to a more bureaucratically organized professional association controlled by an elite group of midwives and a separate consumer support-group.
"Overall, the direction of [such] changes has been towards making midwifery a more rigid, hierarchical, bureaucratic profession. Midwives now have to practice within the system and not outside it. The pressures to conform to existing practices and preferences are tremendous."
How is it working?
Bourgeault completed her PhD at the University of Toronto. Her doctoral thesis is a social history that explores the formal integration of midwifery in Ontario and the impact of the integration process on the practice of midwifery.
"My work serves as advocacy," Bourgeault says. "I know my thesis has been read widely by members of the profession and others who are interested in seeing the profession sustained as an alternative form of community-based obstetrics care, and one which fits very well with non-institutionalized health care reforms ."
Her current research is concerned with examining what is happening to midwifery now that it is up and running. "How is it actually working? How is it affecting other [medical] practices, especially in hospitals? Are doctors, nurses and other hospital employees embracing the arrival of midwives into hospitals, or do they see them as intrusive?"
She intends to look at how formal education may affect some of the traditional philosophies that underpin the profession: the belief in informed choice and shared decision-making, home birth and the need to "de-medicalize" birth.
Another major issue, Bourgeault says, "is how to deal with the demand for midwives and, in turn, the demand for places in universities where people can train. I'm particularly interested in the admissions process. Four-to-five-hundred women are vying for 30-35 spots in the Ryerson-McMaster-Laurentian program. At the same time, a number of students drop out. Why?"
Bourgeault also wants to investigate changes in the way that midwives are paid. With regulation, Ontario began paying for midwifery through a central funding agency that remunerated midwifery practice groups according to their birth caseload. As of the end of March 1998, the funds for paying midwives will be administered at the local level, through community health centres and other transfer payment organizations.
"The changes in funding structures may be pivotal in influencing the direction of the profession," Bourgeault comments. "Local administration of funding may serve to erode midwives' common philosophies and practises despite the fact they will still have to answer to the College of Midwives of Ontario because local funding agencies may impose standards above those of the college."
Bourgeault will conduct her research in two parts: through extensive and repeated interviews with midwives, government representatives, educators, obstetricians, pediatricians, family doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, hospital administrators and midwifery students, and through analysis of a wide range of documents, such as newsletters, transcripts, medical journals and correspondence.
Her research will focus primarily on Ontario, but will also look at other jurisdictions in Canada and around the world. Once the project is complete, in June 1999, York's expert on midwifery plans to present the results at academic conferences and in journal articles. She also intends to write a book about the remarkable Ontario experience.
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Pest Management Research Program
Funding for both long-term and short-term projects is available to researchers to address knowledge gaps that are identified in the delivery of pest management programs to the various commodities involved in the field delivery programs. Program priority areas include: ornamental, tree, shrub and home garden; vegetable; tobacco and ginseng; protected crops; fruit crops; field crops; and Ontario weed. Long-Term Projects are those that are unlikely to be successful or completed within the funding timeframes. Funding is up to $50,000/year for up to three years. Short-Term Projects are those that encompass component parts of longer-term objectives. Funding is up to $15,000.
Deadline: March 13
Fondation Franco-ontarienne
Programme de subvention
Le program de subventions est conçu pour appuyer financièrement des initiatives et des projects répondant aux trois objectifs prioritaires de la Fondation : l'avancement de l'éducation des francophones en Ontario; la promotion de l'usage du français ainsi que l'épanouissement et la diffusion de la culture française en Ontario; le développement social et communautaire des milieux francophones en Ontario. En raison de moyens encore modestes, les subvention sont limitées à tout au plus quelques milliers de dollars, sans toutefoix représenter plus de 50% de la valuer du projet.
Date limite : le 15 mars
NATO
Science Program Collaborative Research Grants
The objective of the Science Program is the enhancement of science and technology through a variety of activities aimed at promoting international scientific cooperation. Collaborative Research Grants give assistance with joint projects being carried out between research teams in universities or research institutions in different NATO countries which rely for basic costs on national funding but where the costs for the international collaboration cannot be met from other sources. The grants, which average $6,000 thus principally support travel and living expenses of investigators visiting the partner institutions abroad.
Deadline: March 31
Centre for Accounting Ethics (University of Waterloo)
Research Grants
Research grants of up to $10,000 are available to support research that addresses ethics issues in any field of accounting.
Deadline: March 31
Deadline Dates
March 13
Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs: Pest Management Research Program
March 15
American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY): Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research
Center for 17th- and 18th-Century Studies (University of California, Los Angeles): Various Fellowship Programs
Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange: Various Grant Programs
Council for Library Resources: Cooperative Research Program
Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Foundation: Postdoctoral Research Fellowships for Basic and Physician Scientists
Donner (William H.) Foundation, Inc.: Research Grants
Fondation Franco-ontarienne: Programme de subventions
Harry Oppenheimer Institute for African Studies (University of Cape Town): Visiting Associateships in African Studies
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario: John D. Schultz Science Student Scholarship; Martin L. Wills High School Student Scholarship
Instituto Cultural de Macau: Research Scholarships
NSERC: Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA): Academic Librarianship Award; Teaching Awards
Royal Bank of Canada: Royal Bank Award
York University (administered by ORA): York Ad Hoc Research Fund (Travel Grants to Conferences)
March 31
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC): Chinese Studies Faculty Research Award Program for Canadians
Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE): CIDA Awards for Canadians
Centre for Accounting Ethics (University of Waterloo): Research Grants
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation: Research Grants (letters of intent due; full applications due September 30)
Monterrey Institute of Technology of Higher Education: Eugenio Garza Sada Award
NATO: Science Program Collaborative Research Grants
York University: Howard Crowe Memorial Lecture and Conference Fund
York University (administered by ORA): SSHRC Small Grants Program
late March
Embassy of Italy: Long-Term Scholarships
The Office of Research Administration (ORA) would like to remind faculty members of these research opportunities with upcoming deadlines. Deadlines listed are those of the granting agencies. Applications for external sources of funding (i.e., outside York) must be submitted to ORA before forwarding them to the agencies. To assist in meeting these deadlines, it is recommended that applications be submitted to ORA one to two weeks prior to the deadline dates.
For more information, please contact ORA at -55055 in S414 Ross Building (e-mail: research@yorku.ca).
The Executive Committee of Senate invites the York University community to contribute to its review of the Women's Remembrance Day Policy, as follows:
The Senate Executive Committee has created a Sub-Committee to review Senate Policy # 033, the policy referred to as the Women's Remembrance Day Policy.
The shocking murders of 14 women in their university classroom at Montreal's L'École Polytéchnique in December 1989, prompted, throughout the Canadian university community, a desire to grieve the loss of these women and to protest violence against women. In response to this tragedy, York created a Women's Remembrance Day Policy, whereby classes have been cancelled each year on December 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to encourage students, faculty and staff to attend a vigil in memory of the 14 women students who were murdered; to commemorate other women who have been victims of discrimination and violence; and to educate the community about violence against women.
This policy was recommended by the Senate Executive Committee and approved by Senate on June 24, 1993. The conditions of the policy stipulated that it would be reviewed by the Senate Executive Committee following a five (5) year trial period and that the Committee would report back to Senate in the Spring of 1998.
Members of the York Community have had the opportunity to recognize December 6 as Women's Remembrance Day for the past five (5) years. The Sub-Committee is requesting that the community contribute to its review of the policy. We encourage you to comment on all facets of the policy and invite any suggestions you may have.
Your response is requested by Monday, March 9, 1998. Please write to the Sub-Committee c/o University Secretariat, S883 Ross Building.
For your convenience, a copy of Senate Policy #033 is appended. It can also be found at the following address: http://www.yorku.ca/ admin/univsec/u_policy/senate/ womenrem.htm.
Policy
That Senate endorse a University-wide initiative, involving faculty, staff and students in the planning of a series of activities of relevance to Women's Remembrance Day, and that Senate encourage the Administration to facilitate the planning and funding of such activities;
* that, as the focus of activities appears to be during the day, particular consideration be given to ways in which the Atkinson College community may be involved in the planning of activities;
* that Senate encourage faculty to highlight Women's Remembrance Day in their classes and to incorporate in their classes, as appropriate, some of the issues facing women, particularly violence against women, and that the Administration support the development of workshops to assist faculty in this;
* that Senate declare a cancellation of classes between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 for the next five years, except as follows:
this cancellation will not apply to students engaged in clinical activities, practica or laboratory classes in 1993-94, although faculty and students in these situations are expected to explore reasonable alternatives
that the Excutive Committee undertake to review these arrangements and report back to Senate no later than April 1998.
At the Feb. 14 York Invitational, Anna Tomlinson claimed second in women's shot put.
Paula Folkes competes in three events for the Yeowomen 60 m hurdles, shot put and high jump.
Brad Norris is ranked seventh in the country in high jump and finished third at the Feb. 14 York meet.
The inter-university track and field season is shifting into high gear and the squad from York University is well placed to monopolize the fast lane. With the provincial and national championships just around the corner, the Yeomen boast a fourth-place standing in the CIAU (Canadian Inter-University Athletic Union) rankings, and the Yeowomen are fifth.
York athletes demonstrated winning ways at both the York University Invitational on Feb. 14 and the Cornell University Invitational on Feb. 20-21.
Among the athletes producing outstanding results this season is high jumper Brad Norris, who leaped 2.00m to capture third at the York meet. Norris, who has already qualified for the CIAU championships, looks strong in his event and is one of the York favourites heading into the OUA (Ontario University Athletics) championships to be held at York, March 6 and 7, at the Metro Track and Field Centre.
Other impressive showings by York include the men's pole vaulting team, who were only one place away from sweeping the competition at the Feb. 14 meet. CIAU and Canadian national pole vault champion Jeff Hayhoe finished first, reaching a height of 5.05m. Teammate Andy Miller, who received bronze at last year's CIAU final, was next with a vault of 4.95m, followed by Marcus Popp, who placed fourth with a height of 4.85m.
Rookie sensation Siobham Gaizutis continues to shine at inter-university meets, capturing second at the York Invitational in the women's long jump and finishing fourth in the 60m hurdles and high jump. Gaizutis is ranked first nationally in long jump, fourth in the 60m hurdles and sixth in high jump.
Another York athlete in the CIAU Top 10 is Teresa Duck, who is ranked fifth in the 1000m and holds second place in both the 1500m and the 3000m. Craig Cavanagh, last year's CIAU silver medalist, is ranked second in the country in long jump, and Christa Goebel tops the rankings in shot put. On the short track, Milton Hart in the 60m and Mike Dwyer in the 60m hurdles are among the Yeomen to watch.
by John Dwyer
After a couple of years in university fundraising at McMaster and the University of Toronto, it sure feels good to return to York. It's a particular pleasure to help out at the Centre for the Support of Teaching (CST) while it conducts its search for a new associate director. Dr. James Brown, whose contributions to the CST are recognized across the campus, has accepted the position of senior executive officer to the Vice-President (administration).
Fundraising gives you an interesting perspective on university teaching. The most promising donors to an institution are former students, and their willingness to give collates closely with the quality of the teaching they received. In the past, largely amateur university fundraisers could bank on alumni loyalty to the alma mater. Today's professional university development officers base carefully scripted cultivation strategies on the prospect's department and program of studies. It is no longer uncommon for faculty members to be involved in calls on former students.
Fundraising campaigns once focussed on buildings and equipment. Increasingly, they focus on people and projects. The ideal is to provide donors with opportunities for involvement and to build the relationships that will culminate in future investments. Partnerships that relate directly to teaching have the greatest appeal for the most donors because they tap into a common conviction of the importance of personal growth and intellectual development.
Before any major university fundraising campaign is launched, it is desirable to complete a planning study where prominent alumni, government and business representatives, and friends of the university are consulted about campaign projects and strategy. The message that universities are getting from their supporters is clear. In order to achieve their potential, university campaigns must focus more on student learning. New capital projects need to be positioned in terms of the ways they will improve the environment for teaching and learning. Research initiatives resonate best when linked explicitly to teaching.
No-one is suggesting that the fundraising tail should wag the academic dog. But the widespread concern about teaching and learning is clearly more than a marketing ploy of fundraisers. Its significance extends beyond the cost cutting and labour market mentalities of some government and corporate leaders. Its fundamental essence lies in a humanistic understanding of the power of a particular relationship that between students and teachers. That is why the debate on teaching is as pervasive within our colleges and universities as it is outside their walls.
Fundraisers, however, are clearly sending postsecondary institutions a wake-up call. At McMaster University, for example, preparation for a major fundraising campaign stimulated a healthy debate on student learning in the first year and on collaborative teaching in interdisciplinary, theme-based schools. McMaster's deans and administrators appear to be approaching consensus on making the McMaster Problem Solving Approach to teaching and learning the pillar of a $100-million campaign. To the extent that they contribute to that consensus, more power to the fundraisers.
John Dwyer is consultant to the Centre for the Support of Teaching.
