York University continues to show its strength in teaching and research as it leads once again in areas most meaningful to students, York University President Lorna Marsden said recently in response to the publication of the annual Maclean's magazine University Rankings.

York leads the way in areas such as student services and most educated faculty, according to the rankings. The Maclean's rankings place York University fifth overall in the comprehensive category, which consists of 12 universities.

York ranked first in classes taught by tenured faculty, first in the number of faculty with PhDs, first in student services as a percentage of budget, first in library acquisitions, second in medical and science grants, and third in the number of awards per full-time faculty. In addition, York University made progress in reducing its class sizes and in increasing the proportion of students who graduate.

"York University continues to have the most classes taught by tenured faculty, the most PhDs, and the greatest financial commitment to student services," said Marsden. "York is clearly a student-centered university where students are taught by the most-educated faculty whose award-winning research is fed right into the classroom, even at the first-year level. And I'm pleased to say that we are making progress on reducing the size of those classes," she said.

"The range and rapidity of York University's success in attracting top-notch students and faculty, in providing innovative programs, and in working with local, national and international communities on research that makes a difference is remarkable," said Marsden, noting York is preparing to celebrate 40 years since the passage of the York Act March 26, 1959.

The following is the text of a speech given by Steve Dranitsaris, Executive Officer in the School of Physical Education, one of the 25-year employees of York University recently honoured at a special reception. Let's look back to 1973, the year we were hired, for a bit of perspective.

The Canadian Prime Minister was Pierre Trudeau. The Leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition was Robert Stanfield. The Premier of Ontario was Bill Davis. The "tiny perfect Mayor of Toronto" was David Crombie.

Notable events included: Watergate, the energy (fuel/oil) crisis, inflation in North America, and the fourth Arab-Israeli conflict in the Mid-East. The United States announced a settlement in the Vietnam War. Nixon and Brezhnev agreed to end the Cold War the first time.

Notable sport events included: the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in seven games over the Chicago Black Hawks; the Oakland As won the World Series (in six games over the New York Mets; the Miami Dolphins won the Superbowl (at both ends of the year).

Notable in entertainment were the top movies of the year. They included: The Poseidon Adventure, American Graffiti, Deliverance, The Exorcist, The Paper Chase and the academy award winner, The Sting. Pop music in 1973 was dominated by Elton John, Jim Croce, The Carpenters, Donny Osmond and Paul McCartney and the Wings. On television, we embraced Archie Bunker, welcomed Theo Kojak, and said farewell to Pa Cartwright and his boys of Bonanza.

The prediction of the year was interesting. A study on computers in business by Coopers & Lybrand forecast that, although they were effective in organizing and storing data, computers would pose a threat to human judgement, and therefore they might be bad for business. (Source: Toronto Star, 12/31/73)

At York University, names in the news in 1973 were as follows: John Yolton became Acting President following the resignation of David Slater in January 1973. At the same time, Bill Farr was promoted from University Secretary to Vice-President by the Chair of the Board of Governors, Robert MacIntosh. Floyd Chalmers' term as Chancellor concluded and Walter Gordon was appointed the new Chancellor.

Our Deans included: Jack Saywell in Arts, Harry Crowe at Atkinson College, Gerald Carruthers in Environmental Studies, and Harry Arthurs at Osgoode Hall Law School. Albert Tucker was the Principal of Glendon College.

New appointments in 1973, included: Bob Lundell as Dean of the Faculty of Science, Joe Green as Dean of Fine Arts, Brian Dixon as Acting Dean of Administrative Studies, Graham Reed as Acting Dean of Graduate Studies, and a young researcher named Michael Stevenson was appointed Acting Director of York's already renowned Institute for Behavioural Research.

Student enrolment in 1973 was approximately 21,000 (compared to approximately 40,000 at present). Year 1 intake was targeted at 3,250 in 1973 (compared to about 6,000 in 1998).

About 3,100 degrees were granted at the spring and fall convocation ceremonies (compared to approximately 7,600 this year).

In 1973, tuition fees were $660 for five full courses (compared to $4,100 this year) and a double room residence accommodation with the full meal plan cost $1,095 (compared to $4,650 this year). With the opening of Fine Arts Phase II in 1973, the buildings on the York campus numbered 34. Today, there are 74.

In 1973, York and Ryerson established the York-Ryerson Computing Centre, and Waterloo Lutheran University changed its name to Wilfrid Laurier University.

By November 1973, the Board of Governors had named H. Ian Macdonald as President Elect, to take office July 1, 1974.

I wanted to read these lists to everyone today, primarily to be nostalgic. I also wanted to illustrate how complex the world, and even York was, in 1973, and how all sorts of pressures - economic, political, technological, environmental, societal, demographic and others have intensified the complexity of who we are; what we do; how, why and how quickly we change; and where we should be going.

Our 25-year anniversary is an appropriate occasion for us to reflect on what we have been and what we have become. In the 25 years that we have been full-time employees at York, we have graduated more than 120,000 students from our degree programs. This in itself is significant when one considers all of the services, recruiting, processing, communications, supplies, equipment, procurement, scheduling, facility preparation, maintenance, accounting, staffing, student assistance and extracurricular programming that would have been necessary for the delivery of this order of teaching and learning to have occurred.

Arguably, the education of this large number of students has been the focus of what has gone on at York in the past 25 years. However, in addition, I would estimate during these same 25 years that:

More than 100,000 others have taken continuing education offerings provided by our various faculties and units; The number of buildings on campus has doubled; Library holdings virtually doubled growth which has exceeded the physical capacity of our library buildings, thankfully more and more of the research and learning materials have moved to either electronic format or access; Eighteen new research centres have been established; $361.5 million in research funding has been generated (with annual revenues increasing tenfold since 1973); Privately funded awards and scholarships have increased tenfold; and the number of published articles or works of our faculty during this period are well into the thousands, if not tens of thousands.

These statistics and estimates are gross quantifiable measures of the University's productivity, impact, growth and change. Qualitative aspects are more difficult to measure but, I believe, are reflected in our enrolment numbers, entrance standards, academic program reviews and comparative levels of research funding. The quality of the institution York has become is also reflected in our commitment to innovation and our philosophical stand and leadership in areas such as human rights, accessibility, affirmative action and social responsibility.

What is so remarkable is that York's productivity and change over the past 25 years, both quantitative and qualitative, has occurred in spite of three economic recessions, four periods of successive annual government budget cuts to universities, a 15-year government moratorium on new buildings, upwardly spiralling tuition costs, and government funding arrangements that have disadvantaged York within the Ontario university system.

Indirectly and directly, each of us has contributed to all that York has achieved and has become. In this, we should take considerable pride and accept the recognition given to us on this occasion. Each of us has provided enormous energy, perseverance, commitment, professionalism and, probably more than anything else, adaptability. To become great, universities require this of their employees.

Notwithstanding what we have given, we should also be grateful. I, for one, appreciate York University for all it has given me in terms of my career, work environment, social, recreational and meaningful volunteer opportunities, and personal relationships.

VOICE OF YORK: Switchboard operator Gwen Hickford was one of the 25-year employees honoured at a reception recently.

by Mary Ann Horgan

In many ways, Gwen Hickford is the voice of York University. She was hired in 1973 to work on the central switchboard, and, 25 years later, she is still answering the telephone calls that come in.

Back then, there were a few hundred phone calls a day. Now the switchboard receives between 700 and 800 calls a day, not counting those routed through touch tone and voice mail. Understandably, Hickford does not like to talk on the phone when she gets home!

Back in 1973, the switchboard answered emergency calls as well as business calls. Hickford and her colleagues dispatched security if someone was stuck on the elevator, but they also gave directions to florists looking for a building or pizza delivery trucks, and a range of other enquiries, as they still do today.

"It's always fun when we get a call for 'Mary' or 'Susan' and the caller doesn't know the last name or the department, but 'Can I speak to her," Hickford said. "And whenever a snowflake fell, we'd get students calling to ask if the University was closed due to bad weather. I guess some things never change."

Hickford sometimes worked the overnight shift, since the switchboard was staffed around the clock. "There used to be a student, I think he was a teaching assistant who lived on campus, who would often call at midnight from his office in the Ross Building, just to chat. He worked all kinds of crazy hours, and I guess he was restless. We used to talk about everything under the sun. I never knew his name, but we used to refer to him as the Midnight Caller."

"Sometimes he would order pizza in the middle of the night, and he'd call Campus Security and have them deliver a slice to me! I never knew his face or his name back then. But a few years later, I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law. We were outside chatting in the backyard when a fellow came over and said, 'I know that voice.' Lo and behold, it was the Midnight Caller. He lived two doors down from my brother. His name was Paul something or other, and that was the first time we actually met face to face. He went on to become assistant director at the Shaw Festival. I think he's down in the States now."

Hickford was just one of the employees who were honoured recently at the Faculty Club. All 25-year employees of York were congratulated for their longstanding commitment to the University. The employees received gifts to commemorate their years of service.

A QUARTER CENTURY AT YORK: Long service employees who have worked at the University for 25 years celebrated at a reception at the Faculty Club on Nov. 16.

Several employees recalled their early days on campus. Gail Iris-Thomson of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science recalls the big snowstorm of 1975. "I caught the last bus off the campus. I made a decision to leave at 1 p.m., although the University was still deciding what to do. Those who hadn't left by then got stuck here for two or three days! I got out in the nick of time."

Many long-service employees had positive things to say about their time at York. James Poole of the Instructional Technology Centre (ITC) said, "It's been an interesting 25 years, and for the most part, very good. I've enjoyed working in ITC, because we have a close-knit, family type atmosphere. Being a service department, we supply all of the audiovisual and multimedia services at York. It's a very demanding job, and it requires a lot of teamwork and team spirit to fulfill those orders every day."

York University President Lorna Marsden made a champagne toast to the employees, saying that "You have enriched the quality of experience for all of us at York. We should actually be congratulating the clever people who hired you, for you have all contributed to making York a very important university and institution in this city."

"We often hear wonderful stories of appreciation from students and alumni who say what a treasure it was to have those years at York," Marsden said. "The positive response to this University is tremendous, and you're all part of that. We've all been through some very tough times, with budget cuts and restraints, and I know what those cuts have meant, and how much dedication and commitment from staff members goes into managing in tough times. But I think we're coming out of those times as a much stronger place."

WOMEN'S REMEMBRANCE DAY: This sculptural work, Mother, Daughter, Sister, by artist Jane Lind, will be on display in the Vari Hall rotunda on Friday, Dec. 4 as part of the events organized in memory of the women slain in the Montreal massacre. The exhibit can also be viewed in the Student Centre Art Gallery from Dec. 3 to Dec. 11.

York University is planning a number of special events to remember the 14 women murdered at École Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989, and to raise awareness of violence against women.

This year's events will take place on Friday, Dec. 4. Everyone from the York community is invited to participate in the main event, which takes place in the Vari Hall rotunda from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. There will be speakers, music and art.

The Senate of York University has declared that classes will be cancelled between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The official Women's Remembrance Day, Dec. 6, falls on a Sunday, so the York observance has been scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4. The Senate encourages faculty members to highlight Women's Remembrance Day in their classes and to incorporate into their lessons, as appropriate, some of the issues facing women, particularly violence against women.

Two sculptural works (one metal, one clay) by artist Jane Lind will be on display in the rotunda on Dec. 4 and in the Student Centre Art Gallery from Dec. 3 to 11. The first, A Long Circle, is a circular metallic work large enough for students to walk through. It includes sculptures of 14 individual figures representing the 14 women slain in the massacre. The second work, Mother, Daughter, Sister (1996-98), is a representation of figures sculpted in clay.

Lind describes her work as follows: "A Long Circle extends the image from the Montreal Massacre to the ongoing violence through the use of objects and the open space in the circle of fourteen. The space becomes a door so that viewers can walk inside the circle to experience the installation in an intimate way, and at the same time, the circle opens onto the present time, when women are still being murdered."

"In Mother, Daughter, Sister, the focus of violence toward women moves away from the Montreal massacre even further to an image that encompasses the approximate number of women that, at current rates, will be murdered in Canada between 1998 and the year 2000," says Lind. "The clay figures, though they have individual features, are all formed to lie in the same basic position to give the installation unity and to strengthen the impact of the repetition."

P & M AWARD: Student Affairs coordinator Debbie Ham (at right) is pictured at the reception held in her honour, with Assistant Vice-President (Student Affairs) Cora Dusk (left) and Ham's daughter, Alycia, 14. Photo by John Dawson

by Mary Ann Horgan

This year's winner of the President's P & M Award for outstanding contributions to York University is Debbie Ham, coordinator of student affairs.

Ham's colleagues, friends, and relatives packed the Faculty Club reception held recently in her honour. Many spoke of her commitment to the University, her dedication to students, and her service to York.

York University President Lorna Marsden presented Ham with a painting done by former York employee Paul Tacon. The painting was given "as a symbol of the appreciation and thanks of everyone here," said Marsden.

"This afternoon is an opportunity for all of us to say how much we appreciate the work that P & M (Professional and Managerial) staff members do, and I know that the deans and vice-presidents join with me in thanking all the P & M staff," Marsden said. "The work each of you does is very important, and the commitment you give is crucial to the welfare of the university, and is a model to all of us on campus. This award is an opportunity for us to acknowledge that."

Gilles Fortin of the Office of Student Affairs at Glendon College read the citation on Ham, which included excerpts from the various letters of nomination. "Debbie Ham is highly regarded in the P & M group, as attested to by the letters sent in support of her nomination," Fortin said. Among the comments made are the following:

* "Debbie Ham's sense of responsibility and commitment to help students is enormous. She sits on many university committees and has volunteered for many University fundraising activities.

* "Debbie excels in her service to the P & M Association and in helping other P & M members."

* "Debbie is extremely dedicated to York University and has consistently placed a high priority in serving York University, its students and staff. She is an outstanding team player, who mixes efficiency, effectiveness and fun with every project she undertakes."

* "Deborah Ham is a woman of many talents, not the least of which is her ability to deal with difficult situations and individuals in such a way that all feel heard."

* "Debbie is an accomplished mediator, problem solver, motivator, manager and a friend to many here at the University. When it comes to giving to York University, the word 'no' is not in her vocabulary."

Fortin also provided some biographical information on the winner. "Ham has worked at York since 1977. She began her career as a receptionist in Physical Education, moving to the graduate program in physical education three years later. She took some time off in 1984 for the birth of her daughter, Alycia, and then in 1989, she joined the Office of Student Affairs as an Information Assistant. Ham moved into the P & M group in 1994 as Assistant to the Vice-President (Campus Relations), taking the risk of a temporary assignment. In 1995, she moved into her current position as Coordinator of Student Affairs."

Other distinguished nominees for this year's award included: Tom Arnold (Safety, Security & Parking Services); Charmaine Courtis (Schulich School of Business); Marilyn diFlorio (Office of Research Administration); Brigitte Kleer (Faculty of Fine Arts); Malcolm Ransom (University Secretariat); David Thompson (V-P Academic Affairs); and Michele Young (Faculty of Graduate Studies).

"From this distinguished company, Debbie Ham has been selected as this year's recipient of the President's P & M Award," Fortin said. The recipient is chosen by a selection committee based on nominations received from the York community. Criteria for the award include: contributions to students, contributions to the University, contributions to the P & M Association membership, contributions to the community.

After accepting the award, Ham said "When I look around, I just want to say 'wow'. Thank you very much. I'm deeply touched to see everyone here. York University has been in my vocabulary for 21 years now. My sister Marilyn encouraged me to come to York [as a student], and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her."

"York has provided me with the opportunity to grow, personally and professionally. She recalled that when she first started working in Physical Education, it was "unique and strange. I used to be very shy and quiet. I was working for Prof. Norm Gledhill, and I became more vocal and outgoing, perhaps because he was vocal and outgoing," she laughed.

"My very first impression was that I loved York," said Ham. "That impression has stayed with me. This is a great place. My time as a residence tutor was great, but we'd better put the cone of silence over that experience. My committee work is also very important to me.

Looking back at her experience at York, Ham said "I really enjoyed working in Physical Education, and I was also very happy to go to Student Affairs. I love people, and I wanted to provide a strong commitment there. There is a lot of high energy in Student Affairs. It sometimes feels like a giant carpet ride, you never know what to expect. We have a team that really cares, and I thank all of those people. I continue to let people know that York is a great place, and all of the people in this room play a role in that. I'm honoured to be among this distinguished group of nominees.

Marina van der Merwe is a coach par excellence for the woman's fiels hockey team at York.

by Marylyn White

After 27 years, professor and Yeowomen field hockey coach Marina van der Merwe has become a legend at York.

She started out as a basic movement teacher, which is what she came to Canada to do. Her teaching specialties ranged from anatomy, physiology and rhythmic gymnastics. However, when the University of Toronto, where she was teaching at the time, decided they wanted to give their female students another sport to participate in, van der Merwe's field hockey coaching career began.

"Field hockey has been a tremendous plus in my life," says van der Merwe. "It has taken me around the world and given me the opportunity to see the world from a competitive point of view and a social point of view and from a people point of view."

Since taking up coaching at York she has lead the Yeowomen to six silver and two bronze National medals and was awarded the CIAU (Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union) Coach of the Year award in 1995.

She describes her coaching philosophy "to stretch the athlete as far as she can go with her will or against her will and to have the insight to analyse the opposition to the Nth degree."

Coach van der Merwe also worked with the Canadian national field hockey program from 1976- 1995. During this time she was named the Air Canada Coach of the Year. While with the national program, she coached the team through three Olympics, six World Cups, which included a silver and a bronze medal, and claimed two silver and a bronze medal at the Pan Am Games.

There are four things van der Merwe holds vital to athletic success: speed, endurance, technique and tactics. She has found that most athletes prefer to sprint for a short distance or jog for a longer distance, however it is essential to van der Merwe's coaching strategy that her athletes develop both.

Technique and tactics are important to van der Merwe for more personal reasons."I would not rank myself a very good player from a technical point of view and I think this is why I have become such a mad woman as far as technique is concerned," says van der Merwe. "I recognize that technique is a crucial item. Speed I knew, speed I understood. The combination of speed and good technique is the absolute crème de la crème."

THEATRICAL TRANS/FORMATIONS: Prof. Robert Wallace, this year's Chair of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, is the organizer of the series exploring issues related to the theatre and dance. He is pictured next to the horse sculpture (designed by Fine Arts Dean Phillip Silver) in the lobby of the Centre for Fine Arts.

by Mary Ann Horgan

Theatre has the capacity to construct who we are as a society, according to this year's holder of the Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies.

Robert Wallace is a professor of English at Glendon College, where he coordinates the bilingual program in Drama Studies. Wallace has been appointed to the position of Robarts Chair until June 30, 1999. He is the organizer of a series of free, public events running during 1998-99 that aims to explore how theatre and dance "transform" Canadian society.

The series is called Theatrical Trans/Formations. Several events have taken place during the fall semester, the most recent being an appearance by Quebec playwright, actor, and director Pol Pelletier, who spoke on "Trans/Forming Culture: From 'French-Canadian' to 'Quebecoise.'

"The reason the series is called Trans/Formations is because I am interested in the way that theatre can transform us," said Prof. Wallace. "A lot of people define theatre and drama as a reflection of society, and that's a valid approach, but I think theatre does more than reflect. I think it constructs who we are, it is a formation. Someone sits down and writes it, and makes it, and we as an audience see those formations. They either affirm what we know already, or they take us someplace else. They form new ideas, so in that sense they transform the social fabric as well as re-present it to us. This approach to theatre is not frequently expressed, but I really believe it to be true."

Wallace began teaching at York in 1968, while finishing his master's degree in drama at the University of British Columbia. During the 1970s, Prof. Wallace wrote five stage plays, one of which, No Deposit, No Return, was produced off Broadway in 1975. At this time, he also began writing theatre criticism and commentary, which he continues to write and publish in a wide range of newspapers, magazines, and academic journals.

During the 1970s, Wallace simultaneously edited Canadian Theatre Review, the most important English-language quarterly in the country devoted to Canadian theatre, and developed an ambitious program of play publishing for Coach House Press. As drama editor for Coach House from 1982 to 1995, he edited more than 20 volumes of Canadian plays and helped many of Canada's best known playwrights to further their careers. During the 1980s, Wallace also contributed regularly to a variety of CBC radio programs, including Stereo Morning, State of the Arts, the Arts Tonight, and Two New Hours. For CBC Ideas, he wrote and produced 10 feature documentaries about 20th Century performance.

Books by Robert Wallace include: The Work: Conversations with English Canadian Playwrights (1982, co-written with Cynthia Zimmerman), Quebec Voices (1986); Producing Marginality: Theatre and Criticism in Canada (1990) and Making, Out: Plays by Gay Men (1992). Currently, Wallace is completing a collection of essays about performance and sexuality called Performing Queer. Wallace sits on the boards of a number of arts organizations and currently chairs the Arts Advisory Committee of the Laidlaw Foundation, which funds the development and creation of new works in dance, theatre and music by Ontario artists.

He said he is most interested in "what I call the power relations at work in contemporary Canadian culture that we see in the structures of Canadian theatre and dance."

Exploring the dynamic between the mainstream and the margins of Canadian theatre is Wallace's objective. "For this series, I have invited some presenters who are very well known and have high profiles, but I have also asked people who are unknown and who have more unusual visions," said Wallace. "The voices that issue from the margins are often the ones that lead us into the future," he said. "People who have achieved the mainstream often can do little more than affirm what has already been accepted in terms of ideas, forms, and practices. They can't afford to take risks. On the other hand, people on the margins have nothing to lose and more to gain in terms of being provocative, challenging, disruptive, and even offensive to the mainstream. I want to explore that dialectic between the marginal and the mainstream."

Not every event is a debate between those on the margin and those in the mainstream, said Wallace, but he hopes the series as a whole will focus on that larger discussion. "I don't think each event requires a conflict between the participants. What I hope is that the comments by the participants will facilitate debate amongst the observers, and that's what I'm aiming for. The audience will, I hope, get an appreciation for a range of ideas. This is very Brechtian, the participants present a thesis and antithesis, and the audience members have to come up with a synthesis."

The "transformations" that the series title refers to are numerous, Wallace said. "There are various transformations: we are transforming community, gender, politics, and culture, and this series is of particular reference to theatre and dance but also to women's studies. Many of the primary speakers in the series are women, and that is deliberate. While women in general have been under-represented in the arts, in theatre they have achieved considerably more representation. The growth of theatre in Canada has parallelled the growth of the women's movement."

The series is not comprised exclusively of seminars. "I wanted to arrange a series of events with different formats that would be free and open to the public, that would attract undergraduates and people from across the York community. I also hope for interaction with the audience, not so much through lectures as with panels, presentations, demonstrations, master classes, and small group experiences, as well as films."

Several events in the Theatrical Trans/Formations series have already taken place this semester. Members of the York community are encouraged to attend upcoming events in the series. "This series is not just for theatre people," said Wallace. "My love of theatre stems from the idea that theatre can facilitate a sense of community, sharing, and change. Theatre confirms, affirms, and changes peoples' lives. Any theatre person worth his or her salt wants to reach as broad an audience as possible. As someone said to me recently, theatre without an audience is a rehearsal."
 
 

* Trans/Forming Gender: From Presumption to Performative, on Monday, Feb. 8. Once, gender was presumed to be an immutable fact of birth. Now it is frequently seen as a "performative," both arbitrary and changeable. This leads some of Canada's most experienced theatre artists to defy not only gender roles but the categories of sex itself. A panel/performance called "Trans/Forming the Audience" will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Burton Auditorium. Guests include: David Bateman, playwright and performance artist (Calgary); Audrey Butler, Toronto playwright, performer, and artistic director of Temperamental Journeys; Jonathan Wilson, Toronto performer and playwright whose new play, Kilt, premieres at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre in April 1999. This event will be moderated by Wallace. A reception with cash bar will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Alumni Fireside Lounge. Finally, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., a reading/performance by Diane Flacks, Toronto playwright and performer, will take place in the Joseph G. Green Studio, Centre for Film and Theatre.

* The 13th Annual Robarts Lecture is the last event in the series. It will take place on Monday, March 15, 1999, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Senate Chamber, N940, Ross Building. Prof. Robert Wallace will speak on "Theatre and Trans/Formation in Contemporary Canadian Culture(s)," summarizing the year-long series. A reception with cash bar will be held from 5 to 6 p.m.

The Fishing Trip, the first feature film produced and directed by York screenwriting professor and filmmaker Amnon Buchbinder, won raves from the media and the public alike at its world premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival.

The film is being considered a major coup for the Department of Film and Video at York. It was written by then-York student Michelle Lovretta, 21, as an assignment for a first-year film class. Many York students in the Film and Video Program worked on the production crew for the film, which opened on Nov. 13.

The Fishing Trip features actresses Jhene Erwin, Melissa Hood and Anna Henry. The film is described as providing "truly gritty performances" by the Globe and Mail, and as "a keeper" with "disarming freshness" by the Toronto Star. After its success at the Toronto Film Festival, it opened in local theatres, including the Carlton and Canada Square Cinemas in Toronto. The film then went on to showings at Sudbury Cinefest and the Vancouver International Film Festival. It opens in Ottawa on Dec. 4.

The film tells a story of lost childhood and possible redemption through the eyes and experiences of three young women. "Kirsti" has come home from college to confront her stepfather, Harold, about the dark family secret. But Harold has gone north to his remote fishing cabin, the very place where he first sexually assaulted Kirsti and her younger sister, Jessie. Bribing the hostile Jessie to help her find the cabin, and joined on the trip by Jessie's best friend Murdoch, Kirsti soon makes a terrifying discovery that will allow no turning back.

The harrowing journey these unforgettable young women make through the landscapes of Northern Ontario and through the emotional minefields of their relationships is buoyed by the humour and the resiliency of youth. The Fishing Trip is described as carrying us through the darkness to the healing power of sisterhood, friendship and love.

Maclean's magazine called it a "spare, earnest drama with no tricks but a lot of emotional power... exceptional performances." In the Toronto Star, reviewer Judy Gerstel writes that "[the actresses] are so ingenuous and so open on screen they touch you and their characters stay with you. Lovretta seems to have an instinct for writing these characters."

Buchbinder said, "The fact that we've gotten the film this far is in spite of considerable odds. In addition to the difficulty that all small budget, independent, and Canadian films face, we've also had to overcome prejudices against our subject matter, an honest look at the lives of three young women and their struggle to overcome the past. How uncommercial!"

"The Fishing Trip was dismissed early on by film distributors and financiers because of the subject matter: People said 'It's just a girl movie,' and 'Nobody will go see a film about this, no matter how good it is'," said Buchbinder. "These responses got us good and mad, really determined to make the film. That we succeeded is thanks mostly to the faith and determination of the cast and crew, the arts councils, and our partners in the film industry."

"We've gotten terrific responses to the completed film from audiences of teenagers and adults at advance screenings, and enthusiastic coverage in the press."

The film was produced by Camellia Frieberg, who also produced Atom Egoyan's Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter.

Buchbinder's film held two weeks of rehearsal, and then filmed for four weeks. Two weeks were spent on location in the countryside and at a cottage near Sault Ste. Marie.

Lovretta, now 24, has since left school and is now working independently in what will be, to all appearances, a promising screenwriting career.

The Fishing Trip is currently playing at the Carlton Cinema, 20 Carlton St., east of the College subway station in downtown Toronto.

MUSCLE MAN: Prof. Enzo Cafarelli conducts research into the intriguing subject of muscle control.

by Don Evans

Exactly how is human muscle affected by fatigue and how is it influenced by training? These are complex questions and difficult to study in humans, but Professor Enzo Cafarelli of York University's Kinesiology and Health Science Program persists in seeking the answers.

For 21 years at York, and before that as a post-doctoral Fellow at a Yale University Medical School laboratory, Cafarelli has conducted research into the intriguing matter of control of muscle. His research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

"Skeletal muscle is ubiquitous," Cafarelli says "We need it for everything, movement, speech and breathing. "But muscle is simply tissue," he notes. "Control of muscle is provided by the central nervous system and, ultimately, the brain. Together, muscle and its neural control elements are referred to as the neuromuscular or motor system. Because human motor activity is so complex, we don't understand how it functions nearly as well as we should."

Cafarelli is intrigued by the motor system's ability to control several movements at once. "Consider the fact that you can walk, talk and breathe at the same time, that the body can perform those functions simultaneously," says Cafarelli. "To me, this whole area of research is so interesting. To make a control system that would exactly replicate human movement such as walking is virtually impossible."

Cafarelli's research is concerned with two primary aspects of the control of muscles by the nervous system. The first - difficult to study in human beings - is, how do we compensate for fatigue? Most of the compensation for fatigue and some of the adaptations to repeated use, such as in training, arise in the parts of the nervous system that control muscle.

The second aspect of muscle control is: How do we adapt to chronic use- "Go over to the weight room and watch - with training, when muscle is used repeatedly over a period of weeks and months, it gets bigger and stronger," says Cafarelli. "We know a lot about change in size. What I'm interested in is: how does the motor system adapt to this much larger engine? If it didn't compensate, with bigger muscles, when you picked up the telephone receiver you'd bash yourself in the head."

The motor system's main function is to generate the force that results in purposeful movement. Cafarelli studies how and why, when muscle is used forcefully and repeatedly, it progressively loses its ability to generate force. "This is a form of fatigue that has serious implications for competitive athletes, for rehabilitation of injured limbs, and for elderly people trying to accomplish daily tasks," he says. "In some cases, there is evidence that the brain says, no, I'm not going to do this [activity] any more. This phenomenon is called 'central fatigue.'"

Cafarelli and his colleagues record the neurally-generated electrical activity in muscle. They also record its 'force output' under a variety of conditions that reflect fatigue and adaptation to training.

"Muscle is what's called excitable tissue, as is the nerve that's attached to each muscle cell," says Cafarelli. That is, both muscle and nerve membranes are capable of having an electrical potential cross them. In order to operate, of course, the muscle cell needs an electrical signal that's transmitted by the nerve. For the most part, the signal arises in the brain, travels down the spinal cord and out along nerves to muscle. When it reaches muscle, it releases an electrical charge and causes the cell to shorten. "If we attach electrodes to the skin over the muscle, we can see that signal if we amplify it enough," Cafarelli says.

Cafarelli and his research team take over the control of muscles by injecting an electrical shock into a nerve. "So you have someone sitting in a device that monitors force," he says. "For as long as possible, the subject tries to hold force in his leg. At the same time, using an electrical instrument designed for this purpose, we deliver a shock to the big nerve right in the crease of the leg."

To know what individual muscle cells are doing, the researchers take a fine needle, made of tungsten, and insert it into the muscle. This allows them to record the electrical discharge signal of 16- to-18,000 cells, one cell at a time.

"We measure the firing rate, the rapidity at which they discharge," Cafarelli explains. "Muscle cells in humans fire between 5 and 25 Hz (Hertz) per second. Apparently, this rate is matched with the way the muscle functions.

Over the past seven years, York University has been promoting awareness of disability and disability related issues through Access Awareness. For 12 days in January, York will be holding its seventh annual Access Awareness Week. It includes interactive and educational sessions open to students, staff, faculty and community members. Soon posters and other advertisements will be displayed around campus with details about these upcoming events, locations, and how to get involved.

Jan. 11 Panel Discussion
8:30-9:30 a.m. Women's Studies course discussion on women's roles and  being a woman with a disability.

Jan. 13 Display Day
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Representatives from community organizations and York campus offices will be setting up information booths and will be available to field questions regarding the services they provide.

Jan. 14 Workshops
10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Central themes are sexuality and disability, deaf culture and physical barriers.

Jan. 15 Simulation Activities
TBA. Participants are given the opportunity to experience various types of simulated disabilities.

Jan. 20 Activity Day
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Participants can interact with adaptive technology and equipment brought onto campus by community members.

York students win Magna for Canada Scholarship

Congratulations to two York University students who won scholarships for their prize winning essays, which appear in the 1998 edition of the book, "As Prime Minister I Would..." Students Charles Lafortune of Sudbury, Ont., and Bojan Pavlovic of Etobicoke, Ont., are among 12 winners from more than 450 essay submissions from some of the top students across Canada. They have won a $5,000 scholarship and an offer of paid summer employment with Magna International. The book is published by Macmillan Canada and is the culmination of a year-long essay writing competition. The program is sponsored by the Magna for Canada Scholarship Fund, a $1-million charitable trust that invites college and university students and prominent Canadians to propose original ideas on how to improve Canada. Winners were presented with a first edition copy of the book from Frank Stronach, founder and chair of Magna International. The book explores the ideas of the next generation of leaders, as well as responses from prominent Canadians, including retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie, Ken Taylor, former Canadian Ambassador to Iran, cable company executive Ted Rogers, Thomas d'Aquino of the Business Council on National Issues, and Catherine Swift, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. For more information, visit the Web site at: www.magnaforcanada.com

York's new telephone system coming in

Over the next few weeks, technicians authorized by Telecommunications at York will be visiting every office on campus (some 5,000 desks) to begin work on the changeover of York's telephone system. The technicians, identified by photo identification badges as employees of Wiltel Communications, will deliver and place the new telephone sets on your desk. The first phase of the changeover (from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11) will focus on visiting and delivering a new set to every location. These new phones should not yet be plugged into the telephone jack, but must be left on the desks beside the active phones. Do not place the phone sets inside desks or file drawers. The new phone system will be activated during the second phase of the changeover (from Dec. 19 to Dec. 24). In order to complete the first phase, it is vital that the personnel have access to all offices. In case offices are locked, the technicians will contact the main reception staff for help. Your cooperation with the technicians will be greatly appreciated. For more information, send an email note to: newphone@yorku.ca or visit the Web site at: www.telecommunications.yorku.ca.

26th annual OCUFA awards deadline coming up

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations is calling for submissions for its upcoming awards competitions, with a deadline of Feb. 19, 1999. OCUFA presents Teaching Awards and the Academic Librarianship award each year to recognize outstanding teachers and academic librarians in Ontario through awards. Since 1973, OCUFA has presented 271 awards. Approximately 10 are presented each year. The teaching award embraces all levels of instruction - graduate, undergraduate, continuing education and faculty development. Similarly, proficiency in teaching may extend well beyond the classroom, the lab, or the faculty member's office. Activities such as course design, curriculum development, organization of teaching programs and other significant forms of leadership are often important contributions to the instructional process. The librarian awards embrace all aspects of librarianship that contribute to the scholarly achievement of all members of the university community. Activities such as the development and delivery of services, provision of educational materials, collection development and management and other contributions to academic librarianship are important to the intellectual functioning of the university. Those who excel in these areas are eligible for the OCUFA awards. For more information on nomination protocol and criteria, call (416) 979-2117.