“We are the largest traffic generator in the GTA, outside of the airport. We’re one of the main causes of gridlock traffic in this part of the city,” said senior policy adviser Ted Spence in The Toronto Star on Sept. 16. “We’re prepared to develop our lands in a way that is transit supportive. [Otherwise] we could be buried under cars.”
A joint benefit
“All the evidence suggests that having a general undergraduate degree is tremendously advantageous to the individual over their life course. But so is a set of specific skills,” said President Lorna Marsden on the alliance between York University and Seneca College. Her remarks were contained in The Globe and Mail education supplement Sept. 16.
Sit-up and add years
Strong stomach muscles could help people live longer, says a study co-authored by Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk of York’s Kinesiology and Health Science Department, reports Fort McMurray Today Sept. 14.
Social justice to go hungry?
“There is no way we will ever be able to foster and nourish a commitment to social justice among young lawyers when they have had to pay $60,000 over three years for the privilege of learning how to help others who are drowning in legal conflict, write law Professor Alan Young in his Toronto Star column Sept. 15.
Flush with retail
“Barrie is incredibly over-retailed now. It probably has more retail per capita than any other city in the country,” said marketing Prof. Don Thompson about Molson Park’s move to go upscale, in The Barrie Examiner Sept. 16.
Help is on the way!
York University and Seneca College, jointly building a new Technology Enhanced Learning Centre, have decided to lease 11 percent of originally projected building space. The rental income will help defray higher building costs, expected to reach over $88 million, up from $76 million. SuperBuild’s contribution, its largest single project investment, stands at $47 million, reports the National Post Sept. 16.
Thrashing out new vision
President Lorna Marsden, one-time policy adviser to Pierre Trudeau, is one of several key Liberals scheduled to address a three-day conference to lay out policy agenda for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s last 18 months, reports the National Post Sept. 14.
Not forgotten
In The Toronto Sun Sept. 14, Martin Shadwick, a defence analyst at the York Centre for International and Security Studies, said criminal charges against the American pilots who bombed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are severe but appropriate. “This will provide some further reassurance for Canadians that it hasn’t been swept under the rug, but this will take time.”
Could pot help?
“These people have very miserable lives. They suffer from major, debilitating illnesses like AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and arthritis. Anything that can alleviate their misery should be available to them,” said law Prof. Alan Young about government’s flip-flop on medicinal marijuana, in The Toronto Star Sept. 14.
Two ‘dogs’ to go
In The Vancouver Sun Sept. 14, CISS defence analyst Martin Shadwick said, “I’m sad to see them go, they did a marvellous job.” He was speaking of the yellow Labradors, the twin-rotor helicopters, that will leave active service after 40 years of rescue work on the West Coast. “We didn’t keep updating them as much as we should have. But, all things considered, it is one of the classics.”