York is one of several educational institutions across Canada using advanced broadband enabled learning (ABEL) thanks to federal funds from CANARIE, Canada’s not-for-profit advanced Internet development organization, reports Canada News-Wire Nov. 5. From July 2002 to December 2003, teachers, professors and pre-service candidates at eight education sites in Ontario and Alberta will be connected on a grid network. “Through CANARIE, we have the ability to explore and utilize the technology that allows teacher professional development and student learning through inter-jurisdictional and inter-institutional collaboration,” stated Stan Shapson, York vice-president research and innovation. “Broadband connectivity meets the unique needs, expectations and learning styles of teachers, faculty and students. We can literally plug into learning.”
Millionaires?
“There is a real myth out there,” said Therese Brisson, Schulich MBA student and member of the Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team, in a story in The Toronto Star Nov. 6. “It’s really funny when you talk to kids. They think we’re millionaires. It’s hysterical. But you don’t get into it for that. You know it’s going to cost you in the long run, but you’re rich in other ways.”
Muslims reach out
A story in The Toronto Star Nov. 6 on Ramadan, the month of prayer and fasting for Muslims that just began, says students at York and other Toronto universities are holding food drives to distribute food to Muslim and non-Muslim agencies as a way to reach out to other communities.
Gallows humour in fake recruiting ads
“It’s sort of gallows humour, one way to escape from the reality of the situation,” said Martin Shadwick, who teaches strategic studies at York, about fake army recruiting posters for the Canadian Forces making the rounds at the Department of National Defence, reports The Ottawa Citizen Nov. 6. One fake poster features a Sea King helicopter crashed on its side with the promotional line: “It’s more than a career, it’s an adventure.” The government has been promising to replace the 1960s-era Sea Kings since 1991.
Schulich in top six
Schulich School of Business placed in the top six of Canadian business schools in the annual Canadian Business magazine rankings this year, reported Harvey Schachter, business columnist for The Globe and Mail, Nov. 6. Because business schools threatened to boycott the annual ranking, the magazine turned instead to a poll of executives and human resource professionals, he wrote. The 400 executives picked the Richard Ivey School at the University of Western Ontario as the top program, followed by Queen’s, McGill, the University of Toronto’s Joseph L. Rotman school, HEC Montréal and Schulich.
Harbour master now CEO
The board of directors of the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) announced the appointment of Lisa Raitt as chief executive officer of the TPA, in The Globe and Mail Nov. 6. Raitt, a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, will retain her previous title of harbour master. She joined the port authority in 1999 as corporate secretary and general counsel. After being called to the bar in 1998, she gained maritime legal experience in the United Kingdom, the notice said.