In spite of a controversy over the use of municipal e-mail addresses for election purposes, few Newmarket politicians see it as an abuse of public office, reported the Newmarket Era Banner Nov. 2. A York expert in political ethics, however, disagrees, saying the practice is highly problematic. "If they're using their own [home] e-mail address, that's OK," said David Shugarman, a political science professor in the Faculty of Arts and director of York’s Centre for Practical Ethics. "But using their town e-mail address is like saying, 'come on by my office when I'm working for the region or the municipality and we'll talk about what I can do when you re-elect me.' It's equivalent to an MP or MPP using office stationery or their office at Queen's Park or Ottawa to campaign and that would be regarded as quite improper."
Survey lauds Schulich on ethics
The Schulich School of Business at York University and the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary were singled out in a recent survey of Canadian business schools for their efforts to champion corporate responsibility through a wide array of course offerings and specializations, reported Montreal’s Gazette Nov. 6. A survey of 27 of the country's 31 business schools by Imagine, part of the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, revealed that students, faculty and the business sector are all clamouring to have ethics integrated into the core curriculum as a result of Enron, WorldCom and other financial scandals that have rocked the business world in the last three years.
Student candidates in the municipal election
York University students who are running for seats on Toronto's city council and school board in the Nov. 10 municipal election were mentioned the Toronto Star Nov. 6.
- Gregory Moskos is running for election in Ward 21. Moskos, a fourth-year sociology student at York’s Glendon College, told the Star his youth will provide a fresh perspective at Toronto City Hall. He said he wants residents to have a greater say in council and neighbourhoods to have more power.
- Cesar Martello
, a second-year political science student at York, is running for Toronto School Board trustee for Wards 2, 9 and 10. He says his experience with post-secondary student government will help him make a difference as a trustee at the public level.
The Argos' new owners
The announcement that developer Howard Sokolowski and partner David Cynamon are the new owners of the homeless Toronto Argonauts made headlines in media outlets in Toronto and across the country Nov. 5 and 6. Sokolowski is CEO of Tribute Communities, which is building a housing development on property purchased from York University. Cynamon used to play football for the former York University Yeomen (now the York Lions). The Toronto Star noted that Cynamon never finished his York degree, striking out to develop his own businesses instead – first, a pedicab outfit, then high-tech company NHC and finally, in 1995, KIK Corporation, a private-label household products manufacturer. The news was also carried by The Toronto Sun, the Calgary Herald, Canadian Press and CBC Radio’s "Metro Morning."
On air
- TV reporter Sean Mallen zeroed in on congestion around York University to highlight transit problems in Toronto in an item aired on "Global Television National News" Nov. 5. Mallen interviewed Lily Vertsman, a first-year arts student, about crowded bus service to and from the University. "I might actually wait for, like, three buses until I actually get on the bus and then I'm crammed like sardines in a bus. It's craziness," she told Mallen.