Lorna R. Marsden, president and vice-chancellor of York University, was listed among the top 100 senior women executives in major Canadian organizations by The Globe and Mail Nov. 27. The article said women have made strides climbing the corporate ladder, but those who get the top jobs or sit in boardrooms are still few and far between.
Need more community policing
In the wake of the recent murder of a 12-year-old boy by three teens, Margaret Beare, sociology professor and director of Osgoode Hall Law School’s Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime & Corruption, said what she has been seeing in recent weeks is “simple, traditional criminality,” reported The Globe and Mail Nov. 27. Police are failing to commit themselves to real community policing, she said, where police get involved in neighbourhoods where crime is a problem, winning the trust of those who live there and working with them to bring crime down.
Glendon grad was passionate about teaching
Retired high school English teacher and Glendon grad Ian Wightman, 56, was identified as the cyclist who was struck and killed by a vehicle Nov. 21 in Ottawa, reported The Ottawa Sun Nov. 27. The Ottawa native had retired about three years ago from Ridgemont High School, where he taught English. As a young man, Wightman had wanted to pursue a career in writing, but changed his mind when he attended York University’s Glendon College, said his mother Katherine Wightman, 90. He went on to teacher’s college and followed his newfound passion for teaching.
Former CIA director deplores intolerance
The Nov. 27 issue of the National Post reported that former CIA director James Woolsey told an audience at York University on Nov. 26 that Jews are history’s great champions of the rule of law, so much so that they have come to embody it. He said intolerance of Jews is a first step toward dictatorial rule – a hallmark of the world’s most oppressive societies. Woolsey was invited to speak at York by the Jewish student federation Hillel, Young Zionist Partnership – both with chapters at York – and Betar-Tagar.
Why police refuse to admit they are wrong
Manitoba’s Attorney General has ordered an inquiry into the possible wrongful conviction of James Driskell for murder after Winnipeg police chief and Crown prosecutors point fingers at each other for withholding vital evidence, reported the National Post Nov. 27. Dianne Martin, director of the Innocence Project at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, said police refusal to admit they are wrong is called “belief perseverance” by psychologists. “Once they have reached a conclusion they stick to it and ignore or rationalize evidence pushed their way,” she said.
National award goes to first-year student
Joy Lapps, a first-year student enrolled at York’s Schulich School of Business, was recently feted as one of 10 recipients of the 2003 National Harmony Scholarship, reported the Ajax News Advertiser Nov. 21. She received $1,000 from the non-profit charitable group that promotes harmony, diversity and equality.
Volley hard to do, says York setter
York Lions volleyball star Dan Bache will tell you the main principle in volleyball is keeping the ball from hitting the floor, reported York Region Newspaper Group Nov. 18. “It seems simple, but it’s hard,” he said. So far this year, the 23-year-old sociology major has done well at keeping the ball airborne. On the weekend of Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, the setter and co-captain led his team to two straight-set victories over Ryerson and Queen’s universities. This summer, Bache played beach volleyball to keep his game sharp and made it to the finals in the University Cup competition.
On air
- Ho Ying Jung, master’s-level film student at York, spoke about the seventh annual Reel Asian Film Festival at which she is showing two films, on CBC Radio’s “Metro Morning” Nov. 26.
- Sergei Plekhanov
, post-communist studies program coordinator at the York Centre for International & Security Studies, discussed the resignation of Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze, on TVO’s “Studio 2” Nov. 26.