The knowledge that sun exposure can cause skin cancer is nothing new, yet it is unclear whether people – especially teenagers – are taking sun safety seriously, reported Metroland’sYork Guardian Aug. 8. The second National Sun Survey, currently being conducted by the Institute for Social Research at York University, will reveal what precautions people are taking, and how much they actually know about the damage the sun can cause. Some 8,700 households will be interviewed, 2,000 with similar questions from the first survey, which was held in 1996, to determine if public awareness has improved.
Debate about tennis’ s No. 1 being rendered academic
Can anyone name the best hockey player in the world without some kind of debate?, asked The Toronto Sun Aug. 10. Best baseball player? Best football player? Best basketball player? Best soccer player who doesn’t head-butt? Roger Federer makes it easy, and sometimes he makes it look easy. There is no question with him. He eliminates debate. He can do that in the final of a Grand Slam tournament or on centre court at the Rexall Centre on the Keele campus of York University in a Rogers Cup tournament that will not alter his legacy in any way.
- Major print and broadcast media continued reporting results from the tournament, all mentioning York University as the location.
Small natural spaces enable condo dwellers’ reflection, says York professor
Those of us who live in homes take our backyards for granted, wrote the National Post Aug. 10. We can step out to water our gardens, relax with friends on a patio and barbecue on demand. But for the increasing numbers of condo dwellers, exposure to natural space is limited. And, according to Jennifer Foster, a lecturer in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, this lack of interaction with nature is a problem. “Even small natural spaces enable reflection, opportunities for solitude and a venue for positive social interaction outside of the workplace and home.” She adds that time spent outdoors has been proven to boost learning and cognitive thinking. Natural spaces make us happier, brighter and more well-adjusted people.
Innocence Project sought report on 1990 Winnipeg murder case
A story about Winnipeg Police Chief Jack Ewatski’s latest denial of a request to view a report on the grisly 1990 murder of Perry Dean Harder included mention of efforts by York students from Osgoode Hall Law School’s Innocence Project to look into the case. The latest request for a look at the report came six years after Ewatski and a colleague were asked to review the Harder murder investigation, to ensure no evidence was left uncovered and no witness had been coerced. The report produced by that review was not released until 2003 but, in a one-sentence summary, police said they had not been able to uncover anything that would indicate Driskell was not involved in the Harder murder. In the late 1990s, the report was sought by a group of Osgoode students led by wrongful conviction champion and York professor Dianne Martin [who died Dec. 20, 2004].
BC gallery exhibits York alumna’s print art
The August show at Hornby Island’s Joe King Ball Park Gallery features York alumna Sara Vipond (MFA ‘05) and Derek Cowan, reported the Courtenay Comox Valley Record Aug. 9. Both artists work predominately in printmaking, and display woodblock prints, stone lithographs, drawings, paintings and sculpture. Vipond’s work spans all print mediums. She exhibits a series of stone lithographs and drypoint prints entitled Pull My Insides Out; as well as a new body of woodblock prints entitled Inside the Lines.
On air
- Judith Hellman