At 20, Babajide Fatoba, who is studying business and law on a scholarship at New York's Nyack College, is being honoured with a Planet Africa award for his academic achievement, wrote the Toronto Star Oct. 20. A new immigrant from Nigeria just seven years ago, Fatoba was once a "rebellious" child living in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood who ran away at 16 after an argument with his father over his inordinate devotion to school soccer. A supportive coach helped the Westview Secondary School graduate get back on track by joining an advance academic program at York University, studying for the SAT and ultimately getting an athletic scholarship. "It takes a lot of determination and hard work to get there. Being the first in my entire family to go to a North American university on a scholarship is a huge achievement for me," the midfielder said in a telephone interview after finishing an away game.
Saskatchewan aims to change farmer image with ad push
"Changing perceptions is a nightmarishly difficult task," said Ashwin Joshi, marketing professor and director of the MBA Program at York’s Schulich School of Business, in the National Post Oct. 20. Joshi was commenting on a new $2.5-million ad campaign by Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Industry and Resources designed to showcase the province as an innovative and highly competitive place to do business and not just farm country.
"Basically, the advertising campaign is communicating a promise...that is not likely to be believed by the target audience," said Joshi. For the campaign to succeed, it will need extended play and a multiplicity of highly publicized announcements about developments in the energy and technology sector, he said.
Osgoode alumnus runs for seat on Peel council
Peel Region council's short-sighted policies of indiscriminate growth for growth's sake have burdened our city with traffic gridlock and put a strain on social services, said York graduate and municipal election candidate Tibor Bankuti (LLB *81), who was featured in the Brampton Guardian Oct. 20. Bankuti is the CEO of a private multinational company negotiating with regulatory agencies and said he decided to run "because the present council misses the point." He wants Brampton and the region to be at the helm of a new vision of Canada.
Goldcorp founder a study in contrasts
Speaking at the annual Denver gold conference last month, Ian Telfer, Goldcorp Inc.'s chief executive, began with a knock-knock joke that was really just a jab at his former business partner and Toronto bullion mogul Rob McEwen (MBA ‘78), wrote the Toronto Star Oct. 20. Those who know McEwen describe someone who is a study in contrasts: mild-mannered yet confrontational, a big thinker who often goes with his gut and a smooth talker with an edge who is both reserved but also quite outspoken and passionate in his convictions. "He was the smoothest schmoozer in the class," recalls a former student who went to the Schulich School of Business at York University where McEwen got his MBA.