The National Post featured York’s Schulich School of Business in its annual section on MBA schools in Canada. Below is a selection of stories from the March 1 issue.
- Most MBA programs in Canada have consulting projects, which offer students experience and job opportunities in exchange for giving free advice to the business, wrote the Post. For many participants, it’s their first chance to apply the skills they’ve acquired in their MBA program to the real world. The Strategy Field Study is mandatory for all MBA students at York’s Schulich School of Business. The research is conducted in the second year of the program over an eight-month period. Teams can either find their own projects or work with the school to find appropriate ones. Students can choose to consult at companies abroad or in the non-profit sector.
- The role of the business school dean has never been as important as it is today, the Post said in a story that included a profile of Dezsö J. Horváth, dean of York’s Schulich School of Business.
WHO: Dezsö J. Horváth, Schulich School of Business
QUICK FACTS: Horváth, 63, was born in Hungary. He earned an MBA and doctorate in electrical engineering while studying in Sweden. He joined the Schulich faculty in 1977 as an associate professor and was named dean in 1988.
ACHIEVEMENTS: In 2004, Horvath was the first dean of a Canadian school ever to be named Dean of the Year by the Academy of International Business. He led Schulich to the No. 18 spot in the 2006 Financial Times Global MBA Rankings – six spots ahead of Rotman, the perennial top Canadian school.
- With a gold nose ring, untucked shirt over faded jeans and a yarmulke covering his curly black hair, David Weitzner looks more like a dot-com guru than an MBA ethics professor., said the Post in another story. Or maybe an indie record producer, which he once was. Still, on this cold Monday night in January, Weitzner stands before about 30 students at York’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto, teaching a class called Ethics and Social Responsibility in Management. It’s an elective course but a popular one. Its aim is to examine the role of ethics and social responsibility in business, combining both theory and case studies direct from the business world.
The important thing, Weitzner says, is that students are talking about the issues. "If the students end up understanding that there is a realm called the ethical, that there is this realm called social responsibility, and they use that sort of language, then I’m happy."
- Meet Manny Wong, a 35-year-old MBA student in his fourth year at York’s Schulich School of Business. Like many of his colleagues, Wong is studying part-time, squeezing evening classes and homework in between his schedule at his day job as development officer at the Child Development Institute, a not-for-profit children’s organization in Toronto.
But here’s where Wong differs from your average MBA student: He’s completing Schulich’s specialization in non-profit management. And when he graduates from Schulich, he has no plans to leave the non-profit sector, though he could make significantly more money in the corporate world. "People in the non-profit stream at Schulich are not in it for the money," he says. "We’re really in it to empower ourselves, to make a difference. The non-profits are lifers."
GTA transit needs more federal help
Against a plea for stable, long-term funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears to favour one-time investments in commuter lines, wrote the Toronto Star in its editorial of March 6. The biggest new project to be funded would be the expansion of Toronto’s subway system to York University and beyond, into Vaughan.
- If helping the environment or escaping the daily gridlock aren’t reason enough to persuade commuters to get out of their cars, big-city mayors are hoping to dangle another inducement – tax breaks, wrote the Toronto Star March 6. Toronto Mayor David Miller praised today’s expected announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper of federal funding to extend the subway from Downsview Station north to York University and into Vaughan but cautioned it does little for long-term planning.
Delaney explains and entertains on CTV’s national morning show
Paul Delaney, professor of physics & astronomy in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, provided lively commentary on the latest astronomical discoveries for Seamus O’Regan, host of CTV’s “Canada AM”, on March 5. Below is an edited transcript.
Delaney: Lunar eclipses happen twice a year. You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time. They’re not always twice a year in Toronto. And, as you said, it’s been three years since we had a good show here. But we’ll get another show later this year.
O’Regan: You always have the answers for the really important questions. Thank you. I’ve always wondered that.
Delaney: No problem.
[Delaney responds to another question about another NASA mission.] The Cassini orbiter has revolutionized our understanding of Saturn and its entire satellite entourage. The ring system we are now observing in a way that we’ve never before – ever, ever – seen.
O’Regan: Just step back. How are the rings created?
Delaney: The short, 15-second answer –
O’Regan: Yeah, which is exactly what I have to have.
Delaney: Okay. You’ve got a very large object – let’s say, a minor planet – which has been crushed by the tidal force of Saturn. And then the debris settles into the equatorial plane. If you will, a little bit like stirring up material – it sort of spins into one flattened disk. And that disk thins out to nearly 300,000 kilometres in diameter. The stuff bounces and bumps into each other and grinds down and eventually drifts into the upper atmosphere. And the ring system will disappear if you want to wait a few tens of millions of years.
O’Regan: I don’t have that time.
Delaney: No, I’m sorry.
Busy legal aid clinic runs ‘on shoestring’
A devout Muslim, Amir prays five times a day. But that practice got him into trouble with new management at his factory job and he was suspended for insubordination, for taking too long on breaks to worship, wrote the Toronto Star March 6. That’s when he turned to the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, where lawyer Anita Balakrishna (LLB ’03) is helping him negotiate with his employer on accommodating his religious needs.
"My caseload is huge, but because of our funding situation I’m not taking on any new clients right now," explains Balakrishna, a fluent Tamil speaker who graduated from York’s Osgoode Hall Law School. She fears the clinic may be forced to shut for good this fall.
More York grad students share their Deep Thoughts
Two students in York’s Faculty of Graduate Studies were featured in the ongoing series on research, Deep Thoughts, in the Toronto Star March 6.
Michael Miceli, 26, is in the second year of his MA program in critical disability studies. His thesis: Disability prenatal testing and genetic testing: irreconcilable differences? The main thought: As women have children later in life, more are likely to get tested for genetic defects in the early stages of pregnancy, says Miceli. He’s looking at both the social and ethical implications of the technologies that allow this testing.
Carolyn James, 26, is in the first year of her PhD studies in clinical psychology. Her thesis: Child sex abuse and sexual risk among child welfare youth The general idea: Teenage girls and boys who were sexually assaulted as children are more likely to have risky sex, she says. This includes having sex with a stranger, engaging in sex earlier and having multiple partners in a short time period.
Government will have to defend this decision, says McKellar
The two banks that advised the federal government to sell nine of its best buildings were put in charge yesterday of scouring the Earth for investors interested in buying the prime real estate, reported The Globe and Mail March 6. The situation led to allegations that the government has placed units of the Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada in a potential conflict.
"Quite often, if you advise someone on setting up something, you have to excuse yourself from the work, so that your opinions are very objective. Obviously, that’s an area [the government is] going to have to defend," said James McKellar, professor of real property in York’s Schulich School of Business.
‘Paradox of inequality’ remains, says former York historian
Former York professor Michael Katz has established himself as one of the United States’ pre-eminent historians of social change, delving into education, urbanization, family life, and poverty in a distinguished career at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote the Ottawa Citizen March 6. Katz co-wrote the 2006 book One Nation Indivisible: What America Was and What It Is Becoming. In the book, he and Mark Stern discuss his country’s demographic, social and geographic trends over the past 100 years, with a focus on city life.
TV’s truest teens are creations of former York students
Amid a programming block brimming with uncommonly attractive and quick-witted teens, Nickelodeon’s hit Teen Nick show “Mr. Meaty” is a fresh serving of Canadian realism, wrote the National Post March 5. Never mind that its stars are a couple of pimply faced puppets.
"There’s nothing like puppets to help you figure out and tell emotional stories," said one-time York student Jamie Shannon, Mr. Meaty’s co-creator with fellow former student Jason Hopley. "They’re the meaty heart of a shallow, very fake sort of mall, [with] fake plants and fake people and fake stores." Hopley says the characters were inspired by real people he and Shannon observed. "New undiscovered archetypes – that’s what we’re doing," Shannon said.
The show is produced in Toronto and airs on the CBC but Hopley and Shannon recently spent a couple of days at the Nick on Sunset studios in Hollywood, shooting cut-ins for the network’s "Mr. Meaty Takes Over Nick" day, set for April 28.
MacCallum leads York hoops team
Paris, Ont., resident Laura MacCallum led the York University Lions to the Ontario University Athletic’s women’s basketball championship on the weekend, wrote the Brantford Expositor March 6. MacCallum, a third-year guard on the team, poured in 25 points in York’s 87-79 win over McMaster University on Sunday. The Lions trailed 66-64 heading into the fourth quarter. York’s win was an upset as McMaster has been ranked third or higher in the country for most of the season.
Medal eludes Brown at nationals
York student Lisa Brown and her Ontario White teammates came within minutes of earning a medal at the Canadian Under-19 Indoor Field Hockey Championships in Calgary, wrote the Milton Canadian Champion March 2. Ontario White had led British Columbia 3-2 with three minutes remaining before losing 4-3. Brown, a first-year forward at York University, was adjusting to a new position at the national tournament, shifting back to play defence.
Petrou helps Ontario to field hockey gold
Oakville’s Jenna Bull and Effie Petrou, a member of the York Lions field hockey team, helped Ontario Red win the gold medal at the Canadian Under-19 Indoor National Field Hockey Championships, wrote the Oakville Beaver March 2. The Ontario Red team defeated British Columbia 7-2 in the championship game Sunday in Calgary. It was the second straight gold medal for Petrou, who was the Canadian university rookie of the year in 2006.