Men are four times as likely to stutter as women, wrote the Toronto Star May 29 in a story on a report by the Canadian Stuttering Association. And, according to a survey conducted by Marshall Rice, professor of marketing in York’s Schulich School of Business, 61 per cent of respondents – all whom stuttered – agreed with the statement: "I feel I have to be ‘better’ than fluent speakers in order to have the same opportunities for employment." And 14 per cent had been told by an employer that they would not be accepted for a position due to their stutter.
Destination Arts production hits Fenelon Falls
Grade 11 drama students at Fenelon Falls Secondary School are taking part in a theatre production cautioning youths about tobacco and marijuana use, wrote the Lindsay Daily Post May 29. The show is a collaborative work put together by students with help from Kathy Lundy, director of Destination Arts, a partnership between York’s Faculties of Education and Fine Arts, and Dearbhla Lynch, a health promoter with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit. Weekly workshop sessions with Lundy have given the show a special touch by bringing in interesting theatrical devices and techniques to make the show entertaining as well as informative.
TTC ride bumpy but beautiful
I took the one-hour commute by TTC to Seneca College on York University‘s Keele campus to teach, wrote Donna Kay Kakonge in the Toronto Star May 29. After class, the 196A Rocket bus came to go to Downsview station. Even as I moved to the back for a seat, a middle-aged white man gave a fairly young black woman like me his seat saying: "I’m going to get off anyway." Rosa Parks – you would be proud how things have changed.
Maybe it’s the dirty red seats I love…maybe it’s the savings to my bank account. Maybe it’s watching the mice at Yonge station…maybe it’s having the pleasure to say "hello" to a kind bus driver. Maybe it’s the crowded smelly bodies I love…maybe it’s the visual circus of people-watching while being driven. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful for the TTC and public transportation. It sure is better than being in Africa and trying to hitch a ride in a minivan ("taxi") and getting your favourite dress ripped because the taxi was moving with the doors open.