With so much to make us nervous, are we getting sick of being scared?, asked the Hamilton Spectator July 13. Quite the opposite. As the threats around us – terrorism, HIV, contaminated pet food – continue to intensify, they penetrate our psyche ever deeper, psychologists say. As a society, we’re developing a whopping fear of being afraid: Phobophobia.
"We’re not getting sick of being scared at all," says Henny Westra, a professor of psychology in York’s Faculty of Health. "With the barrage of threatening messages out there, it’s making us more frightened. People are more fearful than they were 10 to 20 years ago."
While few suffer from arcane phobias, such as the fear of beautiful women (venustraphobia), 25 per cent of the population suffers from an anxiety disorder, Westra says. And we’re not good at coming up with rational, sensible ways to make ourselves feel better, says Westra.
His impact on Toronto will be long-lasting
Ed Mirvish’s transformation of Toronto’s cultural life was impressive and its impact will be lasting. To paraphrase Caesar Augustus, he found Toronto "a city of bricks and left it a city of marble," wrote Phillip Silver, dean of York’s Faculty of Fine Arts, in a letter to the Toronto Star July 13.
Argos get the win as Durie makes his debut
Toronto Argonaut’s Andre Durie, former star running back for the York University Lions, played in his first Canadian Football League (CFL) game and scored a touchdown, reported CTV, Global TV and other broadcast and print media, all of which mentioned his York connection.
- The game was so one-sided the Argos’ third-string tailback, Andre Durie, a rookie from York University, scored on a 33-yard run, wrote the Ottawa Citizen July 13. It was Durie’s first CFL carry.
- Jeff Johnson (BA ‘02) and Durie, the York University star who overcame a career-threatening knee injury to make the Argos, scored touchdowns for Toronto, wrote the Toronto Star July 13.