Fewer high school students are saying yes to admissions offers from York University this year, leaving the school hunting for undergrads at a time when other Toronto campuses are bursting at the seams, wrote The Globe and Mail June 4.
About 500 fewer Ontario highschool students accepted a full-time, first-year spot at York for the fall, a drop of seven per cent from last year, and the latest fallout from the lengthy strike that shut down Canada’s third-largest campus earlier this year.
Other Toronto schools are witnessing major increases in acceptance rates, including a 33 per cent jump at the Ontario College of Art & Design. As well, nearly 1,000 more high school students said yes this year to an offer from the University of Toronto, and Ryerson University’s numbers are up by about 100.
Robert Tiffin, York vice-president students, said the school will continue to recruit throughout the summer and is looking to add about 150 more students before September.
He said York’s enrolment shortfall is less than the University projected after seeing a 15 per cent drop in the number of high school students who ranked it as their first choice when applying in January, in the midst of a bitter strike by teaching assistants and contract faculty.
- CHFI Radio (Toronto) also reported on the enrolment figures June 4.
Jump in cost of HRT drugs shocks users
Women taking Premarin, a hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) drug, are shocked after seeing costs soar in recent weeks as the drug maker copes with a declining use of the product, wrote The Globe and Mail June 4. The cost of the HRT pills jumped from $13 for a three-month supply to $100, plus a dispensing fee, in April.
Joel Lexchin, a professor in York’s School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health, said women could have a difficult time switching to another HRT drug because they would not necessarily receive the same benefits. “Morally, I think that this is wrong, to take advantage of people like this. But from the company’s point of view, they’re doing what’s expected of them, what their shareholders would want,” Lexchin said.
York student jazzed to take stage in Ajax
Jaclyn "Jace" Prohaska made an unabashed pitch to be included in the lineup of this year’s Pickering Village Jazz Festival, wrote Durhamregion.com June 3. “I sent in a press kit and said, ‘You have to let me in, I’m from Pickering. I’m a hometown girl,’” she says in an interview. It worked as Prohaska and her band, Jace P & the Big People, are performing a two-hour set on Saturday at 3pm on the West Stage in Pickering Village.
The lead singer and bandleader explains that the seven-piece outfit, which performs a mix of soul and funk tunes, is comprised of jazz performance majors in York University’s Faculty of Fine Arts. They formed around two years ago and the band features another local, Pickering native and York student Lauren Barnett, on alto saxophone and backing vocals.
Port Hope school earns gold EcoSchool status
It’s the kids that make good things happen, says Beatrice Strong Public School Principal Karen Vandermeer of the school’s high achievement under the Ontario EcoSchools program, wrote Durhamregion.com June 3. For the second year, the Port Hope grade school has been recognized as an environmental leader, earning gold status.
In order to qualify for certification consideration, the school had to document its environmental activities and undergo an EcoSchools energy audit carried out by York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies. “They came in, they spoke to the kids and the teachers, visited classrooms and offices and looked at our whole process (of energy conservation),” she said.
On air
- Sean Rehaag, professor of immigration and refugee law in York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, spoke about the chances of Mikhail Lennikov’s bid to avoid deportation succeeding on CBC Newsworld June 3.
- Sarah Flicker, professor in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, continued discussing her latest study on teens’ sexual health needs on radio stations across Canada, including Victoria, BC, and Calgary, Alta. June 3.