Queen’s Park is extending for another year a five per cent cap on college and university tuition increases, the Toronto Star reported March 8. Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Glen Murray said there are no plans to standardize tuition fees on Ontario campuses. His comments came after the Star reported earlier that a trial balloon was floated among university presidents that they would all have to charge the same amount for undergraduate arts and science programs — $5,366. The Star said such a change could cost York University $2.05 million. Read full story.
Earlier story: Province floats proposal to set tuition fees
Antimatter ‘measured’ for the first time, could reveal building blocks of the universe
A Canadian-led team at the European nuclear research agency, including scientists from York University, has succeeded in trapping particles of antimatter long enough to measure how they react to increasing energy, in a ground-breaking experiment that heralds a new age of empirical research on the most bizarre stuff in existence, reported the National Post March 8. Read full story.
Too many wrinkles to iron out of Senate reform plan
A provision in a new bill by the BC government requiring online voting in a proposed election to replace a member of the Senate also has some criticism, reported The Globe and Mail March 7. Dennis Pilon, political science professor in York's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, said the current state of online voting is "a horror show". Read full story.
Bringing baby to work: Kids in workplace spark debate
Although some workplaces have become more flexible about women and child-care in past decades, the act of bouncing a baby on your knee at work is seen as a subversive one, said Andrea O’Reilly, a professor of women’s studies at York and director of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement, in the National Post March 7. “It’s (seen as) scandalous – and I don’t think that has changed,” she said. Read full story.
Setting a strange Frequency
In 2003, Toronto-based choreographer and York grad Yvonne Ng (BFA Spec. Hons. '87) met Innu community groups in two isolated northern communities who sang lullabies with a distinct country and western style, reported Xtra March 7, in a story about her current dance project Frequency. “I found out that by some atmospheric quirk, radios in Labrador in the early 20th Century would pick up signals from the southern United States. They came into contact with a genre of music they probably never would have otherwise, which wove its way into their cultural lineage.” Read full story.
Lives Lived: Keith Willis
Whether behind the plate at baseball games or in chilly hockey rinks, York grad Keith Willis (BA '73) was a fair and beloved umpire and referee, as well as a labour negotiator, said two friends in a Lives Lived column in The Globe and Mail March 8. With his even-handed and humorous approach, he guided thousands of boys and girls in the joys of playing sports. Read full story.