One of the many carnivalesque aspects of consumer society is the popular fascination oriented around various types of monsters…. Academic research on this type of social phenomena tends to focus on its global northern manifestations as opposed to its southern ones, and emphasizes its cultural significance rather than its economic conditions. In contrast to the norm, David McNally, a professor in the Political Science Department at York University, has written an excellent book – Monsters of the Market: Zombies, Vampires and Global Capitalism – that approaches the topic from a more comprehensive framework, reported Rabble.ca Jan. 16. Read full story.
Lance Armstrong: Why is disgraced cyclist confessing now?
There is much speculation about Lance Armstrong’s motives for confessing to Oprah Winfrey after more than a decade in denial. The disgraced cyclist is believed to be seeking clemency from his lifetime Olympic sports ban so he can compete in triathlons….For years Armstrong vehemently denied the charges against him, and if he had not been caught, would likely have continued his denials. “For many of these athletes they honestly feel that they’re invincible,” said Paul Dennis, a sport psychologist and York University professor, in the Toronto Star Jan. 16. “At some point they actually believe the lie that they’re telling.” Read full story.
Schulich tops at MBA Games
A Schulich School of Business student team beat 21 teams from other graduate business schools to win the 2013 MBA Games on the weekend of Jan. 4 in Hamilton, reported the North York Mirror Jan. 17. Read full story.
KKK in Canada
CBC Radio One’s Matt Galloway spoke with Deanna Bowen on Jan. 16, the artist behind the exhibit Invisible Empires that opens this evening at 6pm at the Art Gallery of York University. Listen to full interview.
No bubble, no trouble
After a decade of staggering growth, the housing market in many Canadian cities is starting to cool – a trend economists and real estate experts suggest will continue through 2014…. Let’s be clear: despite what some in the media would have you believe, Canada’s housing market is not at the edge of a cliff, ready to plunge into free fall….“First of all, there never was a housing bubble. So it hasn’t burst, because it never existed,” said James McKellar, academic director of the Real Property Program at York University’s Schulich School of Business, in MoneySense’s December/January issue. Read full story.
Why I won’t be taking unpaid internships
“Learning how to dress for work, getting to work on time, planning ahead and multitasking are skills that build us into marketable employees. However, I still object to the ‘unpaid’ portion of ‘unpaid internships’,” wrote York education student Yuni Kim in Maclean’s Jan. 16….“Trying to save money by hiring unpaid interns instead of real employees is miserly at best and unethical at worst because it prevents people who aren’t privileged from getting experience.” Read full story.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets grounded in Japan, U.S.
In the latest blows for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner, Japan’s two biggest airlines grounded their fleets of the new jets for safety checks Wednesday after one was forced to make an emergency landing….York University Professor Fred Lazar told the Toronto Star Jan. 16 that the Japanese airlines were acting out of abundance of caution. “The last thing they want is another incident, whether it’s minor or not, within a short period of time. That will just shatter the confidence of their customers,” he said. Read full story.
Share the blame for Nortel
“The defendants essentially had been accused of monkeying with the numbers to create an earnings surprise in 2003 that would trigger hefty personal bonuses. Judge Marrocco to the contrary concluded that the company’s statements for 2000 through 2002 and the first half of 2003 reflected the company’s financial reality. ‘There was no fraud at Nortel,’ Beatty’s lawyer said after the ruling. Le Devoir pronounced the Nortel saga ‘un scandale sans crime’,” wrote Douglas Hunter, a doctoral candidate in history at York University, in the Ottawa Citizen Jan. 16. Read full story.
Urban planner: January 17, 2013
While The Wizard of Oz is having a run over at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, British musician and York University Professor Dorothy de Val, along with guest artist Dr. Charlene Biggs, bring you a piano concert by the same name. It explores and celebrates British music and the works of Percy Grainger, reported Torontoist Jan. 17. Read full story.