York University Professor Gamal Abdel-Shehid says professional athletes operate in a pressure-cooker atmosphere…. "Some guys are going to buckle and they may not understand how they are buckling and take it out on the people around them," said Abdel-Shehid in CBC News Sept. 11. He sees a connection between the commodification of professional athletes and the high incident rate of domestic violence associated with these players. "If somebody sees themselves as an object they are going to treat someone else as an object too." Read full story.
York U president Mamdouh Shoukri invested in Order of Canada
York University President Mamdouh Shoukri was invested into the Order of Canada today, reported the North York Mirror and others Sept. 12. Read full story.
Dr. Cabbie weaves a tale of two movie marketing campaigns
Next week, founders of specialty agency Ethnicity Multicultural Marketing + Advertising Inc., Sahni and Howard Lichtman, will debut a Multicultural Marketing and Sales Planning course at York University’s Schulich Education Centre, reported the Toronto Star Sept. 15. They say one in every three dollars spent in our economy comes from multicultural consumers. Read full story.
Column: New residential development needs to be environmentally friendly
The development industry is by far the most important financier of the majority of winning candidates’ municipal election campaigns in Southern Ontario. This is the conclusion of York University political science Professor Robert MacDermid, who studies municipal campaign funding information submitted by candidates…. “On average, these [winning] candidates received 15 contributions from development industry sources,” MacDermid said in the Barrie Examiner Sept. 12. Read full story.
Canada’s airports want to join the big leagues – but are government fees holding them back?
“While each [fee] is viewed on its own as small and benign, the combined result is anything but benign,” according to a recent report prepared for the National Airlines Council of Canada by Fred Lazar, an economist at York University’s Schulich School of Business. “The federal government has turned the air transport industry into a cash cow – just the reverse of what is appropriate for an industry that generates large externalities throughout the economy.” Mr. Lazar’s report found that the total cost of federal taxes and fees in 2011 worked out to $14.18 per passenger, or approximately 5.7 per cent of the average discounted fare, reported the Financial Post Sept. 13. Read full story.
Ottawa ratifies foreign investment deal with China despite tensions
Canada has FIPA agreements with two dozen countries. But Gus Van Harten, an international investment law expert and associate professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, said this agreement is “non-reciprocal in some of its key elements,” reported the Financial Post Sept. 12. “One of those elements is that it gives a general right to market access by Chinese investors to the Canadian economy, but not vice-versa.” Read full story.
Shooting death of popular North York teacher Abshir Hassan ‘still quite raw’
It has been just over two months since popular school teacher Abshir Hassan walked out of his Lawrence Heights apartment building, moved his car to avoid a ticket, and was fatally struck by a spray of bullets police say was not intended for him. Since then, class has resumed at the schools where Hassan, a 31-year-old supply teacher, made an indelible mark. Fall courses have begun at York University, where Hassan had developed a tight-knit group of friends while pursuing a master’s degree in education. His family is trying to move forward, reported the Toronto Star Sept. 14. Read full story.
Tim Hortons Field delay was because of engineering mistake, union officials say
All three of Ontario Sports Solutions’ Pan Am projects are behind schedule and still not finished, reported The Globe and Mail Sept. 12. The consortium is also building the $56-million velodrome in Milton, Ont., and a $53-million athletics stadium at York University in Toronto for a total of $254.7-million. The velodrome and the York stadium were both over budget at a total of $13.5-million so far. Read full story.
New campus would sit on land near Pan Am Centre
The next steps toward a proposed York University satellite campus in the heart of Markham were revealed during a special announcement Thursday afternoon, reported the Markham Economist & Sun Sept. 11. Read full story.
Study suggests an hour of video games a day makes kids better-adjusted
In March, researchers at North Carolina State University, York University and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology released their findings after analyzing gamers' socialization at 20 public gaming events and observation of their behaviour online. Their findings were that, contrary to their depiction in pop culture, participants in massively multiplayer online roleplaying games aren't "antisocial basement dwellers," reported Times Free Press Sept. 12. Read full story.
Professors take a page from Jimmy Kimmel's book with Rate My Professor video
Taking a page from Jimmy Kimmel's book – he regularly asks celebrities to read mean tweets about themselves on camera – the Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University recently filmed a group of academics reading stinging comments from the popular review site Rate My Professor…. Last year, professors at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto garnered thousands of hits with their own YouTube posting, reported Fusion Sept. 11.Read full story.
Low gravity makes astronauts fall over
New research from York University in Toronto, Canada, reveals that the low gravity on the moon actually makes it hard to distinguish up from down, reported Gizmodo UK Sept. 11. Read full story.
Burger King: Have it your way, eh?
In late August, the world’s second largest hamburger chain, Burger King, and Canada’s largest restaurant chain, Tim Hortons, announced that they will seek to become one company, operating both concepts independently but with the joint entity’s headquarters in Canada…. Alan Middleton, executive director of York University’s Schulich Executive Education Centre, speculated that Tim Hortons may test fewer new items, a process that he asserts helps make it a dynamic and successful company, reported Chain Store Guide Sept. 11. Read full story.