Schulich School of Business marketing Professor Alan Middleton points out Rogers may have earned a reprieve from the widespread perception that it doesn’t care about its customers’ needs. “What you’re seeing is a company trying to evolve from general communications to a content manager,” said Middleton, executive director of the Schulich Executive Education Centre, in the Toronto Star Oct. 4. “If Rogers is more associated with bringing you the stuff you want in the way you want it, then it begins to take the sting out of ‘Oh, that’s Rogers that gouges us on our telephones and cable.’ The reframing of the business gives Rogers the opportunity to overcome the negatives they’ve had forever on customer service.” Read full story.
In lead-up to federal election, all politics is fiscal
“A generation ago Thomas ‘Tip’ O’Neill, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the giants of late 20th century American politics, coined the phrase ‘all politics is local.’ As Canada heads into a general election next year, a more appropriate axiom for this country might be – ‘all politics is fiscal,’ ” wrote Eugene Lang, BMO visiting fellow at York University’s Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, in the Toronto Star Oct. 4. Read full story.
Tensions rising in bank boardrooms as OSFI’s new rules blur boundaries
Burned by the reckless behaviour of some major financial institutions, regulators including Canada’s banking watchdog reacted by imposing greater obligations on directors. “Regulators are now going after boards, telling them ‘You need to oversee the material risks to a much greater degree than before,’ ” said Richard Leblanc, a professor of law, governance and ethics at York University, in the Financial Post Oct. 4. “Management doesn’t like that. They feel that boards are in their face – and they are.” Read full story.
WestJet to fly to Glasgow as it expands Europe offerings
But York University business Professor Fred Lazar is not convinced it’s a smart move for WestJet to be expanding overseas. “Going international, you are fundamentally changing your business model,” Lazar said in the Toronto Star Oct. 3. “You don’t have a cost advantage and you don’t have network advantage.” Plus, the international marketplace is already highly competitive, he added. Read full story.
McGill staff knew charged football player’s past
Observers say the controversy comes at a time that universities are having difficulty balancing the rights of students with demands from the community to be protected and for education on issues such as sexual violence on and off campus. “There’s a fear that we can’t be political and athletic at the same time. That we can’t talk to athletes about anything but what to eat, how to exercise, concussions. The repercussions are there with domestic violence, but the athletes suffer tremendously,” said Gamal Abdel-Shehid, a professor in York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, in The Globe and Mail Oct. 5. Read full story.
CF-18 pilots may find it difficult to find ISIL targets to bomb
Defence analyst and York University Professor Martin Shadwick said CF-18 pilots will find a different situation in Iraq than the one they faced during the 2011 bombing campaign against the regime of Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi. “The dynamics are somewhat different,” explained Shadwick in the Ottawa Citizen Oct. 2. “Some of the targets in Libya were static such as Gadhafi’s infrastructure. ISIL is all over the place and proving troublesome.” Shadwick said that mobility makes the group “adaptive, which makes them much more dangerous.” Read full story.
Toronto school board sets higher improvement targets for students based on race, sexual orientation
Ontario’s testing body, the Education Quality and Accountability Office, has long broken down results for English language learners, boys and girls, and students with special needs. A network of educators based at York University is running a “demographic data and student equity project” to encourage boards to collect this kind of information and offer tips on how to comply with human rights and privacy laws, reported the Toronto Star Oct. 5. Read full story.
Varsity Blues reach 1,000th football game milestone
Frank Cosentino, a former CFL star quarterback, two-time Vanier Cup-winning coach at Western, author and professor emeritus and senior scholar at York University, says that in the early 20th century the Blues were the finest team in Canada. “A university is geared towards excellence and critical thinking,” he said in the Toronto Star Oct. 3. “There was a time when U of T exemplified that in all fields, very much including athletics. I hope it gets back to that universal approach again, and soon.” Read full story.
Mississauga girls help Canada win bronze at World Show Dance Championships
Producing some spectacular performances on the dance floor, Team Canada recently won a bronze medal at the World Show Dance Championships 2014 held in Prague, the Czech Republic, from Sept. 1 to 6, reported Mississauga News Oct. 3…. Canada’s team of seven dancers included Marisa Hadden and Emily Butler, both members of the York University dance team. Read full story.