The Chinese Canadian National Council has condemned an article in Wednesday’s Toronto Star for what it calls “fear mongering” and stoking an “us versus them” mentality by citing concerns about high numbers of students of East Asian background at Canadian universities, wrote the Toronto Star’s parentcentral.ca education website Nov. 10.
The story, wrote Star education reporter Louise Brown, referred to a report in the latest Maclean’s university guide titled “Too Asian?” that quotes some non-Asian students’ concerns that some universities have a largely Asian student body. The Star story also reported on a recent conference by and for families in Toronto’s Chinese community, which encouraged parents to let their children consider options other than university, rather than focusing on professional schools.
Recent York University sociology graduate Chase Lo (BA Hons. ’09) warned this kind of story “creates a moral panic but oversimplifies the issue. The push to university is reflective of society in general; it’s unfair to say only Asian immigrant parents are focusing on university.”
York prof to speak about G20 protest
The drama of Toronto's G20 protests will be reviewed at Laurentian on Nov. 18 and 19, when activists Lesley Wood and Mac Scott will be speaking, wrote The Sudbury Star Nov. 10. Wood, professor and associate chair of sociology in York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and Scott, an immigration consultant, were both involved in the anti-G20 protests.
On Nov. 18 at 1pm, Wood will go over the protests while Scott will discuss poverty and immigrant rights. At 5:30pm, the activists will speak about policing in a talk called” Policing Protest and Criminalizing Dissent – the G20 and Beyond”. Those talks will be held at Laurentian University. On Nov. 19 at 7pm, Wood and Scott will continue their analysis on the protests at Fromagerie Elgin.
On air
- Research by York psychology Professor Myriam Mongrain of the Faculty of Health on the benefits of writing feel-good letters to yourself, was discussed on CFRB Radio Nov. 10.
- Bernie Wolf, economics professor in the Schulich School of Business at York University, spoke about the G20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea, on CBC Radio Nov. 10.
- Jim Wells, head coach of the York Lions men’s hockey team, spoke about the team on Rogers Cable Television in Richmond Hill, Nov. 9.
- York grad Lynn Gehl (BA Hons. ‘02), a course director in York's Equity Studies Department in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, spoke about an effort to raise awareness about unstated and unknown paternity in the Indian Act, on Winnipeg’s APTN-TV Nov. 10.