Ian Greene, a York University professor in the School of Public Policy & Administration, supports MPP David Orazietti’s private member’s bill to increase the qualifications for justices of the peace, saying the current system is “antiquated in the sense that I don’t think it attracts the best and the brightest,” reported the Law Times June 11. Read full story.
Barbara Turnbull and other Star-related journalists honoured
Toronto Star reporter and accessibility advocate Barbara Turnbull received an honorary degree from York University on Friday. Turnbull says, “It’s an extraordinary gesture,” reported the Toronto Star June 8. Read full story.
Journalists awarded honourary degrees
Mississauga native Laura Jane Robinson, who has been a competitive athlete, coach, mentor, freelance journalist and a consistent banner-bearer for women’s rights in sport, received an honorary degree from York University, reported the Mississauga News June 8. Read full story.
Egypt and the presidential election: repeating Iranian mistakes?
Egyptians now are forced to choose the lesser of the two evils: Mohamed Morsy and Ahmad Shafiq. Which one? The responses we had at a recent York University international conference on the Middle East, here in Toronto, reminded me forcibly of the debates and discussions that took place in Iran during the fateful days of the 1979 revolution, writes Saeed Rahnema, a professor of political science at York University, in openDemocracy June 10. Read full story.
Sports and politics: soccer, imperialism and resistance in Honduras
During the run-up to the last FIFA World Cup, the democratically elected president of Honduras was kidnapped by armed forces and whisked out of the country, only to be replaced by a violent and illegal military regime. As the country rose up in a dramatic non-violent movement in resistance, Guevara, the captain of the national team, was put in an awkward position, writes Tyler Shipley, who teaches at York University, in a research article in GlobalResearch.ca about the politics of Honduras in the lead-up to the Canadian and Honduran national soccer teams World Cup qualifying match on June 12 in Toronto. Read full story.
Sutcliffe: Sudbury happy with SDHU
The Sudbury & District Health Unit says people in the area are happy with the public health services they receive, and have the numbers to prove it, as it routinely monitors client satisfaction via the Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing telephone survey that collects information from 1,200 local residents aged 18 years and older each year, conducted by the Institute for Social Research at York University since 2001, reported the Sudbury Star June 11. Read full story.
Persistence pays off for ringette player
Megan Gibson, a first-year York kinesiology student, recently earned a spot as a forward on the Canada East under-19 ringette team, which will compete in the world championships to be held in London, Ont., Dec. 23 to Jan. 3, reported YorkRegion.com June 8. Read full story.
Banff fest to honour Fashion TV host
After 27 years as host of “FashionTelevision”, Jeanne Beker, who studied theatre at York, will receive the 2012 Canadian Award of Distinction at this year’s Banff World Media Festival in Alberta, reported the Times Colonist and others June 9. Read full story.
Ontario and BC lead in Green Report Card
Corporate Knights has released its third bi-annual Green Provincial Report Card, with Ontario and British Columbia leading the pack in the race to become Canada’s greenest province or territory. The methodology was developed with the assistance of the Green Provinces Advisory Committee, made up of Faisal Moola, program director of terrestrial conservation and science at the David Suzuki Foundation, Sachi Gibson, technical and policy analyst at the Pembina Institute, and Jose Etcheverry, a professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, reported Water Canada. Read full story.
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee folds after 14 years of spotlighting homeless
The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee, which started in the late 1990s, folded last week, but its records and materials will be permanently housed in the Toronto Archives and made available to researchers, historians and students, while York University’s Homeless Hub will keep TDRC’s media records, which cover homelessness both locally and nationally, reported the Toronto Star June 8. Read full story.
Tiananmen massacre remembrance in Toronto
Bob San talks in the Asian American Press about how Toronto still honours the thousands who died during the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, including a tribute at York University where a bronze statue of the Goddess of Democracy was unveiled at the Student Centre June 10. Read full story.