The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation has revised a fundraising ad following criticism that an initial version went too far and contained errors. Laura Syron, the foundation’s vice-president of community programs, denies the changes had anything to do with the criticism. But Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, said it appears the foundation has taken a step back. “They have modified the extreme message of, ‘Save a patient – they can’t have an operation unless you give money,’” he said in the Toronto Star Feb. 7. Read full story.
Tap into Toronto’s postsecondary talent: David Phipps’s big idea
“All great cities have a university. Toronto has four. Toronto should turn to its universities and engage their talent – from youthful students as young as 17 to professors emeriti as well as talented university staff – in helping develop sustainable solutions and contribute to every Big Idea that arises from readers of the Toronto Star,” wrote David Phipps, executive director of Research & Innovation Services at York University, in the Toronto Star Feb. 5. “We [at York] have made creating benefit to our local and global communities an institutional priority.” Read full story.
Jamaica’s new building code imminent
An estimated 70 per cent of Jamaica’s buildings are designed without professional inputs, making the legalization of the new building code essential, according to stakeholders, in disaster resilience. . . . “I have a newspaper clipping from April 1983. . . . It is a statement from Edward Seaga saying we would have a building code by the end of that year. Thirty-one years later, we have consensus from both political parties that we need this thing,” said Franklin McDonald, former coordinator of the Institute of Sustainable Development and now Visiting Scholar at Canada’s York University, in the Jamaica Gleaner Feb. 7. “[Now] I hear some very concrete plans being made and that, by March 31 this year, it will all be done. But I have heard that before,” he added. Read full story.
Every seed has a story
This year’s Niagara Seedy Saturday takes place Feb. 8 from 10am to 3pm at St. Giles Church, 205 Linwell Rd., St. Catharines, Ont., reported Niagara This Week Feb. 6. While there will be plenty of information shared, the highlight of the event is the annual seed swap. Linda Crago will be speaking heirlooms, seed saving and more at noon on Saturday. Other speakers include Bob Martin, local grower and master gardener who works for Stokes Seeds, Scott McGivor from York University on bee homes and Steven Biggs on edibles in the urban landscape. Read full story.