by Cathy Carlyle

Gloria May Eshkibok was a wise choice as presenter at an International Women's Day event at York in March. Multi-talented and multicultural, she is a person who has faced and overcome a legion of challenges and is unafraid to speak about them. As she talked, she used a variety of traditional and spiritual items - shakers, eagle feathers, burning tobacco in a shell smudge pot, hand drum, semi-precious stones, quill box. Her voice was soft yet heavy with emotion. Her words were plain yet deep with meaning. Her manner was dignified, even as she spoke about the rage within.

"I am motherless and sisterless," said Gloria May Eshkibok - a description of herself she chose to use whenever she feels an almost "raging lunacy" boiling within. "I had no one to calm me when I was growing up, no one with whom I could talk things out when I was angry. My dad tried his best and the women in the neighbourhood were like spiritual mothers. But I had a need to talk with my own mother [who died early in Eshkibok's childhood]. Now, with healing, I feel she is with me in spirit. And I think about how I am sitting on Mother Earth when I sit upon the ground. It helps."

Eshkibok has, by any lights, suffered a great deal. Alcoholism is one of the problems with which she has wrestled. Living as a person with a facial difference is another. She refers to it in the working title of her current book, Cyclops Beauty.

Being "two-spirited" [lesbian] posed a difficulty for her in the past, too, when she attended Roman Catholic residential schools and heard the teachings against her nature made by the nuns and priests. "The two-spirited people need to be understood for the circle to be complete, but the church told us that our belief was wrong," said Eshkibok. "We had birth control long before the Roman Catholic religion came to us, which they spoke against. They were disrespectful toward our traditions and said they were evil.

"And they didn't respect women. I heard them go on and on stressing that Mary [known as the mother of Jesus] was not a god, and they would say about God, 'Praise Him', always a male god. We honour all - women, the disabled and especially elders. The strength and knowledge of our culture has been passed down through women. We were loving and proud spirits long before Christianity came to us.

"I am fragile, but not broken," she stated before calling upon people to grieve for the abuses toward her and her culture. Eshkibok said she respects the "good people" of the church who make a sincere attempt to understand the transgressions of the past in that regard. "We are a dysfunctional nation because of past oppression," said Eshkibok. "But only we can get ourselves out of our situation. People are still here who can teach us aboriginal ways. And, while seeking the truth, we must be careful to be respectful of everyone."

She urged people of the First Nations, and anyone who has faced oppression or been the oppressor, to go forward. "If you feel anger, give it away. If you feel guilt for what your ancestors did, give it away." As she spoke, she played her hand drum softly. Ten beats were in honour of International Women's Day. Other beats were a cue for people in the room to cast out their anger and guilt.

"We can give our pain to the Great Creator. I see the Spirit as all of us, all of our energies, not someone 'up there'," said Eshkibok as she intoned a First Nations song called "I Give to You". "In my youth I numbed it out with alcohol and didn't have a clear anger. Now I do. But I can deal with it: I can sing about it, write about it, share it.

After she gave a reading of a work in progress, she closed by exhorting people to respect all women, in particular older ones whose voices are "golden" in her community. "I honour all mothers, I honour what mothers do."

By Valesca Rostand Cerski

Some of the participants in the Emerging Global Leaders seminar, a professional development retreat for international undergraduate students

The following article was submitted to us by a Brazilian journalist and student of film and video at York International.

The world has become faster, more demanding and completely unpredictable. It is hard to say how it is going to be two years from now. That is why the new professional has to be prepared to deal with whatever may come, and if he or she can lead the way, even better.

Having this in mind the York International team came up with a pioneer seminar: Emerging Global Leaders - A Leadership & Professional Development Weekend Retreat For International Undergraduate Students, that happened in March in Orillia, Ontario. Leadership, career planning and team work were the main issues discussed with the 37 - lucky - international students selected for the event - myself included.

"Management is NOT leadership," stated Susan J. Wright, co-founder and principal of The Coaching Project Inc. Wright said that a leader starts with who the person is, from the inside out. Leadership involves dealing with people, being able to make necessary changes and dealing with them as they come. Her definition of leadership includes the words vision, strategy, communication, influence, motivation, creativity and energy - basically the opposite of managing, following the rules by the book and maintaining the status quo. Wright's argument was that big changes are needed for the companies of today to be able to survive tomorrow.

Ben Yang, coordinator at the International Student Centre at the University of Toronto, questioned our reasons for working, or more specifically, how work is seen: punishment, just a job, salvation, or a calling? "A successful career is a journey of value realization," explained Yang. It is not only important to value what one does, he said, but also to discover what the things are that one values. Money? Fame? Recognition? World improvement? Power? Security? Satisfaction? The bottom line is: what do we really want from life? What are our values - the set of standards on which we base our decisions? Ask yourself how you are going to achieve this goal and what are the skills you have for such, he added. His advice was to "trust your heart and follow your dreams".

Team work multiplies the final results - in a good or bad way. "There is no individual capable of doing something as stupid as a dysfunctional team and vice-versa. The capacity of the whole team is bigger than that of each member separately," declared Asaf Zohar, professor and director of the Strategy Field Study at the Schulich School of Business. The most important factor for a team to be effective is communication. Zohar stated that it is critical for the team first to define what is the common goal, and then establish the ground rules. The team should also determine the roles of each member according to his or her abilities and capabilities. Each member should ask him- or herself: how am I going to be different enough to add value to the group? According to Zohar, the members should not just fit in. Great ideas come out of diversity of ideas," he said. Asaf Zohar also condemned people's need to criticize and stated that it could be avoided by using team work.

Gloria May Eshkibok with some of the items she uses in her performances

Gloria May Eshkibok will be taking part in the Aboriginal Voices Festival June 18 to 21 at Olympic Island, near Toronto. On June 18th she will be performing traditional singing. On the 19th, a film in which she appears, Johnny Greyeyes, will be screened.

Eshkibok is Odawa, Mohawk, Irish and French. Originally from Wikwemikong, an unceded First Nations settlement on Manitoulin Island, she was based in Toronto for 13 years. Recently she returned to Wikwemikong to be with her father.

Eshkibok is a versatile artist in several disciplines including singing, acting and now writing. She has performed at York University with the Unceded Band. In 1992 she founded the Anishinabe Qwek Singers and in 1996 the Sweetgrass City Singers. Back home, she has been playing the hand drum and singing with The Nandwedida Hand Drum Group.

Since 1986, Eshkibok has been acting professionally in theatre, television, radio and film, with major roles in productions. On stage she has appeared in Tomson Highway's The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, Alanis King's The Manitoulin Incident, Bill Merasty's Fireweed, Louis Nowra's Crow, Eugene Oniel's The Hairy Ape, and Lenore Keeshig-Tobias's Lysistrata, among others. Outside of Canada, her roles have taken her to theatres in the United States and Scotland. Eshkibok was a co-founder of De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre on Manitoulin Island.

On television she has played in "Dangerous Offender", "Promise the Moon" and "He Who Looks Upside Down" etc. In film Eshkibok had roles in Dance Me Outside, City of Dreams and in the upcoming production of Johnny Greyeyes. At present, she is writing an autobiography of her life as an Anishinabe Qwe (woman) with a facial difference, and a monologue for CBC's "Outfront". Her book, My Home As I Remember, was to become available in March.

Eshkibok, now a highly-acclaimed artist, has had personal challenges to which she has risen with great courage. She said she is grateful to the joyous spirits of this world who recognize and nurture her gifts.

by Cathy Carlyle

This Q&A with Michael Stevenson, vice-president (academic affairs) and provost since 1993, is one in a series of interviews with York University administrators. Recently, Stevenson was appointed president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University.

Q: You have an enormous division to oversee, including the articulation and implementation of academic planning, and the administration of York's 10 Faculties, the non-Faculty colleges and the University's academic support units. What do you single out as the most important part of your job?

A: It is a huge division and I think the most important part of the job has been strategic planning, fitting academic priorities to external policy changes and budget constraints. That job requires a really solid team or parts of the game plan fall apart, and I have had wonderful support from the deans, librarians, associate vice-presidents, senate colleagues and professional staff, all of whom carry crucial shares of a huge load.

Q: Raising York's research profile has been identified as a priority. Would you tell us about what is being done in this area?

A: Certainly. A lot of what we mean by raising the profile of research is ensuring that faculty members and students have support for research as an activity distinct from teaching. But the distinction is false. Research must also inform all university teaching.

So, raising the research profile means improving the support to fundamental research, to policy and applied research, and to research on and in teaching. It means a variety of institutional support to faculty competing for research grants and contracts; improved financial assistance to student apprentices in the research enterprise; infrastructural support to libraries, laboratories, computing; housing and operating assistance for organized research units; support for top-flight academic journals edited at York; start-up funding for new faculty; non-academic staff support for research activity; fundraising for endowed chairs, etc.

The key objective is to counter the false categorization of research-intensive universities on the basis of total monies spent on research. That obviously privileges engineering and medicine, which are the most "capital-intensive" not "research-intensive" activities. If you control for the level of those activities, York is undoubtedly a leading research university in the social sciences and humanities, in the fine arts, in the natural sciences, in environmental studies, and in the professional fields we teach. Obviously though, that is if one makes the proper comparisons, we need to be constantly at work to raise our research profile against the heavy pressure of institutions with large medical and engineering schools to get a greater share of available research funding.

Q: What can you tell us about the quality of faculty at York? How well is the University doing in attracting top-class scholars?

A: York has an absolutely first-rate faculty. Over the years, York faculty have received proportionately more major honours in teaching and research than colleagues at other Canadian universities. We have had fabulous success in hiring junior faculty with increasingly impressive experience in research, publication and teaching. We've been in the forefront of affirmative-action policy, so we have established a lead in the hiring of women, even if we've not yet closed the gender gap, and we have new contracts which promise a lead in the hiring of other designated groups.

All this means we are doing very well in attracting top-class people, and should continue to do so as competition intensifies among universities striving to keep pace with increasing retirements and expand faculty complements in face of increased demand for growth in enrolment.

Q: One of the latest buzz phrases is "technology-enhanced learning". How does this impact on York's teachers and curricula?

A: We are living through a revolution in communications technology, which like all revolutions, has contradictory features. We have an enormously enhanced capacity to store, access and distribute information, and to integrate text, data, images, video, music, three-dimensional simulations, games etc. On the other hand, this "Tower of Babel" is increasingly propped up by an overload of entertainment "pap". There is an increasing deficit of the critical and analytic skills needed to translate vastly increased amounts of information into knowledge. And there is an increasing need for ethical wisdom and cultural sensitivity in its application.

So, we have to take advantage of the new technologies, working on their on-going development and application to teaching and research. But we have to do that with the same critical engagement that characterizes any of our undertakings. Despite ridiculous assertions that York's administration has wanted to force individuals to adopt information technology as a substitute for faculty or as a necessity in teaching, we have never wanted to do that.

What we want is to encourage leadership in the University for those who really understand these technologies and who are pioneers in their adaptation to teaching and research. And there are many leaders among the faculty in areas like the Faculty of Education's Centre for the Study of Computers in Teaching; Atkinson College's Centre for Distance Education; the Faculty of Arts' Humanities Computer Laboratory; the Centre for Computer-Assisted Writing; and in the professional schools, such as Schulich and Osgoode, who are developing new curricula to deal with the increasing importance of information technology in those professions.

Q: York prides itself on its innovative programs. How are these noticeably different from what other universities offer?

A: Innovation is a distinctive part of York's history and is something of which we are justifiably proud, especially when we have lived through severe government cutbacks.

There are lots of recent examples: the School of Women's Studies; the new PhD program in Culture and Communications with Ryerson; the first Bachelor of Design degree with Sheridan; the collaborative Nursing Program with Seneca and Georgian colleges; the whole Seneca@York project; the Foundations program in the Faculty of Arts; the Landscape Design Program in the Faculty of Environmental Studies; the University Senate plan for Glendon; the part-time LLM program at Osgoode; the IBBA at Shulich; the new engineering programs planned in Science; and the extraordinary innovations being introduced at Atkinson.

I could go on!

Q: York is involved in many international activities. Would you please elaborate on some of these.

A: I am a kind of international being myself, having come to Canada from South Africa by way of the United States. One of the reasons why I came to York was because African Studies had a real presence here. And comparative politics, international relations and international political economy programs are as strong here as they are anywhere in Canada. In addition we have excellent interdisciplinary programs and research centres in East Asian and in Latin American studies, and we are also developing a Canadian leadership role in European studies.

The Faculty of Fine Arts has a distinctive international focus looking at non-Western music and non-Western fine arts; the Faculty of Environmental Studies has extensive projects relating to the environment and development in South Asia and Latin America; the Schulich School of Business has the most distinct international business school in the country; and Osgoode has great strengths in international law. Science, of course, is by its nature an international activity, but York scientists have especially strong international links.

Q: One of your areas of responsibility is the Faculty colleges of Glendon and Atkinson. There has been much discussion about the future of each of these colleges. Would you comment on this.

A: When I first became a vice-president there were serious problems of enrolment and budgets at both. Happily, colleagues in both Faculties have seized those nettles and developed plans for producing strong Faculties which will contribute greatly to York, as they have in the past.

There will be a renewed emphasis on bilingualism at Glendon, which will offer improved programs in information technology, international studies and economics and business. Atkinson is going into a very exciting phase in the development of professional programs; introducing new health programs; giving new scope to the School of Social Work; creating greater differentiation of its programs in administrative studies; and reorganizing its liberal arts programs to better meet the changing needs of mature students.

Q: Are you sympathetic toward students' concerns about tuition fees? What would you say to students who ask why York does not reduce fees?

A: We are all sympathetic about the increasing burden of fees. Ontario has the most tuition-dependent system in the world and, although we have done well in improving financial assistance to those in need, we need to do better.

However, the real cost of university tuition, adjusted for inflation, has only recently increased beyond where it was in the 1950s. In relation to income, it is not a terrible problem for most families and students. Still, for students and families with lower income, there is an increasing problem, and we have to worry that cost does not prejudice merit-based access to the university.

Q: You will be stepping down from your roles as vice-president and provost at the end of June and taking on new duties as president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University in December. As you look back over the past few years, is there one of your achievements, or a special moment, that particularly stands out in your mind?

A: There is no single achievement, certainly none that I can claim credit for alone. I am proud of the fact that, during a long period of savage government cutbacks, we managed to sustain the academic core of the University. We preserved the tenure faculty stream complement better than any other university in Ontario. We improved support for research. We introduced numerous new and innovative programs. And we did this with less financial flexibility than most.

Q: What will you miss most when you leave your present position? What special memories of York will you take with you when you move to your new position at Simon Fraser University?

A: I won't miss some of my responsibilities. I have too often had to be one-third accountant, one-third lawyer and one-third psychologist - and I am not qualified in any of those fields! But I will miss the superb people who have made up for my deficiencies, who have made this job a pleasure, and who have made it possible for me to step into my new position at SFU.

Fortunately, the two universities have very similar histories. They both have a genuine culture of innovation; they both have clear commitments to diversity and equity; both have very strongly institutionalized collegial governance; and both have unambiguous claims to excellence in teaching and research, established in a remarkably short period of time. So, I'm sure I'll find much at SFU that will sustain fond memories of York. And when I miss this place, as I'm sure I will, I'll take solace from the dramatic improvement in the view!

York community invited to reception in honour of V-P and Provost Michael Stevenson

Avie Bennett, chancellor, and Lorna R. Marsden, president and vice-chancellor, are hosting a reception in honour of Michael Stevenson, vice-president (academic affairs) and provost to thank him for his dedicated service to the University and to celebrate his appointment as president of Simon Fraser University. The reception is on Monday, April 17 at 3:30pm (remarks at 3:45pm) in the Assembly Hall, Room 152, Founders College. The York Community is welcome to attend.

By Chris Stewart and Roman Koniuk

'Keptin,' Chekov says worriedly, 'you'd better take a look at this.'

Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise peers thoughtfully at the screen before him, and the ship that is baring down on them. A strangely familiar ship...

'Interesting,' mutters Mr. Spock beside him. 'If I'm not mistaken, Captain, that is the Starship Enterprise.'

'Spock, I thought we were the Starship Enterprise.'

'Yes. We are.'

'Ah.'

'Captain', cries Communications Officer Uhura, 'they seem to be hailing us!'

There is a burst of static, and a face appears on the screen. A strangely familiar face...

'Greetings, Kirk!' it says. Spock raises an eyebrow.

'My God!', says Kirk. 'I seem to be talking to...myself! But how... can that be?'

Scottie appears on the bridge. 'Jim!' he yells, 'They'r-rre beaming aboar-rrd!'

'Captain,' says Mr. Spock, 'it is imperative we stop them.'

'Spock, but...why?'

'Captain, I believe we have found...the anti-Kirk.'

Science fiction - or is it?

Spock, being quite astute about these things, knows that if Kirk were to meet anti-Kirk, they would annihilate in a massive explosion of high-energy photons. We're not making this up - antimatter is made routinely in particle accelerators around the world. The elementary particles that make up the Universe all have corresponding antiparticles - to name the most familiar, there's the electron and anti-electron, the proton and anti-proton. Antiparticles are identical to particles, except they have the opposite electric charge. And if particle meets antiparticle, they spontaneously annihilate in a burst of energy.

At the birth of the Universe in the big bang, when all matter was created, an equal amount of antimatter also came into existence - the laws of physics dictate that this must be the case. A deep mystery to be solved, then, is this: why are we, our world, our Galaxy, everything we can see in the Universe, made only out of matter?

The Earth is bombarded constantly by elementary particles from the Galaxy and beyond. They're all particles. Nowhere in the Universe do we see great walls of annihilation as galaxies meet anti-galaxies. It seems everywhere we look, the only stable stuff we see is matter. If the universe initially contained equal amounts of matter and antimatter, then where did all the anti-stuff go?

The famous Russian Physicist Andrei Sakharov (winner of both the Lenin Prize, for creating the hydrogen bomb, and the Nobel Peace Prize) proposed a solution to this puzzle. Almost every law of physics treats matter exactly the same as antimatter - an electron and a proton make a hydrogen atom in exactly the same way as an anti-electron and an anti-proton make an atom of anti-hydrogen. But in a remote corner of physics sits the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa Matrix (or just THE MATRIX), which governs the relative strengths of different types of radioactive decay. Some of these radioactive decays favour the production of matter over antimatter - but only to a very slight degree. For every billion antiparticles produced from radioactive decays, a billion plus one particles are created.

How can such a tiny surplus of matter over antimatter make any difference? Shortly after the big bang, the Universe was a seething broth of equal parts matter and antimatter. Particles were colliding with antiparticles, and annihilating each other out of existence. As the Universe cooled, the laws of physics that drive radioactive decays were producing just a tiny bit more matter than antimatter. The annihilation continued unabated, and quickly all the antiparticles and almost all the particles destroyed each other. In the final count, just that one-part-in-a-billion surplus of matter particles was left.

Which means that everything we see around us is made up of that tiny excess of matter. If it weren't for this very small imbalance in the laws of Nature, nothing would exist in the universe but a sea of wandering photons.

'Captain's log, Stardate 2450. Just past...tea-time.

'Today, the Enterprise narrowly avoided catastrophe. My anti-Self, seeking to...destroy us both in a...fireball of heat and light, attempted to...beam aboard. Fortunately, at the last minute, I was ...saved - a minor actor with little character development tripped and fell onto the...transporter platform just as the anti-Kirk materialised. They were both instantly destroyed.

'Mental note: must notify the recruitment office in the morning.

'Kirk out.'

Chris Stewart is a PhD student, and Roman Koniuk is Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at York University.

At its meeting on February 24, 2000, the Senate of York University:

* noted a report from the Academic Colleague on recent meetings of the Council of Ontario Universities;

* heard remarks from the president about York's being awarded $77 million in SuperBuild funding for two buildings;

* noted a report from the vice-president (enrolment & students services) on the increase in applications for Fall-Winter 2000-2001;

* approved, as recommended by the Senate Executive Committee:

- an amendment to regulations governing student membership on Senate such that each Faculty is entitled to at least two representatives;

- an amendment to rules governing Glendon Faculty Council membership such that Senior Scholars will be eligible for membership on Council and that this representation will constitute one-third of the number of contributing Senior Scholars in any given academic year;

* approved, as recommended by the Senate Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards:

- a Diploma in Nonprofit Management, Schulich School of Business;

- new History and Environmental Studies streams in the Business and Society (BUSO) program of the Faculty of Arts;

- a new Certificate in Law and Social Thought, Glendon;

* noted a report for information from the Senate Committee on Curriculum and Academic Standards that:

- the Faculty of Arts has regularized the January entry point for new students;

- the Faculty of Arts summer session course load maximum is increased to 15 credits.

For further information, please contact the Secretariat at (416) 736-5012.

by Kyle Byron

Students at improvisational dance workshop as host Professor Mary-Elizabeth Manley looks on With aspirations of awareness and celebration, the Faculty of Environmental Studies' (FES) Eco Art and Media Festival recently returned for its sixth straight year. This year's theme, "Making Space into Place", was geared toward examining our relationships to the places where we live and work and how they have shaped us. The festival also provides a much-needed opportunity for creative interplay between academia, activism and art.

Initiated six years ago by FES affiliate Deborah Barndt, the festival arose from the Lumbers Building's Wild Garden Media Centre. The Centre was created by the FES students, faculty and staff to have access to media production facilities and artistic space. Eventually the contributions to the Centre were too large to contain, and a campus-wide festival was born.

The festival has been co-sponsored by the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) and the Faculty of Education to bridge the gaps between the Faculties, to generate a stronger sense of community and to address environmental issues collectively and creatively.

The festival's daily activities utilized the hemispheres of intelligence and creativity with art exhibits, workshops, readings, films and lectures.

A presentation by representatives from the University of Waterloo's sustainability team and Elise Houghton, an environmental advisor to the Toronto Board of Education, took on one of today's buzz words, "sustainability". It is the study of designing buildings, campuses and cities that are more environmentally friendly. Coinciding with York's new Task Force on Sustainability, President Marsden listened as the panel showed how institutions have dealt with controversial campus topics like excess newspapers, pesticides and air conditionings.

Sustaining piece of mind was also a theme of the festival. The student body was well represented at an improvisational dance workshop hosted by FFA Professor Mary-Elizabeth Manley. The mixing of dance majors and FES students embodied the goal of the festival.

Another feature of the week, one that made a repeat appearance the following week, was the Bike 2 York Exhibition. FES student Gabriella Mihalik, organizer of the Exhibition, got the idea while riding to York one day, "I wanted to share the fun of riding to school." But it's not only a leisurely jaunt. Biking saves money, reduces pollution and is great exercise, and that reduces stress.

Other presentations were on gender construction, claiming and contesting space, a screening of joint masters FES/FFA student Sara Marino's film Bear, and the week concluded with a gala celebration.

"Attendance this year has been better than ever," says Natasha Myers, coordinator of the festival and a masters of environmental studies at York University. "People are thanking and congratulating me for 'my festival' but it wasn't mine. Dozens of volunteers worked to make this year's festival the best ever." See you next spring.

by Cathy Carlyle

James Brown and Peter Avery, two York faculty members who cycle to work

Who looks unconcerned around York campus whenever there is the hint of a TTC strike? The staff members who regularly cycle to work, that's who! No transport strike can pierce their beautifully-oxygenated hearts with fear.

They come from Bathurst and Eglinton, Yonge and Eglinton, Yonge and St. Clair, Thornhill, King City, and beyond. But the distance prize for those faculty interviewed goes to cyclist Peter Avery, intrepid Bicycle-Rider from the Beaches.

This year was a different story for Peter Avery, coordinator of Linguistics. But last year, Avery biked throughout the winter, instead of forsaking his two-wheeled friend in late November and reacquainting himself with it in February. He can be forgiven for his usual fair-weather approach, though, when you realize that his round-trip total is about 55 kms. People might enquire, "Why?" upon hearing of his cycling prowess. His quick reply is, "Why not? It's enjoyable." He doesn't preach about feeling in top phsycial condition, or even admit to noticing a difference in his health since he began long journey-cycling three years ago, but says, "I suppose I must be in better condition."

Unfortunately, Avery has been unable to maintain his prowess at cycling to work lately. He suffered back problems after a minor accident and has been unable to ride his bike since September. However, his condition is improving every day and he hopes to be back to cycling in the near future.

You might accuse Eric Hessels, physics professor, of cheating, but do so only if you cycle at all to get to work! A person who has "always cycled to work since high school", and who cycles year-round, he actually goes to Bloor and Spadina where he hops aboard the subway to Downsview station. That's where he picks up his bicycle, which, trustingly, he leaves there at the end of the day, then cycles to the campus. He says he loves being outdoors for part of every day.

What about his bicycle, though? What magic does he use to keep it safe from thieves? "I use an old wreck of a bike," he explains. "In fact, until a few years ago I biked on one that had a lot of history. It used to belong to one of my professors, and before that it belonged to one of his. That one finally gave up the ghost, but I still use an old one." Still, last year his front tire was stolen.

There's another long-distance biker on faculty, someone who travels from King City and who says he has "always commuted on a bike." James Brown, senior executive officer in the Office the Vice-President (Finance & Administration), racks up a whopping 40 kms per round trip, any day there is not snow.

He does it not purely for health and economic reasons. He uses the exercise as his training program for entry into triathalons. In fact, at present he is training for the Rideau Lake cycle tour that will be held in the first weeek of June. Brown admits to disliking the bike ride when it is snowy, but says he does not mind the cold. In fact, Brown has few complaints about his regime, saying, "It gives me a lot of pleasure. I frequently find myself smiling."

Eli Brettler, faculty member in the Department of Mathetmatics and Statistics, is justly proud of his courage in the face of inclement weather. He is not tempted to take the car to work not only because he doesn't drive, but also because he simply enjoys cycling. He started riding a bike to work when he lived in Montreal and he continued when he moved to Toronto, after he overcame his fear of the traffic at Bathurst and Eglinton. "Now I'm five miles north of Steeles, and I can get to York faster by bike than it would take me to walk to Steeles to get a bus. When I first started cycling here, I thought I'd ask a colleague for the optimum route that would get me here with reasonable speed, avoiding - where possible - ravines, traffic lights and sidewalks. It was the right sort of question to ask in the math department." And, yes, the colleague worked out a good route.

"I keep telling myself that I'm a middle-aged guy, so I don't work at going fast," said Brettler. "I'm not out to prove anything. But sometimes Geoff Carman goes past me on his bike - that young buck - and the testosterone kicks in. I go fast for a bit, but that's all." Was that a wistful note in his voice?

Speaking of Geoffrey Carman, technical support analyst at Computing Services, he is another cyclist who prides himself on riding in all weather, even against fierce winds. He could almost qualify as a bike collector, now that he's about to add a fifth bike to his collection. Carman, like Brown, uses his cycling as a way of training for triathalons. "I'm fast on a bike, but slow at everything else," he quips.

He began biking to work four years ago, jokingly blaming Brown for his new-found passion for the sport. "He's a horrible influence. There should be a ruling against people like him. He's so happy all the time!" Then he adds, "But I do feel healthier now, and I'm going to keep on."

Most people interviewed said they'd had one or two accidents when cycling to work, and blamed themselves. Paul Evans, director of the Division of Continuing Education at Atkinson College, started cycling when he was a child in England as a way of getting exercise and relaxation. He has had a few accidents in his time. He points the finger at a pedestrian for one of them. "The person literally came off the sidewalk and walked straight into me. He couldn't hear me coming, and was looking the other way when I rode along. I was the one injured," he said, "with broken collar bone, arm and nose."

Evans has made some adjustments to his cycling style now that he has some osteoporosis. He says that a recumbant bicycle is the solution to his back problems, though he has had to cope with the fact that it is harder to control the vehicle. The bicycle helps relieve pressure on your spine because riders sit in a chair rather than on a regular saddle. As well, the pedals are toward the front of the bike so that the rider is not tempted to hunch forward on the seat. Although the time it takes him to cycle home is the same as it would take him on the TTC, he prefers doing the former. "I look forward to the ride at the end of the day. It's the main exercise I get."

One thing that all the campus-bound cyclists agree upon is the wisdom of wearing a helmet.

By Susan Scott

Chief Billie Diamond, the keynote speaker at this year's Encounter Canada Conference

More than 25 years after the signing of Canada's first modern land claims treaty between the province of Quebec and the Cree of James Bay, that treaty's chief negotiator said his people are still fighting for control of their land and their way of life.

Billie Diamond was the keynote speaker at this year's Encounter Canada Conference, a day-long annual event co-organized by McLaughlin and Vanier Colleges. This conference focus this year was aboriginal rights and treaty rights.

Diamond's remarks centred on his years as chief of the James Bay Cree and the negotiation of the first modern land claims treaty in 1974 between his people and the province of Quebec. He also discussed the Cree's opposition to the province's controversial James Bay hydroelectric.

The James Bay region has been home to the Crees for many years. Diamond estimated the Cree population at 12,000 people covering approximately 240,000 square miles. He said over the past several years federal and provincial governments have continued to try to "impose laws to put us under the thumb of government." He cited forestry and mining developments in northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as examples in which governments are trying to "take land away from aboriginal peoples, erase us from history. This is our challenge, to protect what is ours for our people."

Diamond said he's been fighting for the rights of his people for more than 30 years. He was 21 when he was asked by his father, who was chief at the time, and community elders to take over the chief's role. Despite his reluctance - "I cried when I couldn't go to university, I thought education was a key to a better future" - the elders were adamant that "something important was happening" and that strong leadership for the community was needed. "I figured I would take a year off and it's been 32 years. We have fought a long and bitter fight."

That "something important" was the James Bay hydroelectric project, to be built in northern Quebec and first announced in 1970 by then Quebec premier, Robert Bourassa. At the time, the project was estimated to cost $6-billion and produce 125,000 jobs. Diamond said his people were not notified in advance about the government's intention to proceed with the project through its crown corporation, Hydro-Quebec.

In May 1972, the Crees, through an umbrella organization called the Indians of Quebec Association (IQA), initiated court action to stop the project through a permanent injunction against damaging Cree land. Northern Quebec had been federal territory from 1871 until the Quebec Boundary Extension Acts of 1898 and 1912. These acts transferred the territory to Quebec's jurisdiction with the stipulation that Quebec must negotiate treaties settling aboriginal claims to the land. Quebec had not negotiated the treaties and the aboriginal claims were still valid.

Diamond said the Cree position was "we are guardians of the land and have an inherent responsibility to protect it. The land has taken care of us and we have a responsibility to pass it on to the next generation. The claims by the government that it had sovereignty were irrelevant to us." The Quebec court ruled in favour of the Crees and halted the James Bay project. However, the case was appealed to Quebec's Court of Appeal which overturned the first ruling.

The Crees then decided to negotiate their land claims with the government. The negotiation took two years despite the presence of deadlines to keep both parties at the table.

Diamond said each party had different objectives during the negotiations. "The government negotiated to exchange information, we negotiate to get rights recognized."

In the end, an agreement was signed in 1975. In return for recognizing Quebec's sovereign rights to the region (northern Quebec) and for a promise not base future land claims on "aboriginal rights," the Crees were compensated with $90-million to be paid in installments. The Cree retained the majority of their land, plus hunting privileges on lands not flooded by dams. The agreement also spelled out procedures for review of any future projects in the James and Hudson Bay areas. However, the Crees felt these procedures were not strong enough to ensure public input or consideration of alternatives to a proposed project.

Diamond, although he's no longer chief, said the Crees are still fighting for their rights. He's concerned about the recent discussions over the possibility of Quebec separation from Canada and how that might affect the existing agreement with the province. "Should Quebec secede, the agreement we signed would be null and void. We signed the agreement with Quebec in Canada, not an independent Quebec."

He called on people who are also concerned about this to "let the federal authorities and those in Quebec know" that development is "an easy excuse to try to take away our rights. The real issue is sovereignty."

If you have recently published or co-edited a book, and would like it featured in the Gazette's bi-weekly book column, "Shelf Esteem", please forward reviews, press clippings, jacket copy or publishers' press releases to Shelf Esteem, York University Gazette, Suite 280, York Lanes. Publishers' complimentary copies are also welcome and can be used for illustration.

by Michael Cvitkovic

After a successful inaugural season, the York University Summer Sport Camps are once again ready to offer hundreds of children the opportunity to make new friends, learn different skills and have fun on the Keele campus.

The School of Physical Education has organized summer tennis, basketball and volleyball camps for a number of years, but decided last year to integrate the sessions under one program. The goal of the camp is to provide boys and girls, aged six to 16, a positive learning experience in physical activity in a safe, enjoyable and inclusive environment.

With 300 participants in 14 different sessions during last year's camp, the future of this program looks very promising. Tom Gretes, York University Summer Sport Camp coordinator, who also helped the University of Toronto in the early stages of their summer camps, sees York's program excelling to new heights. "This year, York will increase the number of sessions to 17 and offer seven different camps. They all provide a wide range of skill development and brag a 1:6 instructor-to-camper ratio," says Gretes. "The camp is a great opportunity for faculty and staff to enrol their children into a program right on campus. It's a great alternative to child care and the positive feedback from last year has been tremendous."

Janice Bull of York's admissions office enrolled her 10-year-old son in both the basketball and tennis camps last summer. "The instructors were very encouraging towards my son," said Bull. "I was pleased to see that the children were grouped according to both their age and skill level. My son made new friends and is looking forward to returning this summer."

The price to attend one of York's summer sport camps is less than most commercial camps. Campers are not only given a full week of instruction by some of York's highest calibre varsity coaches but they are also treated to fun activities such as swimming in the Tait McKenzie Pool and other sport games. Each York camper receives a camp t-shirt and a special Sport York pass which entitles them to free admission at all Yeomen and Yeowomen home games in the 2000-2001 season. Registration begins April 3, 2000 at the Customer Service Desk in the Tait McKenzie Centre. The camps run from July 4 to 28.

For more information about the York University Summer Sport Camp, please visit our Web site at www.yorku.ca/dept/physed/sport or contact Tait McKenzie Customer Service at (416) 736-5184 or
sprtinfo@yorku.ca.

Royal Bank representatives presented York University with $100,000, a further instalment of a gift they pledged in 1997 for the Royal Bank Professor of Nonprofit Management, as part of the Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program. Brenda Gainer is the first holder of the Professorship. Pictured at the recent cheque-donation ceremony are, from the left: Phyllis Clark, vice-president (finance and administration), Brenda Gainer, Schulich School of Business, Bill Clementi, Royal Bank, Aldo Francello, Royal Bank, John Lever, Royal Bank, Barbara Haire, Royal Bank, Barbara Kuhlmann, Royal Bank, Gary J. Smith, vice-president (university advancement) and Marie-Thérèse Chaput, Director of Development.

IBM Canada presented a $3 million donation to York University at a reception held in February in McLaughlin College. The donation will help outfit classrooms and labs for York's 4,050 computer studies students. The provincial government's Access to Opportunities Program (ATOP) will match IBM's donation, bringing its worth to $6 million. In the photograph are representatives from IBM, including President and CEO John Wetmore, General Manager Education Industry John Kutcy, International Sales and Operations Executive Rosemary Campbell; and representatives from York, including President Lorna Marsden, Chancellor Avie Bennett, Dean of Atkinson College Ron Bordessa, Dean of Arts George Fallis, Dean of Pure and Applied Science Robert Prince and Vice-President (University Advancement) Gary Smith.