We are probing the very beginning of the universe and the conditions that made possible the origin of life itself,” says Sampa Bhadra, a physics professor in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, in a Globe and Mail profile of Canada’s top researchers. This work forms part of a team of 500 international scientists from 12 countries and 59 different institutions working on studying neutrinos. “Essentially we ask what happened at the time of the Big Bang, the start of the universe, and why you and I are here as matter. How did matter win over antimatter instead of annihilating to form a sea of radiation?” Bhadra is one of the Canadian researchers on the T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) experiment studying how neutrino subatomic particles transform into each other when travelling over long distances. Read full story.
Prostitution: Ontario court gives OK to brothels
The federal government was reviewing its legal options Monday after Ontario’s top court swept aside some of the country’s anti-prostitution laws, saying they place unconstitutional restrictions on prostitutes’ ability to protect themselves, reported Postmedia News March 27. Alan Young, a noted lawyer and professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School representing three sex trade workers named in the case, said the government should accept the decision and not appeal it. “I ask this government, if it is a responsible government, not to waste more time arguing an impossible position in the Supreme Court of Canada – they’re going to lose,” Young told reporters Monday. Read full story.
Alan Young cheered after Bedford ruling
There were lots of applause for Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Alan Young today following the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling on Canada’s prostitution laws, reported Legal Feeds, the blog of Canadian Lawyer Magazine & Law Times, March 26. “We achieved what we set out to do,” Young said. “The right thing was done.” Read full story.
Landmark ruling legalizes Ontario brothels
“Six out of six judges so far have concluded that the law does not work and is hurting people,” said Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Alan Young, the lawyer for the women who launched a constitutional challenge of Canada’s prostitution laws, in The Globe and Mail March 26. Read full story.
Breaking down the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling on prostitution law
Global News spoke with Bruce Ryder, assistant dean, Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and a professor from the University of Toronto, on March 27, about the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling. Read full story.
Transgendered contestant’s ouster from Miss Universe Canada sparks outrage over ‘natural born’ rule
Michael Gilbert, philosophy professor in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, questioned the use of asking contestants how they were “naturally born”, reported the Toronto Star March 27, in a story about transgendered Miss Universe contestant Jenna Talackova who was disqualified by pageant officials. “From an extremely early age, Jenna resisted the birth sex she was given,” Gilbert said. “She identified as a girl. It seems to be that she was born that way. It was natural.” Read full story.
Corporate responsibility becoming an MBA trend
A growing number of MBA corporate residency students are looking for a good grounding in CSR (corporate social responsibility) as part of their career aspirations, reported the Financial Post March 27. Kendal Bradley came out of the not-for-profit sector to do her MBA studies at the Schulich School of Business at York University. Schulich has also been ranked No. 2 in the world among MBA business schools for its emphasis on CSR by the Aspen Institute. The CSR agenda is changing the way the business world and educational programs operate, says Dean Dezsö Horváth, chair in strategies management for Schulich. “It’s an important topic. The sooner we accept there is a problem and learn to work with it, the better,” Horváth said. Read full story.
Scott wins Layton’s seat for NDP
Osgoode Hall Law School Professor and now MP, Craig Scott, says his mother, Barb, flew to Toronto a few days before the byelection, reported Windsor, Nova Scotia’s The Hants Journal March 27, in a story about his election win in Toronto-Danforth. He says it was comforting to have his mother in the campaign office for the big night as results rolled in from 180 polling stations. “No doubt Windsor will hear all about it when she returns,” he said with a laugh. “It was great.” Read full story.
Getting ahead of the tech curve
Over at the Schulich School of Business at York University, last fall, Jean Adams, professor and associate co-director of the school’s Institute for Research on Learning Technologies, began teaching 400 graduate business students how to develop their leadership skills online with IBM’s SmartCloud for Social Business portfolio, reported the National Post March 27. “I think business schools need to find meaningful ways to educate our future managers/leaders on emerging technologies and how they can be used to advance their goals,” Adams said. Read full story.
Local songwriter pens anthem for Earth Hour
Bloorcourt singer/songwriter and York fine arts grad Andrew Huang (BFA Spec. Hons. ’06) will play an extra special role in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada’s Earth Hour celebration this year, reported InsideToronto.com March 27. He’s been tapped to write and perform a song co-written by individual Canadians, which will serve as an anthem for WWF’s Earth Hour. Read full story.
Alleged fake doctor claimed York U degree
An alleged bogus doctor who’s accused of treating hundreds of patients at two New York State hospitals after claiming he graduated from York University has been arrested by the FBI for health-care fraud, reported the Toronto Sun March 26. Fitzgerald Anthony Hudson, 51, will appear in a Buffalo court on April 4. Assistant US Attorney Aaron Mango said Hudson obtained a medical licence in 2007 by listing on his New York State application that he graduated from York. “York University neither issued nor conferred any degree upon Hudson,” according to a US police affidavit. Read full story.