A small number of online users, about three to seven per cent, are addicted to buying on the Internet and have a difficult time controlling their actions, according to Richard Davis, a doctoral candidate at York University, says a CP story printed in Fort McMurray Today Jan. 17. “Compulsive shoppers going to a mall can recognize in their hands that they’ve spent a lot of money and bought a lot of things. When you do it online a click is so much easier to do. There’s no social buffer. You can buy a heck of a lot of things with that one click.”
Prof said Star’s findings sound
In stories about a Toronto Police Association class action libel suit against the Toronto Star for its series spotlighting the force’s treatment of blacks, the Star and the National Post Jan. 18 mention that Michael Friendly, psychology professor in York’s Faculty of Arts and an expert in statistical analysis and methodology, found the Star’s approach to the data and methods sound.
Slow sales of Shox shoes
“Whole apparel lines will be affected by shoe sales,” says Don Thompson, marketing professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, about the failure of Nike’s Vince Carter Shox shoes to soar, reports the National Post Jan. 18.
Prison aggravates crime
“Prison should be a last resort,” says Alan Young, professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, in his Toronto Star column “Body & Soul” Jan. 19. “It is a breeding ground for crime and for the fostering of malignant, anti-social attitudes. Getting tough will not solve the crime problem; it will actually aggravate it. It will, however, be good business for all the people working in the criminal justice industrial complex.”
High cost of expense accounts
The MFP computer-leasing inquiry has turned a spotlight on the widespread wining and dining of clients, notably public officials, and raised questions about the ethics of companies building their businesses on the backs of taxpayers, reports the Toronto Star. “We’re providing this enormous subsidy to people who are eating in the most expensive and lavish restaurants in the country at a time when people are lining up at food banks,” says Neil Brooks, who teaches tax law and policy at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School.
Don’t pull out of mutual funds
Moshe Milevsky, finance professor at York’s Schulich School of Business, was alarmed that “investors are reducing their contributions to equity-based mutual funds at a time when market experience and conventional wisdom would dictate they shouldn’t,” reports The Ottawa Citizen Jan. 19 in a story about the effect of an economic downturn on RRSP investment.
Publication bans common
The Criminal Code makes such bans virtually automatic on evidence heard at bail hearings and preliminary inquiries. Either the defence or Crown simply has to request the ban, reports CP Wire Jan. 19. “We only notice it in high-profile cases because people, media in particular, start to question it,” says Alan Young, professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School.