Corporal Bernard Gooden, a 22-year-old tank gunner with the US Marines and a former York University student, is the first Canadian to be killed in combat in the war to oust Saddam Hussein, reports The Globe and Mail April 9. His father, Bernard Gooden Sr., has been a carpenter on York’s maintenance staff for 25 years. The marine, who immigrated to the Toronto area from Jamaica in 1997, was killed in a gun battle in central Iraq on Friday. He had earlier served as a Canadian Forces reservist, and joined the US Marines in June 2001. He left Jamaica at 16 to live with his father in Whitby, Ont., and seek a good education. He went to high school in Whitby, studied general arts at Centennial College from 1998 to 2000, then studied sociology and political science at York’s Glendon College for the winter term 2000-2001. Gooden Sr. told the Globe that one of his son’s professors, Radha Persaud, once approached him and asked if the student with his name was his son. “He said he’s really good,” the elder Gooden recalled. “I was really proud of him.”
Iraq won’t be ‘democratic regime’ for years
“There wouldn’t be any viable ‘democratic regime’ in place for years to come,” Saeed Rahnema, political science professor at York University’s Faculty of Arts and Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, told Global TV national news April 8 on the day George Bush and Tony Blair met in Northern Ireland to talk about post-war Iraq. The White House’s preferred choice as Saddam’s successor is Ahmad Chalabi, leader of a coalition of opposition groups called the Iraqi National Congress. Rahnema said, “He doesn’t have credibility but, you know, the question is, do the Iraqi people have any other choice. The Americans have chosen him.” Rahnema also told host Bill Cameron on I-CHAN April 8 that the British and Americans will be in Iraq for at least five years, similar to occupied Japan.
Mutual funds rank lower after tax, study shows
Some of Canada’s top-performing mutual funds would be ranked lower if returns were measured after tax, research unveiled Tuesday reveals, reports the National Post April 9. Conversely, says Moshe Milevsky, a York University finance professor, some low-turnover, tax-efficient funds would move near the top of the fund rankings if posting of after-tax returns were required by law. At a media briefing in Toronto, Milevsky presented research conducted with two colleagues at York’s Schulich School of Business. Sponsored by one of the more tax-efficient fund companies, AIC Ltd., the findings will appear in Canadian Tax Journal as “The Impact of Personal Income Taxes on Returns and Rankings of Canadian Equity Mutual Funds.” Milevsky told The Toronto Sun, which also reported his research findings April 9: “Most consumers are tempted to succumb to rankings. But are they looking at the right rankings? Taxes scramble rankings.” Canadian Press also carried news of the study. And AIC’s managing director discussed the study on “Business Day” (ROB-TV) April 8.
Glendon’s French connection
“The point of ‘French for the Future’ is to show students the importance of maintaining and building on their French language studies,” said Kenneth McRoberts, principal of York’s Glendon College, reports The Toronto Sun April 9. He was referring to the conference this week at Glendon College that enabled more than 3,200 francophone and French immersion high-school students in 12 cities across Canada to talk via satellite about the importance of bilingualism.
On air
- Leo Panitch, comparative political economy professor in York University’s Faculty of Arts, talked about previous instances where Canada disagreed with the United States on a conflict and how that affected the economic relationship between the two nations, on CBC’s “The Current” April 8.