Media around the world reported the death May 5 of South Africa’s Walter Sisulu, who mounted the struggle against apartheid alongside Nelson Mandela. In 1985 York University recognized Sisulu as a symbol of political liberation for his fight against racial oppression by bestowing him with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in absentia. He was still in jail, having served more than 20 years of what turned out to be a 26-year incarceration. Sisulu was largely self-educated, reported Australia’s national daily The Australian May 7. That newspaper noted that he received honorary doctorates from York University and the Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Balance tops list of job desires, poll says
Canadians want more responsibility, challenging work and a life outside the office, according to an Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail poll published May 7. But Ronald Burke, a professor of organizational behaviour and industrial relations at Schulich School of Business at York University, told the Globe the concept of “work-life balance” is already being replaced by “work-life integration. It’s not really about balance, because balance implies 50/50. And it is a different formula for most people…. It means that work and life blend into each other in ways that fit for me and don’t give me an inordinate amount of grief.” Burke said that while people may want balance, they do little to get it. “Everybody says that they want to have balance, but not very many people do much about it…. Many people might want to do this, but they don’t feel secure enough to demand it.” He added that balance is only truly achieved when companies and employees all work together on the issue.
The York forecast
If you have a science degree and want to get into weather forecasting, York University has a certificate course in meteorology (www.eas.yorku.ca/cmeteor.html), noted The Globe and Mail in a May 7 story on specialists at Environment Canada’s weather centre.