The University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business has a new dean, wrote The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon, Sask.) June 18.
York grad Daphne Taras (BA Gen. Hons. ’78, LLM ’08) will step into the position for a five-year term starting July 1. Most recently Taras held the position of associate dean (research) at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.
Taras has obtained a BA from York University and an MA from Duke University, both in political science. She received her MBA and PhD from the University of Calgary and holds an LLM in labour & employment law from York’s Osgoode Hall Law School.
Decline in bee population is the subject of Burlington talk
On Monday, Laurence Packer of York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering will discuss what has become a crisis in agriculture – the rapid disappearance of bees, wrote InsideHalton.com June 17. Packer will present findings outlined in his book Keeping the Bees, which grew out of the Canadian pollination research initiative spearheaded by the biology professor.
Packer has charted the movement of more than 800 species of bees in North America and identified an alarming decline in their population, causing enormous deficits in pollen transfer and affecting our food supply and ecosphere.
The lecture, presented by A Different Drummer Books, begins at 7pm at Burlington Central Library, 2331 New St. Tickets cost $10 and may be purchased at the library or at A Different Drummer Books, 513 Locust St.
Third time’s a charm for York freshman cricketer
Twice before, Muhammad Hassan came close to being picked for the Cricket Across the Pond team that played a summer series of games in England, wrote the Toronto Star June 18.
So, when the telephone call came earlier this month, the 17-year-old figured he had missed out yet again and would get encouragement to try the following year. This time, the message was different.
Hassan was picked, told his dream had come true and to start planning for the trip to play at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. “That call, it was unbelievable for me,” said Hassan, who graduates later this month from Toronto’s North Albion Collegiate Institute and will study biomedical sciences in the fall at York University.
“I was so happy, I lost control and I kissed my sister. Just danced around the house. This is an experience of a lifetime. Not many people get to go to such a famous cricket place, learn and then play games – and not pay for anything,” said Hassan.
Africa still gets no respect
Africans are tremendously proud of what South Africa has already achieved by hosting the [World Cup], which is turning out to be a first-class event, wrote columnist Innocent Madawo in the Toronto Sun June 18. It vindicates our claim Africa is not all about begging bowls and the other negative stuff.
“They said we cannot do it, but we are,” says Satyam Chawla, a Zambian student at York University.
Satyam represents an African diaspora that is beaming with pride that South Africa has pulled off what was, until last Friday, considered by many to be a responsibility beyond its capacity and ability, wrote Madawo.
York hockey started sports recruiting trend
In Canada, [university] sports teams were created as an extension of the academic programs. The idea was that you were a student first and an athlete second. This concept is way out of whack in some areas, wrote columnist Stephen Valeriote in the Guelph Mercury June 18.
A prime example of this is the case of university men’s hockey. Up until the early 1980s, it was typical for a star high-school hockey player to move on and play the next year for a university team.
Enter Dave Chambers at York University, which had a hockey team wallowing in mediocrity. The solution: recruit a number of ex-Ontario Hockey League (OHL) players to enrol. Result: instant national championship, and, in fact, a dynasty. The other university teams had no choice but to follow suit in order to compete. By the early 1990s, that 18-year-old ex-high-school star had no chance of making the university team and playing for his school since he cannot compete against much older, grizzled OHL veterans. This is blatantly unfair.