Speaking to the National Post for a Feb. 1 story about the shortage of articling places for law students, Lorne Sossin, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, said there is no articling “pot of gold … at the end of any rainbow.” Even if the economy bounces back, he doubted law firms will expand their articling positions. “All qualified graduates who have skills and talents ought to be able to apply to be licensed to practice. Right now we got a situation where that is not the case. If you can’t find an articling position, the door is shut.” Read full story.
Legal jobs: Time to retool legal education
From his perspective as a senior partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP and as Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business, Ed Waitzer believes the biggest demand today is for lawyers who can lead, reported the Financial Post Feb. 1. “At Stikeman Elliott, we did something similar to what Billy Beane did with the Oakland Athletics. We looked at the people who had been most successful to identify what factors correlated to their success. It had very little to do with grades or any of [the] things you see on a resumé.” Read full story.
Where there’s a political will, there’s a constitutional way
John Lennon was no political theorist, but he had the measure of Canada’s constitutional history, wrote Allan Hutchinson, distinguished research professor in York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, in The Globe and Mail Feb. 1. Lennon knew that “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” So goes life, so goes the Constitution, wrote Hutchinson. Read full story.
York U prof wins psychology award
Leslie Greenberg , distinguished research professor of psychology in York’s Faculty of Health, has won the 2012 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research, reported the Jewish Tribune Jan. 31. The award is “an honour and it’s a very important recognition of the therapeutic approach, which provides an alternative approach to cognitive therapy,” said Greenberg, director of York’s Emotion-Focused Therapy Clinic. Read full story.
Ontario students to protest high tuition Wednesday
A handful of York University students has been camping out for a week on the snowy campus lawn to draw attention to tuition concerns, wrote the Toronto Star Jan. 31. “We didn’t set up the tents properly at first, so we got a bit wet, but we want to show that Ontario students are being left out in the cold by high tuition,” quipped political science major Alastair Woods, 22, vice-president of campaigns and advocacy for the York Federation of Students. Read full story.
Parlez-vous français for real?
Françoise Mougeon, associate principal of academics and research at York’s Glendon College, feels one needs to reach “maximum efficiency” and “a thorough command of the language” in order to succeed in all forms of communication, reported Metro Toronto Jan. 31 in an article about the wisdom of claiming you’re bilingual on a resumé. Metro noted that Glendon students who apply for a certificate in bilingual excellence must complete a bilingual written test focusing on their weaker language before advancing to an oral interview in which students must speak in both languages. Read full story.
Steal this spear: Our long history of creative theft
In an analysis piece for CBC News online Jan. 31, Richard Handler, a producer on the CBC Radio program “Ideas”, cited York University English Professor Marcus Boon, of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and his book, In Praise of Copying. “Copying,” Boon writes, “is a part of being essentially human.” Read full story.
Keeping the money flowing after retirement
Just about everyone’s situation is different in terms of health, wealth and goals, wrote The Globe and Mail Feb. 1 in a story about the pros and cons of hiring a financial advisor, so the “last thing you want to do is make decisions based on a column in a newspaper,” to quote York University finance Professor Moshe Milevsky of the Schulich School of Business. Read full story.
Kurt Valley: Striking the perfect balance
40-year-old Kurt Valley (BBA Spec. Hons. ’94, MBA ’01) was raised in Canada and was educated at the Schulich School of Business at York University, Toronto where he obtained a degree in business administration, before returning to Trinidad and Tobago, wrote TrinidadExpress.com Jan. 31, in a story about the general manager of First Citizens Asset Management. Read full story.
Interview with Sevé Schelenz, Writer/Director of “Skew”
“After graduating from the film program at York University in Toronto, Canada, I moved to the West Coast and found employment in the post-production field,” said Sevé Schelenz (BFA Spec. Hons. ’95), director of the found footage/point-of-view film Skew, in an interview for The WGON Helicopter blog, posted Jan. 31. “After a while, the filmmaker side of me started calling and I moved away from these independent television projects and focused on making features.” Read full story.