Toronto librarian stumbles on mysterious card with Jorge Luis Borges connection

Mystery shrouds an old greeting card tucked away in a dog-eared copy of Plato’s The Republic that belongs to Toronto’s Agincourt District Library – and Maria Figueredo, professor of Latin American literature at York University – has tried to help solve it, wrote the Toronto Star Feb. 17. Figueredo, based in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, believes the card, signed by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, is the real deal. “I think the card may be authentic; there seems to be nothing to contradict it,” she said, adding that Borges likely did not write the note himself because he was blind by 1978 and often dictated his letters. It could be a card that Borges sent somebody in Toronto, she said, or the book could have been purchased in Argentina and then donated by someone who brought it with them to Toronto. Read full story.

Study abroad? Why American students head north
American institutions are very familiar with the prominent Canadian undergrad schools, so they won’t be put off by a foreign degree, wrote Reuters.com Feb. 16, in a story about US students studying in Canada. Katherine Stimson (BFA Spec. Hons. ’04), for instance, did her undergraduate degree at Toronto’s York University. “It came down to costs,” she said. “I went to York, worked on campus and did summer coursework, and graduated debt-free a year early.” Read full story.

Academics speak out as city management contracts out cleaning jobs
One hundred academics from three Toronto universities, including York, have signed a letter asking the Ford administration to stop contracting out cleaning jobs, reported the Toronto Star Feb. 16. Read full story.

How to boss around your friends
New managers can be tempted to distance themselves from former co-workers, but suddenly erecting boundaries aimed at appearing more professional can actually do harm, said Stephen Friedman, an executive coach and faculty member at York University’s Schulich Executive Education Centre, in Canadian Business Feb. 16. Read full story.

Schulich students have heads in cloud
Jean Adams
, a professor of policy at York’s Schulich School of Business, realized the potential of cloud services after a 2020 Conference Board of Canada study on how technology will change the nature of what work looks like in the future, according to a story in the Toronto Star‘s World of MBAs special section Feb. 11. Read full story (PDF).

More MBAs bank on jobs in resources
The Schulich School of Business announced last November the launch of an MBA specialization in the mining industry. Richard Ross, former CEO of Inmet mining, heads up the specialization at Schulich, said a story in the Toronto Star‘s World of MBAs special section Feb. 11. Read full story (PDF).

EMBA programs come of age
“I had always wanted to do an MBA, but there was never any time to stop,” said Nanditha Zuckerman, Haggar Canada’s CEO, in a story in the Toronto Star‘s World of MBAs special section Feb. 11. Pregnant with her third child, she decided to enrol in the Schulich School of Business’ EMBA program in January 2010. Read full story (PDF).

Targeted MBAs in job-seekers’ crosshairs
Joyce Zemans
, director of the MBA program in Arts and Media Administration at York’s Schulich School of Business, said niche MBAs are gaining popularity, in a story in the Toronto Star‘s World of MBAs special section Feb. 11. Read full story (PDF).

Tucker shines a light on arts
Carla (Gutta) Tucker
(BEd ’98) always knew she wanted to be a dance teacher when she grew up, but she never dreamed she’d be running a studio and an in-school program that touches more than 5,000 students each year. The York education grad was featured in a story on Simcoe.com Feb. 16. Read full story.