Kids’ stress a serious matter

There is a growing amount of research suggesting that kids have much higher levels of physiological stress than they did a generation ago….The Milton & Ethel Harris Research Initiative (MEHRI) at York University has developed an approach to improving childhood development based on tapping into kids’ ability to manage their own stress, reported the Vancouver Sun Dec. 5. The process, called self-regulation, is being implemented in a number of B.C. school districts and will soon launch in Ontario schools and roll out in other jurisdictions across the country in stages. Read full story.

Theatre troupe does Christmas
Following a successful debut with its first play this past summer, the Little Black Afro Productions theatre company is returning to the Masonic Lodge in Streetsville with a pair of Christmas-themed shows. Both were written by Meadowvale’s Luke Reece, a York University theatre student who co-founded the troupe earlier this year, reported Mississauga News Dec. 4. Read full story.

Canadian companies are behind in utilizing ‘big data’: study
Carl Farrell, executive vice-president (Americas) of business analytics company SAS, defines ‘big data’ as what happens when the information gathered by a company becomes too big to manage….SAS’s Vice-President of Marketing for the Americas Cameron Dow says part of the problem lies in the fact that Canadian universities aren’t graduating nearly enough data scientists, who will know how to deal with ‘big data’. The good news there is that a few of them, including Queen’s and York’s Schulich School of Business, have created new courses devoted to the subject, reported Canadian Business Dec. 3. Read full story.

Top 100 most powerful women in Canada: Scotiabank Corporate Executives Award
Jane Rowe, senior vice-president of the Teachers’ Private Capital department, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, was named one of Canada’s top 100 most powerful women by Scotiabank, reported the Financial Post Dec. 4. Rowe earned her MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business and is a current member of the school’s International Advisory Council. Read full story.

Heritage announces the 2012 list of its most popular universities and colleges selected
Heritage Education Funds is thrilled to announce the top-selected universities and colleges by the 2012 beneficiaries of Heritage Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs). This year’s top-selected school was the University of Toronto, with almost 12 per cent of Heritage beneficiaries attending this year alone. Not far behind is the University of British Columbia with more than 10.7 per cent. In third place is York University with more than 8.8 per cent of students attending this institution, reported Money.ca Dec. 4. Read full story.

Have your say: Bentleigh Secondary College is world’s greenest
Bentleigh Secondary College has been crowned the world’s greenest school. Other finalists included Toronto’s York University, Seattle’s University of Washington and the Abu Dhabi Indian School in the United Arab Emirates, reported the Moorabbin Leader Dec. 5. Read full story.

Kaypok unveils root cause analysis solution for why consumers behave
Companies are drowning in a sea of big, unstructured, noisy data. Whether it’s social media chatter, e-mail or survey results, how do you filter the noise and take action? Kaypok Inc., a company spun off from York University research with support and funding from MaRS Innovation, uses a contextual natural-language process to automatically interpret the meaning of raw data – without analysts, advance preparation, special databases or lag time, reported Yahoo! Canada and others Dec. 4. Read full story.

Private alcohol sales: ‘A lot of risk involved’ in exposing Beer Store, LCBO to competition
The ability to stroll down to the corner store for a bottle of wine might sound appealing. And so might the whole of idea of exposing the Beer Store and LCBO to competition, as Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Tim Hudak now proposes. But after that, the issue gets a lot more complicated and fraught with uncertainty, said Nuri Jazairi, an economics professor at York University, in the Toronto Star Dec. 4. “There are a lot of risks involved,” he said. Read full story.

Call it ‘semi-longevity’
For years, the only option for a fixed-income annuity was the immediate annuity….Now, insurers have introduced annuities that start making fixed payouts in just five-to-10 years….But some experts, like Moshe Milevsky, an associate professor of finance at York University, say these annuities don’t guarantee enough income for later life. The payouts start earlier and tend to be smaller than those envisioned in the original longevity products, he says in the Mid Eastern & World News Syndication Dec. 4, and few policies offer automatic cost-of-living increases. Read full story.

Recipient – 2012 Access Equity and Human Rights Awards
On Wednesday, Dec. 5, the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto (NWRCT) will be presented with the 2012 City of Toronto Aboriginal Affairs Award, reported Yahoo! Canada Dec. 4…. As an organization run by Aboriginal women, for Aboriginal women, programming incorporates parenting and child-rearing programs, one of the city’s busiest housing programs, an advocacy program established to help members stand up for their civil rights, and a life skills and education program, which includes a bridging program with York University. Read full story.