Elections, retirement
Document Tools
Elections fuel political violence in Kenya
By-election fever in Canada
The end of retirement age
American party faithful pick presidential favourites
The results are in from the first contest of the November 2008 United
States presidential election — a tight caucus vote in Iowa. Michael Fellman,
an SFU expert on American history and politics, can comment on Illinois
Senator Barack Obama’s win of the tough three-way Democratic battle. He
can also talk about former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee’s
come-from-behind win of the Republican vote and where the race for the
presidential seat goes from here.
Michael Fellman, 250.629.2218 on Pender Island (as of early evening of Jan. 4), fellman@sfu.ca
Elections fuel political violence in Kenya
A controversial presidential vote in Kenya, which has resulted in the
re-election of President Mwai Kibaki for another term and the defeat of
most of his cabinet, is fueling violence in the African country. Heribert Adam,
an SFU emeritus professor of sociology, who has written extensively
about South Africa’s turbulent politics, is available to comment. Felicitas Becker,
an expert on African comparative history, can talk about why “it is
misleading to depict Kenya as a hitherto stable country pitched into a
sudden crisis, and to describe the current clashes as tribal.”
Heribert Adam, 778.782.3720, 250-629-6229 or 604-228-8369 (h), adam@sfu.ca
Felicitas Becker, 0049.8144.7747 in Germany (until Jan. 13), 778.893.3740 (as of Jan. 13), fbecker@sfu.ca
By-election fever in Canada
By-election fever will likely be more prevalent than cabin fever when
spring approaches in Canada. On March 17 there will be four
by-elections in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Veteran
national political analyst Patrick Smith
can talk about why so many parliamentary seats are up for grabs
prematurely in Vancouver Quadra, Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River,
Toronto Centre and Willowdale.
Patrick Smith, 604.291.1544, 778.782.3088, patrick_smith@sfu.ca
The end of retirement age
Mandatory retirement has been retired in BC and that raises several
questions including how to get rid of aging staffers who have passed
their best-before dates, and whether continuing to work just because
you can is good for your physical and mental health.
SFU psychologist Ginger Grant studies
corporate storytelling and says aging employees can be a real asset to
corporations--"They carry the values and traditions of an organization
into the future"--but she advocates regular performance-based reviews
to determine when it's really time to go.
Likewise, sociologist and gerontologist Barbara Mitchell is
in favour of the change. She says forcing older employees out of the
workforce does "a disservice to our economy and to the
health/well-being of our seniors, as well as to younger generations who
can learn a lot from their wisdom and accumulated years of skill
development."
Ginger Grant, 778.782.7446, ggrant@sfu.ca
Barbara Mitchell, 778.782.5234, mitchelo@sfu.ca