in-the-news

SFU People in the News

February 03, 2012
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This report on Simon Fraser University in the news lists the main items of known media coverage from 9 a.m. Pacific Thursday February 2 to 9 a.m. Pacific Friday February 3.
The report is compiled and distributed by SFU Public Affairs & Media Relations.

Teachers | Hacking | Pink Products | Environment | Students | Economy | Politics | Athletics

TEACHERS

  • Kris Magnusson, dean of SFU Education, was on the Bill Good show on CKNW as Good explored Education Minister George Abbott’s statements that BC is graduating too many teachers, and that he wants to talk to the deans of education about it.
    Magnusson: “I look at the numbers slightly different than how he’s presented them.  . . . We look like over the next 10 years that we’ll be in a kind of a balanced state as  . . . we forecast the number of retirements that are expected, changes in demographics, etc. We’re pretty much on target. . . .
    “If we look at it a little bit more broadly, in Canada over-all in the next five years the projections from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada would suggest that we’re going to have about 153,000 job openings and there will be about 147,000 qualified (job) seekers. So again that’s pretty much a situation that’s in balance.’
    Magnusson agreed that local supply and demand for teachers has been “a little out of whack” for the last three years or so, but added:
    “The global shortage of teachers is estimated to be close to eight million within the next five years, and as a university we prepare for a much broader opportunity spectrum than just a localized market such as the Lower Mainland.”
    Good: “Do we make the youngsters going into university well aware of the fact that they may be going to England or Australia to teach, rather than North Vancouver or Richmond?”
    Magnusson: “We certainly do that within our programs. . . . We do definitely make people aware that there is a tight local labour market and the further afield one’s prepared to go from, specifically, the Lower Mainland, the better the chances get. So there are jobs available in rural communities, in the North, in other parts of Canada.
    “And if we broaden our perspective to an international context, BC really prepares amongst the best-trained teachers you’ll find in the world . . . and that puts us in an incredibly strong position to meet this international demand.”

HACKING

  • CBC News quoted SFU’s André Gerolymatos, historian and international security expert, in a story on how hackers in Europe found and made public the names of 74 Canadians (and others) linked to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.
    “Police and government security organizations should be able to make use of the hacked information, according to Simon Fraser University professor Andre Gerolymatos, who has written extensively on espionage.
    “‘Any information is good information,’ said Gerolymatos. ‘Something that comes like this is sort of a small bonanza. And at the very least it can verify information that [authorities] already have.’”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/ABRRlv

PINK PRODUCTS

  • Lindsay Meredith of SFU’s Beedie School of Business was in a CTV story that said there are thousands of “pink products” that support the fight against breast cancer—but not all pink products are legitimate.
    “Simon Fraser University marketing professor Lindsay Meredith says that emotional connection translates into big sales for companies who align themselves with the cause.
    "‘It works well because everyone's had a mom or a sister. A lot of those moms or sisters have suffered, and you got that combination—you're onto something live, let me tell you,’ he said.”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/oBRBGr

ENVIRONMENT

  • Burnaby Now told readers: “For years, local streamkeepers have been raising concerns about salt leaching into Stoney Creek from SFU's salt shed, but the latest information from an environmental consulting company shows the old shed site is not the culprit.
    “SFU's salt shed used to be on the south side of Burnaby Mountain, near the headwaters of Stoney Creek. The salt is used to clear snowy roads in winter, and runoff from the old storage area was thought to be leaching into Stoney Creek. The university was prompted to move the shed because salt levels were high enough to be lethal to aquatic life in some areas.
    "‘What (EBA Engineering Consultants) found through their fairly detailed work is that water that's actually flowing through and around the land where the salt is entrained under the old salt shed site doesn't go into Stoney Creek, it runs over to Silver Creek,’ said Lee Gavel, chief facilities officer at SFU.”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/kBNVBO

STUDENTS

  • News1130 Radio featured a student video that has gone viral on YouTube.
    “You've probably heard of ‘S#*t Girls Say’ or its legion of imitators; now we've got ‘S#*t SFU Says.’ It's the latest installment in the viral video phenomenon.
    “Julian Fok directed the 1:47 piece which hit 50,000 views on YouTube in just four days.
    “‘I'm a little surprised we hit it before the six-day mark or so it's great! [There's] so much support from friends and even internationally; it's been tweeted all around,’ he boasts.”
    Full story (with the video): http://at.sfu.ca/vbUnEv
  • Burnaby Now talked with Jason Carreiro, PhD student in SFU Education and host of a Feb. 8 SFU Philosopher's Café discussion on whether religion should be taught in schools.
    “I think there are more things to the human experience than strictly scientific discourses can handle, and that's why not only religion, but literature, philosophy, gender and race studies, multicultural education, music and the arts in general need more funding and a stronger presence in our society.”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/wnhaMf
    Info on the Philosopher's Café event: http://at.sfu.ca/PtvaYm
  • The California-based website of Countercurrents.org carried a column from SFU student Jahanzeb Hussain defending Iran.
    “Iran doesn’t deserve to be treated in this manner by the US, and it doesn’t deserve to be demonized in the media either. The country has not caused any problems to its neighbors or to the West. The last time Iran invaded another country was 200 years ago.
    “By contrast, the United States has invaded, bombed, and dominated one country after another, not to mention that it used nuclear weapons twice on civilian population.”
    Full column: http://at.sfu.ca/PAHnsv

ECONOMY

  • China’s official Xinhua News Agency quoted SFU’s Richard Harris in a story about a TD Economics report saying Canadian dependence on the American economy is set to diminish over the next decade.
    “Richard Harris, economics professor from Simon Fraser University, said Canada's diminishing reliance on the Unites States is a result of slowing American growth as well as the rising demand for commodities in other countries.
    “‘This commodity boom that's based on the Chinese expansion is certainly predicted by most people to continue, which means a high (currency) exchange rate for Canada,’" he said.”
    Full story not yet online.

POLITICS

  • The Calgary Herald quoted Herb Grubel, prof emeritus of SFU Economics, as saying transition allowances paid to departing Alberta MLAs are ‘excessively generous’.
    Grubel told a public hearing in Calgary that Alberta MLAs’ salaries and tax-free allowances put their yearly income in the middle of the pack among the provinces. But he said the transition allowance is three times what’s paid in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
    “‘It is important to have some resources available for people to feed their families while they’re looking for a new job,’ Grubel said. But speaking to reporters following his presentation, he characterized Alberta’s transition allowances as ‘excessively generous.’”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/vJcfkw

ATHLETICS

Men’s basketball

  • Playing in Lacey WA, Justin Brown’s three-pointer with time expiring gave the Clan men’s basketball team an 88-85 win over the St. Martin’s University Saints Thursday night.
    Brown scored 22 of his game-high 35 points in the second half.  He also had four assists and three steals, while sinking 10 of 11 free throws. Jordan Sergent added 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
    The win improved SFU’s record to 7-12 on the season, 2-9 in the NCAA’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).
    The Clan now plays the Western Oregon University Wolves in Monmouth OR on Saturday.
    Clan news release: http://at.sfu.ca/gehjaS
    The Olympian (Olympia WA): http://at.sfu.ca/SSBjyt

Women’s basketball

  • After losing to the Saint Martin’s Saints in Washington a month ago, the Clan women’s basketball team recovered with a 79-48 victory Thursday night at SFU Burnaby.
    Clan centre Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe had a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Chelsea Reist nailed 18 points, including sinking her first six shots from the field.
    The Province reported: “‘Before the game we talked about it, how we needed to come back and win, and for everyone to believe in us again,’ Reist, the Mission Secondary grad said in reference to not only last Saturday’s 70-61 loss at home to Western Washington, but to a 64-57 loss at St. Martin’s Lacey, Wash., campus in early January. ‘We had a huge sour taste in our mouths.’”
    The Clan’s record moved to 12-7 overall and 7-4 in the GNAC.
    The women now take on the Western Oregon University Wolves on Saturday, 2 p.m., West Gym, SFU Burnaby.
    The Province: http://at.sfu.ca/MmzsmO
    Clan news release: http://at.sfu.ca/YhuoKb

Also in sports

  • Burnaby Now reported that the season record of the SFU men’s hockey club went to 13-0-4 after a 3-3 tie with Okanagan College in a B.C. Intercollegiate hockey league matchup in Burnaby. The club's next game is tonight against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack in Kamloops.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/yVSSlQ
  • The Hamilton (ON) Spectator said ex-Clan soccer player Josh Bennett has been granted a two-week trial with the San Jose Earthquakes of the Major Soccer League. “The speedy Bennett, who was able to attend Simon Fraser thanks, in part, to the David Smith Memorial Scholarship he received, hopes to crack the Earthquakes lineup. He said: ‘This is a great opportunity for me.’"
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/qfHcaM
  • The Brandon University Bobcats have hired former SFU Clan star Novell Thomas as the women's basketball team's new head coach, the Brandon (MB) Sun reported. “Thomas is a former member of the Canadian men's national basketball team, a former professional player and a graduate of Simon Fraser University, where he still holds school records for career assists and most assists in a single season.”
    Full story not yet online.
  • The Langley Times ran a story on the appointment of Tyson St. James, former defensive line assistant coach with the SFU Clan, as head coach of the Chilliwack Huskers of the B.C. Junior Football Conference. “In 2000, St. James was the top overall pick in the Canadian Football League draft, selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He played there as a defensive end from 2000 to 2002 and then spent two seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/tWUfpf

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