Despite the devastation of her injury, the experiences and people she has encountered since that fateful night have taught her the importance and richness of giving back to the community. It is a life lesson reinforced by friends such as the late author and activist June Caldwood and 91ŃÇɫ’s Chancellor Roy McMurtry.

Now an accomplished author, Toronto Star life writer, internationally recognized advocate for those living with disabilities and creator of the Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research, she was on the 91ŃÇÉ« convocation stage, accompanied by her special skills dog, Bella,  to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University.

“You have chosen health care, and there is no area more important than that in our society. In a significant way, it defines Canada, and how each of you deals with people under your care will define you as a person,” Turnbull told graduating students of the Faculty of Health during Friday's ceremony.

“As you commence upon the momentous part of your life, I would like you to consider what kind of legacy you are going to craft for yourself,” she said. “I have come to firmly believe that one of the great secrets of a satisfying life is actively working to better your community. It is a truism that your impact will be as big or as small as you want it to be.”

Learning the power of kindness, taking a moment to fill out an organ donor card, volunteering and excelling in one's profession are all important ways to better society, said Turnbull.  "In the nearly 30 years since, I have relied on untold health-care practitioners for the longstanding effects that go with paralysis, and some unexpected medical situations that have sorely tested our good doctors, nurses, health-care professionals and more. I could not carry on my life as I do without some of the people who are exactly where some of you are today, graduates of health studies."

She closed her speech by quoting the American poet Maya Angelou, "I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will not forget how you made them feel."

"As graduates of 91ŃÇÉ«'s Faculty of Health, go forth and treat your fellow citizens with respect, dignity and kindness," she said. "Recognize your blessings and give back."

91ŃÇÉ«'s Spring Convocation ceremonies are streamed live and then archived online. To view Turnbull's convocation address, visit the Convocation website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Bond’s biting and witty play strips away the genteel veneer of life in 18th-century England to expose the brutal truth beneath. The plot centres on a guileless servant named Bob and his devotion to his cynical and irresponsible master, Lord Are. Bob’s unquestioning acceptance of traditional social strata and aristocratic privilege has a tragic outcome, as he loses everything to a class struggle of which he had no idea he was part. Throughout the play, the characters must work to realize what freedom means, and what it takes to become free.

Edward Bond. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons

When it premiered in 1981, Britain was in the midst of social and political turmoil. Rising unemployment, racial tensions and an increasing backlash to Thatcherism led to protests and riots across the nation. In this climate of unrest, a play warning against blindly complying with the demands of the ruling class was a daring slap in the face of the powers that be.

Today, similar warnings appear on the placards of Occupy demonstrations that have been cropping up across the globe, the show’s student assistant directors point out. “Restoration is a call to arms for the everyman, and a reminder that authority only exists as long as we accept its power.”

Storch has worked across Canada as a director, actor and educator. Some of his recent directorial credits include Metamorphoses (Globe Theatre), Glengarry Glen Ross (Soulpepper), The Palace of the End, A Number, Sunday Father, Twelfth Night, and Misery (Canadian Stage).

Music director for the show is undergraduate student Samuel Sholdice, who studies composition and classical performance in 91ŃÇɫ’s Department of Music. He composed original scores set to the lyrical texts found throughout Bond’s script. In keeping with the theme of class politics, Sholdice wrote his music to be played on found instruments with interesting stories: a banjo from a dumpster, a toy keyboard, a battered 45-year-old electric guitar. His previous composition credits for Theatre @ 91ŃÇÉ« include Marat/Sade and Ti Jean and his Brothers.

David Storch

Storch directs a lively young cast drawn from the Undergraduate Acting Conservatory in 91ŃÇɫ’s Department of Theatre. A creative team of undergraduate students is handling all aspects of the production design and execution for the production, which is being staged in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre on the Keele campus.

Tickets are $17, or $12 for students and seniors, and $5 for previews. For tickets, contact the Box Office at 416-736-5888.  The play runs to March 24 at 7:30pm nightly, plus matinees March 21 and 23 at 1pm.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The conference, to be held Oct. 29 to 31 at 91ŃÇÉ«, will have a dual theme: to investigate the global financial crisis and to use the crisis to probe alternative theoretical frameworks in political economy.

Recent events have given political economists plenty to talk about: the bursting of the real estate “bubble”, the bailout of Wall Street, the collapse of global exports and more. Not only were most theorists unable to foresee the crisis and adequately explain its particularities and implications, they continue to employ concepts and categories that have long-since been challenged.

The conference organizers believe there is great need for new ideas, concepts and analyses, and welcome both panels and individual papers. Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to casp.york@gmail.com by June 30.

Visit the for further information.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Why does this inaction surprise and shock us? After all, it happens to about 10 per cent of children every day at school. About 30 per cent of students are involved as witnesses or as fellow aggressors. Peers, teachers and other adults rarely intervene to help a child who is being victimized – they either fail to recognize the problem or they turn a blind eye.

For Yusuf Hizel, the poor man on the subway, this was a terrible, random act. For children who are bullied at school, it is sanctioned violence. They know who is going to bully them, when it is going to happen and where it is going to happen. They experience the equivalent of a mugging every day.

Bullying is a significant social problem. More than 1,100,000 school-aged Canadian children are victimized by bullying at least once a week, and more than 550,000 school-aged children report bullying others at least once a week. Bullying isn’t a normal or expected part of childhood. It is a hurtful and aggressive act with lasting consequences.

Being bullied can lead to physical and mental health problems – and in extreme cases, suicide. At its core, bullying is a relationship problem. It is about an imbalance of power with repeated aggression, with harm as its intent. It takes many forms – social, verbal, physical, cyber. This is not a rite of passage.

Pepler's research has changed the way we think about bullying, aggression and other forms of violence, especially among marginalized and alienated young people. She has has edited four volumes in the past four years on understanding and addressing children’s aggression, bullying, and victimization. Pepler is a member of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution and , a Web site that provides bullying resources for children, educators and parents.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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