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91��ɫ grad Paul Jones selected as play-by-play man for London Games

muellerm — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Former 91��ɫ men’s basketball player Paul Jones was hired by CTV Sports to help cover the basketball portion of the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in London, England.

Paul Jones

Jones, who played for 91��ɫ from 1977 to 1981 and is now well known as the voice of the National Basketball Association's Toronto Raptors on FAN 590 radio broadcasts in Toronto, will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the women’s basketball competition. He will be located in the Toronto studio alongside Chantal Vallee. Vallee is the head coach of the Windsor Lancers women’s basketball team, leading the squad to the gold medal at each of the last two Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships.

In his four years with the 91��ɫ Yeomen, Jones won three provincial titles and was awarded the Kitch McPherson Trophy as most valuable player of the Ontario championship game in 1981. A two-time Ontario University Athletics Association all-star (1980, 1981), he participated in the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union national championship tournament four times and won two bronze medals in 1978 and 1979. In 1983, he won a silver medal as a member of the team that represented Canada in the Commonwealth Basketball Tournament in New Zealand.

He graduated from 91��ɫ in 1980 with a bachelor of science degree in physical education.

At the Olympics, which begin on Friday, July 27, Team Canada’s women’s basketball squad will compete in Pool B along with Australia, Brazil, France, Great Britain and Russia and will play five round robin games before the medal round begins. The first game is scheduled for Saturday, July 28 at 6:15am Eastern Time against the Russians.

Pool B – Canadian Preliminary Schedule (all times ET)

Sat. July 28 vs. Russia @ 6:15am

Mon. July 30 vs. Great Britain @ 3pm

Wed. Aug. 1 vs. France @ 4am

Fri. Aug. 3 vs. Brazil @ 9:30am

Sun. Aug. 5 vs. Australia @ 9:30am

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

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Professor Stephanie Martin's canticle settings sung by University of Cambridge choir

fmaquito — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:00:00 +0000

With the rich monastic history of some of England’s universities, the tradition of choral evensong still thrives, creating a thirst for new settings for the canticles. As Canada is not steeped in the same rituals, few Canadians take this work on, making 91��ɫ music Professor Stephanie Martin the exception. She composed a new setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, evening canticles which were premiered last month by the Selwyn College Chapel Choir.

“For a choral composer, a premiere sung by a Cambridge Choir is like a dream,” says Martin, who has just returned from three weeks at the University of Cambridge immersed in the daily life as a Visiting Bye-Fellow. The 24-voice strong Selwyn College Chapel choir is comprised of male and female choral scholars and students, who performed the world premiere under the direction of Sarah MacDonald, the choir’s director of music.

Right: Stephanie Martin conducting

Martin had the Selwyn College Chapel Choir members in mind when she composed the new settings, as they perform a traditional version of evensong several times a week. “They are students, but functioning at a professional level. They rehearse and perform at least four days every week,” she says.

Monastic communities throughout the world still sing these prayer services called “offices” several times a day, but it is the service of evensong that has survived in common practice at Cambridge, and is now a big draw for tourists. Choirs like the famous King's College, Cambridge have been making recordings for decades. She calls the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis canticles “beautiful and inspired poetry” with the Magnificat being quite dramatic in places, and the Nunc Dimittis gentle and comforting.

Already, Martin has been contacted by choirs in Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto, who would like to perform her settings when they go on tour in England, and that, says Martin, “is pretty exciting.”They will be able to sing a Canadian composition. “It’s one thing to create a piece that is performed once, but quite another thing to compose a piece that has legs and will be sung for years.” She hopes this premiere in England will interest other choirs in her music.

Left: Selwyn College Chapel at the University of Cambridge

“The difficulty for modern composers with thousands of years of Western music behind them is to strike a balance between honouring tradition and saying things in a new way, while keeping the performers in mind,” she says. The desire always for composers is to express their own voice.

A recipient of the Lilian Forsythe Award for excellence in church music and the Leslie Bell Prize for choral conducting, Martin has had plenty of opportunities to express herself while on sabbatical this past year. She’s launched a new CD – , won the Association of Anglican Musicians competition for new choral music and has been accepted as an associate composer into the Canadian Music Centre, which keeps a library of some 600 composers of which Martin will now be one.

What has been really close to her heart, however, is the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young people with cancer. She was recently asked about having her Alleluia CD available as an online resource for young people coping with cancer in Northern Ontario, and, of course, she said yes. “I do this pretty self-indulgent thing. I just write music and perform. Sometimes I step back and wonder how I’m helping anyone,” she says. “So I think that this is just such an amazing thing. This is kind of special because it will actually help someone.”

As the director of music at the , she is also involved in fundraising for Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand, which lost its tower in the recent earthquake. A doctor from the Christchurch area, sang with the Gallery Choir at the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene during the recording of Martin’s Alleluia CD. The choir won in their category of the CBC amateur choir competition in 2008.

In addition, she is getting ready to launch another CD, this one with in Toronto, a 90-voice oratorio choir, which Martin has conducted since 1996. After putting out a call for submissions to their Great Canadian Hymn Contest, the Pax Christi Chorale picked one winner out of 75 submissions. The judges felt there were at least 10 more hymns deserving of wider dissemination and decided to have the choir perform the hymns for a CD that will be part of a book containing all 11 new hymns.

As if that weren’t enough, Martin will conduct the opera La Serva Padrona in Calgary in May, head to England for the Three Choirs Festival and be back in time to starting teaching once again in September.

To listen to a preview of Martin's Alleluia CD, visit the website.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

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

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Professor Ellen Bialystok's report on Alzheimer's and bilingualism makes world headlines

fmaquito — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Mastering a second language can pump up your brain in ways that seem to delay getting Alzheimer's disease later on, scientists said Friday, wrote The Associated Press and , in a story that was featured in reports by more than 300 newspapers, television stations and radio stations around the world:

The more proficient you become, the better, but "every little bit helps," said Ellen Bialystok, a psychology professor at 91��ɫ [Faculty of Health].

Much of the study of bilingualism has centered on babies, as scientists wondered why simply speaking to infants in two languages allows them to learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. Their brains seem to become more flexible, better able to multi-task. As they grow up, their brains show better "executive control," a system key to higher functioning – as Bialystok puts it, "the most important part of your mind."

Bialystok studied 450 Alzheimer's patients, all of whom showed the same degree of impairment at the time of diagnosis. Half are bilingual – they've spoken two languages regularly for most of their lives. The rest are monolingual.

The bilingual patients had Alzheimer's symptoms and were diagnosed between four and five years later than the patients who spoke only one language, she told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Being bilingual does nothing to prevent Alzheimer's disease from striking. But once the disease does begin its silent attack, those years of robust executive control provide a buffer so that symptoms don't become apparent as quickly, Bialystok said. "They've been able to cope with the disease," she said.

Her work supports an earlier study from other researchers that also found a protective effect.

But people don't have to master a new language to benefit some, Bialystok said. Exercising your brain throughout life contributes to what's called "cognitive reserve", the overall ability to withstand the declines of aging and disease. That's the basis of the use-it-or-lose-it advice from aging experts, who also recommend such things as crossword puzzles to keep your brain nimble. "If you start to learn at 40, 50, 60, you are certainly keeping your brain active," she said.

Newspapers and online news sites around the world reported on Bialystok’s lecture remarks, including media across Canada, the US, Australia, Bangladesh, China, England, Iran, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, South Africa, Scotland and Wales.

Bialystok’s study was also features in stories on radio and television stations around the world, including major networks in the US and Canada.

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

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Professor Rachel Koopmans examines medieval miracle recording

fmaquito — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

For more than a century, English monks bent over manuscripts scratching out by hand thousands of stories about miracles performed posthumously by saints, many in Canterbury cathedral. Often, all it took was a prayer to a saint or a visit to a saint's tomb for a miracle to take place, and if it was the late 11th or early 12th century, that miracle may well have been written down by a monk.

After all, who doesn't like a good miracle? As 91��ɫ history Professor Rachel Koopmans, author of the recently published , says, "miracle stories almost always have happy endings."

Although the medieval period did not have a monopoly on miracles – Koopmans says people today believe they continue to occur – there was a specific period of time in which medieval writers fervently recorded them in Latin. The most famous of these are the Thomas Becket miracles. This is what Koopmans calls a "fad" for miracle collecting that lasted about 150 years.

"I'm trying to tell…the story of this big burst," says Koopmans. To do so, she surveyed more than 75 collections, examining how they were generated, circulated and replicated. In the first two chapters of Wonderful to Relate, she looks at the oral circulation and tradition of these miracle stories and how their telling could generate further miracles, then turns to how this mania over recording miracles came about.

Left: Rachel Koopmans

Miracle preserving reached its peak just after the murder of Becket in Canterbury cathedral in 1170, following a disagreement with King Henry II. After King Henry II and his men left the area, the monks allowed pilgrims to visit Becket's tomb. "Afterward, people reported that they were healed by Becket's power, and soon floods of people were coming to Canterbury," says Koopmans. "In 1171, a year or so after Becket's death, monks started collecting these stories. They continued collecting for about five or six years."

Most of the Becket miracles were collected by only two monks – William of Canterbury and Benedict of Peterborough. "They certainly heard many more stories than they actually recorded. Reading the collections, you get a sense of an incredible mob scene and huge excitement in Canterbury cathedral in those years after Becket's murder."

There were tales of miracles involving blind people being able to see, pregnant women having difficulty giving birth but still delivering healthy infants, accidents in which people avoided death, insane people being cured and even animals, such as sick cows, being healed. Even King Henry eventually visited Becket's tomb, apologizing and recognizing him as a miracle-working saint.

"There is a period in which dozens of English monks wrote down thousands of miracle stories and then that impulse to record miracle stories mostly disappears," says Koopmans. "Why would 12th-century monks put in all that effort to record so many very personal and often very earthy stories of saintly intervention? That question inspired my book."

These miracles weren't preserved for the average person to read; they were never translated into Middle English or French. The oral tradition of circulation was what continued to be most influential and carried more propagandistic power among the pilgrims than anything written. But these miracle collections provide a rich look into the personal lives of pilgrims, how they lived and what they struggled with during that time.

By the early 13th century, the miracle recording had waned and the window that allowed this intimate glimpse into the lives of medieval pilgrims was closed. This was around the time that formalized canonization procedures began. In 1220, Becket was moved to a new shrine where he was surrounded by stained-glass miracle windows, depicting dozens the miracles he performed posthumously. It came at a time when the "enthusiasm for miracle collecting that had gripped English monks and canons since the late 11th century was evaporating," says Koopmans. But just because miracles ceased to be recorded, doesn't mean they didn't continue to happen.

Koopmans is already working on another book about the Becket miracle windows.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Professor James Carley launches landmark book on John Leland tomorrow at UK's Bodleian Library

fmaquito — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Described as a landmark in the history of medieval, Renaissance and Reformation scholarship, 91��ɫ English Professor ’s new book, John Leland: De uiris illustribus – On Famous Men, will launch at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.

Assisted by Caroline Brett, Carley has edited and translated Leland’s original work De uiris illustribus, a kind of proto-Dictionary of National Biography, and has provided a lengthy introduction showing the importance of Leland’s work in the history of the English Reformation. Including the introduction, text and translation, John Leland: De uiris illustribus – On Famous Men, is over 1,000 pages long.

It was 1533, just after the coronation of Anne Boleyn, when Leland, equipped with an official letter from King Henry VIII, began his examinations of the English monastic libraries. He discovered a multitude of rare manuscripts and otherwise unattested texts in those crucial years before the monasteries were dissolved and their treasures scattered to the four winds, says Carley.

Leland kept lists of what he saw and continued his bio-bibliographical work until his fall into insanity in 1547, a matter of months after the death of his beloved king. He worked consistently on his De uiris illustribus, but the work was never completed and the manuscript was left in a chaotic state. Although there was a partial edition in the 18th century, it does not accurately reflect the information Leland was trying to convey, says Carley.

In his new edition, co-published by the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the , Carley has unravelled all the layers and has presented the text as Leland would have wished it to be.

As Professor David Wallace of the University of Pennsylvania, himself an expert on Leland, has written: “Leland has found the editor he deserves.”

Richard Ovenden, keeper of special collections and associate director of the Bodleian Libraries, says, "The manuscript of the de viris illustribus is an important source text for our understanding about British literary culture in the middle ages, but is also a major example of Renaissance scholarship."

's papers were first studied seriously in the 17th century and their survival in the Bodleian has allowed generations of scholars to consider his role in the preservation of information about Britain's medieval past. "James Carley’s edition and translation makes this important text available for modern scholars through a work of great erudition and meticulous research. The Bodleian has been delighted to work with him and with the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in what we hope will be the first of many fruitful collaborations," says Ovenden.

“Leland’s book lists were compiled as the primary resources for the comprehensive dictionary of British writers in four books, De uiris illustribus,” says Carley. “This remarkable testament to medieval and early modern habits of book collecting, but also to history and national identity, lay incomplete at Leland’s death. My study shows just how richly illuminating the manuscript is, how complex its formation, and how significant the deletions and gaps. Leland was a survivor and knew how to manipulate his information to reflect the king’s evolving religious policies.”

Left: James Carley

A Distinguished Research Professor, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Associate Fellow of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Carley is a specialist in Old and Middle English, the history of manuscripts, bibliography and the early Tudor period. He is considered the foremost authority on the libraries of King Henry VIII.

Carley’s previous works include: King Henry VIII’s Prayer Book: Facsimile and Commentary (2009), (2004), (2000), (1988; revised ed. 1996) and (1985). He is co-editor of " (2000), (1997) and (1993).

The launch will take place Wednesday, Sept. 29, from 5:30 to 7pm, at the Divinity School, Old Schools Quadrangle, Bodleian Library, Oxford, hosted by the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the Bodleian Libraries.

Author of A History of Christianity, , professor of the history of the church at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy, will speak at the reception. An accompanying exhibition, Armed with the King’s letter: John Leland and the Monastic Libraries of England, will run until Oct. 9 in the Bodleian Library Proscholium.

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

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91��ɫ professor leads Ghanaian conference on good governance, developing better global model

fmaquito — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Good governance can have a positive effect on development – helping countries to create the necessary conditions for the proper functioning of markets, private enterprises, institutions and civil society. Many think-tanks, academics and international development and donor agencies, including the World Bank, devote substantial attention to good governance and its indicators.

As 91��ɫ Professor Joseph Mensah notes, however, there is a growing concern that the bulk of data on which the prevailing indicators of good governance is based derives almost exclusively from the perspectives of experts in the global North with little or no input from stakeholders in the South. In an effort to rectify this issue, the (ComSec) in London, England, invited Mensah to help organize a two-day workshop in Accra, Ghana, to gather Ghanaians' views on, and perceptions of, good governance. The workshop was held Jan. 18 and 19 with the hopes of extending the exercise to other commonwealth nations in the future.

Left: Joseph Mensah

Mensah was invited to help facilitate the workshop due in part to his role in a project led by the that aimed to discern which health programs in the developing world are effective enough to be replicated in other communities (see YFile, April 10, 2007). Last July, all of the African researchers who were part of the global project came together in Accra for a workshop Mensah led on disseminating their research findings. The publicity surrounding the workshop, and Mensah’s role in leading it, caught the attention of ComSec; they were eager to draw on Mensah’s expertise.

African countries seem to exhibit the greatest need for good governance, notes Mensah. Though a workshop on this topic could very well be conducted in any African country, Ghana was selected as the location primarily in recognition of its recent successes in democratic governance. It is also home to the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration, which has a Graduate School of Governance, Leadership & Public Management well known for training many top-level managers and public servants in the West African sub-region.

To facilitate a comparative analysis among the commonwealth countries, ComSec narrowed its principles of good governance to five – accountability, transparency, predictability, capacity and participation. The goal of the workshop was to determine what sorts of indicators influence these principles and how these principles apply to commonwealth countries. A significant portion of the workshop focused on determining which of the five principles the country is lacking and which of the five are represented. Notable Ghanaian members of parliament (MPs) and ministers, including the Ghana minister of foreign affairs, as well as business leaders, civil society organizations and academics all took part in the discussions.

Right: Workshop participants

“Right away, it became clear to me that the five principles emanated from the global North and they box other countries into a particular conceptualization of good governance that may not always be appropriate or applicable to their own national context,” says Mensah, who co-led the workshop with Roger Koranteng, a governance adviser for ComSec.

Some of the questions explored by workshop participants included: What is the relationship between good governance and development? Is the relationship between the two one-way or recursive? Which indicators help create the principles of good governance identified by ComSec? Of the five principles, which ones do Ghanaians find more important? What principles would Ghanaians subtract or add to the five, based on their own national context?

“The workshop was a resounding success and received significant national press,” notes Mensah. “Some of the Ghanaian government officials and MPs who participated over the two days plan to conduct similar workshops across the country to help educate citizens about the need for good governance and institutional efficiency.”

Mensah is now tasked with producing a report for ComSec on how Ghanaians perceive good governance, based on the deliberations of the workshop. He will also conduct an intensive review of literature on the subject and offer context and a rationale for the selection and use of specific indicators and principles in Ghana.

“When you try to pin down what good governance means and determine its indicators, its illusory character becomes clear,” says Mensah. “The observation ‘Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts’ – attributed to Einstein – perhaps sums it best.”

Mensah, who teaches in 91��ɫ's in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and is coordinator of the International Development Studies Program, is busy with a number of other projects. In February, a second edition of his book (Fernwood Publishing 2010) will be released. He has also been invited by the , part of the World Health Organization, to compete for funding on universal health financing. As part of the invitation, he will participate in a workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, in March.

Recently, Mensah was nominated for the LA&PS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

For more information on the good governance workshop in Accra or Mensah’s research, e-mail jmensah@yorku.ca.

By Kristin Taylor, communications coordinator, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

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

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