The following appeared in the Thursday, August 19, 2010 edition of Y-File:
Environmental studies Professor Gerda Wekerle holds a wicker basket brimming with dark purple elderberries she hopes to turn into elderberry wine.

More than a potential vintage, the elderberries are also the first fruits of a tiny eco-restoration project underway at York University. Started informally by the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) some four years ago, the project – a native garden – is situated in front of the Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies (HNES) Building on the Keele campus.

Right: Gerda Wekerle with her harvest of elderberries

Wekerle and avid gardener Tim Haagsma, who is also the manager of grounds, fleets & waste management at York, are working with FES graduate and undergraduate students to fill the garden with plants that are native to Canada.

The following appeared in the Monday, August 16, 2010 edition of Y-File:
A new Good Food Market serving the York University and Black Creek communities opens Thursday, Aug. 19 at the Shoreham Public School, 31 Shoreham Dr. in North York.

The market, which runs 4 to 7pm every Thursday, will offer plenty of fresh, affordable and healthy food for sale. There will also be local vendors, artists and activities for children.

“Food for sale at the market is purchased from farmers through FoodShare, a non-profit food security organization in Toronto,” says Sue Levesque, executive director of the York University-TD Community Engagment Centre, one of the organizers of the market. “The food is from local sources whenever possible. FoodShare is providing logistical support and guidance until the project is completely locally sustainable.”

Proceeds from fresh food sales are used to purchase the next week’s food. It is a non-profit venture. Local vendors will also be on site and will keep their own proceeds.

Call for Papers

Praxis of Resistance: Communities of Inclusion and Exclusion

The Fourth Annual Conference of the Toronto Group for the Study of
International, Transnational, and Comparative Law

January 2011

The Toronto Group

The Toronto Group for the Study of International, Transnational, and Comparative Law is pleased to announce its fourth annual graduate student conference. The principal aim of the Toronto Group’s annual conference is to facilitate collaborative discussion among graduate students and junior faculty members engaged in critical and transformative inquiries into law and legal scholarship in international contexts.

Past conferences have focused on testing the boundaries between international, transnational and comparative law, on exploring the relationship between law and international political and economic structures, and on developing critical historicized reflections on international law and legal scholarship.

2011 Keynote Speakers: Nathaniel Berman & Balakrishnan Rajagopal
Conference Dates: January 28-29, 2011

2011 Conference Theme:

This year’s conference will take the concept of global “social movements” as its starting point.

The following appeared in the Wednesday, August 04, 2010 edition of Y-File:
Ever wonder what species of exotic trees and flowers are hidden in the wooded ravine and riverbank of York’s Glendon campus? This Sunday, rain or shine, get an up-close-and-personal look at some of the hidden gems when members of the Toronto Field Naturalists (TFN) lead a free walking tour of the campus.

Stick around long enough and you could also have tea with Lorna Marsden, York president emerita, in her Glendon office – one of the historic principal rooms in the Glendon Hall manor.

The tour will begin at the TTC bus stop at the southeast corner of Bayview and Lawrence avenues at 2pm on Sunday, Aug. 8. It is expected to last two hours.

Right: The ravine on the Glendon campus

York alumnus and historian John Court (BA ’63) and Nancy Dengler, a Toronto botanist, University of Toronto professor emerita and member of the TFN’s board of directors, will take participants on a tour through Glendon’s natural and human history.

The following appeared in the Thursday, July 15, 2010 edition of Y-File:
York University Transportation Services teamed up with Smart Commute – North Toronto, Vaughan last month to promote Pollution Probe’s Clean Air Commute campaign and the results are in. York University Clean Air Commuters prevented 8,157,569 grams or just over eight tonnes of pollutants from entering the atmosphere.

In all, 237 York students, staff and faculty took part to make sure the week was a hit. Anita Milne, circulation coordinator in Glendon’s Leslie Frost Library, was this year’s winner of the Raleigh bicycle.

Participants got involved by trying an alternative method of commuting to campus for one week, June 14 to 18. People walked, biked, took transit, carpooled or tuned up their vehicles.

At York, the number of people participating in this year’s Clean Air Commute was significantly more than the 130 people who took part in the 2009 challenge.