This column welcomes the submissions of all Concordia faculty and staff to promote and encourage individual and group activities in teaching and research, and to encourage work-related achievements.

In a Maclean’s article on March 31 explaining Quebecers’ opposition to the war in Iraq, Stéphane Paquin (Political Science) was quoted on his students’ awareness and involvement in international politics. “My students are mostly foreigners or immigrants, but they all speak French and English, and are perfectly in sync with those at the other universities on foreign policy issues,” Paquin said.

The Concordia Centre for Advanced Vehicle Engineering (CONCAVE) was the subject of a feature article in Le Devoir of April 12. The centre, which is part of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, improved the low-floor bus model introduced by the MUCTC in 1994. According to CONCAVE’s director, Ion Stiharu, they also created an index to measure the intensity of vibration the human body can handle without being harmed.

Political scientist Daniel Salée (SCPA) was a guest on Radio Canada’s La Tribune du Québec show. He discussed the proposed amendments to the Indian Act minutes before indigenous leaders protested on Parliament Hill on April 28.

Marc Gervais, S.J., a long-time film studies professor, was quoted in a Gazette article on Good Friday about how the Easter weekend has lost its religious significance. He said that like Italy, Quebec has relinquished much of its Catholic character. However, the transformation has been a “purifying process” in that when traditions and expressions of devotion fade, the essence may remain.

Jordan Le Bel (Marketing) made the media rounds on May 6 on the occasion of the opening of the Krispy Kreme doughnut chain in Quebec. He was also quoted in an article called “McCrise” in La Presse of April 14, in which he stated that McDonald’s cannot shed its status as a junk food haven despite the introduction of healthier foods to its menu.

Journalism and communications student Xania Keane appeared in The Gazette’s fashion pages sporting military fashions with her mother, peace activist Maria Keane-Lara, on April 22. Keane commented on the contradiction in sewing peace symbols onto her army pants, which has become a paradoxical fashion statement among opponents to the war in Iraq.

Gary Johns (Management) was quoted about attitudes towards SARS in the workplace in the National Post. Johns said that while employees were once considered suspect and subtly reproached for taking sick days, the contagiousness of SARS has made staying at home appear considerate and valorous.

Michel Magnan (Accountancy) was quoted twice in the March 29 edition of Les Affaires. In response to a recent survey claiming that two-thirds of Quebecers support the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Magnan said that the results could not be fully accurate as definitions of its mandate vary. In an article entitled “Exit les options, place aux actions restreintes,” Magnan noted that the relative popularity of restricted stock awards, a form of compensation in which employees receive shares that they cannot sell until some conditions are met or retirement, will increase when companies begin expensing regular stock option grants in 2004.

André Gagnon, co-ordinator of Career and Placement Services (CAPS), was a guest on CBC’s Daybreak on May 9, talking about the volatile job market. While aerospace engineers may be experiencing a dip in demand, civil engineers are enjoying a resurgence of popularity.

Harold Chorney (Political Science) participated in a panel discussion on the demerger of Montreal on Global TV’s First News show on May 6. Chorney has been a municipal candidate.