Names in the News

Linda Kay (Journalism) was part of a panel discussion on Global television’s evening news back in May about whether the popular Quebec City radio station CHOI-FM should go off the air. The interview was done by one of her former students in the graduate diploma program, Tanya Churchmuch, who is now the anchor of the Sunday newscast. Earlier that month, Kay was quoted by Kirk Makin in the Globe and Mail about the release of convicted sex murderer Karla Homolka.

PRéco, the cost-saving device developed by Martin Racine (Design/ Computation Art) and his collaborator from the Université de Montréal, Phillipe Lalande, was featured on The Daily Planet, on the Discovery Channel, in June. PRéco, short for prototypage rapide, can copy almost any appliance to provide a prototype for a replacement part.

Both The Gazette and Hour featured stories in June about Nick Galbraith, a recent political science and business graduate and — a gum-removal expert. Galbraith and his business partner developed a non-toxic formula to remove tenacious gum stains from the streets or inside buildings. Galbraith’s first contract was with Concordia. He eliminated about 30,000 dark marks from the escalators in the Hall Building and from the sidewalks between school edifices.

Arvind Jain (Economics) was interviewed by CBC Newsworld about debt relief for poor countries apropos of the G8 summit held in Scotland in July. “I pointed out that debt relief by itself may not help, and may in fact do harm in some exceptional cases. Aid, debt relief and other types of help cannot work unless the receiving countries have governance mechanisms in place that allow economic progress to take place.”

Axel Huelsemeyer (Political Science) was part of a panel discussion on Global TV about the G8. He said their deflection to the threat of terrorism “suited the U.S. president, since he was the one stalling progress on aid and the environment.” Asked what role the Live 8 concerts had, he said none whatever. “The decisions were very modest. The U.S. stressed that its commitment in the aid package is a reiteration of existing commitments, i.e., it pledged no new funds.”

Heather Markgraf, an alumna and former staff member in the Theatre Department, directed a production this summer of Sexy Laundry, by Michele Riml, at the Village Theatre in Hudson, which she founded. It was given a rave review in The Gazette by Gaetan Charlebois.

Perwaiz Hayat, a teacher of Islam in the Religion Department, was interviewed on July 13 on CBC Radio Noon about the role of religion in the recent London bombings. He said that the perpetrators apparently subscribed to their own version of Islam.

Steven Appelbaum (Marketing) was quoted in an article in The Gazette about the fact that many baby boomers intend to continue worked past 65. He said, “Freedom 55 was a joke.” People are planning for new careers, or simply to continue doing what they enjoy, as he will.

In 1999, three Concordia graduates, Ricardo Poupada, Chris Rovny and Luis Rodrigues, created AskMen.com, an online magazine destined to answer any lifestyle question men might have. The site achieved success, with almost four million visitors last March; profits have soared to more than $3 million. In an interview for Les Affaires in June, Ricardo Poupada is optimistic that the site can do better. He and his team are also planning to create other similar online publications.

Actress Anne Bancroft’s death on June 7 reminded audiences of one of her most memorable roles – that of Mrs. Robinson in the 1967 film The Graduate. The character became a symbol of women using their sexual power to attract much younger lovers, said a story in La Presse. Lillian Robinson, director of Simone de Beauvoir Institute, was quoted as saying that despite the sexual revolution of the ’60s, Mrs. Robinson’s image was not at all sympathetic at the time. Today, although not fully accepted, older women’s seduction of younger men is better received.

Thomas O’Connell (Management) is quoted in Les Affaires on June 18 on the lack of financing available to First Nation entrepreneurs. Too often, the funding goes to the consultants who evaluate the proposals. They give negative evaluations to First Nations projects, not wanting them to compete with their own ventures.

A recent study publicized in the beginning of July indicated that men prefer women with small feet. A number of newspapers across the country, including Ottawa Citizen and Edmonton Journal, featured Gad Saad (Marketing) who commented on this news and on the evolution of cultural practices. “Some cultural practices don’t simply arise from a mysterious place. They seem to be an adaptive response to an ancestral problem. Fashion trends today, cosmetic lines, all exist to accentuate evolved preferences.”