Greenery on Guy

The University has signed an agreement with the City of Montreal permitting the southwest corner of Guy St. and de Maisonneuve Blvd. to be used as a park.

The vacant lot was bought by Concordia last November, and there are hopes of building much-needed new Faculty facilities on the lot.

The city will spend $75,000 to create a pleasant green space opposite the busy métro station that will be available to both the Concordia community and the general public.

Rector's Cabinet

The consolidation of the Rector's Cabinet on the downtown campus will be complete by the end of June, when Vice-Rector Services Charles Emond and his staff move to Bishop Court to join the offices of the Rector, the Provost and other Vice-Rectors.

Garry Milton, formerly Executive Assistant to the Rector, has been named Executive Director of the Rector's Cabinet.

Marie-Andrée Robitaille-Brodie has been appointed Executive Assistant to the Rector, and will continue to act as Director of Government Relations and External Affairs. She can be reached at 848-4811, Room BC-210.

Heather Patenaude, appointed last year as Coordinator, University Protocol and Special Events, has been relocated in BC-209. She can be reached at 848-4883.

EMBA scholarships

The Faculty of Commerce and Administration approved two partial scholarships for qualified Concordia staff members to pursue an Executive Master in Business Administration (EMBA) degree. A priority for at least one of the positions would be given to staff from Commerce and Administration.

The EMBA is a privatized program that costs $34,000 and is designed so that participants gain business knowledge and acquire new skills without interrupting their careers. Classes are held on alternate Fridays and Saturdays for four semesters.

The sponsoring unit at Concordia will have to cover some costs of the program, such as meals, textbooks, a laptop computer and an international study trip. These scholarships are available for the upcoming fall session. For criteria and more information, contact Professor Bakr Ibrahim at 848-2701.

Mannadiar, Gervais win teaching awards

Congratulations to lecturers Jay Mannadiar (Finance) and Robert Gervais (Management), who will be presented with Distinguished Teaching Awards tomorrow at the Faculty of Commerce and Administration's convocation ceremony at Place des Arts.

Corrections

CTR, May 28:

Retiring English lecturer Jadwiga Krupski would like to point out that her PhD was from McGill University, not Concordia.

Southeast University, with which Concordia has an academic link, is not in Xiamen, but Nanjing.

Researchers Marcus Lawrence and Susan Mikkelsen (Names in the News) are (or were, in Professor Mikkelsen's case), members of the Chemistry, not the Biology Department.

We realize that we misspelled the name of new Alliance Quebec president William Johnson.

In an article about TESL, one of the people quoted was Michel Thériault (not Thibault), and he is about to start his MA in Applied Linguistics.

The editor regrets the errors.

In Brief...Personalized sponsorship

University Advancement is testing a new way to help students cope with the cost of higher education. Selected alumni and friends are being asked if they would like to sponsor an individual student through the Concordia Educational Loan Program.

A bright red envelope mass-mailed last week contains a brochure explaining how costs are squeezing students these days, and suggests that donors "invest in a person" by sponsoring a student with an interest-free loan. The contribution can be as low as $25 a month for a period of two, three or five years, although obviously one student would need several such donors.

In fact, students need about $15,000 a year to support themselves while studying. Those already receiving student aid still face an average annual shortfall of nearly $5,000, which often leads to a crippling personal debt by the time they graduate.

Bravo for Labossière

Student Vincent Labossière was the subject of a photo and a feature article in The Gazette's sports pages this week when he won one of three annual Guy Lafleur Excellence and Merit Awards.

He is currently doing three jobs and taking a summer course. During the academic year, he's a defenceman on the Stingers hockey team, and high praise from coach Yves Beaucage won him the award. It's worth noting that his GPA this year was 3.84.

Labossière, a Franco-Manitoban, turned down invitations from two U.S. universities to come to Concordia. He is doing a BSc in Exercise Science.