Concordia urs e Ort VOL. 2 S, N° 16 MAY IO, 200 .l http:/ /pr,.concordia.ca/ctr / Study on sick building syndrome Music and movement worl<shops at the Centre for the Arts Osti,guy wins fellowship pageJ i n Human Development 1page 7 page 4 S P R I N G International students on the increase at Concordia CONVOCATION BY BARBAR A B.LAC K dents. Quebec institutions are espe­ Asia, particularly India and China, "Unlike many other players in the Faculty of Arts and Science cially popular with students from who get landed immigrant status in market, I always reiterate our notion June 11 , 1:3 0 pm, Louise Arbour; oncordia has traditionally had France because of reciprocal tuition the course of their time here, often in of internationalization as promoting June 12, 10 am, Geoffrey Ballard Cabout one-tenth the number of arrangements and because it enables advanced studies. a two-way flow of students and John Molson School international students as its neigh­ French students to learn English in a Professor Balbir Sahni, director of scholars. of Business bour, McGill University, but that is friendly environment. Concordia's Centre for International "Concordia's ultimate objective is June 11 , 7 pm, Henry M intzberg changing. While the number of students Academic Co-operation, said that the to enrich the internationalization of Faculty of Fine Arts The numbers have more than dou­ from the Caribbean and Asia have increase international students at June 12, 3 pm, our own community of students and Shirley Thomson, Robert Savoie bled over the past decade, from 887 stayed about the same over the Concordia is "indeed a welcome scholars, rather than simply raising Faculty of Engineering and in 1989-90 to 1,740 in 2000-01. decade, they have more than tripled development, made possible by con­ revenue from international students Computer Science There was actually a dip in the mid­ from Europe and the Middle East, certed efforts by all Faculties and the recruitment. This message is inher­ June 12, 7 pm, l 990s, but in the past three years almost tripled from the Americas, School of Graduate Studies. ently sound and genuine-and Lionel P. Hurtubise especially, more international stu­ and more than doubled from Africa. "There is no question that this invariably well received. " For more on Concordia's six dents have been coming here. Not represented in the figures, increase calls for [more] academic For more on recruiting international honorary doctorate recipients at spring convocation, please see page 5. Some of these are exchange stu- however, are the older students from support," Dr. Sahni continued. students, see page 9. Vatistas explores Homer's vortex The Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery BY S YL VA I N COMEAU looked at mythological accounts of known that gravity drives a boat showcases the best in student art vortices, as far as I know. Of course, down into a whirlpool, so heavier rofessor Georgios H. Vatistas is this is not engineering, but the objects are the first to go. Pan expert on vortices--think of descriptions of the vortex are right Vatistas concludes his paper by whirlpools-and one vortex that on the money, in terms of the wryly suggesting that the observa­ especially interests him comes out of physics involved." tions and experiences of fishermen ancient literature: Charybdis, the ter­ For example, in The Odyssey, and explorers of that time trump sci­ rible sea monster that terrified the which Vatistas read in the original entific observation in some ways. sailors in Homer's Odyssey, written ancient Greek version, Charybdis has "In spite of approximately 3,000 800 years before the Christian era. both sucking and belching phases years of development in science; we Not a suitable subject for scientific every day. Odysseus, the protagonist, find ourselves in the awkward posi­ study? Vatistas says that vortices exist crossed the whirlpool during the tion of not being able to suggest to on every scale, from the very small sucking phase. As Vatistas points out Odysseus a substantially better navi­ (quantum mechanics) to the ordinary in his paper, this is an early explana­ gational plan [around Charybdis]." (classical mechanics) and the very tion of why ships can be sucked in, large (relativistic mechanics). then reappear "in a disintegrated Mythology in science A mythological creature does not form ." Vatistas says that it is fitting to fer­ exactly register in any of those disci­ Vatistas also examined a short ret out the science in mythology, plines. But in his latest paper, Escap­ story by Edgar Allen Poe, A Descent since there is a fair amount of ing Charybdis' Wrath, the professor of into a Maelstrom, about a fisherman's mythology in science. The annual exhibition of work by Fine Arts undergraduate students is mechanical engineering examines terrifying experiences inside a Nor­ 'We take a lot of scientific axioms on now at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, on the downtown whether there was a strong, sober wegian whirlpool. on faith; for example, 'energy cannot campus. It's a wonderfully vital, eclectic showcase of the best in dose of empirical scientific observa­ Vatistas points out that Homer and be created or destroyed ,' which is a student art, and here is just one example. tion in mythological accounts of tidal Poe must have been using empirical fundamental belief in physics. whirlpools. Vatistas presented the evidence, sometimes enhanced by "We accept it because it hasn't Above, a detail from Sans Titre, by Veronique la Perriere Marcoux. This paper at a recent symposium orga­ their imaginations, most likely been disproven. But it hasn't been mixed-media piece features delicately coloured butterflies affixed to nized by the Department of Mechani­ through accounts by sailors of the proven either; if that's not mytholo­ the wall. There are plaster casts of two lower legs-feet and shins­ among them, and two magnifying glasses. cal Engineering, and is submitting it time. Poe correctly notes, for exam­ gy, what is? Often, we accept a set of to consumer science magazines. ple, that "the larger the bodies, the "No one else in my field has more rapid their descent;" it is now continued on page 10 Arshad Ahmad wins prize for on line course on life skills BY S I GALIT HOFFMAN received all these awards. I was learned a lot. "Most of the stuff I had Ahmad taught the course for two embarrassed that I did not know any no idea about. I just became a Cana­ years, and will teach it this summer. inance professor Arshad Ahmad theories of learning." dian citizen, and I had no idea how Despite the course's success, he cau­ Fhas won a national award for his He decided to create an online taxes are collected." tioned that online courses cannot PhD dissertation-and for helping to course that used a variety of learning Ahmad explained that the course replace all classroom courses. bring his department into the Infor­ tools, such as videos, online cases, responded to a need for greater flexi­ "Should every course have an ele­ mation Age with a popular online interactive tests, simulations and bility. "Students wanted a course ment of technology? Yes, I think so, course on personal finance . communication software, and even where accessibility and convenience but computers should not substitute Ahmad won the George L. Geis experts responding to questions via would be a major factor. " for teachers," he said. Dissertation Award, given by the e-mail to teach students how to man­ The ability to log on to the course He did his doctorate at McGill Canadian Society for the Study of age their money. at will seemed to attract some of the University, and will present his thesis Higher Education, but it's not his "The course is about them and 400 students who enrolled . "That results at the annual meeting of the first prize. In 1992, he was named a their own decisions," Arshad said. was a bonus," said second-year Canadian Society for the Study of 3M Fellow, Canada's most presti­ Some students were astounded by Finance student Benito D'Alieso. Higher Leaming on May 24. The goal gious designation for university the knowledge they acquired. Sec­ "You can go at you own pace." of his study was to validate the inte­ teaching excellence. ond-year MBA student Tatiana In addition to the convenience of grated learning model (ILM), and to Although Ahmad has taught Aptekar, a native of Russia, said that an online course, students did not Finance Professor Arshad Ahmad explore the contribution of multiple finance at Concordia for almost 20 she gained "knowledge that even lack opportunities for social interac­ Web tools that facilitate specific years, four years ago he decided to Canadians do not have." tion. They met each other through "If we look at the reality of the learning outcomes. return to school and earn a doctorate "Canadians usually overpay their group projects, and saw Ahmad at alternative, classes are getting bigger. As well as teaching in the John in education. taxes because of their lack of knowl­ conferences. "I expected to be alone Students feel like numbers, and I Molson School of Business, Ahmad is "It dawned on me three or four edge," she said. "I am grateful for online, but he sent us messages con­ don't see a lot of interaction," said director of the co-op (work-study) years ago that I am a finance guy, but such knowledge we acquired in the stantly," said Aptek. Villazon said he Ahmad. His course has attracted program in the Finance Department, my passion is teaching," Ahmad said.