Weekly News Recap: March 1, 2024

Weekly News Recap: March 1, 2024

Ruth Gottesman is giving $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.Credit...David Dee Delgado for The New York Times

If you have to put someone on a pedestal, put teachers. They are society's heroes. -- Guy Kawasaki

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  • Black Women Leaders Are Powering Philanthropy (Nonprofit Quarterly) " 'Simply put, Black women are the backbone of modern day philanthropy.' So asserts a new book, Portraits of Us: A Book of Essays Centering Black Women Leading Philanthropy, edited by Toya Nash Randall, former board chair of Black Foundation Executives and 'curator and catalyst' of Voice. Vision. Value., the digital platform that published the book in partnership with Blacks in Philanthropy Networks and Regional Associations of Grantmakers."

  • This community project is unearthing nuggets of Edmonton's Black history (CBC) EDMONTON STORY "Black History Month is wrapping up [...] but there's no end to the gems being unearthed as part of the Jasper Place Community History Project in west Edmonton. 'It speaks to my being, it speaks to my community and people wanting to see themselves in the history of Canada,' says Donna Coombs-Montrose, who has always had an interest in history."

  • Black excellence in academia: Celebrating Black scholars at the University of Alberta (YouAlberta) EDMONTON STORY "Dr. André McDonald is a U of A professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, leading the research in advanced heat transfer and the Associate Vice President (Strategic Research Initiatives and Performance) at the U of A."

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • VIDEO: Moment medical students find out their school tuition is free thanks to $1bn donation (Sky News) This story appears twice in this week's recap...and it deserves to. "The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York announced that all students will receive free tuition, thanks to a $1 billion gift from a former professor. Dr Ruth L Gottesman said she hoped that it made medical school more accessible to those who could not previously afford it."

  • Black Teen With Size 23 Feet Thanks Shaq for Super-Sized Shoe Donation (Black News) As the parent of a son with size 15 feet, I totally get this story. #LoveShaq "Jor’el Bolden, a 16-year-old teen from Kansas City, Missouri who struggled to find shoes that fit his size 23 feet, recently found unexpected relief and support from his local community and none other than former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal."

  • Colourful perogy business helps Ukrainian family find safety and success in Calgary (CBC) CALGARY STORY We bought the pirogies at Co-op. Can't wait to try them. "For Anna and Vladimir Posikera, leaving Ukraine to escape the war and starting afresh in Calgary was a life-changing decision that was difficult to execute [...]. 'It was the hardest part in our life. We came here without language, without understanding what to do next. We have just a huge hope that now we are in [a] safe place. But thank God people here help us.'"

  • Serving compassion: Edmonton Sikh pizza shop owner offers free meals to anyone in need (CBC) EDMONTON STORY I heart this! "Just seven months after opening his pizza and donair shop in southeast Edmonton, Rajwinder Singh decided it was time to give back to the community. In late November 2023, he started setting aside 10 free meals to anyone in need on a weekly basis. He credited the idea to his faith, Sikhism and the timing to the celebration of its founder, Guru Nanak's birthday. 'We are just following their path,' Singh said."

  • They kissed on a school bus. Now, 77 years later, they’re reconnected. (MSN) *#TrueLoveNeverDies "Bill Hassinger gave his high school sweetheart, Joanne Blakkan, a silver bracelet with green gems more than seven decades ago. They parted ways after Blakkan left for college, but she kept it in her jewelry box. 'It was just too pretty to get rid of,' said Blakkan, now 92. It also had sentimental value. She couldn’t bring herself to part with a gift from her first love. More than 75 years after she put the bracelet away, she’s now wearing it again. She and Hassinger, 90, are back together."

  • A Rescue Dog Saved Him From Addiction (New York Times) #DogsAreASuperpower "When he heard about the puppy, at a rescue organization where he occasionally volunteered, he knew he couldn’t take her. 'I’m too new into sobriety,' he told his fiancée at the time, who also volunteered at the rescue center. Another tragedy in his life, he said, might drive him back to drugs. Then he met Honey."

  • Intuitive Machines lands on moon in nail-biting descent of private Odysseus lander, a 1st for US since 1972 (Space.com) Congrats! "After a nail-biting descent and a tense silence from the lunar surface, the United States is back on the moon. Odysseus, a robotic lander built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, touched down near the lunar south pole this evening (Feb. 22). It was a landmark moment for space exploration: No private spacecraft had ever soft-landed on the moon before, and an American vehicle hadn't hit the gray dirt softly since NASA's crewed Apollo 17 lander did so in December 1972."

  • Opinion Why not pay teachers $100,000 a year? (Washington Post) Teacher's deserve this and more. "Why not pay America’s teachers a minimum salary of $100,000 a year? The average annual salary for public school teachers during 2021-2022 was $66,397, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a nearly 8 percent pay cut, in inflation-adjusted terms, from a decade ago. Salary isn’t the only reason educators exit the profession. But whether they work in suburban New York or rural Mississippi, teachers earn significantly less than they could in other fields."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. 'Pillar in our community': Head of Alberta food bank killed during police chase (Knowledia) FORT SASKATCHEWAN STORY I worked with Kassandra on two projects. This is a senseless tragedy. Our thoughts are with her family and the community of Fort Saskatchewan. RIP Kass, we will not see your like again. "A bystander killed in a hit-and-run during a high-speed police chase near Edmonton is being remembered for her unwavering dedication to helping those in need. Kassandra Gartner, 45, of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., was killed [recently]. Police have said her vehicle was disabled by a police spike belt used during the chase. When she stopped and got out of her vehicle to check on the damage, she was struck by a truck police were pursuing."

  2. Alberta budget to allocate $20M toward planning for new Edmonton children's hospital (Yahoo News) EDMONTON STORY A long time coming. Congrats to all. "The Alberta government's upcoming budget is to allocate $20 million over the next three years to advance plans for a stand-alone children's hospital in the provincial capital. Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said [...] that the existing Stollery Children's Hospital sees more than 300,000 patients a year and serves a geographic area of more than 500,000 square kilometres."

  3. Why Merriam-Webster says it's OK to end a sentence in a preposition (CBC) I often write this way ;-) "Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster found itself in hot water recently after weighing in on an age-old grammatical debate. In an Instagram post, Merriam-Webster said it is 'permissible' for people speaking English to end sentences with prepositions, and there is 'no reason' to assume this is wrong. The assertion seemed to touch a nerve with the dictionary's followers, leaving many divided on the issue in the comments section."

  4. Climate change could cause 'generational trauma' in great apes (CBC) We are not the only species on this planet. "Some of Africa's great apes — humanity's closest cousins — face death and disruption as the planet warms, according to new research. The findings, published today in the academic journal PLOS Climate, suggest climate change will create dangerous conditions in hundreds of ape habitats across the continent."

  5. Where does the term bunny hug come from? (CBC) SASKATCHEWAN STORY I love my bunny hugs. "'Lots of people have hypotheses,' said Andrea Sturzek, professor of language and literacy at the University of Regina. One possibility, according to Sterzuk, is the shape of the clothing item, because the hood looks a bit like rabbit ears hugging a person's head. She said a study references this theory and states there was a newspaper article in the Shellbrook Chronicle in 1978 where the phrase bunny hug was used as an adjective to describe a piece of clothing. That same study suggests bunny hug turned into a noun in the '90s."

  6. Why hundreds of Bay Area men are hiring this 'relationship coach' (SF Gate) I am not sure if this is a sign of the end times or just a sign of the times. "Gold’s job description is both hyperspecific and perfectly Silicon Valley: “I'm a passionate relationship coach for powerful men in tech,” she said. In practice, that means she tries to help men who work in STEM become better lovers. She helps them gain confidence in their romantic partnerships, practice empathy and shuck their shame about discussing desire."

  7. Case of unopened 1979 hockey cards from Sask. sells for over $5M at auction (CBC) SASKATCHEWAN STORY Woot! "A Saskatchewan family just turned a case of hockey cards into millions of dollars. Around 1:00 a.m. EST [...] bidding came to a close for a highly touted case filled with thousands of unopened 1979-1980 O-Pee-Chee brand hockey cards that a Saskatchewan family found in their attic. Jason Simonds, the sport card specialist for the Dallas-based Heritage Auctions that sold the cards, says the family was 'over the moon' about the sale."

  8. Jenny Belzberg, Ronnie Burkett named laureates of 2024 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Calgary Herald) ALBERTA STORY Congrats to all. "A longtime philanthropist from Calgary and a pioneering puppeteer from Medicine Hat have been named laureates of the 2024 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. Jenny Belzberg, a passionate advocate for the arts in Calgary, will receive The Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Volunteerism in the Performing Arts. Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett has also been named a laureate this year."

  9. Millennials now outnumber baby boomers in Canada, StatsCan says (CBC) CANADIAN STORY I love my baby boomers but it's definitely time for them to step aside. "Statistics Canada says there are now more millennials than baby boomers in the country, ending the 65-year reign of the post-Second World War generation as the largest cohort in the population. The federal agency noted the change in its newly released population estimate for July 1, 2023, broken down by age and gender."

  10. Nvidia CEO Says AI Has Hit a ‘Tipping Point’ as Revenue and Profit Soar (Time) Nvidia's market capitalization stands at almost $2 trillion making it the world's fourth most valuable company. In 2020, they were worth just over $200 billion -- a ten-fold increase in four years.

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. What does switching from paper to screens mean for how we read? (Psyche) Just as many of you suspected, reading on a screen is not as deep an experience as reading on paper.

  2. The Science of Gratitude (Valet Magazine) "Turns out gratitude is critical for success."

  3. How to be alone with your thoughts (Vox) It's more important that we might realize.

  4. What you can learn from regret (Vox) Who would have thought that regret can be a seminal teaching moment.

  5. 83-Year-Old Triathlete Shares the Six Daily Supplements He Swears By (Men's Journal) I don't normally talk about out supplements in the hacks section but, hey, the guy is 83.

  6. What Is the Scandinavian Sleep Method? Here’s What to Know (Ask Men) Turns out you don't need a sleep divorce to get a good sleep when you have a partner.

  7. 10 Pantry Pasta Staples to Have on Hand (Pasta Magazine) Mmmm...sardines (I love them but many do not).

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. SPCA Vancouver Hospital Trust Fund surpasses $1 million milestone in support of animals in need (SPCA) VANCOUVER STORY "For nearly 30 years, the SPCA Vancouver Hospital Trust Fund, a group of caring and dedicated animal lovers, has come together to raise funds towards subsidized veterinary care for animals at the BC SPCA Vancouver Animal Hospital [...]. Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Hospital Trust Fund’s long-time supporters, more than $1 million has been invested in veterinary care through BC SPCA services since the establishment of the fund."

  2. $1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School (New York Times) This is mind-blowing. "The 93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier has donated $1 billion to a Bronx medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with instructions that the gift be used to cover tuition for all students going forward [...]. It is one of the largest charitable donations to an educational institution in the United States and most likely the largest to a medical school."

  3. RDP receives historic gift to create the Donald Family Institute for Healthtech Innovation (Red Deer News Now) RED DEER STORY Congrats to all, especially the Donald family but also to the past and present leadership of Red Deer Polytechnic. "The Donald family has given a record-breaking $20 million gift to Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), the largest ever received by the institution, in support of healthcare, healthtech programming, and applied research."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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