DECEMBER 2009 VOL. 27 NO. 4

A newsletter for staff, faculty and alumni of George Brown College

Construction has started on George Brown’s newWaterfront Campus. Workers will spend the next sixmonths preparing the site on Queen’s Quay East forthe college’s new Health Sciences building. They’rebuilding a giant underground wall to keep out waterfrom Lake Ontario and digging the four-storey deephole that will contain the foundations of the build-ing. When completed the building will house 3,500students enrolled in Health Sciences programs andthe campus is forecast to be a global showcase forinterprofessional learning.

They kicked off the project on the morning of MondayNov. 23 by drilling a giant hole 15 metres deep –two-metres into the shale bedrock – then inserting asteel I-beam and filling the hole with concrete. Thisunderground column – called a caisson – was thefirst of almost 400 that will eventually line the out-side perimeter of the 50 by 100 metre site – makingit impervious to water. “It was a very excitingmoment for the project team’ says Terry Comeau,Executive Director ofWaterfront Campus Development.

Special low-vibration drilling rigs from Germany arebeing used because work is being done near theaging quay wall and close to the foundations of theCorus building to the west.There were no unpleasantsurprises at the start of construction, says Comeau.In fact, the landfill that exists on the site, dating fromthe 1950s, was in better condition than expected.

Once EllisDon construction crews get enough of thecaisson wall built – at a rate of 8 caissons a day -they’ll start to dig out the inside of the building site– sending truck after truck of soil and bedrock tolandfill sites.

Environmental assessments have found some of thesoil to be contaminated with “light containments”that reflect the site’s use as a marine terminal forseveral decades, says Comeau. Each shipment will betested and sent to the appropriate Ministry ofEnvironment-approved landfill site, she says. “We’retaking a pretty good site and making it a great sitefrom an environmental perspective,” she says.

Working over the winter may be hard on the 20 to30 EllisDon workers at the lakefront site – but coldweather actually makes dealing with waterloggedsoil and rock easier because it partially freezes, sayComeau. The building’s foundation will be built

Construction of George Brown’s new Health Sciences campus started Nov. 23 when construction crews used this hugedrilling rig to create the first of 400 underground concrete pillars that will form a waterproof wall around the water-front building site. It will take about six months to create the wall and dig out the soil and rock it contains – thenconstruction of the building itself will start.

Waterfront campus construction starts

inside a huge hole that remains when our caissonwalls are finished.

The building will begin with three levels of under-ground parking and an underground concourse levelthat will extend under the road just north of thebuilding, and possibly into another college buildingthat is part of a potential phase two.

While construction continues on the site, planningfor the inside of the building is well underway leadby Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, Assistant Vice-Presidentfor Waterfront Development and Nerys Rau, ProjectManager with the Faculty of Community Servicesand Health Sciences. Academic areas and services

have been assigned blocks of space within the build-ing after extensive employee input. “It’s a veryenthusiastic faculty,” says Comeau.

George Brown has been receiving a lot of supportfrom the City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, andother regulatory agencies, who expedited theirprocesses to make sure construction of the buildingwasn’t unnecessarily delayed, she says. As the build-ing design is being refined and detailed, the projectwill go to the Waterfront Toronto Design ReviewPanel for the second stage of approval in December,she says. “We are optimistic that our positivemomentum will continue”, says Comeau.

The man whose gave his name to the college wasahead of his time.At a time of rampant racial prejudiceGeorge Brown – a 19th century journalist and politi-cian – fought against slavery and helped blackTorontonians move into positions of influence. At atime when women were second class citizens he encour-aged his daughters to be some of the first femalestudents at U of T. At a time when the rich wieldedall power he championed equality and democracy.

This sort of thinking remains an influence at The Globeand Mail, the newspaper he founded, and at the col-lege that bears his name, according to Globe publish-er Phillip Crawley. “We still enshrine in the Globe thevalues that mattered to him,” he told college employ-ees at George Brown Day in late October.”…I’m verypleased you are keeping that spirit alive.”

Crawley was on campus to help unveil a bronzeplaque honouring George Brown that will beinstalled outside the main door St. James Campus at200 King St. E , and the main door Casa Loma at 146Kendal Ave., as well as eventually at the Waterfrontcampus. It reads: “George Brown 1818-1880. Anoutspoken journalist, politician, reformer, activecitizen and defender of public education, GeorgeBrown’s life exemplified his passionate commitmentto the values of freedom and inclusion.

George Brown was born in Scotland and settled inToronto in 1843. The following year he foundedThe Globe, a leading reform newspaper (now TheGlobe and Mail). From its editorial pages he spokeout tirelessly on the issues of the day, includingslavery. He was a leader in the founding of theAnti-Slavery Society of Canada, which campaignedto abolish slavery in North America and help escap-ing slaves establish themselves in Canada.

Sabrina Davis’s Brampton office is far from thesnowy slopes of Whistler, BC, but the George Browngraduate is going for Olympic gold. As manager ofcorporate sales for the Hudson’s Bay Company’spopular line of Olympic merchandise she deals withorganizations who want to share the spirit of theGames with their clients, customers or employees.

Surrounded by products emblazoned with theOlympic rings, Davis’s job is to ensure her clients getwhat they want, when they want it, and at the rightprice – and that includes creating custom orders.“We’ll develop an Olympic jacket for a client, forinstance,” she says.With the Vancouver Games set tostart in February, time is running short for ordering;adding pressure to an already blistering pace.“I comein early and I’m always working nights,” she says.

But the time-challenged nature of the fashion indus-try is something Davis was prepared for in theFashion Management program at George Brown. Sheworked part-time for The Bay while in college andthem was hired full-time after graduating in 2007.

Davis had tried a studying a few things but FashionManagement clicked for her. “The difference wasincredible,” she says. “As soon as I entered the pro-gram, I knew this had to be.”The courses fit perfect-ly with what she was doing at part-time at The Bay,and she became motivated to succeed. Her markstook her very close to the honor roll, and the moreshe learned, the more she connected and networkedwith her bosses at work. When a position came upon the Bay’s in-house Olympic team she was imme-diately recruited for the spot. She didn’t even haveto interview for it.

Hers is a plum job – her portfolio also includes gen-eral corporate and uniform sales – that combinesdesign, product sourcing and project management;the sort of job that most up-and-comers wouldguard fiercely. Yet 26-year-old Davis goes out of herway to help other George Brown College graduatesland similar positions on the retail side. “I like to seepeople succeed,” she says.

College namesake was ahead of his time

Brown was a friend to many in the city’s African-Canadian population. Once he was saved from aserious accident by William Hubbard, a Torontobaker and son of a former slave. George Brownencouraged his rescuer’s political ability andHubbard went on to become Toronto’s first African-Canadian Deputy Mayor. A Member of Parliamentin the 1850s and ’60s, George Brown was a Fatherof Confederation credited with uniting the factionsthat came together to form the new country ofCanada in 1867.

A century later, inspired by his vision of citizenshipand his role in shaping the future of the city, theOntario Government named the institution ofGeorge Brown College after him. 2009”

Graduate goes for goldin Olympic product sales

Plaque honours our namesake: A plaque honouringGeorge Brown, the 19th Century politician and journal-ist after whom the college was named, was unveiled inlate October by (from left) Globe and Mail publisherPhillip Crawley, Jonathan Gould, of George Brown’sSchool of Design dressed as Brown, and President AnneSado. The plaques will be installed on the outside of St.James Campus, Casa Loma, and the waterfront campus,when it is completed. George Brown was the founder ofThe Globe newspaper in Toronto, the forerunner totoday’s Globe and Mail.

ROYAL VISITOR – Prince Charles meets George Brown’s Ayla Newhouse during his visit to Toronto in November.The Prince, who is interested in architecture and urban planning, spent some time looking at an exhibit about theWorld House Exhibition, which is being organized in part by the School of Design’s Institute without Boundaries. Hemet Newhouse and Elise Hodson, employees of the Institute without Boundaries and looked at the student-createddesign for a house that looks like an upside-down canoe. “He asked why it looks like a space ship,” says Newhouse.What was it like meeting a prince? Newhouse admits she was nervous at first.“Hemakes you comfortable right away.It was just like meeting an ordinary guy,” she says.

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GEORGE BROWN’S TOP 10 TEACHERSFOR 2009:The college’s top teachers – asreflected in student feedback question-naires - were honoured with awards onGeorge Brown Day in late October. Onhand were (from left) Rainer Blundel ofthe Centre for Construction andEngineering Technologies, Candice Helmfrom the Centre for Arts & Design, ReneChauvin of the Centre for Hospitality andCulinaryArts,DorothyWard of the Centrefor Arts & Design, James Simon of theCentre forArts & Design,Gillian Johnstonof the Centre for Community Services &Early Childhood, and Louie Biondello ofthe Centre for Community Services &Early Childhood. Other Top Ten Teachersnot in the photo are: Reshma Budhu ofthe Centre for Community Services &Early Childhood, Tom Malcomson of theCentre for Preparatory and LiberalStudies, and Peter Rohner of the Centrefor Hospitality and Culinary Arts.

CARETAKING TEAM GETS AWARD: George Brown Caretakers were presented with anaward for their team achievements. On hand to accept the award were (from left)Housekeeping Manager Anthony Scarlato, and St. James Caretakers Pat Goodman andAli Haroun.

STUDENT SUCCESSTEAM HONOURED:George Brown’s Student Success teamwere pre-sented with a team award. On hand were (from left) Dawn Lovas, Kate Gies, StevanCiric, and Sameer Farjan.

SPECIAL EVENT: Faculty of the Special Events program in the Centre for Hospitality andCulinary Arts were presented with a team achievement award. On hand were (fromleft) Ballu Thakur, Paul Arujo, Staff Development Director Bob Cox and Ijaz Jamal.

CONVOCATION TEAM CELEBRATED: Gifty Quarty, a specialist in the Student AcademicRecords department of the Registrar’s Office accepts a team award on behalf of theRegistrar’s Office team that plans and executes annual graduate convocations.With heris Staff Development Director Bob Cox.

Employee excellence celebrated on George Brown Day

President Anne Sado

George Brown News is a publication of the Marketing and Communications Department,George Brown College at 200 King St. East, Room 542E, Toronto, ON M5T 2T9Editor: Story ideas? Contact Editor Neil McGillivray at nmcgilli@georgebrown.caContents copyright George Brown College, 2009.Printed in Toronto on December 1, 2009http://insite.georgebrown.ca/communications/gbn/default.asp

With the approach of each holidayseason, I often find myself reflectingon how fortunate we in the collegecommunity truly are. As the needs inour communities are more pronouncedduring these tough economic times,we should feel both reassured andproud to be a part of George Brown’scommitment to supporting the com-munity.

For me, George Brown’s communitymandate and historical role as anengine of social progress has alwaysbeen one of the privileges of workingfor the college. Acting on our promiseto build and maintain access to edu-cation means directly addressingissues in the community, and adds acrucial dimension to our priority ofpreparing workplace-ready graduates.It would not be an overstatement tosay that George Brown plays a majorrole in community development forToronto and the GTA.

One of the ways the college has beenworking to support city-wide progressin the community is through its partner-ship with the Toronto CommunityFoundation. The foundation’s recentlyreleased VitalSigns 2009 Report,which is widely anticipated and rec-ognized as a valuable snapshot ofToronto’s economic and social health,

was produced entirely with researchprovided by the college (as well aswith George Brown’s Associate Vice-President Academic Marjorie McColmas a member of the report’s advisorycommittee).

Some of the key findings in the reportinclude the continuing rise in the costof housing, a disproportionate impactof the recession on recent immigrantsas well as youth, and an aging work-force. At the same time, the city con-tinued to rank highly among globalcities in terms of quality of life,business environment, innovation,and arts and culture. This contrast isaptly captured by the report’s subtitle“Toronto: highly desirable but seri-ously unaffordable.”

Of particular significance, however, isthe report’s far-reaching scope whichexplicitly and convincingly links thehealth of our communities with thehealth of the entire city. This biggerpicture view is precisely how we inthe college should view our role – asan educational institution deeplyrooted in the community. How wedirect our activities can and doeshave far-reaching implications for thecity as a whole.

The college already plays a leadershiprole on a number of community frontswhich, when considered in the civiccontext, are essential to the city’soverall well-being. Our CommunityPartnerships Office finds innovativeways to support Toronto’s most mar-ginalized and vulnerable communities.Working with over 50 communitypartners and every division in the col-lege, they deliver programs thataddress the issues the VitalSignsReport identifies, such as the recentlylaunched Community Health Educationthrough Food Project (CHEF) aimed at

25% Post-Consumer Waste

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As part of continuing efforts to reducethe College’s eco-footprint we have now switched to

photocopy paper with 30 per cent post-consumer wasterecycled content. Each year this will save almost 900 treesand reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 37 metric tonnes.

This is great news…but the college still uses almost23 million sheets of photocopy paper a year. If this was all stacked

in one pile is would be four times as high as the CN Tower!Please help the College achieve its Green Plan goal

of reducing paper consumption by 15 per centby only printing when absolutely necessary.If you must print, print double-sided usingone of the College’s photo-copy machines

which are more energy efficient andwill also save toner.

GREEN SPOT

delivering educational programs thatprovide low-income families and indi-viduals with the skills to make healthyfood choices and nutritious meals.CHEF is a collaboration betweenseven external community partnersand features our School of Hospitalityand Culinary Arts as the lead for train-ing, our Centre for Health Sciences toprovide expertise on communityhealth and our Office of AppliedResearch to support the evaluation ofthis city-wide initiative. In addition tosuch projects, our continued focus onimmigrant education places us at theforefront of maintaining a steady andcompetitive future workforce. And ofcourse our successful United Waycampaigns each year are importantcontributions to the community

These are but a few examples ofGeorge Brown’s vital links to Torontoand its communities, and show thatwe are already in a position to notonly shape but lead on many of theimportant issues facing Toronto. Torealize the college’s full potential as aleader requires us to continue build-ing on our existing strengths andvoicing our solutions.

As you take a well-earned break andspend time with family and lovedones this holiday season, rest assuredthat your hard work and dedicationat George Brown are helping thoseless fortunate and, in turn, our city’scollective future. I wish you all awonderful holiday, and a happy andsafe new year.