Weekly News Recap: March 15, 2019

A rendering shows the $500-million expansion to the BMO Centre in Calgary. The federal government took part in an infrastructure announcement Tuesday outside the existing centre. (Calgary Stampede)

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. -- Lao Tzu

News

  • Feds commit $166M to BMO expansion project (CBC) CALGARY STORY "The province and city are contributing $166M each and the Stampede has previously committed $3.6M. The BMO Centre in Calgary's Stampede Park is set to double in size after the federal government committed $166.6 million toward the project Tuesday." 3/12/19

  • Former Lakeland student donates $500,000 to student-led farm expansion (My Lloydminster Now) LLOYDMINSTER STORY Nice gift! "Former Lakeland College student Roy Kubica has donated half a million dollars in support of expanding Lakeland’s Student-Managed Farm. The 2,100-acre land allows students to further their studies on the ins and outs of agricultural." 3/8/19

  • Yedlin: Entrepreneurial Alberta women earn global program's honours (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY Congrats to all. "In addition to an array of speakers aimed at addressing the bigger challenges facing female innovators and entrepreneurs, She Innovates is recognizing 100 women from around the globe for their achievements — from social entrepreneurship to science and technology, education, business and politics. Former U of C president and vice-chancellor Elizabeth Cannon, Suzanne Tough from the Cumming School of Medicine, and 2018 honorary degree recipient Marie Delorme were recognized alongside former member of Parliament Rona Ambrose, and humanitarian, social innovator and Team Canada powerlifter Nicola Paviglianiti." 3/8/19

  • Calgary has the highest unemployment rate in Canada again (CBC) CALGARY STORY "Calgary once again has the highest unemployment rate out of 33 metropolitan areas monitored monthly by Statistics Canada. The city's rate climbed to 7.6 per cent in February, up 0.3 percentage points from the month before, according to new employment numbers released Friday. That put Calgary ahead of St. John's, Nfld., where the unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 7.4 per cent." 3/8/19

  • Telus World of Science to host Canadian premiere of Marvel Comics exhibit (CBC) EDMONTON STORY This is cool. "Superheroes are taking over the Telus World of Science Edmonton. Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibit will make its Canadian debut at the science centre this fall. CEO Alan Nursall told CBC's Radio Active Edmonton will be the third city to host the show. 'It's a very new exhibition. It's only been to two venues. It started in Seattle, it's going to Philadelphia for the summer and then it's going to come to Edmonton in October,' Nursall said." 3/7/19

  • Beakerhead co-founder Mary Anne Moser named president, CEO of TELUS Spark (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY This.Is.Awesome. Congrats Mary Anne. "Beakerhead co-founder Mary Anne Moser has been named Telus Spark’s new president and CEO. The announcement was made Thursday and concludes an exhaustive North American search to fill the position. Moser has more than 25 years of experience in entrepreneurial roles. She co-founded Beakerhead, which is well-known for its annual festival that blends art and engineering for a vibrant and interactive experience, about a decade ago. " 3/7/19

First Peoples of Canada

  • New Vancouver Island University president says reconciliation a priority (CBC) NANAIMO STORY "Vancouver Island University will have a new president starting this summer: accomplished neuroscientist Deborah Saucier. Saucier comes to the Nanaimo university for her five-year term as president by way of Edmonton, where she has served as the president of MacEwan University since 2017. [...] Saucier, who has Metis heritage, has made STEM and Indigenous education a focus throughout her career in higher education across Canada. which she plans to continue pursuing in her new role." 3/10/19

Life and career hacks

Books to read

Uncommon knowledge

Philanthropic controversy

  • Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in U.S. College Entry Fraud (New York Times) "In a major college admissions scandal that laid bare the elaborate lengths some wealthy parents will go to get their children into competitive American universities, federal prosecutors charged 50 people on Tuesday in a brazen scheme to buy spots in the freshman classes at Yale, Stanford and other big-name schools." 3/12/19

  • Gates Foundation sues Canadian company over ‘misuse’ of $30M grant to develop pneumonia vaccine (Global News) CANADIAN STORY "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is suing the Canadian biotech company, PnuVax, for allegedly misusing a US$30-million grant intended to develop a low-cost pneumonia vaccine for children, according to a lawsuit filed in Washington District Court." 3/8/19

  • About 40% of Europe’s “AI companies” don’t use any AI at all (Technology Review) "A surprising number of firms are jumping on the artificial-intelligence bandwagon—without actually investing in any AI [...]. MMC Ventures, an investment firm in London, looked at 2,830 European companies that claim to make use of AI. It found that a whopping 40% of them are not using any machine learning, a field of AI that has taken off in recent years both academically and commercially." March 2019

Trends and shifts

  • Artificial Intelligence and Fundraising: Is a Bot Coming to Take My Job? (Charity Channel Silver) "Artificial Intelligence, or AI, seems to be in the news almost everywhere today. Many of those stories suggest that robots are coming to take the jobs of many and that it might even eliminate whole professions, much as was the case during the Industrial Era." Thanks to Ron Bailey for sharing this story. 3/12/19

Reports and studies

Large gifts

  • George Mason’s law school receives $50 million donation (wtop) " George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School is getting a $50 million donation that will allow the university to hire 13 new faculty chairs. The gift [...] is the largest ever received by the university, a public school in Northern Virginia. It comes from the estate of Allison and Dorothy Rouse." 3/7/19

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