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News Briefs

October 19, 2011
By Megan Devlin

Sears assault solved

The London Police Service has charged 35-year-old Shawn Riddick with one count of sexual assault. This charge is in relation to an incident last Saturday at the Sear’s outlet store at 530 Oxford Street West. Riddick was arrested Monday night and charged as of Tuesday’s press release.

According to Constable Dennis Rivest, media relations offer for London Police, “[Riddick] approached a female sales associate requesting assistance, and the sales associate attempted to help this male when she was sexually assaulted. [He] then walked around the store for a brief time and then left the area.”

Riddick was caught on camera while he wandered the store before leaving through the north exit to the parking lot.

The sales associate received no injuries as a result of the assault. No other information has been released to protect the identity of the victim.

“Thanks to those that called in and helped us out with our investigation,” Rivest added.

—Megan Devlin

 

Increasing the youth vote

Last week’s provincial elections resulted in a voter turnout of only 49.2 per cent. The last time levels were this low was in 1867–144 years ago.

Enter the Global Vision Riding Ambassador Program. A part of the national non-profit organization Global Vision, the program is trying to turn this trend around by increasing political interest and involvement in youth.  It is looking to establish local chapters in each of the country’s 308 ridings.

Samantha Fox, a fourth-year nursing student at Western, heads the London North Centre riding for this program.

According to Fox, the main reason so few youth come out to vote is a general feeling of disenfranchisement and being overwhelmed. She explained they feel like their votes don’t count and so they simply choose not to engage in politics.

“The youth have the desire. Instead of having adults lecture them on politics they need to actively participate to feel empowered,” she said.

The goal of the program is to increase youth political activism by 2015—a goal Fox said is feasible. She hopes to see a voter turnout among youth of 100 per cent by 2015.

“It’s a very ambitious goal but we have to aim high and go for it.”

Global Vision will soon host four major nationwide conferences centered on the Riding Ambassador program. Fox is also looking to create a mini-conference in London and has plans to speak at Western.

—Danielle Xu

 

Name discrimination in the workforce

A new study by the University of Toronto has revealed that racial discrimination is very much alive in corporate Canada.

After sending out 8,000 fake job applications including both English-sounding names and Indian, Greek or Chinese-sounding names, Philip Oreopoulos and Diance Dechief found that those with more anglo-saxon names were 47 per cent more likely to receive call backs in Toronto than the others.

Comparatively, in Montreal, English names had a 39 per cent advantage, and a 20 per cent advantage in Vancouver.

Both resumes had identical qualifications and made it clear the applicant was proficient in English or French.

Philip Oreopoulos believed that as concerns over language and social skills increased, so too would this discrimination.

“The results suggest name discrimination is related to overall concerns about language and social skills, and so to the extent that these concerns have increased, the extent of this name discrimination has also likely increased,” he said.

—Gloria Dickie

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