Associate News Editor

The Digital Media Zone (DMZ) at Ryerson University was abuzz with nervous energy as students, staff, faculty and members of the media celebrated the arrival of royalty Tuesday morning.

His Royal Highness Prince Charles was hosted by premier Dalton McGuinty and Ryerson president Sheldon Levy as he began his tour of the school’s digital innovation hub atop Yonge-Dundas Square.

The visit gave Ryerson students a chance to both showcase their work to a member of the royal family, and draw attention to the DMZ’s collaborative, nurturing, and resource-rich business environment.

“You know when you come in here that there’s something very special by the energy in the room,” Levy said about the opportunity to call attention to DMZ initiatives. “…There’s very few places better to see where the future lies than right where we’re standing today.”

Prince Charles made his way through a maze of computer screens, project models and journalists to observe four student-driven entrepreneurial projects fostered by the DMZ since its April 2010 start-up: Bionik Labs (a medical engineering corporation with a focus on rehabilitation devices), 500px (a photography sharing website for professionals), Greengage (promotes environmental sustainability through interactive business apps) and Flybits (context-aware computing technology). These groups of young entrepreneurs were showcased in separate presentations to His Royal Highness, who peppered the students with quiet and eager questions about each product.

But Flybits CEO and DMZ  research director Dr. Hossein Rahnama asserts that the success of the DMZ and its royal, red-carpet recognition weighs on more than just turning a good idea into a marketable product.

“I wanted to highlight that this is all happening because of our students, and if you have the right programs to support the students, I think they can do wonders,” Rahnama said.

Prince Charles seemed to agree: he sent out a congratulatory tweet at the final station during the DMZ tour.

The DMZ was the third stop on the Ontario leg of the royal tour. The tour commemorates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – a celebration of 60 years service.

Ryerson’s new arena inside the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens is in the home stretch.

The rink boards and glass are now in place, and around 2,800 blue and gold seats have been installed. The ice is scheduled to go in next month as construction continues on the concourse and dressing rooms.

Ryerson President Sheldon Levy says the new athletic centre will be completed this summer, in time for the 2012-13 season.

Today:

March 2012:

In this episode we remember the last NXNE festival and look forward to covering the action this year. Kia explains Punk Rock Bowling. We talk about holographic music performances. Kim Kardashian comes to town. Jeff explains how she represents the latest step in the fall of humanity, and Charles makes an elderly lady friend.

Should Yonge Street be only one lane in each direction? Toronto City Councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam thinks so. Will Timmies follow BK’s lead and opt for more humane eggs and meat? Shareholders talked it out at TRSM today, but that won’t stop us from eating there.

Here’s the R2D2 vs. Tupac video we were talking about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And why not take a walk down memory lane and see NXNE 2011 through the naive eyes of Jeff and Charles.

NXNE 2011, a retrospective

The Decendents – June 16 @ Yonge Dundas Square

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jeff interviews a 13-year-old kid.

Pharcyde

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Digable Planets – June 19 @ Yonge Dundas Square

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Lady Hays

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Charles enjoys the view from behind a rather large music enthusiast.

Photo Editor

A Ryerson architecture student has secured a place in a national rowing development camp in Victoria.

Ben Murphy, 21, qualified for the six week camp during the national development trials that were held April 28 – 29.

“I got it in my head that this [camp] is what I’m doing,” said Murphy. “I know it’s kind of foolish but I didn’t plan not to go.”

The trials took place at the Welland International Flatwater Centre.  Saturday morning’s time trial would see Murphy seeded ninth of all the men’s singles. That afternoon he raced in semifinals, finishing well enough to qualify for the B-final.

Going into Sunday’s finals, Murphy knew that he had to beat or be close to the top under-23 male in his race. After the first 500m he was in fifth and over the remaining 1500m he caught fourth and third. But in the end, he couldn’t pass the top under-23 male.

“At that point I was unsure of my fate for the summer,” he said.

Murphy returned to Toronto with a silver medal in the under-23 heavyweight men’s class.

But it wasn’t until he was unpacking his bags in Toronto that he knew he was invited out West.

“When I got the phone call I was pretty ecstatic,” he said. “Throughout the whole winter that was my goal, to be selected for the under-23 camp.”

He texted his friends and family the news right away.

“My mom called me. She was so happy she was crying a bit,” he said.

Murphy, who has never been to the West Coast before, will arrive in Vancouver a couple of days before the training camp starts in Victoria May 8.

At the end of the six weeks, the coaches will select the athletes who will represent Canada at the 2012 under-23 world championships in Lithuania. And for a young man who hopes to one day represent Canada at the Olympics, this would be an opportunity not to be missed.

Murphy will be racing for a spot in either a two or four man boat.

Associate News Editor

Alan Shepard, Ryerson’s provost and vice-president academic, has been appointed president and vice-chancellor of Concordia University effective August 1, 2012 the Montreal university announced Friday.

The appointment comes after Shepard received a unanimous recommendation by the Presidential Search Committee at Concordia. He was to be introduced to the school community in a joint  Board of Governors and Senate meeting April 24 before student protesters interrupted the event.

Shepard joined Ryerson University in 2007, where he contributed to a host of policy, budgetary and curriculum advancements.  In collaboration with the Senate and members of the Ryerson community, Shepard restructured the university’s strategic planning in Shaping Our Future: An Academic Plan for Ryerson 2008-2013. The framework targeted student engagement, partnerships and student-responsive program planning as key areas for innovation at Ryerson.

An interim provost will be appointed by President Levy in accordance with the Policy and Procedures Relating to Search Committees and Appointments in the Academic Administration (AAA Policy) before a permanent successor can be named.

Special to the Eyeopener

Under immense pressure to become healthy and maintain an active lifestyle, Rob Ford has opted to leave his post as mayor of Toronto and enroll at Ryerson University.

Members close to Rob Ford claim that this move will drastically improve Ford’s quality of life.

“The distance between university buildings and the fact that motorized vehicles are banned from part of the campus will allow me to get the physical exercise I require,” a beaming Ford said shortly after he announced to the media his new plans.

Reaction around campus was mixed. One student commented that “his professionalism and way of dealing with others in public settings will be an asset to Ryerson’s journalism program.”

An acting student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she was worried that Ford would call the cops on Ryerson performances.

A source close to Sheldon Levy, President of Ryerson University, commented that the schools “label and business card requirements will be adequately filled by Ford’s mafia.”

Although Ford hasn’t publicly chosen a major yet, he has expressed interest in “figure skating within the Lake Devo complex”, “Chasing-reporters-iology”, and “throwing oranges at Eggy”, the mascot of Ryerson University.

Editors Note:  Eggy did not respond to interview requests before deadline, but some students say they found his mascot costume at Union Station.

A two-time National Newspaper Award winner, Randy Starkman, Canada’s most prominent amateur athletics journalist, passed away Monday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto surrounded by his family. He was 51.

Starkman exposed Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson’s second positive steroid test in 1993 as well as having covered 12 Olympic Games, He was diagnosed with pneumonia after returning from Montreal where he was covering Canada’s Olympic swimming trials. He spent a number of days in intensive care.

Having covered sports for United Press Canada and the Toronto Star, Starkman started his journalism career at Ryerson where he was a frequent contributor to The Eyeopener in 1979.

“He came into the Eyeopener office as a first-year wanting to write about sports,” said Steve McAllister, who was the Eyeopener’s sports editor in 1979.

Although Starkman only spent less than two years at Ryerson before being offered a job to cover sports professionally for United Press Canada, McAllister always remembered how eager he used to be.

“It wasn’t one article a week, it was two or three,” he said. “He was definitely my go-to-guy. He became my best friend.”

When they were not putting together the Eyeopener’s sports section, Starkman and McAllister were playing intermural broomball. Their team, named the journalism-addicts, would play once a week at Moss Park.

Although he never officially graduated from Ryerson, Starkman returned to his alma mater to guest lecture about sports journalism. Anthony Lopopolo, a fourth year journalism student and former sports editor remembers how passionate Starkman was when he came into his sports reporting class in 2010.

“When these reporters come into our class, I just expect them to talk bout how to get access to athletes and how to get them to talk, But Randy Starkman was different,” he said. “You could tell that right when he started talking he loved what he did and as someone who wants to get into sports journalism it was great to see that kind of passion in a reporter.”

Throughout his career, Starkman was offered to cover more high-profile beats such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Blue Jays, but he turned them all down to continue covering amateur athletics and the Olympics.

“It was refreshing to see him walk into the classroom and hear him talk about how much he cared about athletes,” said Lopopolo. “He told us that he just wanted to cover amateur sports. That’s where his heart lied.”

The late Starkman is survived by his wife Mary Hynes and their teenaged daughter, Ella.

Concordia University announced Thursday that Ryerson Provost and Vice President Academic Alan Shepard is to be presented as the candidate for president and vice chancellor at the school.

The announcement came after a unanimous recommendation by the Presidential Search Committee at Concordia, and Shepard will be introduced at a joint Board of Governors and Senate meeting April 24.

“I wanted to share this news as it becomes public, and to express our confidence in Alan and our very best wishes,” said Ryerson President Sheldon Levy, in a press release.

“I know that Alan and I can count on the continuing support of our Ryerson community.”

Shepard’s introduction is the last step in Concordia’s presidential search process.

More to come.

Last year former deputy premier and 2010 Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman received $158,833.32 from Ryerson University.

The figure was revealed in this year’s sunshine list, which was released last month.  The list discloses the public sector employees that made over $100,000 in the previous year.

Smitherman was employed as “special advisor” to President Sheldon Levy, and according to a statement released by the Toronto Star was involved in supporting initiatives at the Ryerson Digital Media Zone (DMZ) and the Centre for Urban Energy.

Smitherman’s overseeing of the Green Energy Act as provincial energy minister and his experience in the public eye provided him with connections that were valuable to Ryerson, however there is some question as to whether his contributions merited a six figure salary.

Adam Kahan the Vice-President of University Advancement at Ryerson said students should not be worried about where their money is going. “The issue is not what you pay, it’s what you get for what you pay,” he said.

Kahan isn’t worried about the value of Smitherman’s work here, saying “We made an investment and we expect significant returns.”

PHOTOS BY: MARISSA DEDERER

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