Daily News

You’re hired

Donald Trump brags that his television series The Apprentice brings out the best and brightest that business has to offer. But the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University may give "The Donald" a run for his money when students compete in their own version of the hit television show. And the stakes are just as high as on TV. For four consecutive weeks beginning Wednesday, Jan. 18, 10 students will vie for one of four summer internship positions with host companies, including Frito-Lay, Jan-Kelly Marketing, RBC and Xerox. Each week, two competing teams will be assigned a real-world challenge from a host company. They will have just one week to research, prepare and present a solution. At the end of the competition, four of the ten participating students will be offered summer jobs with the host companies.

Literacy through hip hop

This past summer, hip hop music flowed from Regent Park in Toronto while children aged eight to 12 learned how to read and write. The students were part of the Literacy Through Hip Hop initiative created by third-year McMaster health science student Jason Shrouder-Henry and his friend Shahmeer Ansari from the University of Toronto. In May 2005, Shrouder-Henry and Ansari approached TD Canada Trust with a proposal to improve literacy skills in children living in poor Toronto neighbourhoods. Using hip hop music as a source of inspiration, children learned to read and write about the issues, history and artists of the hip hop culture.