A slight brouhaha has been clouding the skies over Toronto's York University. The problem is whether or not the University should continue to cancel classes on Jewish holidays. It's been a long-standing tradition for York to do just that for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in October, in spite of concerns raised by professors that the policy violates the school constitution.
   History professor David Noble, himself a Jew, says he will not cancel his classes on the days in question. The rationale offered for the university closing down for the religious holidays is that 1 out of every 10 students on campus is Jewish. Noble says he regards it as an outrage that the school will be closed because 9 out of every ten students on campus are not Jews.
   I have to agree with Noble on this one. Someone on York's governing committee seems to have misunderstood the concept of "secular". Since York is not a religion-based institute, it should not close for these days.