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Frozen Four: Q&A with Kyle Wilson
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Minnesota Wild prospect Kyle Wilson completes a four-year career at Colgate University that was capped by a stellar senior season, in which he led the team with 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) and earned a spot on the ECACHL All-Conference Second Team. Most recently, he was named the recipient of the Steve Riggs Memorial Award, which recognizes gentlemanly play and a high standard of ability.
Hockey’s Future spoke with Wilson after the Skills Challenge that he participated in on Friday night during the Frozen Four weekend.
HF: First off, how are you enjoying the experience of being here in Milwaukee participating in the Skills Challenge?
KW: It’s great. The whole experience has been great. The Nike/Bauer people have been treating us so well. It’s been great.
HF: Well the East Team won, so that has to feel pretty good.
KW: Yeah, we’re the first Skills Challenge winners (laughing). It feels good.
HF: What’s the greatest thing that you take from this experience?
KW: Playing with such great guys. They’re all great guys on and off the ice.
HF: You just finished up a great year at Colgate. What are you going to take away from the experience of having played at Colgate?
KW: A lot wasn’t expected of us this year. We really had a great team and we had a great goaltender in Mark Dekanich step up and replace (Steve) Silverthorn’s spot and really showed that we could really be on top of that league (ECACHL). We were the regular season co-champions. I think over my four-year career, we really took some big steps in winning the regular season twice and going to the NCAAs and I hope that I’ve helped push the program to the national level. Being a part of that was great. That’s probably what I’ll take the most.
HF: This year you emerged as one of the top players in the nation. What was it about this season that made you so much better than in previous years?
KW: Well it was a developmental process. I had a lot to learn coming here and had a lot of things to work on in my game. The coaches had made that clear that I had a lot of things that I had to work on to be able to get to that level. It took me four years and by the fourth year, they made me assistant captain and put a lot of focus on me to play in various pressure situations like penalty kill and power play and being on the ice more of the time. I think that and having to work on and off the ice and being one of the team’s leaders really made me focus on that and take it seriously. Also, this was going to be my last year. You’ve got to leave your (collegiate) career in style.
HF: You went on an absolute scoring tear this year. Did you suddenly decide that you wanted to go out and score a ton of goals this year or what?
KW: I was told to shoot the puck more. I was known around the league as being more of a pass first, shoot later sort of guy. So now I get the puck to the net as well as take it to the net. I had a couple of great wingers that liked taking the puck to the net as well. When you crash the net and get the puck there a lot of great things will happen.
HF: If I’m not mistaken you played a bit with Jon Smyth this year, right?
KW: No, I just played one game with him. We joke about that a lot. He’s my stallmate and we were next to one another for four years and we almost never played together, not even on the power play (laughing). I actually played with Mark Fulton and Ryan Smyth. I guess being able to play with Jon just wasn’t destined to happen, but it’s worked out ok.
HF: With your collegiate career now over, what are you going to remember most about playing Raiders hockey?
KW: Oh definitely the guys, my teammates. You go there and you’re immediately thrown into a family basically. It’s not like any other freshman where you come in and just make friends. Here you have a family right off the bat. You basically spend four years with them and do everything with them. I’ve grown accustomed to that and have made good friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life. Not being able to have that every day to spend with them is the thing that I’ll miss the most.
HF: With your collegiate career wrapped up, any chance that we’re all going to be seeing you in a Wild jersey anytime soon?
KW: Hopefully. If I had it my way, I’d be there right away. It’s still open for when they wrap up their season. I’ll be talking with them and maybe see how things go. If all goes well then I’ll be going to camp and trying to earn my spot.
HF: Have they been keeping tabs on you at Colgate this year?
KW: They’ve been checking up and have come out to see some games. I think they were impressed with what they saw at least I hope so. They said that they were definitely interested in having me coming out to camp to try and earn a spot on the team. I guess that’s all you can hope for and we’ll see how it goes. |
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$10M gift for Colgate
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Kollali, Sapna
Post-Standard - Madison County Bureau, The
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Colgate University has received a $10 million anonymous gift, one of the largest in the school's history, and the 10th largest to a Central New York college in the past two decades.
"This means everything to us," said David Hale, Colgate's financial vice president and treasurer. "To have a donor make this kind of contribution to us is incredibly special and important to the current and long-term needs of the university."
About $8.5 million will be used to create an endowment fund for operating costs at two new campus buildings: the Ho Science Center and the Case Library. The library is slated to open in December or January, and the science center will open during the summer of 2007.
The rest of the unrestricted donation will be used to fund initiatives outlined in the 2003 strategic plan, including creating academic institutes and supporting faculty-student research, Hale said.
The gift was made by an unnamed alumnus of the Madison County college.
In 2004, Colgate received another $10 million, unrestricted donation from alumnus Daniel Benton. That money helped fund the new residential education program.
Also in 2004, Colgate received $25 million from alumnus Robert H.N. Ho, the namesake of the new science center and other facilities and programs on campus. Ho's gift was the largest in university history.
Colgate also received a $16.1 million gift in 1990 from alumnus Curtiss Frank, namesake of the campus dining hall.
Other large, Central New York college gifts range from $100 million to Cornell University in 1998 and 1999 to $12 million to Syracuse University in 1996. |
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Stories to Tell
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Duncan, Brenda
Post-Standard, The
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Editorial assistant Brenda Duncan recently spoke with William Henry "Hank" Lewis, an associate professor of English at Colgate University, who was one of four finalists for the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, for his 2005 story collection, "I Got Somebody in Staunton." Name: William Henry "Hank" Lewis
Age: 38
Where do you live? In Hamilton, about five miles out of town
I'm originally from: I was born in Colorado, when I was about 4 we moved from Denver to Seattle and then around 11 we moved to Washington, D.C., and then mid-way through high school we moved to Chattanooga, Tenn.
Family: My wife is Sarah. We don't have any kids.
Education: I went to undergraduate school at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and got my graduate degree from the University of Virginia.
Occupation: I'm an associate professor of English at Colgate.
How many of your works have been published? I've had two books but several stories have appeared in journals and anthologies.
Have you written a lot more that hasn't been published? Oh boy, yeah. There's a lot of stuff that's not worth publishing that kind of ends up in the filing cabinet. I try to pick through what I write to find the stuff that I think is the most worthwhile for sharing.
Do you only write fiction? I've also published non-fiction and a few poems here and there, but primarily fiction.
Where you surprised that you were a finalist for the award? Oh, very much so. I was very surprised and humbled because the writers that I'm listed among are writers that I very much admire. It still seems kind of unreal.
My hobbies are: I'm an avid sports fan. I played soccer my whole life, I coach a youth team in town. It almost feels like a lifestyle more than a hobby.
My wife and I really enjoy the outdoors . . . and hiking. I try to read for pleasure and I'm trying to get myself into woodworking.
What type of music do you listen to? I listen to everything. Jazz is very much a big part of what I am, but I listen to blues, country, hip-hop, Haitian salsa and Haitian calypso, Bahamian music. . . . I'm not a big fan of just popular spin music.
If you had an extra hour each day, what would you do? Finally finish off the to-do list. Or I'd love to have an extra hour just to read each day.
The greatest obstacle I've overcome: The death of my sister. She died unexpectedly in 2003, she was 41. That's definitely altered my family's life in a way that we still haven't quite reconciled.
I'm known for saying: I'm sure my students have all kinds of things phrases that they either take seriously or mock me for, I don't know. They often hear me say to make sure whatever goal it is you have, make sure the things that you do are directly in line with that.
What advice would you give the president? If you're going to wage a campaign on the platform of righteousness, you've got to be righteous in every aspect of that campaign.
Something that really bothers me is: when someone doesn't have respect for another person.
Name one person you would like to be able to spend a day with: Zora Neale Hurston, she was an amazing writer/anthropologist in the Harlem Renaissance era. She found a way to combine vernacular culture with literary culture on the highest level.
If I could witness one event in history . . . I would love to have been around to see how people reacted to the emancipation, when slaves first began to understand ...
When you were a child, what did you dream about becoming? I wanted to be a professional soccer player.
The most annoying thing other drivers do is: being distracted while on the telephone and driving.
I highly recommend this book: "The Book of Embraces," by Eduardo Galeano. He is an Uruguayan writer.
The best advice I ever heard: The advice that I carried from my grandparents and my parents was make sure you work hard and make sure you work true to the way that you were raised.
Four words that describe my personality: intense, unexpectedly-shy, curious, healthfully-hardworking. |
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The human side of law
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LaDuca, Rocco
Observer-Dispatch, The
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For a low-income parent taking care of a severely disabled child, every bit of help makes a difference.
So when several students from Colgate University listen to a client at the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York explain why she needs Supplemental Security Income for her disabled child, they realize there's more to Social Security law than just paperwork.
"This is their life, and they really need this to work out for them," said Theresa Kevorkian, 18, from Simsbury, Conn.
For 10 weeks, Kevorkian and four other Colgate students are assisting their mentor, Susan M. Conn, with her pro bono attorney work at Legal Aid as part of an Upstate Institute project at the university. And with the students' help, these low-income clients are able to receive assistance they would otherwise probably not have received, Conn said.
The students take a class taught by Conn and Jill Tiefenthaler, director of the Upstate Institute. As part of their experience, they write a legal brief for a client seeking Social Security aid for his or her disabled child. With the parent or guardian's permission, that brief would then be submitted to an administrative judge for consideration.
Though Conn is handling a limited number of cases after retiring last year, she said the students have helped her with 10 cases so far.
But it's not just about learning the nuts and bolts of the law. The students also are sitting face to face with the people who struggle every day to make ends meet.
"A lot of what a lawyer does is a lot of paperwork, and a lot of meticulous things," said senior Katherine Powell, 22, from Marblehead, Mass. "But being able to talk to someone and connect that to all those meticulous things, that's what makes it worth it."
Though one of the clients declined to be interviewed, Conn said the students' help does make a difference in their lives.
"Our clients are not lazy or in any way trying to scam the system," Conn said. "They are doing their best on very limited resources to care for severely disabled children," which may be diagnosed with severe asthma or diabetes, behavioral problems, congenital disorders or developmental disabilities, she said.
Depending on the severity of the disability and the family's circumstances, a child could receive about $500 in Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid benefits.
But to even consider getting that assistance, a client needs to understand what's available to them. So that's where the Upstate program's students listen to a client's story and help them make sense of their circumstances.
"When we read about the process, we have to understand what's going through people's minds when they apply for Social Security, and the challenges they face," said Jennifer Frey, a 19-year-old sophomore from Setauket, Long Island. "It's provided a good understanding of how it all fits together."
Because the parents are the center of these households, the students agree that it's important to understand if they're able to handle the day to day struggles of raising a disabled child, from the moment they get out of bed to the moment they get home from school.
Though the students don't need to be pursuing a career in law, they said these lessons have opened their eyes to the law field and public policy.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn what it's like to be poor or disabled," Legal Aid Executive Director Robert Salzman said, "and my hope is that some of the students may choose a career that will assist this nation achieve legal justice for people." |
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Ruling against Oneida Nation hasn't halted conflict
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Coin, Glenn
Post-Standard - Madison County Bureau, The
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When the U.S. Supreme Court handed Sherrill a victory last year against the Oneida Indian Nation, many observers thought the court's ruling would be the last word.
Not even close.
The decision - made one year ago today - has spawned more litigation and more conflict between the Oneidas and local governments.
"I think each side was looking for the Supreme Court to bring closure," said Peter Carmen, the nation's top lawyer. "One year later, I don't think one side or the other can say the Sherrill decision brought closure to anything. There is more litigation between the parties today than there ever was beforehand."
Since the decision, local governments have renewed efforts to collect property tax from the nation, gone to court to foreclose on nation land and moved to enforce state and local laws at Turning Stone Resort and Casino and other nation-owned businesses.
The Oneidas responded by defending themselves in court and launching lawsuits against 22 municipalities over assessments, and agreed to make tax payments to the cities of Sherrill and Oneida.
In what may be the most significant fallout from the Sherrill decision, the nation also has applied to put more than 17,000 acres into federal trust. That would put the land beyond the reach of taxes and local control.
The impact of the Sherrill decision has reached wider: Judges have applied the Sherrill ruling to toss out the Cayuga Indian land claim and to allow the city of Union Springs to shut down the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York's video gaming hall.
"Without a doubt, (Sherrill) was an important event," said Chris Vecsey, director of Native American studies at Colgate University.
On March 29, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the Oneida nation could not claim sovereignty on land it had bought. The Oneidas had waited too long, the court said, and allowing the Oneidas to govern their land would be too disruptive to local communities.
The decision was a victory for state and local governments, which now can enforce laws equally and control land-use and other issues in their communities, said John Campanie, Madison County attorney.
"It is a reaffirmation and restoration to the state and local (governments) that they have the jurisdiction and governance they have enjoyed for 200 years," Campanie said.
The Supreme Court also upheld the nation's land claim and said the Oneida reservation established in 1788 still exists. That was a partial victory for the nation, and a federal judge last year forbid Madison County from foreclosing on nation land because, he said, the reservation still exists.
Carmen noted the Supreme Court decision said the nation could not exercise sovereignty over land, but did not take away the nation's status as a sovereign government.
"It raises the question of how these neighboring municipalities intend to enforce these regulations against a government with sovereign immunity," he said.
Sovereign immunity means the nation can't be taken to court. A state judge last month dismissed a contractor's lawsuit against the nation on grounds of sovereign immunity.
The biggest fallout from the Sherrill decision has been the nation's request to put its land into trust, said David Vickers, president of Upstate Citizens for Equality. The nation submitted its request a week after the Supreme Court ruling.
"The Oneidas first planned to test (nation leader) Ray Halbritter's theory that he could just acquire property in an ancient land claim and automatically turn it into sovereign Indian country," Vickers said. "That failed rather resoundingly. Plan B has been this land-into-trust application."
The Supreme Court wrote that the trust process "provides the proper avenue for (the Oneida nation) to re-establish sovereign authority over territory last held by the Oneidas 200 years ago."
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is reviewing the application. Trust land is owned by the federal government and is set aside exclusively for the tribe's use. The land is exempt from state and local laws and taxes.
The very fact the Oneidas are willing to submit their land to federal control shows the impact of the Sherrill decision, Vecsey said.
"It's a step that Oneida did not want to take, and the fact that they had to take it shows the precarious position their land claims and land holdings are in," Vecsey said. "To put it in trust is an admission of at least a limited defeat."
The effect of Sherrill on the Oneidas' 250,000-acre land claim is still being debated. The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the Cayuga land claim based on the Sherrill ruling, and local officials say the same thing could happen to the Oneida claim.
The Cayuga ruling has been appealed to the Supreme Court. The court has not yet said whether it will hear the case.
So a year after a ruling from the highest court in the country, lawyers say the wrangling over what the decision means could continue for a long time.
"Although you would think the Supreme Court decision is clear on its face, it requires some continuing litigation to implement it," Campanie said. "It's not something obviously that happens overnight." |
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Colgate example for W-B bookstore
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Wernowsky, Kris
Times Leader
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Four years ago, a group of Colgate University alumni who called themselves the Hamilton Initiative convinced school officials to move the university bookstore off campus and into downtown Hamilton, a village in New York state.
The move expanded the reach of the bookstore beyond students and took the store from a retail space of about 4,000 square feet to more than 20,000.
Now the bookstore has more than 35,000 books, in addition to textbooks; 25,000 CDs; DVDs and a community area that hosts writer workshops, speakers and book signings.
It’s considered an anchor for Hamilton, a village of 3,500 located about 40 miles southeast of Syracuse. Colgate University is a liberal arts college of about 2,750 undergraduate students located about a mile away from the village center.
“It was an idea to bring more students to Colgate,” said bookstore director Victoria Brondum. “People drive through Hamilton and it’s sort of ‘blah’ and not near what a city offers. Before, students would have to travel maybe 15, 20 minutes outside of Hamilton to get things and we carry items now that at one time people couldn’t in town.”
The success of Colgate’s bookstore and others throughout the country is something local college officials hope to duplicate at the planned bookstore at the Innovation Center @ Wilkes-Barre, the former Woolworth’s building, on South Main Street.
There’s 30,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level and the basement. The building has been vacant for more than 12 years, since the closure of Woolworth’s in January 1994.
“Once we have this here and we’ll have Flashbacks (a night club) across the street, things will start to come together,” said Brittany Bartolini, economic development specialist for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry.
The bookstore would serve students of Wilkes University, King’s College and the Luzerne County Community College, along with the general public.
The current Wilkes and King’s bookstores are managed by Follett, the largest retailer of college textbooks in the country. Follett and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers are vying for the Innovation Center. Both companies submitted proposals to the schools for review earlier this month.
Debbie Soule, a director of administration for Everhart LLC, which operates three restaurants in the Colgate University-owned Colgate Inn, said local businesses hoped the relocated bookstore in downtown Hamilton would increase traffic downtown, and it has been a success so far.
“It definitely helped with business,” she said. “I think what (the bookstore) ultimately does is create a new comfort zone for students and it gives the general public and community a chance to interact with students.”
As book retailers compete with online retailers and other burgeoning technologies such as digital course material, store managers are looking at ways to attract a wider audience to come to the stores, according to Cindy Thompson, director of committee and state relations for National Association for College Stores.
“I have a feeling that the bigger trend is the lack of funds at schools, and that limits what they can do,” Thompson said. “Fashion, jewelry, music and cafes, we’re looking to venture into several various formats so that if our core product is starting to be a lesser percentage of our sales, then that’s something we’re going to have to start promoting.”
At least one of the proposals for the downtown Wilkes-Barre bookstore includes a café that will serve coffee and small food items. Both plans would mirror chain retail bookstores offering books, magazines and possibly music and DVDs, along with college textbook services, according to company officials. Specific details about both plans have not been made available to the public.
Brondum said one of the primary appeals of Colgate University’s bookstore is the community room that hosts well-known authors and speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Colgate alum Andy Rooney and most recently, former L.A. Lakers superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Spokespeople from Barnes & Noble College Booksellers and Follett’s higher education division have said that in-store appearances are important to their respective business models, and Brondum said they often increase foot traffic in her store.
“Studies done in the town have shown that the events we host have drawn more people from out of town to the villages,” Brondum said. “They in turn visit different businesses.” |
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Professors, clergy suggest joy more than fame and fortune
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Roth, Amy
Observer-Dispatch, The
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Wealth, fame and power can't help you. Good health, good looks and good grades won't do it either.
If you want to be happy, you've got to look deeper.
Or so say the professors, clergy and regular folk who talked to the Observer-Dispatch about what they think it means to be happy.
They talked about things such as love, meaningful work, giving to others and a virtuous life.
Being satisfied with yourself, doing the right thing and helping others make people happy, suggested Gladys Szwet, an 86-year-old resident of North Utica. For Thomas R. Proctor Senior High School senior Berndele March, happiness comes from being around family and friends and feeling loved.
And for Muslims, happiness comes from the peace of mind that springs from living a righteous life and worshipping their creator, said Imam Sabur Abdul-Salaam.
The paradox of happiness
No one gave quite the same description as anyone else. And therein lies the paradox of happiness. Everyone wants to be happy, yet no one can say with authority exactly what happiness is or how someone can find it.
The whole issue of happiness is complex enough to have spawned three new books in recent months: "A Brief History of Happiness" by philosophy professor Nicholas White; "Happiness: A History" by historian Darrin M. McMahon; and "The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom" by Jonathan Haidt. The first two books look at changing views of happiness over the centuries or even millennia. The third compares religious and philosophical beliefs about happiness with actual findings from psychological studies, which often prove to be similar.
The benefits
Whatever happiness may be, it does appear to be good for you.
"It seems that one's mental state, one's happiness, does have an impact on health," said Rebecca Shiner, an associate professor of psychology at Colgate University in Hamilton. "So for example, people who are more optimistic have a better immune response, and they also seem to be better at surviving threatening situations."
And research has shown that people who are optimistic, even unreasonably so, survive longer with diseases such as cancer and AIDS, said Shiner, who teaches a course called "The Good Life," which covers happiness.
"I think there's pretty decent evidence that (happiness) does help (your health)," agreed Dan Chambliss, a professor of sociology at Hamilton College in Clinton. For one thing, people who are happy are more likely to eat better, exercise and stay active, he said.
Means of survival
Some psychologists have argued that happiness makes sense from an evolutionary point of view because people need a "certain level of positive energy and activity to survive," added Shiner.
If we are programmed to be happy, it seems to be working.
"When you ask most people, they actually describe themselves as being happy and that's acutally true across most cultures," Shiner said. It's also true regardless of race, gender or income, she added.
Happiness comes to those who wait
Those of us who are still looking for happiness, though, might do well to find other pursuits. "Happiness is one of those things that if you are trying to pursue it directly, you're probably going to be thwarted," Shriner said.
"In general, people sitting around navel gazing, thinking, 'How can I make myself happy?' I think, they're going to be less likely to become happy than people who are positively engaged with their day-to-day life, their relationships and their work," she added. "In a sense, it seems to work better if you engage in things that sort of help you to transcend yourself, take the focus off of yourself and your own daily worries."
The Rev. Lawrence Bartel agreed. "Happiness is an experience or a by-product or a reward of finding the meaningful life, finding fulfillment in the life that we have," said Bartel, pastor of Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian Church in Old Forge. "That is happiness. I think that pursuing a life of happiness as a goal in itself just ultimately leads to a life of fleeting pleasures."
The key to true happiness is...
Having a sense of control
The first step to being happy is beyond our control, said Dan Chambliss, a professor of sociology. It lies in our genes.
"There are people who are just physically favored," he said.
Everyone has a different chemical mix affecting their moods and, as Chambliss put it, "It's nice to have happy chemicals."
Chambliss' second step also lies partially beyond our control- good health. Next on the list is money. "Money doesn't buy happiness, but having no money is miserable."
Marriage may be a factor. "It's true that married people are generally happier, but that may be because happy people are more likely to get married. We're not sure which comes first," Chambliss said.
A sense of control is unquestionably crucial for happiness. You have to feel that "what you do has an effect on your outcomes. So the worst thing is to feel helpless and to feel like what you do doesn't matter," he said.
Another critical component can be found in relationships in which people engage in coordinated activities that give them the sense that they're working together on the same project. Ballroom dancing, team sports, old friends telling stories, line dancing, rooting for sports teams and church services can all fill this need, he said.
"What makes life good is a kind of solidarity of relationships and being able to talk to people you like and you've known for a long time and you get along with and all that kind of stuff," Chambliss concluded.
Don Chambliss
- professor of sociology, Hamilton College, Clinton
Lots of love
The question of what it means to be happy came up in an adult-education class several months ago, said the Rev. Lawrence Bartel. During the discussion, he reached a new understanding that happiness "comes from a sense of knowing and being known by other people."
"We so infrequently take time to know ourselves and to know others well and to know others intimately that we end up craving depth in all our relationships. And we so rarely take the time needed to make those deep connections," he said.
Then, people need to go beyond knowing.
"I think as much as happiness as a Christian is to know and be known, it's also to love and be loved. As we know ourselves as people and as individuals, I think we learn to accept ourselves and just to use the gifts that we've been given. And as we get to know others, we begin to love and to care for them.
"And I think it's also true with God. As we begin to know and experience God in our lives, then we develop a deep love for God, and there lies our true happiness."
Bartel said there are about six women in their 80s in his church who embody the idea of loving and being loved by the amount of volunteer work they do. They work in the church thrift shop, give rides to friends in need and volunteer for the American Red Cross, he said.
Bartel said he would advise someone searching for happiness to take a retreat, similar to Christianity's ancient monastic practices, to get away from everyday life and its stresses and to "understand where we meet God and where our deep happiness is," he said.
Bartel quoted Christian writer and pastor Frederick Buechner as saying, "The place where God calls us is where our deep happiness and the world's deep hunger meet." That, Bartel said, is where we find meaning in our lives. It's not about where we live or what we do, he said. It's about taking time to find that deep gladness, to know and be known and to love and be loved, he said.
The Rev. Lawrence Bartel
- pastor, Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian Church, Old Forge
Meaningful relationships
Strong relationships are the first key to finding happiness, said Rebecca Shiner, an associate professor of psychology. For young adults, that usually means close friendships, but as people get older, they need a strong, long-term relationship, although not necessarily marriage, she said. Children, it turns out, don't really have an impact on happiness, she added, although parents of young children actually tend to be a bit less happy.
The other key is "enthusiastic engagement" in work or activities, Shiner said. It is particularly important for retirees to keep social connections and find ways to stay involved in something important to them, she said.
Most of life's changes, good or bad, don't permanently affect happiness; people adapt to the changes and get used to them, she said. They recover from grief or loss, or get so used to better circumstances, such as a rising income, that the changes no longer make them happy.
But the same does not hold true for relationships and engagement in work, said Shiner.
"They continue to make us happy for as long as we have them," she said.
Research shows another important component of happiness - reaching out to others, Shiner said.
Religion also can increase happiness, but doesn't necessarily, Shiner said. That connection only exists for people who are truly involved in their religion, participating in a religious community and praying regularly, she said.
"It's very clear that having a sense of meaning and purpose in one's life is very important for being happy," Shiner said.
Rebecca Shriner
- associated professor of psychology, Colgate University, Hamilton
Peace of mind
In Islam, the ultimate happiness is to go to paradise after death, Imam Sabur Abdul-Salaam said. "But in this life, happiness is peace of mind. There's a prayer that says give me the good of this life and the good of the hereafter and save me from the hellfire... . The good of this life is those things which will help one go to heaven," he said.
"We believe that mankind was created to worship his or her creator, so real peace of mind comes from living a righteous, virtuous life and worshipping their creator," he added.
In this materialistic society, people like to have money, a nice house and a nice car, Abdul-Salaam said. "These things are not necessarily bad, but they're not necessarily good. It depends on how you use them. Money can be good. There's nothing saying you can't live a comfortable life, but you should take some of that money and use it for charity," he said.
If you spend all your money selfishly, you will be questioned about it on the day of judgment, he said.
People who do things that are bad for them,such as smoking, drinking a lot or doing drugs, have a "void in their heart... . They know that something in their life is missing so what they do is they try to fill that void with something that they think will bring them pleasure," Abdul-Salaam said. "But the void is not really worshipping their creator."
Some people chase money or fame to find happiness, but that doesn't work either, he said. Look at all the athletes, actors and actresses who are rich, famous and unhappy, he said.
"Happiness goes with peace of mind, but peace of mind can only be achieved, from the Islamic perspective, if a person worships their creator with sincerity and does righteous deeds and lives a righteous life," Abdul-Salaam reiterated.
Imam Sabur Abdul-Salaam |
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A witness to history
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Kollali, Sapna
Post-Standard - Madison County Bureau, The
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Colgate University freshman Ross Ferguson witnessed history this winter.
The Arkansas native traveled to Bolivia in January for the inauguration of Evo Morales , an Aymaran Indian and the nation's first indigenous president. During his stay, he went through a purification ritual and other ancient rites during an elaborate ceremony. But this wasn't Ferguson's first trip to Central and South America.
His interest in the region was sparked by a 2003 trip to Costa Rica with the Earthwatch Institute, during which he spent 20 days trying to protect leatherback sea turtles and their nesting sites. Last summer, he spent two months backpacking across Ecuador with a friend, and he has also spent time in Nicaragua. |
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THE COLLEGE VISIT Series: COLLEGE CHOICES
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Nothing substitutes for it. You can see the campus, meet some professors, listen to students' experiences. You also can get a chance to see what the community around the college is like and whether you like the climate and the culture. Here are some tips to make the most of your college visits from a student, a parent and an expert:
Jessica Emm, 19, of Syracuse, is a freshman majoring in nutrition science and hospitality management at Syracuse University
When is the best time to plan a college visit?
The best time to go is definitely before you apply, but I would suggest you go after you get accepted just to make sure you still like the campus and the college.
Who should go with students on a college visit?
Your parents. My mom was good because she asked a lot of questions and saw campus from a different perspective.
What should students bring with them on a college visit?
I think students should bring an open mind for one. They also should bring prepared questions. If they prepare questions before they go, they will be able to find out if that's the college they want.
On a tour of the campus, what particular places should a students ask to see?
The dorms are important to check out. But I just wanted to see everything. A tour of the whole campus will give you a view of where everything is. I would also want to go when classes were in session, so that you can see what the classes are like. Maybe even a tour of the gym would be a good idea. What are some good questions to ask on students' first college visit?
I would ask about the general campus and what the area around the campus is like. I would ask where all the college students hang out
Jeannie Emm, of Syracuse, is the mother of Jessica Emm, a freshman at Syracuse University.
When is the best time to plan a college visit?
Don't wait until the very end to visit a college, that is the worst. When you are junior in high school, I would suggest going around April. The best time to go is when there are students on campus. You get a better feel of what the campus is like when classes are going on.
Who should go with students on a college visit?
Parents should definitely be with the students when they are visiting the college. They should know what the college is all about before they send their kids off to live there.
What should students bring with them on a college visit?
If you are traveling to see the college, they should know if they need to get a hotel and how much money they will need. They should bring questions about the campus, but it is important that they also bring questions about financial aid. I think those are very important questions to ask right from the beginning. On a tour of the campus, what particular places should a students ask to see?
Seeing the dorms is very important. I need to know where my daughter will be living. Knowing whether they are living in an all- female dorm or whether it is co-ed is also important. The food is also important. Not all cafeterias are the same. The bills for meal plans are outrageous at some colleges, so you'll want to know what kind of food you are getting for your money.
What are some good questions to ask on students' first college visit?
Financial aid is a big thing. Applying for grants is important, but you need to plan ahead. The cost of books was shocking, so it is important to find out if you can have the cost of books included in your bill or if the bookstore has a line of credit for the student.
Jaime Caryl-Klika is senior assistant dean of admissions at Colgate University
When is the best time to plan a college visit?
The best time to visit is when classes are in session. The students are able to see campus life. If students do visit during the summer, it is important that they talk to current students, whether it is their tour guide or students taking summer classes.
Who should go with students on a college visit?
I think students should go with their families because the college choice affects the family as a well as the student. It also helps to bring along people who will have a different perspective on things. Parents often have slightly different concerns.
What should students bring with them on a college visit?
Students should bring an open mind. They need to set aside anything bad that happened to them that day because it will affect their experience if they are in a bad mood. I also encourage students to bring a camera, a notebook or a journal, so that they can take pictures of things they like or things they have concerns with. Possibly even a tape recorder, to record their feelings because even an hour after they leave campus their opinions can change.
On a tour of the campus, what particular places should a students ask to see?
For the most part there will be a predetermined tour route. A lot of colleges want to show you the most impressive aspects of the campus. But if you are lucky enough to have a one-on-one tour, I would ask to see the classrooms to get a taste of what a typical class would be like. The residence halls are also important to see. Also, students may want to see the dining halls at their peak hours. Then they can see students' reactions. Are they happy? Are they having a good time? Or are the dinning halls empty?
What are some good questions to ask on students' first college visit?
Before visiting a college students should do some research, so they can know the basics about the college. This way the student won't waste time asking these questions and can ask other specific questions about the campus. Students should go prepared with questions, but they can also ask their tour guide questions like: What's the funniest thing about going here? What do you wish you knew about this college before you got here? Why did you decide to come here? This is a way they can get a current student's perspective. |
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Colgate garnering national attention
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Muder, Craig
Observer-Dispatch, The
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They start practice in the dead of winter in Hamilton, when hockey and basketball rule the sporting consciousness.
But the Colgate University lacrosse teams can't be ignored for much longer, not with both Raiders squads making a mark on the national scene.
The Raiders' men's team is 5-2 after Saturday's 9-5 loss to Army. One of those wins was a 6-3 victory over No. 4-ranked Navy on March 18.
Many of those Navy players were a part of the Midshipmen team that advanced to the 2004 NCAA title game before losing to Syracuse.
"It was a good win, but we just try to keep a level head about it," said fifth-year coach Jim Nagle. "We knew we had the capability of doing something like that."
The Colgate women, meanwhile, are 5-4 after Saturday's 18-11 victory against Lafayette. The Raiders, seeking their third straight Patriot League title, have won 19 in a row against Patriot League teams. Colgate's losses this year have come in non-conference games against No. 18 Cornell and No. 10 Penn State.
"We're really right on the edge of really making a name for ourselves on the national scene," said Raiders coach Katrina Silva. "We can be a factor on the national scene, absolutely. But we have to start winning these non-conference games against the top teams."
The Colgate women will get that chance in April, with road games against Syracuse and Connecticut. But Silva knows the Raiders' ticket to the NCAA Tournament is another Patriot League championship.
"My goal when I took this job was to get us to be Patriot League champions, and that will always be our goal," Silva said. "But I want to challenge my team, too, and play as many tough non-conference games as possible.
"At this point, we're not going to get two teams into the NCAA Tournament from the Patriot League. So the tougher non-conference games just get us better for the league games."
But on the men's side, three or four NCAA Tournament teams could potentially come from the Patriot League. Colgate has never advanced that far, but Nagle thinks the Raiders could end that streak this year.
"It's such a powerful conference that if you shoot to win it, you'll be as competitive as anyone in the country," said Nagle, whose team hosts perennial national contender Syracuse on May 6 at Andy Kerr Stadium. "I tell the guys to dream big, but to keep focused on what's going on this week." |
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College Board Acknowledges More SAT Scoring Errors
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Romano, Lois
Washington Post, The
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School administrators were stunned yesterday by the revelation from the College Board that an additional 27,000 SAT tests from the October exam had not been rescanned for errors.
The announcement was the third admission in two weeks by the testing organization of potential errors and underreported scores in the college entrance exam used by thousands of schools. A spokesman for the New York-based company said that the largest error was a discrepancy of 450 points out of a potential 2,400. The total number of students who will have higher scores resubmitted is 4,411.
"It's incomprehensible to me that there have been three separate discoveries of scoring errors on the same exam," said Gary Ross, dean of admissions for Colgate University, which was informed that it had received 57 erroneous scores. The College Board reports only the scores that were erroneously lowered -- not scores that were mistakenly raised.
"It's a disgrace that upon discovery of the first series of scoring errors the College Board was not able to get to the bottom of the problem," Ross said. "They owe all of us a detailed explanation of what went wrong and how they are going to avoid these kinds of mishaps in the future."
Lee Stetson, admissions dean for the University of Pennsylvania, which had 103 affected applicants said he was "disappointed" in the way the errors were dribbled out. "It makes us very unsettled."
Jennifer Topiel, executive director of communications and public affairs at the College Board, which administers the test, said yesterday that "nothing like this has ever happened before, and we are going to ensure this does not happened again."
"We are 106 years old and have a long history of excellence," she said.
The College Board announced Wednesday on its Web site that it will implement new policies along with its scoring subcontractor, Pearson Educational Measurement. In the future each answer sheet will be scored twice, and steps will be taken to ensure that answer sheets are protected from humidity. In addition, Booz Allen Hamilton has been hired to review scanning procedures, and will provide recommendations within 90 days.
Two weeks ago, the College Board disclosed that of the half-million students who took the October SATs, 4,000 had scores that were higher than originally reported. A week later, it reported that an additional 1,600 sheets had not been rescanned. And then this week, it reported that an additional 27,000 of the October tests were not rechecked, notifying schools and affected students.
"It's the latest installment of a soap opera, and it makes you wonder what's coming next," said Robert Schaeffer of FairTest, which is critical of schools' reliance on standardized testing. He said he would lobby Congress for hearings. "There's less regulation over these tests than over what you feed your pets," he said. "This demonstrates how much human error is involved in making high-stakes education decisions."
The timing is terrible, several admissions directors said. At the University of Virginia, Dean of Admissions John Blackburn found out yesterday morning that 12 more applicants had incorrect scores. So officials will pull out their files just as they did for 66 other applicants, look at the numbers, and see if they need to reconsider. So far, he said, the news has not changed any of their admissions decisions. "SATs are just one factor we consider," he said.
Blackburn said he has never seen a problem like this, in nearly 40 years in admissions. "This group has tested millions of people . . . they're amazingly consistent. Every once in a while the score sheets got some humidity, rippled, so the scanner didn't pick it up."
At Georgetown University, 15,000 admissions decisions letters get mailed today. Officials reviewed 93 applications because of incorrect scores. One was wrong by a significant 200 points, but most were in the 10-to-30-point range, said Charles A. Deacon, the dean of undergraduate admissions. "The concern many of us have is they only adjusted scores that went up -- not the scores that went down. That's the most troubling part," he said, articulating a concern of many administrators that there could be students with inflated scores who got slots another applicant deserved.
The news of testing errors fueled opponents of standardized testing as some schools are reevaluating how much weight to give the SAT.
Twenty years ago, Maine's Bates College made the SAT optional, and the results have been positive, said William C. Hiss, vice president for external affairs.
"First of all, our applicant pool doubled," Hiss said. "It's very simple. You can build a better class with a larger applicant pool. You end up considering a dozen different variables and get a more diverse group with intellectual breath and varied interests.
"Ultimately we concluded that testing was an artificial indicator of success and that intelligence is more multifaceted and complex than what can be measured by any single testing system." |
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Taxicab Confessions: Racism on the Road
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** Editor's note: Colgate pscyhology professor Carrie Keating was interviewed at length as an expert source in an hour-long Primetime Live broadcast about how people react in violent or racist situtations. This article and the two subequent related ones were posted on the national network's website as additional components to the package. To view some clips from the broadcast, go to http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/. **
The movie "Crash," which won an Oscar for best picture this year, posed the stark questions: Are we all driven by prejudice and fear? Do we all harbor racist thoughts?
"Primetime" tried to answer that question by finding out what happened when people were confronted with hateful racial slurs. Say you're riding in a taxi and the driver starts a racist tirade -- denigrating blacks, Arabs, Jews, Asians, or Hispanics. Would you argue with him, tell him to shut up and let you out, or just keep quiet? Or would you maybe even join in?
"Primetime" equipped taxicabs with hidden microphones and cameras and hired two actors -- one white and one black -- to play the racist cab driver in two different parts of the country -- New Jersey and Savannah, Ga.
Carrie Keating, a psychology professor at Colgate University, says even complete strangers of different races can form a tight bond when one of them goes out on a limb and begins talking about race.
"Oddly enough, sometimes we're more honest with strangers than we are with people we know well," Keating said.
Us vs. Them
In a northern New Jersey town near New York City, the first fare is a Puerto Rican woman named Inez on her way to work, and she seemed to bear out Keating's claim.
Brian, the white cabbie, began by denigrating Arabs, then took it a step further. "Let's face it, people with brown skin shouldn't be allowed into the country," he said.
Inez pushed back, saying she didn't agree. "That would be a form of prejudice and I am far from being prejudiced," she said.
And she was quick to take issue with the notion that all Arabs are terrorists. "If you talk to a real Muslim who practices the Muslim religion, they don't trust the terrorists, the Arabs, because that's not the teaching of Islam," she said.
But then the conversation turned to Asians, and Inez complained, why can't they speak English?
"If you don't have it in English and you're in my country, then you don't want my business -- that's just the way I see it," she said. "So therefore, you shouldn't be allowed to have a business in the United States."
When confronted by "Primetime" after the ride, Inez said she was shocked by the cabbie's racism, but she defended her comments.
"I said exactly what I was thinking," she said. "They're here in this country, they should speak the language, our ancestors had to speak the language, and not be so blatantly obnoxious about the fact that they're anti-American but they're making money in our country and living in our country."
Keating said the cramped space of a taxi can be a kind of confessional, and turn quickly into an "us versus them" scenario.
"A taxicab ride is so personal and so intimate, so these two people are really negotiating their own social relationship by identifying out groups," she said. "It helps protect our own self-image."
The next passenger, Eric, a white man, was headed to work when he jumped in "Primetime's" taxi.
Brian the cab driver said to him, "I'll tell you, I won't pick up black people."
Eric's expression indicated he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I don't trust 'em in or out of the cab, frankly," Brian continued. "When you're alone on a dark street at nighttime and you see two big black guys walking toward you, what is your first thought?
Eric replied: "I don't worry about it too much. I don't like to see two big any guys walking towards me."
After talking about Mexicans, Brian started in on Jews. "Do you work with a lot of Jews?"
Eric, a cable television producer, responded, "Sure. ... No problems there either. Sorry to disappoint you."
Brian asked Eric point blank if he was Jewish. Eric, who is Jewish, refused to say.
"You know they control all the money, right?" said Brian, as he continued to try and bait Eric.
Eric didn't bite, nor did he confront Brian about his racism. When asked by "Primetime" why he didn't say anything, Eric said the cabbie seemed like a "lunatic" and it wasn't worth picking a fight with him.
"As long as I let him know I disagreed with him and didn't just sit there and go along with him, I was comfortable with myself," Eric said.
During two days of driving in New Jersey, some passengers agreed with the driver and joined in with his bigoted rants. A few openly challenged the driver, including a woman named Adhana. "I think that this country is great, and I think if we start to open up and start to learn about one another, I think that we can start to mend and heal," she told "Primetime" after the incident.
Although many seemed uncomfortable with his rants, no one told the driver to shut up or pull over and let them out. Keating said that was not all that surprising.
"[It's a] tough situation. You basically entered a cab in which you put all your trust in a driver whom you don't even know," she said. "You're trusting this guy to get you to your destination safely. To challenge that person would be very difficult and somewhat risky."
Only Blind to Some Colors?
What happened 800 miles to the south, when "Primetime" took the hidden camera-equipped cab to Savannah, Ga.?
As with the taxicab experiment in New Jersey, most passengers in Savannah considered themselves openminded and not at all racist. Yet, while they defended some racial groups, they denigrated others moments later.
When Michael, the black driver, complained that Asians are taking over the neighborhood, one passenger insisted she was so color-blind she hadn't noticed and that she learned tolerance early.
But the conversation took a stunning U-turn when the driver mentioned Atlanta, where the woman lived until recently.
"Atlanta is like a weird deal nowadays. It's like going to like frickin' Cuba, don't you think? I mean, you like cannot go anywhere without seeing like people that don't speak English," she said.
The woman complained that Hispanics take Americans' jobs, but then she argued that not all Arabs are terrorists.
The driver decided to make one last complaint -- about Jews. "What's crazy is they control everything, but every time I get a Jewish person in the cab, I never get a tip," said Michael.
The woman replied: "I'm gonna tell you something: you never will! They want to keep hold of their damn money, they don't want to let go of it, you know?"
After the ride, the woman told "Primetime" she was just kidding around -- and that she serves on her company's diversity committee.
The final fare "Primetime's" cabbie picked up in Savannah was perhaps the most shocking.
The driver made a slur against Mexicans, and the passenger, a man from Texas, said: "Well, I like to go target hunting, you know -- Mexicans, Puerto Ricans."
The Texan continued: "But one of the things I hate worst is the lazy-ass ... n***er and especially these Savannah n***ers. They think they, you owe it to 'em, plain and simple. They don't have to work for all that paycheck.... And there's some of the damn poor white trash -- the son-of-a-bitches are the same g**damn way."
When asked by "Primetime's" John Quinones if he considered himself racist, the Texan said, "I don't think so."
He said his racist comments were just jokes. "I mean, that comes from Texas. Like in Texas they used to set back with all of the Mexicans and say, 'Well you're still wet behind the ears from swimming the Rio Grande.'"
No one topped the Texan when it came to offensive comments. But during the four days of the taxicab test, "Primetime" picked up 49 passengers -- and just seven of them challenged the drivers' racist slurs.
The experiment, though unscientific, led Keating to say America needs to have a national conversation about racial prejudice -- about the things we think, and the things we will even say out loud to a complete stranger when we think no one else is listening.
"You can't forget how important a conversation this is," she said. "Because if we don't start talking about what it would feel like to be the victim, then we're never going to get anywhere when it comes to erasing prejudice." |
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Does Race Affect Whether People Help in a Crisis?
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A couple is having a raging fight in public, and it looks as if it could turn violent. Do you intervene or keep walking?
"Primetime" took its cameras to two different cities and hired actors to play a white couple and a black couple. Would this affect how people responded?
The white couple, portrayed by Sarah and Nate, argued in a suburban park in New Jersey. One person after another ignored the woman in distress until a few people finally stepped in.
The black couple, portrayed by Karen and Tom, also argued in a park, but this park was Georgia. In this case, the boyfriend appeared even more aggressive.
At one point Karen screamed, "You're scaring me! Just please, please! Would you let go of me!"
Several people passed by looking concerned, but most insisted it wasn't their business.
"It seemed like they were breaking up," said one woman. "Just a squabble."
Another couple kept walking, saying later that getting involved was too dangerous. A man who appeared clearly shaken said he wanted to call 911 but had no cell phone.
"I wasn't going to intervene in someone's else's fight. 'Cause he, that would potentially escalate him -- he was out of control, or was on his way out of control," the man said.
Tom, the actor, said he was shocked that no one helped, considering what he was doing.
"I was shaking her, kicking her in her booty, you know, head locks and choking her neck," Tom said. "I mean, things that you know you wouldn't think that anybody would let slide by in this society right now in 2006."
What Role Did Race Play?
Does race have anything to do with it? Karen has her own theory.
"I think it is 'angry black man' syndrome," she said. "It's an automatic fear."
But, in fact, of the 58 people who walked by Tom and Karen fighting, 15 of them stopped to intervene or call 911.
Perhaps surprisingly, three times as many people stopped for Karen, the black actress, as they did for Sarah, the white actress.
But there was also a difference in the way people got involved. With Sarah, they stepped in and got between her and the abusive boyfriend.
But with Karen, people were more likely to keep their distance, and many simply told the couple it was inappropriate to air their dispute in public.
"There's a time and a place for things," one passer-by said to the couple. "This is not the time -- and certainly not the place."
That was something no one said to the white couple fighting in New Jersey.
"It did make me feel bad," Karen said. "I didn't get any sympathy."
Carrie Keating, a professor of psychology at Colgate University, said race did seem to play a role in people's reactions to the black and white couples.
"It seemed there was more empathy for the white victim than the black victim," Keating said. "It may be that you suffer a little bit of double jeopardy if you're female and black."
Deciding to Hold Her Ground
As the filming of Tom and Karen was about to wrap, one more woman walked by and decided she needed to intervene.
Approaching Tom and Karen, she said, "Excuse me, do I need to call someone?"
The woman, Tammy Billups, appeared calm and determined, and she looked the "abuser" right in the eye. She insisted she would not leave, even when Tom became confrontational.
Billups asked passers-by for a cell phone to call for help, and she continued to comfort Karen.
"It's OK, they're calling," she said to Karen, patting her on the shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere. I don't care."
For several minutes, Billups held her ground. Finally, she escorted Karen away. "I don't want you to be by yourself until he's gone," she told Karen.
When asked why she intervened, Billups said that she was frightened, but she remembered something she saw on TV.
"I've ... seen something like this on television before, but where they told you what to do, and they said to call and don't back away and get eye contact," she said. "And so, I thought I have to force myself to do that no matter what, even though I was shaking."
The show Billups had seen was last fall's "What Would You Do?" segment on "Primetime."
"I just thought, in the show it said, 'Stand there and don't leave,' and so I just thought, I have to do that for her," she said.
Karen was moved to tears. "Yes, it was in character, but it was also like, 'Thank you for seeing me as a person in distress.'" |
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Are Women Quicker to Help Kids Getting Bullied?
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On a quiet morning in a suburban park, a boy is sitting alone at a picnic table. But the calm doesn't last long. Another group of boys approaches him and starts hassling him -- throwing his books on the ground, calling him names and shoving him.
The bullying looks vicious, hurtful and out of control, but again, all these boys are actors who are being filmed by "Primetime" to see who steps in to help.
Almost immediately after the bullying begins, a few women in the park spring into action. Alexandra Sproul strides over to the group of kids and threatens to call the police.
Another woman, Barbara Geiger, gets on her cell phone and calls 911. Meanwhile, she rebukes the bullies: "How dare you!"
One of the bullies tells her they "were just playing." "You're not playing!" Geiger responds.
Sproul rips the book out of a bully's hand. Then she takes the victim's book bag and says, "Let me hold this for you until those brats get out of the way."
Later, when she is told the fight was staged, Geiger said that women may be quicker to respond to bullying because of a maternal instinct. "That bear ... wanting to take care of little ones kind of kicks in -- whether it's yours or somebody else's you just want to take care of 'em," she said.
Maternal Instincts, Male Dominance
But many people in the park do ignore the fighting, even though it's clear they hear the taunts and see the shoving.
But wanting to take care of a little boy being bullied is one thing; knowing what to do is another. One woman watches the bullying transfixed, appears to be paralyzed by indecision for nearly two full minutes.
Another woman who has been watching with alarm approaches the group warily and reaches for her cell phone. But instead of call the police, she goes to get her husband, who stalks over and yells at the kids: "Hey! Cut that out! Hey, you got a problem?...Beat it!"
And the bullies scatter.
During the day of shooting, out of 66 people who came by, 18 stopped and got involved, and 11 of them were women -- almost twice the number of men.
Women might be more willing to help, but perhaps men have the advantage when it comes to actually stopping kids from misbehaving.
"I think it's it's the male figure, the dominance," says one man. "And I can raise my voice a little louder than she did."
Yet other female bystanders discover there's strength in numbers, and approach in group
One of the women who intervened says she felt a "horrible anger welling up and me" and was spurred to act by something she'd just seen on TV. "I think when I saw on TV last night was this Japanese woman whose stroller got stuck in the train and nobody came to help her except this woman finally ran [to help]," Fox said. "I think that was so fresh in my mind that I thought, 'Uh-uh. No way!'"
Having a Plan
Carrie Keating, a professor of psychology at Colgate University, says that most people have an instinct to help but many don't know how.
"On the one hand, you do want to step in and protect people who need protection," Keating says. "On the other hand, you'd better have the expertise and the plan to do it."
One woman who broke up the fight seemed to have a plan. Marta, who was carrying her own baby, confidently approached the group.
"Hey guys! Why are you doing that to him? Excuse me! Why are you doing that?" she says. Marta drives the bullies off and then watches to see that they've gone. Then she takes the victim to safety, asking him where his parents were and who the bullies were.
"Everyone walked by, was staring at them and kept walking," Marta said later. "I think people are scared maybe, or just don't want to get involved. But I stepped in because I have children of my own. Iwould never want that to happen to my child."
And much like a bear protecting its cub, she put herself in what could have been harm's way to save someone she perceived as weaker.
"She served as a block," Keating says. "She guarded him, she stepped in between the victim and the three aggressive boys to block their calls and punches and yells, to protect that young boy, to protect the victim." |
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Putting Parents In Their Place
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Strauss, Valerie
Washington Post, The
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They are needy, overanxious and sometimes plain pesky -- and schools at every level are trying to find ways to deal with them.
No, not students. Parents -- specifically parents of today's "millennial generation" who, many educators are discovering, can't let their kids go.
They text message their children in middle school, use the cellphone like an umbilical cord to Harvard Yard and have no compunction about marching into kindergarten class and screaming at a teacher about a grade.
To handle the modern breed of micromanaging parent, educators are devising programs to help them separate from their kids -- and they are taking a harder line on especially intrusive parents.
At seminars, such as one in Phoenix last year titled "Managing Millennial Parents," they swap strategies on how to handle the "hovercrafts" or "helicopter parents," so dubbed because of a propensity to swoop in at the slightest crisis.
Educators worry not only about how their school climates are affected by intrusive parents trying to set their own agendas but also about the ability of young people to become independent.
"As a child gets older, it is a real problem for a parent to work against their child's independent thought and action, and it is happening more often," said Ron Goldblatt, executive director of the Association of Independent Maryland Schools.
"Many young adults entering college have the academic skills they will need to succeed but are somewhat lacking in life skills like self-reliance, sharing and conflict resolution," said Linda Walter, an administrator at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and co-chairman of the family portion of new-student orientation.
Educators say the shift in parental engagement coincides with the rise of the millennial generation, kids born after 1982.
"They have been the most protected and programmed children ever -- car seats and safety helmets, play groups and soccer leagues, cellphones and e-mail," said Mark McCarthy, assistant vice president and dean of student development at Marquette University in Milwaukee. "The parents of this generation are used to close and constant contact with their children and vice versa."
Academics say many baby boomer parents have become hyperinvolved in their children's lives for numerous reasons. There is the desire to protect youngsters from a tougher and more competitive culture. And there is the symbolic value of children.
"It was just about 20 years ago that we started seeing those yellow 'Baby on Board' signs in cars, which arguably had little to do with safety and a lot to do with publicly announcing one's new status as a parent," said Donald Pollock, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
"I imagine that parents who displayed those 'Baby on Board' signs are the ones who are now intruding themselves into the college experience of those poor babies 18 years later," he said.
"There are a lot of things I can't control," said one Bethesda mother who asked not to be identified because, she said, her daughter would be mortified. "Terrorists, the environment. But I can control how my daughter spends her day."
Teachers and principals in the early grades began noticing changes in parents in the 1990s. Parents began spending more time in classrooms. Then they began calling teachers frequently. Then came e-mails, text messages -- sometimes both at once. Today schools are trying to figure out how to take back a measure of control.
Some parents who once had unlimited access to classrooms or school hallways are being kicked out, principals say. Teachers are refusing to meet with parents they consider abusive, some say. A number of private schools have added language in their enrollment contracts and handbooks warning that a student can be asked to leave as a result of a parent's behavior. Some have tossed out children because their parents became too difficult to work with.
College officials say they, too, are trying to find ways to handle ubiquitous parents. Freshmen orientations incorporate lessons for parents on how to separate and let their children make their own hair appointments.
At Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., for example, administrators issue parents the university's philosophy on self-reliance when they drop off their children, spokeswoman Caroline Jenkins said.
Colgate administrators also send out a memo to department heads at the beginning of each semester reiterating that "we will not solve problems for students because it robs students of an opportunity to learn."
The Parent Program at Alma College in Michigan takes a comprehensive approach at orientation, complete with scripts that allow parents to role-play. A problem is presented and parents are asked, "Tell me what you've done already to solve this problem," said Patricia Chase, director of student development.
The answer often should be nothing, but inevitably parents offer lots of somethings.
"Our aim is not to tell parents to let go completely because, of course, parents want to be an integral part of their children's entire lives," said Walter of Seton Hall, where orientation includes sessions for parents and students -- both separately and together. "Rather, it is to discuss how to be involved in their children's lives, while allowing their children to learn the life skills they will need to succeed in college and beyond." |
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The Innocent Birth of the Spring Bacchanal
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Marsh, Bill
New York Times, The
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Spring break now sprawls across international borders, with students either welcomed as free-spenders or shunned for being little more than drunken mobs.
It seems to have started out innocently enough. The Colgate University swim coach worried that his 1934-35 team might get out of shape during Christmas break. A student’s father, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., suggested the team train at a big new pool in the city.
So they did. As the first Northerners to swim there, the group was warmly welcomed. Word started to spread among college students that the city was great to visit in winter and, eventually, spring.
Decades of cultural upheaval later, with unruly hordes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the popularity of “Fort Liquordale” had become a huge annual headache.
Robert O. Cox, a city commissioner in the 1980’s, the years of greatest mayhem, recalled how jittery fellow commissioners once voted to purchase a riot tank with a water cannon to quell feared student rampages.
To his relief, the municipal tank “never went into active service,” he said. Later, when Mr. Cox was mayor, military-style strategy gave way to city planning. Streets were reconfigured to discourage cruising, laws on public drinking were enforced, and icons of spring break bacchanalia were replaced with high-end hotels and restaurants. The effort worked; the crowds went elsewhere.
The American Medical Association has warned for years of dangers, particulary to women, of binge drinking and risky sex. How seriously students ponder that message is anyone’s guess, but it hasn’t stopped their travels: Panama City Beach, Fla., now a top destination, expects more than 400,000 to show up.
Chart: ''Milestones in the History of a Rite''
1928 -- Casino pool opens in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the state's first Olympic-size pool.
1935 -- Colgate University swim team trains at the Casino pool. Other schools follow.
LATE 1930's -- College students from northern climates gradually discover that the swimmers are on to something: warm weather can be more pleasing than arctic weather. Student migrations to Fort Lauderdale begin five decades of growth.
1960 -- Release of ''Where the Boys Are,'' starring Dolores Hart and George Hamilton (right), along with Connie Francis, in which four Midwestern college women head to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. The movie cements the city's image as a student playground.
1961 -- Melees among students break out in Fort Lauderdale; about 400 are jailed. Mayhem becomes a recurring feature of the spring season, as tens of thousands flock to the Florida coast. At right, a 1967 arrest in Fort Lauderdale.
1980's -- Fort Lauderdale's Candy Store lounge is an epicenter of the wet T-shirt contest.
1983 -- Release of the film ''Spring Break,'' a poorly regarded 102 minutes of booze-soaked hijinks. Remarks one character: ''Beer's like... [expletive] great, ya know?''
1984 -- A remake of ''Where the Boys Are,'' featuring a more aggressive quartet of women, is also dismissed by critics.
1985 -- Peak of spring break migration to Fort Lauderdale; an estimated 380,000 visit. Many residents and business leaders join in opposition to the crowds and chaos. Other destinations, notably Daytona Beach, Fla., woo students.
1986 -- MTV's first spring break broadcast, from Daytona Beach. Other destinations emerge, including South Padre Island, Tex.; Panama City Beach, Fla.; and Cancun, Mexico, where the drinking age is 18.
1991 -- Sonny Bono, then mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., bans the wearing of thongs in public; city's allure as a spring break destination diminishes.
2002 -- Candy Store lounge is demolished, to be replaced by a luxury hotel.
2005 -- An estimated 15,000 students visit Fort Lauderdale during spring break weeks -- down 96 percent from 1985.
2006 -- Many colleges -- and even MTV -- promote community service for spring break. Areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina are especially popular, where students help with cleanup and rebuilding efforts.
2006 -- Colgate University, reputed originator of the spring migration, offers students ''safe break bags'' with sunscreen, bandages, ibuprofen, antacids, antiseptic ointment, a condom and instructions on how to help friends who drink too much, how to avoid sexual assault, and what to do if assaulted. |
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Colgate pair masters of the books, ice
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Gray, Buzz
Times Union
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ALBANY -- No freshman hockey player shows up on the campus of an ECAC school without impressive credentials. This is one league which takes the concept of a student athlete seriously.
Yet it's doubtful many Division I programs have greeted the likes of Mark Anderson and Jason Fredricks. When this gifted twosome showed up for the first day of practice at Colgate University this past fall, coach Don Vaughan was looking at two individuals who would not only help his hockey team but make the admissions board beam with pride.
The first-year defensemen not only possess elite skills on the ice, they know their way around a textbook, too. It's coincidental enough that both graduated from Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota. But they weren't just any graduates at the 360-member high school. Anderson was the class valedictorian, Fredricks the salutatorian.
That's No. 1 and No. 2 among a class that featured international scholars from as far away as China and India.
"I knew my parents wouldn't just let me go away and play hockey," said the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Anderson of Hastings, Neb. "I had to show them that I was serious about school, too."
Fredricks, from Eagle River, Wis., knew his parents weren't thrilled either about letting him move five and a half hours away while only 14 years old to attend high school.
"I never had any doubts," said the 6-2, 200-pound blueliner who plans to major in either geology or astrophysics at Colgate. "This is what I wanted to do."
Tonight the two will be in uniform at the Pepsi Arena when the Raiders meet Cornell in one of the semifinal games of the ECACHL Championships. Neither is expected to play major roles on the veteran Colgate squad just yet, but both have had solid freshmen seasons.
"We've been teammates and friends for four years before we even got here," said Anderson, a biology major who is looking at medical school down the road. "So we've had a similar lifestyle."
Shattuck St. Mary's won the USA Hockey Tier 1 U-18 national championship in 2005. The school slogs through a 70-game schedule during its demanding season.
"Sometimes we'd play five to seven games on a weekend," said Fredricks, who first fell in love with hockey when he was seven and attended a NHL home game of the Stars when his family lived in Dallas.
"In college, it's just flipped flopped," said Anderson, forced to learn the game on rollerblades because Hastings didn't have an ice rink. "Here we practice more than we play."
Both student athletes have found it a big step from St. Mary's to Colgate. In the classroom as well as on the ice.
"All your peers are brilliant," Anderson said. "Everyone in class is smart."
Neither Anderson nor Fredricks knew their class standing at Shattuck St. Mary's until graduation day.
"I had a feeling Mark might be up there," Fredricks said. "I didn't think I'd be No. 2, though."
Now the stakes have been raised again. They're no longer young boys leaving home for the first time. They're young men going up against the cream of the student-athlete crop.
"It took awhile for me to get adjusted to this level," Anderson said
Who wants to bet they won't be up to it? |
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Student to aid villages' project
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Alvarado, Nadia
Post-Standard, The
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A Colgate University student will be helping Canastota and Chittenango officials figure out the lay of the land this year.
Village officials are partnering with a geography student to help them comply with a federal mandate, an arrangement that will save the villages thousands of dollars. GASB 34, an order from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, requires state and local governments to report on the value of their infrastructure.
"The point of GASB 34 is to get governments to really know what their assets are, especially the ones you don't usually see," said Canastota Mayor Todd Rouse.
Computerized data and blueprints will give village leaders a better idea of what they have to work with and "will give us up-to-date, real-time scenarios," he said. Using advanced mapping technology, such as Geographic Information Systems and Global Positioning Systems, the student will document things such as the location of manholes, the size of sewer and water pipes and when they were installed.
The Colgate student, who has not yet been named, will earn $400 a week for about eight weeks, a salary that will be paid for by Colgate's Upstate Institute. The institute, a research group that creates collaborations between students and communities, accepted the joint project March 6.
"The institute pairs faculty expertise and knowledge with student research and talent to solve community-based problems," said Marnie Terhune, who sits on the advisory board for the institute.
Peter Scull, an assistant professor in the geography department and an Upstate Institute fellow, will oversee the student's work in both villages, which is expected to begin this summer.
"This is an opportunity to get students involved in a real-world project," Scull said. "Using GPS technology, the student will determine the precise location of storm drains and water infrastructure and build a network."
Former Canastota Village Administrator Bryan Gazda approached Scull about the partnership after the village got a price quote "in the thousands to tens of thousands" from a consulting firm, Scull said.
The village side of the project in Canastota will be overseen by Mike Adsit, the village's code enforcement officer. |
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Immigrants eased region's population drop
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Kline, Allisa
Observer-Dispatch, The
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Oneida County newcomer Abdelshakour Khamis didn't have a choice when he resettled eight months ago in Utica.
He couldn't return to his native Sudan and he couldn't stay in Egypt under political asylum.
So he and his wife moved to the United States. Now, the father of one said he plans to stay for good.
"I don't think that now I'm thinking of going back," Khamis, 33, said Wednesday. "I'm here to do all my best and be part of the Utica population and do whatever I can to improve the Utica community."
Khamis is part of an influx of refugees and immigrants who, over the past five years, have helped Oneida County avoid a steeper drop in population, according to U.S. census estimates. While about 5,000 people have moved out of the county since 2001, about 4,100 refugees and immigrants have moved in, census estimates show.
The impact of the refugee and immigrant population is particularly significant to Utica, which lost about 12 percent of its population between 1990 and 2000, said Colgate University geography Professor Ellen Kraly, who studies international migration and refugees.
"Even though the city lost just under 12 percent in population, it would have been a much larger deficit without refugee resettlement, and I think one could speculate that that could characterize the last five years," Kraly said.
Had refugees and immigrants not come to Utica between 1990 and 2000, Kraly estimates, total population loss for Utica would have been as high as 20 percent.
In addition to adding sheer numbers to the population base, the refugee and immigrant population also has affected the local economy, said Peter Vogelaar, executive director of the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees.
"You can drive through East Utica and parts of Cornhill and you see where homes have been purchased, renovated and cleaned up," Vogelaar said. "There have been entire neighborhoods that have been reclaimed through former refugees taking homes."
Vogelaar also notices a growing connection between the refugee and immigrant population and longtime residents.
"I see the local community and emerging Bosnian community where businesses owned by Bosnians are beginning to cater to the local community," he said. "That's indicative of a combined ownership in the future of the community." |
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Colgate Professor Also Church Pastor
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Sims, Kathy Coffta
Post-Standard, The
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Staff writer Kathy Coffta Sims interviewed the Rev. Dr. Harvey Sindima, who was named supply pastor at the Clay Presbyterian Church in October.
Sindima will serve for a period of one year. During that time, the church will continue looking for a more permanent pastor, according to Sue Doran, mission coordinator for the Presbytery of Cayuga/Syracuse.
Sindima has served as moderator of the Presbytery of Cayuga/Syracuse and is head of the Presbytery's International Partnership Work Group. He has served as an interim pastor at churches in Auburn and Morrisville.
Sindima and his family support and run a charity in Malawi, Africa, called the Blantyre North Relief Project. The group is working to build an orphanage and school to help educate 2,500 children. The region has been ravaged by HIV/AIDS and many of the children the Sindimas help are AIDS orphans.
He also has authored four books: "Drums of Redemption: An Introduction to African Christianity," 1994, "Africa's Agenda," 1995, "Religious and Political Ethics in Africa: A Moral Inquiry," 1998, all published by Greenwood Press; "Malawi's First Republic: An Economic and Political Analysis," 2002, University Press of America.
Name: The Rev. Dr. Harvey J. Sindima
Address: 101 Eaton St., Hamilton
Occupation: Supply pastor for the Clay Presbyterian Church; professor of religion and philosophy at Colgate University in Hamilton
Education: Undergraduate degree from the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Theological College in Malawi, Africa; master of divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta; master's in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland; doctorate in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary
My family: Wife Gertrude, a nurse/midwife for Hamilton and Norwich hospitals; children, Catherine, Mable, Felix and Harrision; five grandchildren
I'm originally from: Malawi, Africa
I've lived here for: In the United States for 30 years, in Central New York for 19 years.
The reason I live in Central New York: I was invited to come to Colgate when I was at Princeton. When I visited I felt there was a mission for me at the school. They were underrepresented in terms of racial balance. Also, my wife felt, more than I did, that it was the right move to make if I wanted to be of service.
If I could pick one other place to live, it would be: Malawi, Africa. Someday, my wife, myself and my family will return there to stay permanently. I am not a U.S. citizen and my children received their secondary school educations in Malawi. They went to college in the United States.
When I'm not working I like to: I'm working on a book on the Underground Railroad. The book came about because I would go places in Central New York and find pockets of African-Americans. I was curious and through that I started going back doing research on local communities 100 years back.
A group of students and I traveled from Clinton west to Buffalo, and from Clinton north to Canada. On each trip, along the way we found that a lot of the local communities had houses that they knew were part of the Underground Railroad. Those houses are still there and we even found artifacts, related to the Underground Railroad, in the basements and attics of these houses.
What is the title of the book: "North Star: The Underground Railroad in Central New York." |
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Her Turn at Turin
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Kollali, Sapna
Post-Standard - Madison County Bureau, The
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Colgate University senior Susan Tahsler never paid much attention to the Olympics when she was growing up. She would sometimes sit down with her family to watch a handful of events - more often in the summer than the winter - but thought about them little more than that.
This year's Winter Games, however, were a complete 180 for the Pennsylvania native.
Tahsler, 21, worked as a paid intern for NBC's "Today" for six weeks in Turin, Italy, during the Olympics.
Tahsler, an English major, has a call-in talk show, "Chick Chat," on Colgate's campus TV station, and she interned last summer for NBC's "Dateline." Her experiences last month have helped solidify her plans to become a broadcast journalist.
The Post-Standard talked with Tahsler about her trip and her future.
What was your job in Turin?
I got there a few weeks before the Olympics started, so I really had to get to know the area as well as I could - where all the dry cleaners were, all the restaurants - so that
when the producers got there, I could tell them where things were. . . .
Once the show started, I had to coordinate guest visits. I'd be on the walkie-talkie with drivers and have to tell the producers when the guests were five minutes out.
What were the people like in Italy?
Everyone was really friendly, really approachable. The staff of the "Today" show was great. The first thing everyone has been asking me is "How was Katie Couric?" At the end, Matt (Lauer) shook all of our hands and thanked us for all of our help and hard work. Al Roker called us all "kids" all the time.
How did you enjoy Turin in your free time?
I really didn't have a lot of free time. We worked every day we were there except for one Saturdays, Sundays, we worked 12-hour days. But I lived with two people I worked with and another person lived in our building, so we really tried to make the most of it. I slept a lot in my free time, but when we were all up for it, we would go out to dinner or just walk around.
Did you learn to speak Italian before you went?
When I was getting ready to go, I bought nine CDs to learn and I was really obsessed with them. I would be so excited every time I learned a new word. But when I was over there, my Italian really improved. A lot of the drivers I was working with spoke only Italian. I never had any formal classes, but I learned through immersion.
What did your parents think about you being away for so long in the middle of the semester?
They were really excited, even though I was missing school. I think they were really happy for me and kind of wished they could have been there. . . .
Their one requirement was that I keep up my grades and graduate on time, with my class. So I worked with Dean (Raj) Bellani to figure out how I could do that. I didn't have any time for work over there, so now I'm taking six credits, two independent studies, and I'm basically doing a whole semester's worth of work in a little more than half a semester.
What do you want to do in the broadcast field?
I think I really want to be a producer. I would love to work for the "Today" show, but I know I probably won't start at the top. I definitely want to go to New York. I need to start looking for jobs. |
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Whose House? Colgate's House
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Epstein, David
Inside Higher Ed
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Last week, for the second time in four months, a New York judge threw out a lawsuit brought by a group of alumni who sought to block Colgate University from purchasing their fraternity’s house.
Around 65 members of Beta Theta Pi, approximately 5 percent of the members of the alumni corporation, filed a lawsuit in October 2005, alleging that Colgate forced the sale against the will of some of the corporation.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Dennis K. McDermott found the case, Sanford v. Colgate University, to be nearly identical to another Sanford v. Colgate University that was decided in favor of Colgate in December, except that the first Sanford case involved Phi Delta Theta, and that Sanford is the father of the Sanford in the more recent case. The decision leaves the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity as the only one that has not completed a sale of its house to Colgate as part of a push begun in 2003 to have all houses operating as university-owned buildings. Jim Sanford, the lead plaintiff in the most recent case said he was dismayed that “the court relied on an earlier decision to dismiss the lawsuit brought by alumni of Phi Delta Theta and did not seem to consider the complaint of coercion included our case,” he said. He added that he expects an appeal.
Administrators have said the plan is aimed, in part, at giving the university access to a house in an emergency, and at limiting underage drinking. The issue has been a divisive one on campus, with some students casting the plan as an attempt to exert control over campus social life. If a fraternity did not sell its house, it would no longer be formally recognized by the university. The DKE house currently sits empty.
According to the affidavit from Eric W. Will, board president of Beta Theta Pi, the board considered legal action, but eventually reluctantly recommended selling the house. In February 2005, according to court documents, the board told all 1,295 members of the corporation of its recommendation and asked for feedback. Over 80 percent of those who responded approved the sale, and a deal was closed in May 2005.
McDermott said in his opinion that courts should only interfere with business decisions “in instances where the directors served conflicting or divided loyalties or where they otherwise failed to properly consider and evaluate the situation” on behalf of the stakeholders.
Beta Theta Pi board member Ralph A. Jones, a lawyer, checked out other campuses with institution-owned fraternity houses, and testified in an affidavit that the fraternities were functioning acceptably. McDermott said in his decision that Jones effort show that the board clearly “gave the matter a thorough and fair evaluation.”
The plaintiffs still have nearly a month to appeal the decision, and the plaintiffs in “Sanford I” as it is being called, have filed an appeal. Only DKE’s house is still not owned by the university. Rather than selling, the DKE alumni corporation filed two lawsuits against Colgate. One of those lawsuits was filed in federal court and alleges that Colgate violated antitrust laws and the fraternity’s First Amendment rights. The other, filed in state court, is an attempt to have the fraternity re-recognized.
Meanwhile, Colgate administrators are pleased with the changes down on Broad Street, the location of Greek and theme houses. The house acquisitions are just one small part of Colgate’s Residential Education Plan, launched in 2003, which seeks to make students’ time outside of the classroom as educational as their time in it. Jim Terhune, Colgate’s dean of student affairs, said that during the acquisition period, Colgate has “gone through some difficulty years where we’ve all come to know each other a little better. This year, the mood on campus as it relates to Broad Street is very positive.” Terhune said that students don’t seem to be talking about the house acquisitions at all anymore.
The decision leaves the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity as the only one that has not completed a sale of its house to Colgate as part of a push begun in 2003 to have all houses operating as university-owned buildings. Jim Sanford, the lead plaintiff in the most recent case said he was dismayed that the court relied on an earlier decision to dismiss the lawsuit brought by alumni of Phi Delta Theta and did not seem to consider the complaint of coercion included our case, he said. He added that he expects an appeal. Administra | |
