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Digital U
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Buczek, Nancy
Post-Standard
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iPods. Cell phones. Laptops. Oh my!
Welcome to Digital University, where technology has transformed college campuses by reaching into classrooms and dorm rooms to become an integral part of the college experience for students and faculty.
The evolution of technology has made college students the masters of multitasking. They easily balance talking on their cell phones while sending e-mail from their laptops with their iPods playing their favorite tunes in the background. And don't forget that the television is likely on and they might be watching CNN to catch the latest in current events.
"Almost everyone is now constantly connected. They are constantly connected to other people, constantly connected to information," said Diana Oblinger, a vice president with EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit group focusing on higher education and technology.
Students use technology to set up class schedules, complete and submit homework, and pay for snacks from the vending machine. They use iPods or MP3 players to bring their favorite music wherever they go, and cell phones ensure they are never farther away than a phone call or text message.
Faculty members use technology to enhance their teaching, track their students' progress and educate students they might never meet face-to-face.
"It's unbelievable how helpful it is," said Walid Shayya, an associate professor in the department of agricultural engineering at Morrisville State College. "You've got more tools at your disposal."
Shayya said technology can enhance the classroom experience. He uses a variety of teaching methods, from working out problems manually in front of the classroom to having students use laptops to quickly perform calculations.
Oblinger said using computers in the classroom helps students understand complex material.
"Just think about a graph and being able to move an axis one direction or the other, or change the slope of a line by playing with it. You deepen your understanding of what's going on," Oblinger said.
Morrisville, through a partnership with IBM, in 1998 began offering students the opportunity to purchase laptops, and many Morrisville faculty now integrate laptop use into their classrooms.
Shayya said that students using laptops in class can get distracted with instant messaging, e-mail or the Internet, but the key is to be vigilant and balance the use of computers with other teaching methods.
Eric Kuhn, a Hamilton College sophomore, said if during class he gets an important e-mail, he'll respond. He e-mails using his cell phone.
"I can e-mail through an entire class and tell you everything that professor said," Kuhn said, and then quickly added: "I don't do that."
Learning goes on everywhere
With wireless access to the Internet ubiquitous, every corner of a campus can be a place of learning. The result has been that students stopped using their computers in the isolation of their dorm room or a computer lab, said Jean Boland, Morrisville's vice president for information technology services.
Morrisville went wireless in 1999, and students with laptops gather in building lobbies, the dining hall or the college's Internet cafe, Boland said.
Oblinger said this mobility and quick access to information on the Web has changed many campus libraries from a place of silence to a meeting place.
Michele Meyer, an Ithaca College junior, said she brings her laptop to the library to do work. But sometimes she uses it to watch her favorite television shows posted online. The Internet connection at the library is faster than in her dorm room, she said.
And at most libraries, gone are the days of students smuggling food or drink inside. Many campus libraries now have cafes. Suzanne Thorin, Syracuse University's University Librarian and Dean of the Library, said SU is planning to open a cafe this summer.
"When you think about the fact that people check out books and take them home and read them in the bathtub, or on a table with a peanut butter sandwich ... it isn't really reasonable to think that people can't eat in a place that is really quite like when you check them out and take them home," she said.
Despite the wealth of information on the Web, campus libraries are still used as a research resource, Thorin said. She recently found herself turning to books when researching Melvin Dewey, the creator of the book classification system called the Dewey Decimal System.
"I ended up crawling around the stacks and pulling out materials," Thorin said. "There was just practically nothing (on the Internet) ... It was interesting because the richness of what I found out about him was in books."
An iPod in every ear
As students prepare for the academic year, electronics purchases are high on their list. Students and their parents getting ready for the current academic year were estimated to spend about $10.46 billion on electronics purchases, a 27.5 percent increase over last year's projections, according to the 2006 National Retail Federation's Back-to-College Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. The survey polled 8,529 consumers Aug. 2-9.
Cell phones, iPods and laptops are standard purchases for many students.
"You have to have an iPod of one sort or the other," Kuhn said.
Kuhn, who is interning in Washington, D.C., this semester, listens to his iPod while he checks his e-mail during his commute on the train. He also listens to it at the gym on the treadmill while he is watching television and talking or e-mailing on his cell phone.
Some universities have embraced the iPod craze.
Colgate University created Colgate Conversations, a podcast series that features faculty, alumni, administrators and students talking about research projects, higher education issues, careers and life on campus.
"The technology has just exploded. Everyone has the iPods attached to the earbuds in their ears as they're walking around campus," said Tim O'Keeffe, Colgate's director of Web content.
People like the ability to download information to an iPod and listen to it whenever they want, O'Keeffe said. About 1,200 people have subscribed to Colgate's page on the Apple iTunes Web site. And that doesn't include people who have downloaded one or two segments of Colgate Conversations instead of subscribing to the series, he said.
Podcasting also lets faculty and students create assignments in a new way, said Greg Ketcham, who manages online learning at the State University College at Oswego. It could be used for public speaking courses or foreign language courses, he said.
"You can quickly correct the pronunciation or the grammar," he said.
College Web sites are critical
The blog bonanza and online journals also have caught the attention of many faculty and students, and now some universities are promoting them. Hamilton and Colgate are two local institutions that have links on their Web sites to student blogs and journals, where select students write about their college experiences. The universities like highlighting them because they give perspective students a look into student life, O'Keeffe said.
The setup of a college Web site and easy access to information on it are important, said Arthur Szu-tu, Onondaga Community College's chief information officer. Web sites offer people unfamiliar with the college a chance to get to know it.
"It embodies the image of the college," Szu-tu said.
If a Web site is difficult to navigate, people won't use it and could be left with a bad impression of the college, he said.
A college Web site can be a great resource for students. From most college Web sites, students can register for courses (no more waiting in long lines), request transcripts and pay their college bills.
"There are just tons of ways that students are capitalizing on (technology) in terms of convenience," Oblinger said.
Take, for example, the dreaded chore of laundry. Several local campuses, including Ithaca College and the State University College at Cortland, use an online system that lets students see which washers and dryers are in use and how much time is left in their cycles. The system sends alerts to students' computers so students can monitor the laundry rooms from their rooms.
Meyer, the Ithaca junior, last year played the guessing game when trying to find an available washer or dryer. Now, with Ithaca's new laundry alert system, she waits for the computer alert to let her know.
"You can get a lot more done," she said, talking on her cell phone as she walked across campus.
Dorms rip out landlines
Most college students have cell phones and many have owned one for several years. Meyer first got one when she was in seventh grade.
Morrisville recognized that students preferred cell phones and ripped out the telephone landlines in its residence halls. In fall 2003, the college gave every residential student a cell phone.
"Dorm room phones you could try over and over, but students just aren't in their dorms," Boland said.
And cell phones are used for more than just phone calls. Text messaging, Internet access and photography are just a few of the phone functions students use.
"A picture sent over a cell phone says, "I'm having a good time and these are the people I'm with. This is where I am. Why don't you come join me?"' said Oblinger, the EDUCAUSE vice president.
Technology has not only enhanced the overall college experience, but it has increased access to higher education for students with disabilities, said Roger Purdy, Le Moyne College's director of disability support services.
Software enlarges text on computer screens or converts text into an audio file for students who are visually impaired.
For students who are unable to use a keyboard, there is voice recognition software that allows students to speak and have their words converted into computer text.
And the technology is becoming more economical and easy to use, Purdy said. He cited the evolution of the Kurzweil Reading Machine, which scans text and converts it into speech. About 20 years ago, the machine stood about 3 feet high, 3 feet wide and cost about $25,000, Purdy said. Then it became a desktop box costing about $10,000, he said. Now there is computer software that costs about $2,000 that does the same thing, Purdy said.
"It's just amazing," Purdy said.
Many students don't think of the technology around them as amazing. For them, it's just a way of life.
"We grew up in an age where at any given minute - any given second - you can text message, you can IM, you can listen to the television, the radio and something on YouTube and you can shoot an e-mail and listen to a professor and you retain all that information," said Kuhn, the Hamilton sophomore. "I think that's the most important thing, is you can do it all." |
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Oneidas hit the jackpot
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Coin, Glenn
Post-Standard - Madison County Bureau, The
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From a bingo hall in Oneida 15 years ago to a resort that draws millions of visitors each year, the Oneida Indian Nation has created a business empire unrivaled in Central New York.
The nation is the region’s third-largest employer and generates annual revenues of about $440 million. It runs Turning Stone Resort and Casino, which draws about 4.6 million visitors a year; a dozen gas stations/convenience stores; five golf courses; two marinas; a Grammy-nominated recording studio; and a national newspaper.
The impact on the local economy is just as outsized.
“The numbers are huge,” said Utica pollster John Zogby, who has conducted several economic impact studies for the nation. “We are an area that has lost everything from huge numbers of Carrier jobs to General Electric and defense contracting jobs to a major air base. The population has stabilized and there have been significant number of replacement jobs, and a lot of that is attributable to the Oneida Indian Nation.” The nation employs 4,900 people, most of them at Turning Stone. It’s the largest employer in Oneida and Madison counties, and third in Central New York. Payroll at the nation in 2006 was $123 million.
In a study in 2005, Colgate University’s Upstate Institute said the 3,500 nation jobs then had created 3,500 more indirectly. Nation officials say the number of jobs created indirectly is up to 3,900. Nation jobs mean more than pay checks to employees, said nation leader Ray Halbritter.
“Right now people who work here are paying for insurance, they’re paying their taxes, they’re paying their mortgages, they’re paying their bills,” Halbritter said. “That money gets circulated through the community several times over.”
The nation spent $347 million last year on goods and services — most of that in New York. Many local businesses depend on the Oneidas — the nation is the largest customer of a golf cart distributor in Canton and accounts for 25 percent of sales of a Syracuse painting company.
The Oneida nation has also boosted the local construction industry, spending $530 million on construction since 1997.
“It’s been a godsend to us,” for our industry, said Patrick Costello, area representative for the Central and Northern Building and Construction Trades Council. “It came at a time when construction in the area was at an all-time low. This has been by far the largest private developer in the area.”
The nation has estimated its businesses are worth more than $1 billion, most of that at Turning Stone.
Some say the growth of the nation’s tax-free empire has come at a cost to other local businesses. The nation makes substantial profits on gasoline and cigarettes in large part because it does not pay taxes to the state as non-Indian retailers are required to do, according to a recent federal report.
Critics also note the nation gives none of its casino revenues to the state, unlike other Indian casinos in New York and around the country.
“I would hate to think of what this area would be like without those 4,000-plus jobs,” said John MacDougall, whose Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes compete directly with the nation’s SavOn stores. “But as a businessman, it’s been tough over the past 10 years to see the Native Americans capitalize on this huge price advantage they have when you talk about products like cigarettes and gasoline. I’ve seen a lot of stores like ours either sell out or go out of business because they just can’t compete.”
Halbritter notes that New York hands out tax breaks to hundreds of companies and suggests that criticism of the nation is racially motivated. “Nobody seems to be complaining about other entities, except the one that has ‘Indian’ in it,” he said.
The nation’s growth has been threatened by several court rulings, primarily a decision in 2005 by the U.S. Supreme Court that the nation is not sovereign over land it has purchased. Nation officials have requested that the federal government take all 17,370 acres of nation-owned land into trust, which would put it beyond the reach of state and local governments.
A state judge has ruled that the agreement that allowed Turning Stone to open in 1993 is invalid, and the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the Oneidas’ appeal. Nation critics say they want to see a new deal that would require the Oneidas to pay a portion of their profits to the state.
Turning Stone has brought tourists to the area, say local tourism directors. The addition of a PGA Tour event in September will fill hotel rooms for miles around, said Jim Walter, executive director of Madison County Tourism.
“We’re going to sell hotel rooms in the middle of September this year for the PGA event that we’ve never sold before,” Walter said. “It’s just another piece in that tourism portfolio that we can sell.”
Halbritter said the PGA stop will bring $25 million to $50 million to the area.
Turning Stone has become a major convention center. Last year, the nation played host to 200,000 people who attended more than 1,000 conventions and business meetings.
Paul Ziegler, executive director of the Oneida County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said some people worry that Turning Stone draws conventions away from other venues.
“It would take some smaller conventions away from some of the hotels, but what I think it does bring into our area are larger conventions which in the past we were not able to do,” Ziegler said.
One thing that hasn’t happened is a private building boom around Turning Stone. Shortly after the casino opened, Verona town officials created an entertainment district for the hotels and restaurants they assumed would follow.
That hasn’t happened. A couple of bed-and-breakfasts have sprung up nearby, but developers’ plans to build up to eight hotels remain in the talking stages. The only hotel that was built near the casino was later bought by the nation. |
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Stepping Off the Page
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Haggard, Valley
Style Weekly
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The Go Read committee must abide by certain criteria when selecting the annual Richmond-Henrico-Chesterfield-Hanover community discussion book, but nothing ranks higher on their list than an author who isn’t dead. Sure, universal themes and a Virginia connection are great, but a living author willing to interact with his readers truly brings the book into the heart of the community. William Henry Lewis, author of Go Read’s 2006 pick, “I Got Somebody in Staunton,” has already spoken at Virginia Union University and led small group workshops at several Chesterfield County schools, keeping in line with his belief that cultivating creativity in others is how a writer earns his keep. An alumnus of the University of Virginia and currently a professor at Colgate University in New York, Lewis has been described by Go Read project coordinator Susan Davenport as “young, hip and creative — the perfect person to reach not just students, but readers of all ages.” A finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, among other prestigious prizes, Lewis is currently at work on a novel. Style spoke with Lewis about the three R’s: reading, racism and Richmond.
What sort of impact do you hope your work has on teenagers?
I suppose I’m very interested in how these stories are about remembering things in different ways. The most tragic thing that can happen is forgetting. My generation and the one after mine, we don’t remember things we should remember. That people are having a debate about slavery in state legislatures, that the Virginian legislator [Frank Hargrove] said “Just get over it” tells me there has been a disconnect because of a lack of personal connection. My stories are an encouragement to not forget. I’m so worried these days about politicians reducing big issues to simple phrases and bullet points. The book deals with spiritual and emotional issues that are complicated and don’t have just one simple answer.
How many of the stories reflect your own experience?
I would say very little. Very little is autobiographical. None of the first-person narrators are me. There’s not much similarity for me, but I do draw from the experiences of people that I know and the people that I’ve witnessed.
In the story “Potcakes,” Carlos tells his Bahamian girlfriend, “I love how articulate you are,” and she says, “What did you expect?” How typical is this experience?
That’s a very important line to me. That’s one of those where in a way, my real life does pop up. A 10-second flash of my life. I do want that line to resonate, and I don’t know if it does for many people. Here’s an African-American in a country of African descent, but he’s really more American than African. People think that if one doesn’t speak English the way they do, it isn’t proper. Kids in the Bahamas have been told they’re not smart, but the queen’s English is just another dialect. Learning standard English doesn’t mean you’re more or less intelligent. We get outside of the U.S. and realize we don’t know much. I wanted that moment to be reflective of Paul Bowles — a Paul Bowles moment for a black American. In some ways, he thinks his oppression has made him more knowledgeable than her, but it really hasn’t.
A lot of your stories play with the idea of stereotype; for example, Donald in “Crusade” is not who everyone else thinks he is. Is this intentional?
Well actually, no, it isn’t. I didn’t set out to defy stereotype. I had as my directive an essay from Ralph Ellison’s “Shadow and Act” about how people of African-American descent are depicted in literature as not really human, like in Twain. I find it a huge disappointment that the American public would accept that. I thought to myself, if I’m going to write about anybody — black, white or from any country — the story has to understand how they are as a human being. John Updike says that you must create characters, not caricatures. I’m conscious that I’m creating artificial characters. I pushed to make them as human as I could in each story. The byproduct is that people think a black writing about blacks is trying to defy stereotypes. I guess that’s the byproduct without me thinking about it.
How did you experience the racial climate when you lived in Virginia?
Well, nothing was new to me because I grew up quite a few years in Tennessee. On a gut level, I really love Virginia. I love the land very much, and a lot of the people I very much appreciated as well, but there were a few moments when I caught a sense of racism. I used to drive a wine delivery truck in the Fan, and making a delivery to the Commonwealth Club was like a time capsule back to the ’50s, very much a reminder of the way things used to be. Also, I came to speak at a conference about Southern literature for U of R on Monument Avenue. I arrived a little late, and someone asked if I was from the cab company. That was a strange moment. Why else would a black man be walking into a house on Monument Avenue? It was not so much overtly racist, but it was not outside of the racist mindset. Then that same person was the moderator the next day. It was a painful but a funny moment.
What else do you want to get across about your writing?
I strongly hope that people don’t see this book as only African-American fiction. By no means do I run from that, and I do hope I can add to African-American letters. Recently I gave a lecture in Philadelphia, and I was alarmed because people said that they had never encountered anyone like my characters. I thought, of course you have. You have an uncle, you have a mom… I hope people don’t make these discussions only about race, but about gender and culture as well. |
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Libraries learn pour coffee, and they will come
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James, Rebecca
Post-Standard
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Colgate University senior Valentin Nikolov loved when the library staff brought out free coffee and hot chocolate and stuck them on a table next to the circulation desk during the frenzied study time right before exams.
"That's a time when people are exhausted and want to do something else," Nikolov said. "Some of the best random conversations I have had at Colgate have been during finals week while having coffee at the library."
When Colgate wraps up its $52.5 million library renovation later this year, it will open a new cafe in the library so students like Nikolov will always have the chance to jumpstart their studying with caffeine, sugar and conversation.
Campus libraries used to be places that banned food and drinks and invited students to hunker down at a spare wooden carrel. But that is not the library of the 21st century.
"You would have to be an idiot at a library where attendance is falling, as is true with many libraries, not to notice that people study with both computers and a cup of coffee," said Mary Bell, library director at the State University College at Oswego. "I think libraries are headed in the right direction to become more appealing and comfortable."
These cafes don't just sell a generic brew, but often top-of-the-line coffee and espresso. The Lake Effect Cafe at Oswego's library sells Starbucks, while the new cafe at Syracuse University's Bird Library will tap Freedom of Espresso, a Syracuse business, as its coffee vendor.
College libraries are reinventing themselves in ways that often mean tearing out bookshelves and finding space for technology and spaces for groups.
"There isan increasing emphasis on doing presentations and doing group work," Colgate University Librarian Joanne Schenider said. "It's not only getting access to texts in books and journals, but viewing videos or DVDs, listening to audio and taking clips and putting them together into a multimedia presentation."
Colgate's new library will have recording studios for audio and video, as well as spaces where groups of students can test out their presentations before they go live in the classroom.
The chance to talk to other students not just the caffeine fix is a big part of what appeals to Nikolov about library cafes.
Schools need to provide opportunities for socializing because students are increasingly spending time on computers. Connecting online still tends to be socially isolating without face-to-face interaction, Schneider said.
And it is the social buzz that makes cafes in libraries so cool. Cornell University sophomore Peter Fritch described the vibe in the cafe at Cornell's undergraduate library.
"Libe Cafe is the mecca of the Cornell populars," he wrote in a campus magazine. "You walk in to get your grande, nonfat, iced vanilla latte and you can feel the energy in the air."
But freshman Star Li said she is annoyed at the way people seem to hang out at the cafe to look cool.
"I am happy that Libe Cafe is there as it helps students to keep on track with their studying by getting some refreshments, but I do wonder why students would bother studying there," Li said. "The noise level is just so loud that I often wonder how anyone can get anything done."
SUNY Oswego opened its library coffee joint, the Lake Effect Cafe, in October 2004 when Lauren Dascher was a freshman.
Now a senior, many of her marketing and broadcasting classes require collaboration and the groups often meet at the library cafe. She thinks the noise level is perfect for conversation, not as quiet as the rest of the library and not as noisy as the student union food court.
"It's one of the best locations on campus," Dascher said. "It's the one place where you can find one kid just sitting there studying and also find kids meeting up to do group work."
The annual attendance at the Oswego library had dropped to 340,000 just before the cafe opened, down from 380,000 two years earlier. Last year, it was up to 390,000.
Librarians also say that the cafes foster interaction between professors and students.
"It's a place where you would invite a professor for coffee," Nikolov said. "It's a bit more academic kind of space. Now we have the student union, but it's usually much more noisy and not so respectful."
Not every university has a cafe in its library. You won't find one at Le Moyne College in Syracuse or Wells College in Aurora.
But if the school hasn't taken the step yet, people are probably considering it.
Morrisville State College officials are exploring options for bringing cafe services to the library, but haven't made any decisions, said Jessica DeCerce, speaking for the college.
Syracuse University had been talking about putting in a cafe for more than a year before construction started last month.
"The idea of cafes in academic libraries it's a winner," said University Librarian Suzanne Thorin.
"It's happening all over the country."
But for libraries that are typically crowded to begin with, finding space often means getting rid of books.
SUNY Oswego plans to put print journals that are also available electronically into off-site storage.
Colgate invested in an automated system that can store 500,000 volumes in a tightly packed space. The less popular materials will go there and be retrieved on request by robotic devices. Students won't be able to browse those stacks, but it will take only eight minutes to retrieve a book, Schneider said.
SU is also planning to add more off-site storage for its books and to add more space for collaborative work.
But it's not just about space and furniture, it really is about the coffee, according to librarians who point to the popularity of cafes from Paris sidewalks to Barnes & Noble stores.
"Libraries are finally facing the reality," Schneider said. "Most people prefer to read and concentrate and contemplate ideas over food and drink." |
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Neighborly Wifi
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| In response to the increasingly digital lifestyle of its students and proliferation of wireless devices on campus, Colgate University (NY) has built a WiFi network that includes outdoor areas of the campus and extends into areas of downtown Hamilton, NY, where many of its students live. While the goal wasn’t a pervasive metro network for Hamilton, the public can log in as guests at no charge in certain areas. |
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Senior year an ideal time to learn independence
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My college years are a fond but distant memory. Although my recollection of some lessons -- like the difference between early Greek and Roman vase art -- may be a bit fuzzy, others will stay with me indefinitely.
I learned that it's better to balance a checkbook once a month, not once in a while. I learned that it's possible to make an entire meal from a bag of frozen vegetables and leftover macaroni. And I learned that one red sweat shirt can ruin an entire load of light-colored laundry.
Far from the comfort and security of home, college was not just a time for learning new subjects. It was a time for growing up and learning about life.
But the transition from high school to college -- from adolescence to adulthood -- isn't always an easy one.
During the high school years, teens do have responsibilities. But more often than not, mom and dad may assume a big role in managing their children's day-to-day lives. Scheduling dental cleanings, shopping for groceries, even reminding teens about upcoming deadlines for college applications and scholarship forms.
Of course, parental involvement throughout a child's life is important. But experts suggest that senior year is an ideal time for parents to help their children make the transition from living at home to living independently.
"Freshman year can be a big wake-up call for many students," said Beverly Low, dean of first-year students at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. "A lot of students get to college and they haven't had to do many things for themselves, from picking up a prescription at the pharmacy to planning a trip."
What's more, many first-time college students are suddenly faced with a lot of free time but little experience managing extra hours in the day.
"During high school, every hour of the day was planned for them," Low said. "Classes, dinner, homework, extracurricular activities -- it was all mapped out.
"In college, students may have one class at 9:20 and another at 11:20, then they're done for the day," she said. "This newfound independence isn't always managed well by first-year students."
Low urges high school seniors to make the most of their time now so they can prepare for college life.
"There's a lot of time between now and August. High school students should use it wisely," Low said. "It's a good time to practice doing more things for themselves, to take on more responsibilities, and to grow."
Nikki Marcus, a high school senior in Hollywood, is doing just that. Before she begins her freshman year at the University of Florida, Nikki has kicked into "getting ready" mode.
"I definitely have to learn how to use a checking account. And I want to practice making some meals on my own," Nikki said. "I should probably brush up on my laundry skills."
These are exactly the kinds of hands-on activities teens can do to ease their transition to college life.
If you're the parent of a high school senior, Low offers the following suggestions:
Pass the baton. In college, parents aren't there to schedule haircuts, doctor visits or dental cleanings. "If you haven't already, encourage your teen to start making these appointments during senior year," Low said. "In college, she'll not only be managing a busy social and academic life, she'll be in charge of tracking her own appointments."
Think ahead. According to Low, many kids come to college with a day planner or other scheduler but admit they rarely used it in high school. "If your child hasn't had much experience managing her time, give her the opportunity to take responsibility for her own schedule," Low said. "She needs to know what her week and month will look like and map out her own plan."
Get informed. Now that college applications are done, encourage your teen to fill those extra hours with mind-expanding activities like reading books for fun, watching the national news and reading a newspaper. "Colleges want their students to be curious, inquisitive, and able to make an informed argument," Low said. Her words of advice to future college students: Get in the habit of learning more than just what's assigned in school.
Manage money. If your teen isn't already on a budget, the time to start is now. "Students need to learn how budgets work and how to stick to them," Low said. "Help set priorities and review lessons about how to spend and save wisely."
Allow for mistakes. "As you give your teen more responsibilities, there's a chance she'll make some mistakes at first," Low said. "For example, if she misses the dental appointment she scheduled, let her take responsibility for the consequences so she can learn from the experience." Low's advice to parents: Don't rush in. "This can rob your child of valuable lessons," she said. The beauty of addressing these issues during the spring of senior year, according to Low, is that parents can be there to guide their children, assess what's going on and find teachable moments like: "Let's look at this together. What can you do next time?"
Talk, talk, talk. One of the most important ways to prepare teens for college -- and for life -- is to engage in open communication. "Ideally, parents have already been talking with their teens about issues like body image, stress, alcohol and relationships," Low said. "Continue having honest conversations about the social and academic pressures that may crop up in college, and use this time to review the lessons you've been teaching your child through the years. There's more freedom ahead. Talk about it."
In the Marcus family, many of these lessons were introduced early. Nikki isn't scrambling to gain independence skills during her senior year because her parents, Diane and Jon, have been nurturing them throughout her life.
Still, Nikki is aware of the things she'd like to improve, and she views these next few months as an opportunity to prepare for college life.
In addition to enhancing her cooking and laundry skills, Nikki wisely plans to spend time focusing on what's most important.
"I'm really excited about going to college and starting this new chapter in my life," she said. "But right now I want to spend a lot of time with family and friends and really enjoy this time." |
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It's more than food at Friendship Inn
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Every Monday evening, the unassuming parish house behind St. Thomas Episcopal Church comes alive.
Men and women from throughout Madison County enter the Hamilton building's red doors, seeking friendly faces and a hot meal.
On these nights, amid the sounds of laughter and an old accordion, the parish house transforms into the Friendship Inn, a volunteer meal-service program for anyone with an interest or a need. Dinner is served at 5 p.m., though the crowd sometimes as many as 80 on holidays, begins to gather as early as 4 p.m. and lingers past 6.
For Penny Billings, of Earlville, it all goes too quickly. The Friendship Inn's site manager considers the place a second home and its patrons, family.
On a recent Monday night, the weather is cold and snowy, and the turnout is lower than expected, although typical for January and February; only 25 people have ventured out for dinner.
"I'm so sad," Billings says, as she looks around the room. "The weather has kept people away."
It's too bad, too. On the menu is a meal right out of a restaurant: chicken parmesan, scalloped potatoes, green beans, carrots and cake.
Three times a month Friendship's meals are provided by three Hamilton restaurants The Colgate Inn, White Eagle Conference Center and Colgate University's Dining Services. The eateries have been partnering with the program since its inception in 1992.
"Madison County was getting heavy into recycling," recalled Friendship creator Kerry Beadle. "I came up with the idea that there was a lot of food not being recycled, not just containers. Food was being left that had to go to landfills. I got the idea that we could be feeding meals to people who otherwise might not get one."
So Beadle, vice president of White Eagle Conference Center, gathered a group of interested individuals. Among them was George Murray, general manager of Colgate's dining services. Together the pair turned Beadle's idea into reality. They connected with Hamilton- area churches and found a home at St. Thomas, solicited donations, signed restaurants, and arranged to get items from the Food Bank of Central New York.
"We've had our ups and downs and almost thought we were going to wrap it up," Murray said. "But it's been strong for the past 10 years. It really is a community effort that keeps it happening."
On the fourth Monday, Billings cooks a meal with help from food bank donations and the culinary assistance of volunteers.
Despite a budget of $800 to $1,000 annually - $500 of which goes toward liability insurance - Friendship Inn manages to serve 5,000 meals a year.
Relying on donated space, the generosity of participating restaurants and the volunteers who run it - there is no paid staff - the program provides a place for those in need.
"We are a special organization," Billings said. "This is for people who have a need and there are many needs out there."
The focus from the beginning was to host a community meal, not a soup kitchen, Murray said.
"We didn't want people judging people on income or social levels," he said. "It really doesn't matter who walks in here."
And that's something Gary Schieffer, of Smyrna, can verify.
The semiretired chemist lives alone and has been coming for dinner every week for the past 13 months.
"I don't have to go home and cook. I usually get more than I can eat and come prepared," he said, pointing to a plastic food container stashed under the table.
Although Schieffer "didn't know a soul" when he first attended Friendship, now he regularly sits with a small group of men who have become friends. One of them is 75-year-old Fred Jenne, of Hamilton.
"I enjoy meeting the people, getting a good meal," Jenne said. "It's really fun (and) I like it when they really slam-jam the organ."
Alice Russell, of Earlville, has serenaded diners for four years, and she's glad to be there.
"This is like the country store was years ago," Russell said. "There's no gossip here, just love and concern. It's fantastic."
Billings finds that most of Friendship's patrons need social contact as much as they need a hot meal.
"When you live alone, you just don't (cook) much and sit down and eat," she said. "I have some people who just need a break from life, and this gives it to them."
Even so, Billings said, some people still shy away from the Friendship Inn.
"There's a stigma with a free meal in a small town," she said. "People look around and say "Am I gonna be seen going in there?' There's a pride issue. I've tried to upscale little things."
One of those is a dessert program that connects Colgate University students with the Inn via the Colgate Hunger Outreach Program. Called Baking for Friendship, students bake desserts, like lemon tarts, and deliver them. It's the kind of connection that makes Billings ebullient.
"It's a phenomenal thing," she said. "I get very excited about it. It's a real high doing this."
If you want to help
The Friendship Inn accepts donations of money, food and food- service items such as plastic utensils. Specific items needed are decaffeinated coffee, paper goods, take-out containers, chicken broth and can openers.
"We wear them out," said Penny Billings, site manager. |
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Curtain about to fall on one of her passions
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Hicks, Jeff
Record, The
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The crease is just an icy stage. Especially for Colgate University netminder Brook Wheeler of Brussels, who is majoring in theatre in her senior U.S. college year in Hamilton, N.Y.
"Goalies are all crazy," said the 21-year-old Wheeler, who was born in Listowel and has relatives in Waterloo.
"So I think there's a little theatricality in all of us."
Indeed, the role isn't a stretch.
Goalies are always in the hockey spotlight, right? They literally wear another face when the show is on.
How they play is the thing.
It's just taken Wheeler, who works off-season goalie schools in Kitchener, some time to learn to love reciting lines as much as she adores blocking the slings and arrows of outrageously talented forwards.
Wheeler eschewed figure skating theatrics and turned in her tights and toe-picks at age seven to play minor hockey on her brother's team.
Ten years later, she walked into her first acting class while on a full-ride scholarship at Colgate -- worth about $45,000 US a year -- and was rapt withal.
"I love being onstage," said Wheeler, who designs sets, directs and acts as part of her last-year studies.
"It's the same nervous feeling I get right before a game. It's the same feeling I have right before going out on stage."
Nervous? That's how Brook's parents -- Gerry puts up wind turbines and Brenda is a bookkeeper -- felt when she was 14 and left to attend prep school at Culver Academy in Indiana so she could play lots of hockey at the rink on campus and get her schooling.
It was eight hours away. It seemed the entire little town of Brussels was abuzz at the thought of her leaving home so young. But it was a better option than having her regularly travel as far away as Toronto to play elite hockey.
Her parents trusted her.
It costs about $30,000 US a year to go Culver. Wheeler said some incredible financial aid packages meant her family didn't pay much for her to attend.
Wheeler was tipped off about Culver and the opportunities that existed for girls by former NHL player Pat Stapleton, who had given a talk to the Clinton-based boys team she played for.
She went for it.
Four years later, Colgate coaches scouted her with Culver at a tourney in Boston. Now, she's finishing her full ride. The Big Apple is calling.
Wheeler just landed a nanny job on Long Island and plans to get her master's degree in theatre after she finishes up at Colgate this spring.
She wants to act badly.
Because of conflicts with her hockey schedule, she hasn't been able to audition for any big university productions.
But she's dabbled in student-written plays and, once, played a maid in a Brecht play. She takes advanced directing and theories of theatre, too.
When she was in little, she was in plays because she was forced.
Now, she longs to be in them.
Her next stop is Long Island.
"I really want to be near New York City to go to shows as often as I want," Wheeler said. "I'm ready to hang up the skates myself but never will I stop coaching and attending games and being involved as I can."
Farewell, hockey.
Parting is such sweet sorrow. But theatre has won Wheeler's heart.
"I'm in love with it," she said. |
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John Brown, 3 others named to National Abolition Hall of Fame
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Abolitionist John Brown was hanged for treason for leading an 1859 raid on a federal arsenal in what is now West Virginia. Later this year, Brown will be inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame.
The organization was established in 2005 to pay tribute to historic figures who worked to end slavery in the United States. The inaugural inductees include Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, who were both born into slavery in Maryland.
The second class of inductees was announced Wednesday in the New York hamlet of Peterboro, about 20 miles east of Syracuse. Organizers of the Abolition Hall of Fame hope to create a museum in Peterboro to honor people who fought against slavery.
John Brown led the raid on the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, which was then part of Virginia, because he wanted weapons to establish a colony for runaway slaves.
Sojourner Truth, Lydia Maria Child and Wendell Phillips will also be inducted during ceremonies at Colgate University in October. |
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Hockey team helps girl, 8
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Kollali, Sapna
Post-Standard - Madison County Bureau, The
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Colgate University men's hockey team will help raise money for a campus employee and her daughter, two of the Raiders' biggest fans.
Holli Hadlock is a clerk in Colgate's mail services division. Her daughter, Miranda , 8, had a brain tumor removed in the spring and is undergoing chemotherapy. Miranda and her family took a Disney Cruise in December, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
At Friday's home hockey game against Clarkson University , Miranda will be the guest of honor and drop the puck in a pre-game ceremony. At both the Clarkson game and Saturday's home game against St. Lawrence University , members of the college's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will collect donations in the lobby of the Reid Athletic Center, outside the entrance to Starr Rink.
The fundraiser was the brainchild of freshman Ethan Cox , of British Columbia, a forward on the hockey team. Proceeds will be given to Make-A-Wish. For more information, visit www.wish.org . |
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Hrant Dink's assassination and genocide's legacy
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The assassination of Hrant Dink in front of his newspaper office in Istanbul on 19 January 2007 is an irreparable loss. One of a group of brave Turkish intellectuals, Dink gave his life for intellectual freedom and democracy in Turkey. He was the editor of the bilingual Armenian weekly Agos, and he spoke and wrote about human-rights issues and various taboo subjects in Turkey. He was a strong advocate of the abolition of Article 301 of Turkey's penal code, which made "insulting Turkishness" a crime punishable by imprisonment. In speaking openly about the Armenian genocide of 1915 he had been charged with a violation of this article.
In the face of repression, Dink stood tall with courage and integrity. He lived with constant death threats, which he described as "psychological torture", yet he carried on his work with grace and fortitude. Everyone who knew Hrank Dink spoke of him as a warm, humane, gentle man whose goal was to bring peace and reconciliation between Armenian and Turkish societies (see his openDemocracy article "The water finds its crack: an Armenian in Turkey", 13 December 2005).
The flame and the candle
Dink's murder resonates around the world and is an emblem of the struggle for freedom of speech and thought in the face of government-sanctioned violence and repression everywhere. But Dink's assassination also cuts to the heart of Turkey's struggle to meet the standards for European Union admission. At the centre of Turkey's problems remain its repressive treatment of minorities today and its refusal to acknowledge past crimes - most notably its state-sponsored denial of the Armenian genocide, something the international community has been urging Turkey to acknowledge.
In the 1990s, according to PEN International and Human Rights Watch, Turkey had more writers and journalists in legal detention than any country in the world. Though the situation has improved slightly since then, in the past decade eighteen journalists have been killed in Turkey; in the past six years, 241 books have been banned, and in 2006 seventy-seven journalists had to face the courts.
For Armenians and Turks, Dink's murder bears a particular significance. Turkey's modern history of violence against intellectuals began when 250 Armenian writers, journalists, clergy, and teachers were arrested in Istanbul (then Constantinople) on 24 April 1915 and transported to prisons in the interior, where almost all of them were murdered. Now that Hrant Dink has joined the legacy of those intellectuals of 1915, his own legacy has become profoundly important.
Turkey's two faces
However, in the aftermath of the assassination, two dramatically opposed voices are being heard in Turkey. The 120,000 people who crowded the streets outside of Dink's funeral expressing solidarity, chanting "We are all Hrant Dink", "We are all Armenian", represent an opposition to Turkey's violent nationalism that is associated with the deep state and its military infrastructure; they represent the hope for democracy, civil rights, and ethnic tolerance.
On the other side are voices of extreme Turkish nationalism, including from within the state, which blame Dink's death on calls from the international community (for which they hold the Armenian diaspora responsible) for recognition of the Armenian genocide. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet now reports that Ankara wants to "slug it out" on the issue of the Armenian genocide and will pursue legal means (whatever folly this may be) to deny the Armenian genocide in the international courts.
The ultra-nationalist groups are making death threats at other "enemies of the state" like Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk; making violent statements to the Armenian community ("if you claim to have endured a genocide in 1915, then you don't know what a genocide is. A real genocide will begin now"); and threatening that they will blow up the building in which Agos is housed.
This is doubly tragic. To claim that the Armenian genocide is the problem is tantamount to blaming the victims, but it also embodies the paranoia of nationalists who seek to find scapegoats outside their country rather than looking inward to see the need for reform. At the heart of the matter is Turkey's urgent need to repeal Article 301, a law that enables the ultra-nationalists and others to bring intellectuals and writers to trial; the law is also a powerful means of fomenting a culture of repression and race-hatred. Lip-service is not enough if Turkey is to show where it stands on minority rights and intellectual freedom.
Turkey's prospects of joining the European Union are contingent upon a new age of intellectual freedom and democracy, and progressive forces in Turkey need to be allowed to evolve in an atmosphere of tolerance. It seems clear from Hrant Dink's murder, and the numerous trials brought forth by extremists, that ultra-nationalists in Turkey are working hard to undermine the government and Turkey's hope for the EU. But the tens of thousands of citizens protesting Dink's murder embody an affirmation of Dink's life's work, and it is up to prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government to embrace this legacy. That means bringing the perpetrators and their aides to justice properly, and showing the extremists that terrorism will not be allowed to undermine Turkey's movement toward democracy.
The truth of the past
As for the issue of the Armenian genocide, Ankara would be wise if it came to understand the work of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish legal scholar and holocaust exile who invented the concept of genocide. Then the government could find a way to come to accept the historical record that has accrued over the past fifty years.
In an open letter from the International Association of Genocide Scholars to Erdogan in June 2006, the world's major organisation of genocide scholars reminded the Turkish premier that the scholarly record on the Armenian genocide is unambiguous, and that Turkey's calls for an international body to examine the events that befell the Armenians is a political ploy aimed at trying to undermine the definitive historical record.
Raphael Lemkin was the first person to use the word genocide in conjunction with what happened to the Armenians in 1915. The many books on genocide in the English language - every one of which has a segment on the Armenian genocide - might also be the place for Ankara to begin educating itself. Blaming the victims with a variety of stock clichés supported by a few denialist scholars will have no more success than Nazi holocaust-denial with its small cadre of denialist scholars.
The German Bundestag in June 2005, with its own country's history deeply in mind, urged Turkey to come to terms with the Armenian genocide: "facing one's own history fairly and squarely is necessary and constitutes an important basis for reconciliation." Turkey can only go forward to its longed-for future in the European Union by allowing mechanisms for critical self-evaluation to become part of its cultural life. That way, the Armenian genocide will no longer be taboo, and Turkey's best and brightest - like Hrant Dink - will not become victims of repression and race-hatred.
Moreover, as much as anything, it is crucial for Agos, that small, bilingual Armenian newspaper in Istanbul, to be kept alive by the good forces in Turkish society; for Agos embodies Turkey's hope for a new age, and it is a living symbol of the need for openness and dialogue between Armenians and Turks at this historic juncture. |
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Go Read author took in Virginia's atmosphere
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Malone, Jann
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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This year's Go Read author, William Henry Lewis, has a strong Virginia connection.
Lewis, who goes by Hank, now teaches English at Colgate University in New York, but in the'90s, he was a graduate student at the University of Virginia and taught at Mary Washington College.
The Virginia countryside figures in his short-story collection, "I Got Somebody in Staunton." The title story involves a road trip from Fredericksburg to Staunton.
Go Read, now in its fifth year, is Richmond's community reading program designed to encourage discussion in book groups and schools.
The program's finale takes place Feb. 7-8, when Lewis comes to town to speak to area high school students and to read and sign his book at two public events.
For this interview, he spoke by phone from New York.
Did you absorb the Virginia countryside when you lived here?
When I was in graduate school, I was a delivery truck driver, so that took me to a lot of the roads in Virginia.
When I was out of grad school and teaching at Mary Washington College, I found that I was driving a lot to Charlottesville and taking country drives. I lived in a rural space on an old farm. I was constantly taking in the atmosphere.
Where did your gift for storytelling come from?
I enjoy story, and I enjoy the narrative behind certain situations. So I'd say that my gift as a storyteller comes from witnessing a lot of good storytelling but also from being very curious about the stories behind a particular person or situation.
I love to speculate about what might have happened in a certain situation.
I think a lot of that might have come from my grandmother and my mother. My grandmother who did tell stories and encourage me to share stories and make up stories with her.
My mother really encouraged us. She'd take us to a museum and would say, 'Make sure by the time you leave that there are five things you can tell me about what you've seen.' That kind of stuck with me.
You advise aspiring writers to wait for the moment after they think they know everything there is to know. Is that how you get details for your own writing?
Most certainly. Although I really have a lot of faith in the inspiration behind a story and idea, some part of me is waiting to see what that produces, what that triggers.
The initial inspiration is the thing that gets the bullet out of the gun. I'm more interested in what happens afterwards, what it hits after that.
How does that work?
I don't feel like a story really works for me until I feel like the decisions that are being made feel like decisions that the character would make.
There are certain things I want to have happen in my stories, but it's like any relationship. I like to make sure that we both agree about what's happening.
I wait for that moment when the characters come alive. I like to see what they do.
How do you write?
My first drafts are very messy, very disorganized. But the feelings are there, sometimes just the language, the flow of the words and the sound. There are lots of markups, lots of questions.
As I go further on, I start cleaning up, remembering that great Miles Davis quote. He talks about when he's recording in the studio, he always listens for what he can take out.
For a story that ends up 15 pages, I might write 25. I am looking to make it clean, to make it crisp.
Music plays a big role in your writing. What's the connection there?
My earliest memories are listening to music. Even though I'm not a musician, it's something that's a very strong part of who I am and how I connect up with things.
I like music as a nutritional aspect of writing. Although music can be a highly intellectually perceived thing, when you first take it in, it comes in on sound and tone, the way sound waves vibrate in your body. And all those things are important to you before you decide what it means.
I very much would like readers to have things happen on the gut level when they're reading that aren't necessarily explained, then to start to think about the story later on.
What do you hope people who read this book will talk about?
I hope they pay attention to how the stories are told and why these people tell stories. In those first-person narratives, what investment does that person have in that story being told and how does that say something about that person?
And the value of memory. I hope people talk about how important memory is to the characters in the story.
Do you learn anything about yourself when you write?
Most certainly. It takes me a long time to finish a story. I'm constantly working at it, but I think I very much enjoy the process of having a story grow and speak to me. I learn a lot about it.
I don't really keep a journal, so I find when I look back on old drafts and story ideas, I can think about what I learned, what I was feeling and what kind of person I was. In that way, writing stories is a way in which I learn a lot about myself. |
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Death of an Armenian Journalist Raises Strong Feelings in Turkey
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FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fionnuala Sweeney in London. Welcome to CNN's INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS, where we examine how the media are covering the big stories.
This week, funeral in Istanbul. Tens of thousands turn out to mourn murdered journalist Hrant Dink amid renewed fears over the freedom of the press.
"Iraq in Fragments", an evocative new documentary is nominated for an Oscar. We speak to the director.
And navigating the streets of Jerusalem, as a reporter in a video game. We discuss its role in training journalists.
And we begin this week with the fallout from the death of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul.
As mourners gathered in huge numbers the government pledged a fairer investigation, suggesting the murder plot stretched beyond the man accused of pulling the trigger. Dink said the mass killing of Armenians in the first World War amounted to genocide, a claim supported by some countries, but denied by Ankara.
His death has reignited the debate over ultra nationalism and created a climate of fear among some sections of the media in Turkey. This, as concerns remain over state sponsored reporting restrictions in a country that's negotiating to join the European Union.
Article 301 in the penal code makes it a crime to insult Turkey's reputation. Well, let's get the thoughts now of CNN Turk political consultant Yalin Ernip, a former Turkish ambassador. He joins us from Istanbul. And from New York state, Professor Peter Balakian, the author of bestseller, "Burning Tigress: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response." And here in London, the journalist Maureen Freely, who was a friend of Hrant Dink.
First of all, let me go to Istanbul. What has been the reaction among the media in Turkey in general? Has there been a unified response or a mixed response?
YALIN ERNIP, CNN TURK POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Well, there is a unified response, of course. Condemnation. It was a traumatic event. And people were shocked. People who knew Hrant Dink, a decent, rational man. Sad this is all over.
SWEENEY: Well, let me turn to Maureen Freely. Now you were a friend of the murdered journalist. What is your view on that? What had he, first of all, been trying to achieve?
MAUREEN FREELY, JOURNALIST: He had been trying to open up the discussion of the Armenian genocide in Turkey with a view to reconciling the Turks, all Turks of all ethnic backgrounds with the past.
He was also opening up bridges between Turks, Armenian Turks, Turkish Turks, and the Armenian Diaspora scholars abroad. He was somebody who built bridges person by person, dialogue by dialogue. And I think he could have done a lot more if we'd been able to keep him alive.
SWEENEY: Who are his enemies?
FREELY: His most dangerous enemies have no names and they have no faces. And I'm not qualified to say who they are. But the - what we were seeing in the press every day for the past two years would be in, you know, attacks against him, particularly in the new (INAUDIBLE), but also in a lot of other newspapers. The national press, the nationalist media, if you like.
And they portrayed him in the articles and also in the many prosecutions, the many 301 prosecutions, they portrayed him as a traitor. When he was, you know, he was always a Turk who claimed - who was telling us all the time that he loved Turkey. He was an Armenian and a person of Turkey.
And they lied about him, day in, day out.
SWEENEY: Indeed, he had said in an interview with Reuters about a year or so ago that he would not leave Turkey. He would rather stay there, even if it resulted in his death.
Let me turn to you, Professor Peter Balakian. What do you think his murder says about the states of Turkey and indeed specifically the Turkish media?
PETER BALAKIAN, COLGATE UNIVERSITY: Well, I think that the tragedy, of course, is that Mr. Denkowitz (ph) was demonized as an enemy of the state. And what he was really trying to bring to a broader Turkish culture was the idea that self-critique is important, that a democracy must have self criticism in order to be a genuine one.
I'm concerned, of course, that the concept of the Armenian genocide is falsified in Turkey, that it is denied. And I think it's important that the Turkish world come to understand more fully that the Armenian genocide is not controversial outside of Turkey, that it is corroborated by the consensus of the international association of genocide scholars. This is the largest body of scholars of genocide all over the world. And these are people from different countries and ethnic groups, hundreds of them.
And I think it's important that the Turkish press understand that it's not Armenians who conceived of the idea that what happened to the Armenian people in 1915 was genocide.
The term was first used by Rafael Lemkin, the man who coined and invented the concept of genocide. And he used the term `Armenian genocide' on American national television in January of 1949.
And I think the news from the outside is important for the Turkish media to do more of the work it needs to do.
SWEENEY: Yalin Ernip, let me ask you in Istanbul. Why is the issue of what took place in Armenia so sensitive for the authorities?
ERNIP: Yes, it has been very sensitive. My position has been very unique from the very beginning. I've always said that first, tens and thousands of Armenians have been killed. And perhaps equal number of Turks have been killed.
But it is not for me or for any person to define what it was. I think Turkey should go to the United Nations, ask the United Nations to set up a commission, like the Darfur Commission, to look into the events of 1914 and '15 and define the tragedy as to what it was.
SWEENEY: Now why is it so sensitive for the authorities?
ERNIP: Well, let me just finish. Because according to the genocide convention, it's only an international tribunal that can decide about it. That is why I'm not pronouncing as to what I think about it, because I'm not a tribunal.
Now it has been sensitive, because many Turks would tell you that an equal number of Turks have been killed by Armenians. Now we have not lived in that era, but that it was a fratricide, a mutual fratricide.
The second aspect is many Turks think that if you are accused of genocide, a whole nation is accused, which is wrong. But as to what the tragic events of 1914, '15 mean, and they are certainly tragic, only an international tribunal should decide about it, and define what it was.
SWEENEY: Maureen Freely?
FREELY: I'd like to say that it's always very important for people abroad to understand the end of the Ottoman Empire in context, because many terrible things went on.
However, the official history that the school children are taught, that it didn't really happen, or that this larger charge of genocide is invented by the Armenian Diaspora, that is actually privately contradicted in Turkey all the time.
Everything I know about the events of 1915, I learned as a child in Istanbul from people speaking behind closed doors. And what France was trying to do is bring that conversation out from behind closed doors, and have it happen in the public domain, so that we can accept what happened, and move on to reconciliation.
SWEENEY: And to what extent, (INAUDIBLE), does that conversation behind closed doors take place in the open in 2007 in the Turkish media, for example?
ERNIP: I think it should. I think it should. I think we should discuss it. In a democracy, nothing should be taboo. I think it should be discussed. And it started to be discussed.
FREELY: I agree with our colleague in Istanbul that in a democracy, everything should be discussed. However, we must remember that everything cannot be discussed in Turkey. And since the introduction of Article 301 and up to 20 other laws that curb freedom of expression, it is not just against the law to discuss openly questions of history. It is life threatening.
SWEENEY: Clearly, Professor Balakian.
BALAKIAN: Right.
SWEENEY: Let me ask you.
BALAKIAN: Yes.
SWEENEY: Do you think Hrant Dink's deathis going to in any way change the situation in Turkey in terms of either opening up the conversation or easing in any way press freedoms there?
BALAKIAN: Well, you know, I - my deep hope is that penal code Article 301 will be dissolved because it is demonizing and making outlaws Turkey's best and brightest. And this is destroying any chance for evolution and growth and genuine democracy.
SWEENEY: Yalin Ernip in Istanbul?
ERNIP: Yes, I think Hrant Dink's murder will help removal of either Article 301, or its radical change, so that it will not be used as an instrument of repression.
SWEENEY: All right, I'm afraid we'll have to leave it there. Yalin Ernip, in Istanbul. My thanks to you, also Professor Peter Balakian in New York state. And here in the studio, Maureen Freely. |
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