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september 29, 2010
t h e i n de pe n de n t s t u de n t n e w spa pe r of s y r acuse , n e w yor k
I N S I D ene w s
I N S I D e o p ini o n
What’s up, doc? More women than
The good, the bad, the ugly Vicki Ho rounds up New York
men are getting their doctorates at SU and nationally. Page 3
Fashion Week and tells us what trends to expect for fall. Page 5
INSIDepulp
Up close and personal The Goo Goo Dolls
INSIDEsports
engage the audience with an intimate performance. Page 9
Joining forces
One year without one, and one year without the other; Syracuse women’s soccer finally has Megan Bellingham and Tina Romagnuolo on the field together. Page 20
City may set up cameras aimed at SU buildings By Rebecca Kheel Asst. News Editor
bridget streeter | photo editor While university cameras near Moon Library currently monitor the Carrier Dome, Syracuse police are requesting city approval to receive a grant to fund security cameras on city property that would capture the Dome and Syracuse University’s steam plant.
The Department of Homeland Security may have its eyes on Syracuse University in the future. The Syracuse Police Department has requested city approval to receive an $84,400 grant from the New York state Office of Homeland Security to fund five security cameras that would record activity at the SU steam plant and the Carrier Dome. The proposal has prompted both outcry and approval from affected parties. “The Syracuse Police Department is just looking to keep us safe,” said Common Councilor-at-Large Bill Ryan, chair of the Public Safety Committee, during Monday’s Common Council meeting. The current proposal would place surveillance cameras at Pioneer Homes, a government public housing project bordered by East Adams Street, Renwick Avenue, and Taylor and South Townsend streets. The range of the cameras’ sight would reach to the Dome on Irving Avenue and SU’s steam plant
see security page 6
Recession hits unique Maxwell social science program IR professor to By Jon Harris Asst. Copy Editor
Students in the Master of Social Science Degree program aren’t the typical graduate students. They have been military personnel, high school teachers, government officials and even foreign royalty. The program, more than 30 years old, allows students to spend a total of only four weeks at Syracuse University to obtain their master’s degree. Beyond that, they maintain contact with faculty through e-mails and phone calls as they do their course work. “There’s a lot of distance-learning programs,” said David Bennett, meredith professor of history and faculty chair of the program. “But this is different. This gives students a chance to interact with fellow students, meet with faculty members, create a sense of community, while also not aban-
doning their careers.” But in the past year, the number of student applications to the Master of Social Science Degree program, part of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has declined. The decrease is the result of administrative changes at the university, the impact of the recession and conflict overseas that have deterred foreign students. The program admitted seven students in the past year, but took 16 students in 2009 and 20 students in 2008, said Elizabeth Ryan, who works in program support for Executive Education Programs in Maxwell, in an e-mail. “We are not seeing the applications like we were before.” Students in the program can complete their degree in as short as 18 months or take up to seven years, so the overall number of students in the program is still high. Since 2008,
when Executive Education Programs took over the program from University College, there have been 120 students in the program who graduated, were admitted or are currently continuing their degree, Ryan said. The administrative switch that took the independent Master of Social Science Degree program from UC to Executive Education Programs hurt the enrollment in the program, said Stephen Webb, professor emeritus of history and one of six faculty members teaching in the program. He said the program is also still learning how to market itself effectively on the Internet. The number of foreign students has seen a particular decline. Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the program had a “tremendous array of highly accomplished foreign students,” Webb said. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
of Saudi Arabia graduated from the Master of Social Science Degree program and is now the 19th richest man in the world with a net worth of $19.4 billion, according to Forbes.com. But since Sept. 11, Webb said there haven’t been as many students from abroad attending the program. Most of the students in the program today are U.S. citizens with jobs as secondary school teachers or serving in a branch of the military, Webb said. Despite the decline in student applications and enrollment, the Master of Social Science Degree program is providing its students with flexible courses and personal components not found in other distancelearning and online courses. The program was first organized in 1972 by Webb, Bennett and Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science, to create a gradusee masters page 7
bring expertise to role as chair By Kathleen Ronayne Managing Editor
Executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme; member of the Committee on World Food Security’s steering committee; 2003 World Food Prize Laureate. These are just three of the many roles Catherine Bertini will draw from in her new job as chair of the university’s graduate international relations program. “She has extensive experience in international affairs and is a very good representative for the program,” said Michael Wasylenko, interim dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “She also has extensive
see bertini page 7