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TUESDAY
april 25, 2017 high 64°, low 49°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
N • Studying sleep
dailyorange.com
S • Building a dynasty
A recent study found that students are more likely to succeed in later classes because they reach their mental peak in the mid-morning. Page 3
Onondaga Community College’s lacrosse program has developed into one of the best in the country. Some alumni, like Randy Staats, have gone on to play at SU. Page 16
P • Who is Syracuse?
Meet Priya Penner, an advocate for students with disabilities, and Stanley Bondy, the dedicated man behind the Newhouse School’s numerous functions. Pages 8-9
commencement 2017
‘Life
Graduates prone to leave area
over limb’
By Taylor Watson asst. copy editor
Local volunteer saves lives on the front lines in Mosul
As the Syracuse University class of 2017 looks toward life after college, most will be leaving the central New York area, emulating a state-wide trend. New York is among the top states with the highest loss in college-educated people, per The New York Times. Of the SU students who report their postcollegiate endeavors, about 10 percent remain in Syracuse and the surrounding area of central New York, said Michael Cahill, director of SU’s career services. The fact that most students leave the area is common among private, national universities, he said. A major reason students leave the area is because they don’t come with the mindset that they are going to stay, Cahill said.
By Meghan Mistry
contributing writer
I
n the back of a makeshift ambulance in Mosul, Iraq, Jonathan Rieth couldn’t figure out where his friend, a Kurdish commander fighting ISIS, had been shot. He took off the commander’s body armor and searched for the wound. Then he saw the back of the commander’s skull open, the result of a gunshot to the head. “I put some dressings on it. I did a few things that were against textbook rules,” Rieth said. “My thought was this guy is going to die — I’m going to try everything I can. Life over limb. He lived.” Rieth has volunteered on the front lines in Mosul as a combat medic on and off since May 2016. Back home in the United States, the Syracuse local works in the textile industry and as an EMT. “It isn’t very fulfilling and maybe that’s why I became a (volunteer) EMT in the U.S. — to augment that and give back a little,” he said as he explained how, as an American with no ties to the Middle East, he ended up in one of the most dangerous conflict zones in the world. “Maybe that was part of the evolution to winding up overseas.” Rieth’s voluntary tours in the Middle East aren’t out of character: He’s an adventurer who is up for new challenges. When he went to Mosul without speaking a word of Arabic or Kurdish, he wasn’t at all intimidated, he said. After returning from his three-week trip in March to early April, Rieth had no plans to return to Iraq. Yet after two weeks in Syracuse, he received word that advances were being made into a portion of the city that could end with full Iraqi control — so he left again. The self-proclaimed Islamic State group has held Mosul since 2014, according to the BBC. Since October 2016, factions have fought to retake the city. Ethnic groups in the Middle East, modern Turkey, the former Ottoman Empire and Western nations have long coveted Mosul, whether for historic claims to the city, or see rieth page 4
JONATHAN RIETH, a Syracuse local, has been a medical volunteer in the war-torn city of Mosul, Iraq. courtesy of jonathan rieth
10 Approximate percentage of SU graduates who stay local source: su career services
RIETH (SECOND FROM RIGHT) first went to Mosul in May 2016 without knowing a word of Arabic or Kurdish. courtesy of jonathan rieth
“We are more of a national university,” he said. “So it’s not really thinking, ‘I’m going to school in Syracuse because I really want to get to know the community and stay there.’ They have other ideas in mind.” As of 2016, 29,000 SU alumni were living in Syracuse, said David Bartell, executive director of outreach programs in the Office of Alumni Engagement. Of that number, 20 percent have graduated within the last 10 years, he said. The top three schools accounted for are the College of Arts and
see graduates page 4
whitman
Dean candidate addresses students’ concerns at forum By Jordan Muller staff writer
One of the three finalists for the Martin J. Whitman School of Management dean position addressed concerns regarding students’ post-graduate success, the Whitman School’s ranking and the Charles Koch Foundation grant during an open forum with students Monday afternoon. Rajiv Dewan, a professor of computers and information sys-
tems at the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School, talked with students at the Milton room inside the Whitman building Monday. Dewan was on Syracuse University’s campus to meet with faculty and administrators for an interview and a presentation. The candidate selected for the position will replace former Dean Kenneth Kavajecz, who was arrested in a prostitution sting last September. Kavajecz received a misdemeanor charge for patroniz-
ing a prostitute in the third degree and is scheduled to next appear in court on May 25. S.P. Raj, chair of the marketing department, has been serving as interim dean for Whitman, temporarily filling the position since mid-October. If hired as dean of the Whitman School, Dewan said his first priority will be student success. He praised the Whitman School’s Goodman IMPRESS program, which was created to encourage
students to be better business leaders, but said he wanted to improve student opportunities after graduation. “I looked at the average salary of students upon graduation and the percentage of students who have jobs and both of those need more attention,” Dewan said. The success of an undergraduate and graduate student’s education in business is measured upon what happens after students graduate, he added.
To expose students to companies outside of the Syracuse area, Dewan said he hopes to introduce experiential courses in New York City, Washington, D.C. and countries outside the United States. Dewan also discussed Whitman’s Bloomberg Businessweek ranking after a student voiced concern that Whitman values rankings over current students. Bloomberg Businessweek in 2016 ranked Whitman as the 23rd best
see candidate page 4