Fuse spring 2010 vol. 4 no. 1

FUSE STAFF

The Ithaca College Experience | spring 2010

We asked our staffers:

What’s your favorite on-campus dining experience?

“I’d have to say Green Mountain Coffee in my reusable mug at Grand Central Café in Campus Center, where I used to work.”

› Chris Lisee ’10

› Mike Grippi ’10 “I love all the latenight dining options at Towers, especially breakfast night.”

› Conor Harrington ’13

Videographer Kyle Kelley ’10 Contributors Matt Connolly ’11 Julia Gadomski ’10 Meghan Rindfleisch ’12 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Director of Admission Gerard Turbide Executive Editor Bonny Georgia Griffith ’92

› Allison Usavage ’12

Managing Editor Lisa N. Maresca

Photos by Mike Grippi ’10 and Martha Pace ’12

DENTS FOR ST

Having done our own college searches, we know how hard it is to make the right choice, especially when all the information you get sounds so similar. That’s why we’ve created Fuse magazine: to give you a firsthand glimpse of the Ithaca College experience through stories and photography by current IC students. Is Ithaca right for you? It’s your choice— and we hope this makes it easier.

Print Manager Peter M. Kilcoyne ’05

BY STU

› Martha Pace ’12

Copy Editor Tommy Dunne

ENTS UD

“The hummus from the Terraces salad bar.”

—Fuse staff

Photo Editor Jeff Goodwin ’10 Photographers Mike Grippi ’10 Jacob Lifschultz ’13 Michelle Montgomery ’12 Martha Pace ’12 Daniel Sitts ’12 Allison Usavage ’12 Matt Watkajtys ’11

“The chicken delicato panini at La Vincita in IC Square is my go-to when I have to eat on campus.”

“Meatloaf or pasta or whatever else my roommate Brian cooks in my Circle apartment kitchen.”

Writer/Editors Lauren Barber ’12 Amelia Blevins ’12 Alexandra Evans ’13 Alyssa Figueroa ’12 Conor Harrington ’13 Lauren Hesse ’11 Mia Jackson ’11 Alyssa Letsch ’10 Chris Lisee ’10 Nicole Ogrysko ’13 Danielle Paccione ’10 Jackie Palochko ’11 Gillian Smith ’12 Meghan Swope ’11

contents

› 2 AFTER ITHACA 3 LOCAL SCENE 4 OUTSIDE ITHACA 5 SPORTS REPORT • • • • • • • • • • • • •

7 Devastation Before the Haiti Earthquake Volunteering in a Haitian refugee village in the Dominican Republic.

12 Gold Medal Experience Interning at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

By Meghan Rindfleisch ’12

15 Figure That Professor Deborah King analyzes the biomechanics of figure skating.

By Gillian Smith ’12

By Danielle Paccione ’10

8 Get Your Geek On IC gives students plenty of opportunities to embrace their inner nerd.

By Danielle Paccione ’10

10 Marley & Me

16 Get Your Foot in the Door Jump-start your future with Career Services.

20 Behind the Curtain Shining the spotlight on theater arts management.

By Lauren Hesse ’11

By Alyssa Letsch ’10

An internship mixing music for a Bob Marley biopic.

By Alyssa Letsch ’10

18 Learning 11 Creating Global Futures with IC’s Certificate in International Business

By Matt Connolly ’11

with Legos Building robots—and problem-solving skills— with blocks.

By Alyssa Figueroa ’12

22 Animal Attraction The Tompkins County SPCA appreciates pet-loving volunteers from IC.

By Julia Gadomski ’10

Volume 4, Issue 1. Spring 2010 Copyright 2010 by Fuse, Ithaca College. All rights reserved. Ithaca College Fuse (USPS 24143) is published four times a year, quarterly (winter, spring, summer, and fall), by Ithaca College, Office of Admission, 953 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850-7000. Periodicals postage paid at Ithaca, New York, and additional entry offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Fuse, Ithaca College, Office of Admission, 953 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850-7000.

FUSE

AFTERITHACA Transitioning from

EXCITED KIDS to ProfessionalAdults When former Ithaca students Joe Zohar ’06, Chris Davidson ’07, and Chris Kusznir combine their creative talents, anything can happen. In one of their first collaborations, the animated pilot Olympus Burger, Zeus and Poseidon wreak havoc on the fast-food joint they work in, smiting too many customers and leaving Hades (the janitor) to clean up the mess. (You can still watch it on YouTube.)

From Ithaca to Broadway and Back, Designing Costumes

S

ince graduating from IC in 1999, Jennifer Caprio has designed shows for Ithaca’s Hangar Theatre, the Minnesota Opera (Romeo and Juliet), the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the Cleveland Playhouse, and Broadway and off-Broadway theaters.

She returned to Ithaca as the costume designer for the opera The Little Prince, IC’s first production of 2010.

Caprio says her greatest success was designing costumes for Broadway’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (pictured). “It was my dream come true at a very early age,” she says. “On opening night, I was sitting across the theater from Bernadette Peters, and it suddenly dawned on me that this is now my life. I can’t even describe how excited I was. It was the best thing that had ever happened to me.”

Watch a musical collaboration between IC and local kids at fuse.ithaca.edu.

Moving Box Studios, the production company the trio created in downtown Ithaca, now provides video, animation, sound recording, website and graphic design, and tutoring services to a wide variety of clients, from the Corning Museum of Glass to the Ithaca Police Department to local bands to the guy off the street who wants to transfer his old Super-8 film to DVD. What’s it like to go from IC peers to business partners? “It's been interesting to see everyone grow from excited kids to professional adults,” says Davidson. “It’s nice seeing this transition and watching people do what they love.” Check out their work at www.movingboxstudios.com.

GIVE UPTHAT

GIFTCARD

Is that Borders gift card your mom gave you buried in a drawer? With UpYourCard.com, you can trade it online for one that you really want.

Rob Schroeder ’08 and a friend created UpYourCard.com last year as a way for people to get full value for their unwanted gift cards. (Most online competitors buy unwanted gift cards, but only at a steep discount.) “When you’re trading, you’re not really losing any money,” Schroeder explains. “You can now trade the gift card for something you will use.”

When it came time to get the site up and running, the IC alum was happy to turn to his alma mater to find quality interns to help him out. Cinema and photography major Greg Dunbar ’10, one of three IC interns Schroeder hired, did public relations for UpYourCard.com, contacting radio, television, and newspaper outlets throughout the country to spread the word about the site.

Dunbar welcomed the opportunity to work with a Park School alum on a project he believed in: “I saw the site as possessing a unique concept that has incredible potential in today’s viral world,” he says.

Schroeder certainly believes in it, especially with the $9 billion in unused gift cards projected for 2010. “Our goal,” he says, “is to become the leading online source for trading gift cards.”

Help him get there by exchanging your gift cards at www.upyourcard.com.

FUSE

LOCAL SCENE

W

hat could entice more than a thousand people to stand for hours outside in the cold of an Ithaca February? Chilifest. At the 12th annual Great Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-Off, 40 vendors, from Collegetown Bagels (their “Dragon Breath” chili won hottest) and Viva Tacqueria to Food for the Planet and Razorback BBQ, dished out hundreds of gallons of chili.

Lines were long but spirits high as festivalgoers sampled recipes featuring tofu, peanut butter, pumpkin, and cauliflower. Between tastes, people got to ride a mechanical bull, sing karaoke, or compete in a Guitar Hero competition. One event drew tears to most people’s eyes: a hot pepper-eating contest. But not the winner, a Cornell student who swallowed a jalapeno, a habanero, a Thai Chili, and a Red Fresno pepper in less than a minute without a hint of discomfort. Talk about dragon breath.

Fuse’s roving reporter was on hand to document the event. Check out the video and find out the other big winners at fuse.ithaca.edu.

Everyone knows Ithaca’s got a pretty extensive music scene.

Here’s where to find it.

THE SHOP (312 E. Seneca St.) Catering to a younger crowd that needs a place to hang out where alcohol isn’t served, the Shop serves up coffee, tea, art, and live music in— you guessed it—a coffeehouse atmosphere.

WILDFIRE LOUNGE (106 S. Cayuga St.) Downstairs it’s a restaurant; upstairs you’ll find live acts most nights of the week.

CASTAWAYS (413 Taughannock Blvd.)

The quintessential rock ’n’ roll bar boasts an outdoor deck overlooking the inlet and a goodsized dance floor inside. Recent headliners: Henry Rollins and John Brown’s Body.

THE NINES (311 College Ave.)

My Favorite Shop in Ithaca:

Located in Collegetown, it’s famous for its rowdy shows and its phenomenal pizza.

THE STATE THEATRE (107 W. State St.)

My main stop whenever I’m downtown on the Commons is Petrune, which carries clothes and accessories with a creative, retro flair, whether they’re vintage or new.

I love the designs by IC alumna Natasha Keller ’04, a.k.a. One Swell Gal, especially her bright patterned change purses. She’s also working on a Petrune line of handmade party dresses. She adds vintage touches to these new pieces in what she calls “up-cycling,” like adding a ’70s beaded belt or a decorative rose salvaged from a ’20s gown.

“Our goal is to sell classics from every decade back to the turn of the century,” Petrune owner Domenica Brockman tells me, “and new retro-inspired pieces from independent labels like Tulle and BB Dakota.”

Whether we buy anything or not, Petrune gives my friends and me an excuse for a fun dressing-room fashion show, where we can be ’20s flappers or ’60s mods or ’80s preppies or present-day fashion plates.

And I’m not the store’s only IC fan. Gossip Girl Amanda Setton ’07 was back in town this March and stopped in for her Petrune fix!

—Amelia Blevins

With 1,600 seats, this restored vaudeville-era venue attracts the nationally known performers who play Ithaca, like Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, They Might Be Giants, and John Prine.

EMERSON SUITES (Ithaca College) You can get your rock on right here on campus.

The Student Activities Board books everything from punk rock to electronica to Ithacappella.

Keep an eye on Fuse’s own music blog, 11, for concert locations, photos, and reviews at fuse.ithaca.edu/blogs/eleven.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 3

FUSE

OUTSIDEITHACA

Go on Spring Break,

IC Physics Professor Is Working ona Mission to

ICStyle

OUTER SPACE

‹

SAGE, MoonRise, and OSIRIS-REx. These three finalists each have a year and about $3 million to convince NASA that their mission should be the one to join its current New Frontiers programs.

Every year since Hurricane Katrina, Ithaca students have done rebuilding projects in New Orleans for Alternative Spring Break.

W

hile some students headed to the beach or the slopes for a week in March, others went to Kentucky or North Carolina or D.C. for Ithaca College’s Alternative Spring Break, a challenging and fun opportunity to lead and learn through service experiences.

“It’s about taking college kids out of their lofty comfort zones and giving them the gift of social consciousness,” says Norah Sweeney ’12, who volunteered in Kansas City, Missouri, last year at Operation Breakthrough, a daycare and afterschool program that helps families below the

federal poverty line. “It’s easy to forget there’s a real world that needs our help.”

Connie Honeycutt ’12 went to West Virginia this year to volunteer at a children’s camp. “I realized there was something better I could be doing with my break time,” she explains. “I knew it would be a great experience to go somewhere new and do something amazingly rewarding for everyone involved.”

Read about more service opportunities at www.ithaca.edu/sacl/osema/service.

Dispatches from M

NGOLIA

The theme for this year’s Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival is “open spaces.” Ithaca politics professor Thomas Shevory knows a thing or two about that. As a Fulbright scholar, he has spent the past academic year in the world’s most sparsely populated country, teaching American studies, American politics, and international environmental film at the National University of Mongolia.

His blog, “Mongolian Spaces,” chronicles his life in the capital (Ulaanbaatar) and beyond. There is much to learn about this remote nation, writes Shevory: “Mongolian spaces intersect sky and steppe, Russia and China, Muslim, Buddhist, and Shamanist beliefs and practices, deserts in the south (the Gobi) and arboreal forests in the north (Siberia).” Though on leave from IC for the year, Shevory continues to teach Ithaca students through his blog, by exploring customs, social issues, politics, history, and the environment of a place so remote to Americans.

CLICK THIS Check out “Mongolian Spaces” at

www.ithaca.edu/fleff/ blogs/mongolian_spaces.

Beth Ellen Clark Joseph, associate professor and chair of physics at Ithaca College, is a member of the team working on OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer), which would study the geology of a primitive asteroid.

“Our plan is to navigate a spacecraft to the surface of the asteroid, acquire samples, and return them to earth for analysis,” Clark Joseph explains. “Our target asteroid contains records of geologic conditions that were in place before the solar system was formed. Studying the samples will increase our understanding of how the planets were formed as well as give us insights into the sources of prebiotic organic compounds necessary for the origin of life.”

If OSIRIS-REx gets the go-ahead (and up to $650 million for development), IC students will be able to collaborate with Clark Joseph on the project. “It will be a wonderful opportunity to give Ithaca College students the chance to conduct cutting-edge research in planetary astronomy and astrophysics,” says Clark Joseph.

Learn more at www.ithaca.edu/ hs/depts/physics.

FUSE

SPORTS REPORT Track and Field Teams Win ECAC and Empire 8 Titles

T

he men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams were a force at the Empire 8 Championships in January, with both winning their third straight conference titles.

The women Bombers scored 239 points—more than the five other teams combined. The men’s squad won six of the 15 events.

Kyle Devins ’11, who placed first in both the long jump (tying the

Ithaca record of 7.20 meters) and triple jump, was named Field Athlete of the Meet. Jeff Wetmore ’11 set a new Ithaca record of 22.63 seconds in the 200 meter and was awarded Track Athlete of the Meet. “Being part of a team like this is what every athlete hopes for,” says Devins. “We have so many great athletes that we push each other at practice and keep improving.”

Both teams then went on to win the ECAC title, a first ever for the men, who bested a field of 49 teams. The women were first of 43 teams, and finished 16th of 61 at nationals.

CLICK THIS Get the latest scores at

http://bombers.ithaca.edu.

Women’s Basketball

Sets Records The Ithaca College women’s basketball team set a school record with their 15th straight win, a 74-38 victory over Elmira College, then broke that record twice more, extending the winning streak to 17 before finally losing 38-37 to Utica in the Empire 8 Championship finals.

But the team broke another record this season.

Winners of the Empire 8 regular-season title, they ended up 16-0 in league play, a first in conference

history not only for women’s basketball but for any sport.

Without seniors and leading scorers Katherine Bixby and Lindsay Brown on the court next year, it’s going to be tough for women’s basketball to break more records, but the team does hope to improve in tournament play, after the last-second heartbreaker to Utica and a loss to DeSales in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

Bombers Gymnasts Win All-ECAC Honors

Leading the way for the Bombers in women’s gymnastics was Jessica Bolduc ’12, who ranked in the top 10 nationally in Division III in four individual categories: fourth in allaround, sixth on uneven bars, seventh in vault, and eighth on floor exercise.

In the ECAC championships, Bolduc won all-ECAC honors for floor exercise, vault, and all-around. She scored 9.725 on floor, tied for second place; 9.6 on vault, tied for third; and 36.850 in all-around, tied for third. Chelsea Robie ’13 won all-ECAC honors for uneven bars, scoring 9.175 for a fifthplace finish.

Ranked fifth nationally for much of the season, the team failed to qualify for the NCGA championship meet, though at press time Bolduc and other Bombers were expected to win invitations to compete individually. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 5

WHAT’S ONLINE Did you know that fuse.ithaca.edu is updated with fresh web exclusives every week? Don’t miss these hot new features!

Visit fuse.ithaca.edu/tags/web_exclusive for all this and more!

Dispatches from Hollywood BLOG

Fuse assistant photo editor Matt Watkajtys ’11 becomes a paparazzo (read about how he sold photos of Conan O’Brien to TMZ) while studying at Ithaca’s satellite campus in L.A.

Love Pizza? Ithaca Delivers.

Join Fuse’s roving reporter Mike Grippi ’10 in his search for the best slice in the city.

MULTIMEDIA

The Sights and Sounds of Singapore BLOG

Follow staff writer Alyssa Letsch as she studies abroad in Singapore, seeing the sights, learning the language, and eating all sorts of new food.

Droppin’ Beats in Emerson Suites PHOTO GALLERY

Q A ARTICLES

Trip digital through the scene of a packed house when IC electronic groups Deiselectro and Glittermonks open for Tobacco in the Campus Center.

Ask the Expert Meet the IC faculty the New York Times, NPR, BusinessWeek, USA Today, Science, CNN, and Cosmopolitan seek out for their expertise.

Community Service

DEVASTATION

Photos courtesy of Danielle Paccione ’10

BEFORE

THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE

by DANIELLE PACCIONE ’10

‹

VOLUNTEERING IN A HAITIAN REFUGEE VILLAGE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

In addition to working in a Haitian refugee village (above and top right), Paccione helped out in a poor Dominican community, where she made friends with two local girls.

A

s I shuffled through a Haitian refugee village in the Dominican Republic, I was thinking about the black mud adhered to my formerly white sneakers and whether or not I could receive cell phone service in a Caribbean jungle. Then I heard the words that would change my perspective forever.

“They’re born in the mud, and they die in the mud,” our leader said. Her voice echoed as she jabbed her walking stick into a puddle of rainwater.

I looked up and saw extreme poverty for the first time. Disease, malnourishment, and pregnant teenagers were no longer statistics but a harsh reality.

My heart began to pound as children climbed up my legs to be held, fighting to win over my one free hand. My heart was broken. And this was before the earthquake.

The summer before the devastating earthquake in Haiti last January, I volunteered for two weeks at Crossroads, a Dominican ministry. By 9:00 a.m., we were building cinder-block homes under the beating sun. We painted windows and doors, crafted framework with metal bars and wire, and shoveled dirt to be pounded into a level floor. Although it

was hard work, every swing of a pickaxe was worth the excitement on the faces of the onlooking villagers. Barefoot, half-dressed children would drag cinder blocks twice their size just to help us along.

Each day we broke for lunch of traditional Dominican fare, but it was difficult to eat while starving, parasite-ridden children peered through the cracks of the windowpanes, an image that still revisits me every time I pick up a fork.

Afternoons were dedicated to teaching math and English to children as young as two. When we went back to Crossroads at the end of the day, the children went back to the reality of their impoverished community.

I now appreciate the importance of my education more than ever and hope to continue to help people—around the world and in my neighborhood—to reach their academic potential.

See the full version of this article at fuse.ithaca.edu.

How IC Is Helping Haiti Benefit Concert for Haiti With 17 performances by more than 90 faculty, students, and alumni, the benefit raised over $1,000 for Doctors Without Borders.

Give One, Reach One Resident assistants of the Terraces organized a giving campaign that raised more than $650 for Haitian earthquake relief efforts.The donations were divided between Catholic Relief Services and Movin’ with the Spirit Mission Haiti.

Haiti Teach-In The Caribbean Students Association invited the IC community to learn about the history, myths, and media representations of Haiti and how to help.

How About I Take Initiative The newly formed student group is selling Rebuild Haiti T-shirts and wristbands and encouraging students to sign away a meal to go toward relief efforts.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 7

Student Organizations

by DANIELLE PACCIONE ’10

At Work:

Photos by Caylena Cahill ’10 and Bill Truslow

COMPUTER JOCKS

The nice thing about Ithaca College is that geek can be chic.

Whether you enjoy playing board games or video games, browsing bookshelves or cyberspace, you can find other students here at IC who do too. Go ahead— embrace your inner nerd.

Computer nerds are a thing of the past. Information Technology Services employs more than 100 students part-time in 15 different areas. You can gain professional work experience while coming to the rescue of your peers and impressing them with your computer savvy. Whether your interests are in web development, technical support, video and photography, troubleshooting, or digital media, or if you’d just like to teach—students run workshops—there are plenty of options for you to become involved and make extra money.

ITS employee Aaron Edwards ’12 says the best part about working there is the freedom. “You can pick a specialty topic catered to your interests, like making posters or websites,” Edwards explains. “It’s self-driven and task-oriented.”

With Clubs:

FUN AND GAMES The Sword Team of Ithaca College (STOIC)

In Class:

SCI-FI FANS Although English professor Katharine Kittredge is the instructor of Futuristic Fictions: DIY SciFi, she’s not the only one doing the teaching.

The semester is divided into mini classes, with small groups of students immersing themselves in a science fiction topic of their choice and then presenting the strongest elements of their research to the class.

Because students have such an impact on the syllabus—they’ve chosen such subjects as time travel, alternative history, images of divine beings, and space colonization— “they are active participants in their own education,” says Kittredge. And because the class is so hands-on, it’s an entirely different experience each semester, with student presenters sometimes even dressing up like monsters!

Do you envy the Knights of the Round Table, worship Captain Jack Sparrow, or idolize legendary characters like Zorro? Then check out STOIC, which teaches different styles of swordplay in choreographed dances and freeform sparring sessions. Although STOIC’s main goal is to research and learn about the art of swordplay, it’s a great place for a unique form of exercise.

The team practices kenjutsu (the art of the Samurai sword) and stage combat, using wooden replica swords for form practice and soft foam swords for sparring practice.

Interested, but worried that fencing’s not on your résumé? No worries.

If you’ve watched Pirates of the Caribbean (or even Peter Pan), that’s experience enough!

Other Realms Looking for something that exercises the mind more than the body? Dedicated to providing an intellectual forum for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts, Other Realms meets for game nights (from the newschool Settlers of Catan or Blokus to the old-school Monopoly or Candyland), movie outings, and book readings and discussions.

Television-radio major Alex Colby ’10 says, “It’s a lot of fun just to hang out with nerds, dorks, geeks, and the like for a five-hour-plus gaming session.”

More Cool (and Quirky) Clubs Can any of these IC clubs pry you aw ay from Mario Kart—agai n?

Backgammon IC Bell People Computer Scienc e Club Game Developers Club IC Gamers Fife and Drums of Ithaca IC Ping Pong Magic Club Do Anything Nice Humans vs Social Club. Zombies

The Anime Society of Ithaca College (ASIC) Cartoons aren’t just for kids. The Anime Society of Ithaca College is devoted to the celebration of Japanese culture through animation. In Japan, animation covers genres from science fiction to horror, westerns to sports, and everything in between.

With ASIC, you can study the allegories, symbolism, and metaphors found throughout these imaginative films. You can also enjoy Japanese anime in other mediums such as manga (Japanese comics), television series, video games, and Internetbased releases. “Anime is not a genre, it’s a medium with mature titles,” says ASIC secretary Joshua Schultz ’11.

ICircus You don’t have to run away to join the circus—there’s one right here on campus. And you might even get to play with fire. Performing anything from fire to spinning acts for the IC community and occasionally in New York City, the circus club of Ithaca College is dedicated to teaching, performing, and training in circus arts. Says Mackenzie Cameron ’11: “Whether it’s acrobatics, juggling, balancing, joke telling, dancing, or any other form of physical expression, we can use it to create beauty and wonder on a circus stage.”

Are you a Twilight Zone fan?

Its creator, Rod Serling, taught at Ithaca College, and the Roy H. Park School of Communications now houses the Rod Serling archives and hosts a conference dedicated to his work every other year.

Learn more at www.ithaca.edu/rhp/serling. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 9

MUSIC: Internships

Photo by Mike Grippi '10

‹

Marley &Me

Dan Timmons’10 works in the sound recording technology lab on campus.

by ALYSSA LETSCH ’10

An internship mixing music for a Bob Marley biopic.

E

ver imagine getting to work with an A-list Hollywood director while still in college? With the help of IC music professor Alex Perialas, Dan Timmons ’10 landed an internship at Sound Lounge in New York City and spent much of his time working on a film about reggae legend Bob Marley being directed by Jonathan Demme.

“Classes laid the foundation, but here I actually learned how to do it and think on my feet.”

Exploring possibilities for his for-creditonly internship, a requirement for the sound recording technology major in the School of Music, Timmons wanted to stick to the music industry. So when Professor Perialas told him about Tony Volante, a friend who’s the head post-production mixer in the entertainment division of Sound Lounge, Timmons balked.

“I was skeptical at first,” he says, thinking a studio that mixes music for film wouldn’t be a good fit,“but Professor Perialas sat me down and recommended the film industry.”

Timmons landed the gig and began seven weeks of mixing, editing, and compiling audio elements, getting the computers ready, and assisting Volante with several sound-editing projects.

For four weeks, Timmons worked with Oscarwinning director Jonathan Demme on Marley.

Best known for Silence of the Lambs (1991), Demme also directed the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense and other music documentaries.

“It was amazing to work with Demme,” says Timmons. “I really learned so much from it all.

Classes laid the foundation, but here I actually learned how to do it and think on my feet.”

Timmons also worked on the HBO documentary Schmatta, a trailer for the Tim Burton movie 9, and commercials for Microsoft and EA Sports. Timmons even did a voice-over for the game Fight Night 4. “If you listen to the

commercial,” he says, “you can hear my voice in the background screaming for Ali.” His advice to future students seeking internships: “Don’t get it set in your mind to do one thing. Be flexible. The result might be an awesome opportunity.”

He should know: After graduation, Timmons will go back to work at Sound Lounge, this time as a paid employee. Talk about working your Ithaca connections.

Learn how you can make beautiful music at IC’s School of Music at www.ithaca.edu/music.

How to Get By with an Unpaid Internship Targeted toward rising seniors, the Emerson Summer Internship Award provides $3,000. Each year, the dean of each school can nominate one student for the award. Timmons’s award covered his credits and a portion of his housing costs.

The Friends of Ithaca College Scholarship for Unpaid Internships makes grants to up to five students annually.

H&S/BUSINESS: In Class

“THE PROGRAM OPENED MY EYES TO THE ENDLESS NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONAL FIELDS THAT REQUIRE PEOPLE WITH BILINGUAL SKILLS.”

W

ith “interdisciplinary” the new buzzword in the halls of academia, Ithaca College’s certificate program in international business, launched

by School of Business professor and associate dean Hormoz Movassaghi in 2000, now seems prescient.

Although it’s open to students in the School of Business (except those whose concentration is international business), the program mostly attracts majors from politics, history, sociology, and modern languages who, Movassaghi says, see the value of studying business as a way to complement and enrich the training in their chosen field.

Students take 15 credits each in international business, foreign languages, and area studies/ international relations. With more than 150 approved courses in everything from theater arts, literature, and religion to anthropology, ethnic studies, and communications, the program offers a great deal of flexibility.

“The program gives students a different path to take on graduation,” says Gladys Varona-Lacey, a professor in the modern languages department who with Movassaghi advises and directs students in the certificate program. For foreign language majors, it opens up career paths outside the traditional ones of translation and teaching.

Michelle Myer ’10, a Spanish major in the program, was amazed by the possibilities it revealed.

“The program opened my eyes to the endless number of occupational fields that require people with bilingual skills,” she says. With the certificate in international business, students might consider jobs with government agencies (research assistants or trade specialists with the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, or State), with private sector firms (in marketing, sales, advertising, accounting,

law, finance, travel and tourism, or trade), or with international institutions (the World Bank, the United Nations, or the International Monetary Fund).

International companies and organizations, Movassaghi points out, need employees trained in sociology and psychology who are sensitive to the local culture and political climate. This is one reason he hopes to expand culture and area studies from the classroom to experiential learning with the help of the Office of International Programs.

One short-term study-abroad program he has his eye on: a three-week excursion to Heidelberg, Germany, where a number of global operations are centered, including Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, Capri Sun, and Lamy.

Ultimately, Movassaghi sees the certificate in international business as fulfilling a critical role: “It encourages a more aware, more sensitive student,” he says, something you don’t always see in business.

To learn more, visit www.ithaca.edu/ business/cpib.

‹

Photos by Martha Pace ’12

by MATT CONNOLLY ’11

Professor Hormoz Movassaghi meets with advisee Whitney Olado ’10 in his office. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 11

COMMUNICATIONS: In the Field

GOLD MEDAL EXPERIENCE INTERNING AT THE 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS

by MEGHAN RINDFLEISCH ’12

Ally Oleynik ’12 in front of Ilanaaq (the Inuits’ word for friend), the inukshuk on top of Whistler Mountain that served as the emblem for the 2010 Games.

O

mouse maze beneath the Vancouver Convention Centre. Wires of all colors and sizes dangled overhead and editors scribbled notes on the unpainted walls. But an underground studio held one of the largest televisions in the world.

Gotta love NBC’s style.

nly five minutes into my first day in Vancouver, and I was already regretting my shoes. I wobbled in my stilettos, trying to catch my balance on the Sky Train as I headed north from my hotel. Nervously clutching my bag, I looked around to see if any idle hands were sneaking into people’s pockets. I am not a big-city kind of person, and I was anxious about this big-city internship.

I worked with a department called Daily Stories, which was responsible for producing athlete and area profiles. Two tiny offices at each end of the last hallway, stuffed with tape decks and computer monitors, made up the offices I worked for, Edit 10 and Edit 7. I spent

I had been awaiting it for months: a chance to intern with NBC Universal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I was one of 31 students to be selected from Ithaca College to work at the

Left: Ally Oleynik ’12 and Hayley Henderson ’10 at the Vancouver waterfront.

Above: Meghan Rindfleisch ’12 working at Daily Stories.

Vancouver was astounding—turn your head south and you see skyscrapers; but turn your head north and there’s mountains and a bay.

I certainly made the most of my little free time in the city: going to restaurants in Yaletown with other interns, shopping on Robson Street, taking a bike tour of Stanley Park, and enjoying the wide-open spaces. But I spent most of my time in Vancouver inside, working.

Making the great descent into the NBC headquarters, or “the basement,” as the interns called it, there was no light. No windows, no picturesque view. Instead, picture a giant makeshift

‹

Olympics, one of almost 80 interns total. I had never had an internship before, and my lack of experience was unnerving to me. Would I be able to do the job? Could I handle the pressure?

‹

Photos by Jeff Goodwin ’10, Eric Olen ’10, Matt Barrett ’10, Sophie Kleinert, and Genevieve Ip

‹

Above: Interns got to try out curling at the Vancouver Olympic Centre. Sochi 2014, anyone?

Above left: Eric Olen ’10 at the opening ceremony.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 13

COMMUNICATIONS: In the Field

“The glamorous world of television was turned inside out for me.”

‹

Ally Oleynik ’12 with Mary Carillo at the NBC Vancouver studio; Matt Barrett ’10 at the Olympic cauldron; speed skating at the Olympic Oval.

INTERN HIGHLIGHTS Lauren Brousell ’10 “I could not have imagined a better experience for anyone interested in sports and broadcasting. Getting to be in Vancouver was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Working there, you feel like a valuable part of a team that produces media that will be seen all over the world.”

Maura Gladys ’11

One of the research packets I created for Tom Brokaw included an extensive family tree of the Lamoureux family, America’s “hockey family.”

Twins Monique and Jocelyne were among the youngest players on Team USA, and researching their family was interesting to say the least.

As it turns out, Monique’s got a bit of a temper on the rink (she and other Team USA members got into quite the scrape with Canada’s team during a pre-Olympic game) and the girls were body-checking in the Pee Wee leagues.

Our work contributed to the polished broadcasts that Americans tuned into every night for 17 days, but behind the scenes it wasn’t always so pretty. The glamorous world of television was turned inside out for me. I had not imagined the work-filled late nights, the occasional fights, and the scrambling to pull together lastminute projects.

With the announcement of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death on the first day of the Olympics came chaos. People ran down hallways, talking anxiously on cell phones, while executives were locked in a meeting room for hours. The Edit 7 Daily Stories office was in a panic. I didn’t dare enter the office for fear of being trampled or hit with a videotape.

While it was a tragic way to start off the Olympics, the spirit of the Games did prevail.

With brave performances from athletes like Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette, who courageously competed just two days after her mother’s unexpected death, Lindsey Vonn’s painful ride to gold, the record-setting performances by Apolo Anton Ohno, and the redemption of alpine skier Bode Miller, athletes and spectators alike joined together to create a sense of hopefulness.

I have never seen anything have as great an impact on the entire world as the Olympic Games.

Everything seems to stop for the Games, and being able to say that I was a part of it is truly an honor.

Meet the Olympic interns at www.ithaca.edu/olympics2010.

Nick Karski ’11 “This was quite possibly one of the best three weeks of my entire life. Working with the best in the business each day offered a small-town kid like me the chance to really see just how incredible this industry truly is.”

Julie Levitt ’11 “One of the coolest parts is looking back and knowing that I had a hand in the Games.

In some small way, I helped make the Olympics look seamless for viewers all over the world.”

Keenan Slusher ’10

‹

most of my days transcribing interviews, creating research packets for reporters and selecting shots and music to use in features.

“Working with NBC at the Winter Olympics was an amazing experience. The hours were long, but I loved my work and I couldn’t have asked for a better work placement. Being in the research room allowed me to watch and learn about every event and virtually every athlete, and my Olympic knowledge has grown exponentially because of it.”

From left: Ithaca interns Jeff Goodwin ’10, Mary-Margaret Cimino ’11, Andrew Champagne ’10, and Matt Barrett ’10 met Tim Canary ’87 (second from right), who is the director of systems engineering & integration at NBC Universal.

“We had a direct influence on keeping things together, making sure everything was running smoothly, and making an overall contribution to the entire NBC media production. It was great to meet some NBC personnel during the intern dinner, such as Mary Carillo and Lester Holt, and NBC did an unbelievable job of making us feel right at home and part of the broadcast family.”

HSHP: Faculty Profile

by GILLIAN SMITH ’12

‹

Photos courtesy of Deborah King

Professor Deborah King Analyzes the Biomechanics of Figure Skating

Professor Deborah King (left) with students in the lab.

F

or some, figure skating is an art form. For Deborah King, associate professor of exercise and sport sciences, it is one of the most challenging biomechanical problems she has ever tried to solve.

King first started studying figure skating in the mid-’90s, during a stint as a research assistant for the United States Olympic Committee. While working at a sport sciences camp for U.S. Figure Skating, she and other scientists tested national-caliber junior skaters on conditioning, flexibility, and technique.

She is currently the vice chair of the U.S. Figure Skating Sport Science and Medicine Committee, working in their high performance subcommittee.

King’s main involvement with figure skating has been the biomechanics of skills—jumps, spins, and footwork—and how the skaters transition from the lower-level skills to the higher ones, such as going from a single rotation to a triple. “[The coaches] have endless questions,” King says. “Often what seems like a fairly simple question is really quite complex, and trying to figure out the answer is a challenging problem.”

NBC Learn recently featured King in “Figuring Out Figuring Skating,” one of a series of 16 videos that explore the science behind some of the Winter Olympic sports. In the video, King explained the law of conservation of angular momentum.

“It was pretty fun,” King says. “I had to spin on a chair to demonstrate the science behind a spin” —how a skater spins more slowly when the arms are outspread and more quickly when the arms are tucked into the body—“and I was very dizzy at the end.”

“The logistical challenge of collecting the data on an athlete during the competition makes the whole experience.”

King also discussed how skaters achieve angular momentum and vertical velocity in a jump by analyzing footage of Rachael Flatt, the 2010 U.S. champion and Olympian, taken with a Phantom Cam, which can shoot up to 1,500 frames per second.

King has to take into consideration if the measuring tools—motion capture video system— will work with water and cold temperatures during competition.

“The logistical challenge of collecting the data on an athlete during the competition makes the whole experience,” King says.

The best part of doing biomechanical research on the skaters, says King, is that the results from her studies can be applied to other skaters and may help them reach Olympic status.

For a link to “Figuring Out Figure Skating,” go to fuse.ithaca.edu.

THE JUMPS OF FIGURE SKATING In figure skating, there are two basic kinds of jumps: toe jumps and edge jumps.

In toe jumps, the skater uses the toe pick of one skate to vault up in the air. In edge jumps, the skater takes off from a specific edge of a skate.

TOE LOOP: takes off and lands on the same back outside edge of the ice skate.

The skater uses the toe pick to vault in the air.

LOOP: takes off from a back outside edge and lands on the same back outside edge.

SALCHOW: takes off from a back inside edge and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot.

FLIP: uses a toe pick launch off a back inside edge and lands on the back outside edge.

LUTZ: similar to the flip jump, but it takes off from a back outside edge instead of a back inside edge.

AXEL: entered from a forward outside edge. The skater rotates one and a half times in the air for a single axel, and then lands on a back outside edge of the other foot.

QUAD: a four-revolution jump, most often a toe loop, now considered the most difficult of all the jumps in figure skating.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 15

Campus Life

by ALYSSA LETSCH ’10

From résumé and cover letter critiques to career aptitude tests and internship databases, you’ll find opportunities galore at the Office of Career Services. Interactive offerings include etiquette workshops, mock interview days, “Dress for Success” consultations, and speed-networking sessions. Plus, career counselors and peer advisers can help you network with alumni, discuss your career goals, or give advice about courses, relevant clubs, or even choosing a major. Best of all, the services are free! Here’s a roundup of just some of the programs offered.

JOB AND INTERNSHIP FAIRS Because a résumé can only go so far, career services organizes a major fair on campus each semester so students can get some face time with potential employers. And for students interested in pursuing an advanced degree, they put on a graduate and professional school fair each fall.

CAREER AND INTERNSHIP CONNECTIONS (CIC) If you live in the Boston, New York, D.C., Chicago, or L.A. area, you’re in luck. If not, you may want to head to one of those cities in January of your junior or senior year (or even after graduating) to take part in a CIC fair. Sponsored by IC and more than a dozen other colleges, including Boston College and the University of Notre Dame, these events attract more than 200 governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit employers in media/ communications, consulting, education, health care, finance, retail, and science/engineering.

CAREER CITY COFFEE CAFÉ Not sure where to start? If you’re not quite ready to walk into the Office of Career Services, try this event, featuring free cookies, coffee, and entertainment by various IC singing, dancing, and performance groups. Also on the menu are internship help, networking opportunities, résumé- and cover letter-writing tips, and information about applying to graduate school.

ROAD TRIPS TO THE REAL WORLD What better way to learn about an employer than to spend time in their offices? Ithaca’s membership in the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers allows students to sign up for on-site visits to various East Coast corporations, organizations, and government agencies over winter break. Past participants have included Target, Meditech, Amica Insurance, City Year, New England Aquarium, the FBI and CIA, State Street Bank, Teach for America, Penguin Putnam, Liberty Mutual, McCann Erickson, and the Philadelphia Zoo.

Photo courtesy of the Office of Alumni Relations

NETWORK NIGHTS The Office of Career Services teams up with the Office of Alumni Relations to put on a series of alumni-student gatherings each January. “Network Nights are a great opportunity for students to practice meeting people for the first time, feel comfortable moving through a room, make an introduction, talk about career interests or paths, get advice on how to pursue a certain field or job, and more,” says Gretchen Van Valen, director of alumni relations. This past winter break, more than 500 Ithaca alumni, students, professors, and deans met up in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, D.C., and Syracuse.

“Network Nights are a great opportunity to practice meeting people for the first time, talk about career interests or paths, get advice on how to pursue a certain field or job, and more.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO GO TO THESE CAREER SERVICES EVENTS? Here’s what integrated marketing communications major Kiersten Timpe ’10 experienced: “In one week during winter break, I went to two CIC fairs, the New York City Network Night, and a Networking Days minicourse with the Roy H. Park School of Communications. I was able to make some amazing connections, get advice on my creative portfolio, tour offices, and meet recruiters. Each event taught me something new and gave me good insights.

“While I was in New York, I met an alum, Michael Kaplan ’85, who works at a top interactive advertising agency, G2 Direct & Digital, and asked if he’d be willing to critique my résumé and portfolio. I would have been thrilled if he just e-mailed me a few sentences about it, but he agreed to let me come back to the office the next day, and he met with me for an hour! It was invaluable to sit down with him and get real advice from someone high up in the industry I want to go into.”

DRESS FOR SUCCESS TIPS Susan Greener, business development and training specialist at TC3.biz, the continuous learning organization of Tompkins Cortland Community College, offers her tips for dressing right for an interview.

Hiring managers have little to rely on in terms of understanding whether a candidate is an excellent fit for a team and a job. Neither a résumé nor references are very reliable, so a lot rides on the interview. Regardless of the job you are interviewing for, there are some messages you always want to send in your interview: reliability, trustwor thiness, and competence, to name a few. Here are some suggestions: • Wear clothes that fit you perfectl y and complement your body. Spend the extra money to have hems and cuffs tailored to fit.

• Wear clothes that are comfortable .

If clothes are complicated or not completely comfortable, you will be fidgeting and fussing, which distracts you and the interviewer from your presentation.

• Wear clothes you feel great in, inclu ding color! If you feel good walking into the room, your confidence will radiate and give others a positive feeling about you.

• Make sure all pieces are in grea t condition. You should clean, repa ir, stitch, polish, brush, and iron. You’ d be surprised how important it is to hiring managers.

• Black always works.

Get a leg up on your career at www.ithaca.edu/sacl/careers and read about more programs from the Office of Career Services at fuse.ithaca.edu.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 17

Photos by Allison Usavage ’12, Matt Watkajtys ’11, and courtesy of Patricia Woodworth

H&S: In Class

LEARNING

WITH LEGOS

by ALYSSA FIGUEROA ’12

I

Building robots—and problem-solving skills—with blocks

n one computer science class at IC, students build robotic animals, machines, and weapons—with Legos. But that doesn’t mean it’s all child’s play.

“It’s problem solving very rigorously,” says computer science professor Patricia Woodworth, who created Introduction to Robotics Using Legos and has been teaching it for over three years.

Students work in groups using Lego Mindstorms NXT programmable robotics kits. After getting instructions on how to both build and program various objects, students try to make dogs that can walk, machines with arms that sort different kinds of bottles, or robots that can travel down a hall and enter every third room.

Being methodical and using logic are encouraged. “You have to be right to get what you built to work,” says Professor Woodworth, “which leads to more careful and structured thinking.” One wrong move in the assembly process and the team might have to go back to block one.

Art major Josh Turk ’12 knows this all too well.

“At first you program what you build, and it doesn’t work,” he says. “So you have this really cool structure”—in this case a dog he and his team built—“and you want to get it to work.”

But Turk enjoys this trial-and-error process to solving problems. And when his team finally figures out how to make the dog walk, “it’s really cool,” he says.

Once they’ve mastered the basics, students use their imaginations to come up with new robots to build. “It’s a nice mix of creativity and logic,” says writing major Ben Swiatek ’10.

“There is a lot more freedom with building objects than I expected.”

Natasha Wu ’13, a biochemistry major, couldn’t stop thinking about her project. “I thought about what to build and how I wanted to program my creation outside of class,” she says.

Over the years, students have made a slot machine, weapons that fire Lego pieces, and a robotic arm with sensors that can sort out different-colored Legos.

The coolest object Woodworth has seen built by one of her students was a cuckoo clock. The central brick, which all Lego pieces are connected to and which stores the programming, was used to power the analog motor that made the hands of the clock move. The brick was also programmed to digitally display the time on its screen in unison with the analog clock.

Because Intro to Robotics fulfills the math and formal reasoning general education requirement many students are required to take, the course attracts both humanities and science majors.

Woodworth embraces this. “It’s really useful for anybody to have experience programming computers,” she says. “There are so many objects with embedded computers”—online games, websites, vending machines, cars—and they all need to be programmed.

Math Fun Day Woodworth thinks the course is valuable even if students don’t ultimately become programmers.

“It teaches the care you have to take with solving the problem instead of hacking your way through something,” she says.

Toward the end of each semester, students showcase their creations during Math Fun Day, a Saturday program open to children from local elementary schools. Five-year-old Liam Dunne’s favorite activity there: “Robots.” Along with the remote-control Lego-mobiles, he was especially impressed by a robotic scorpion whose tail snaps up over its head and strikes an object it senses in front of it. “He would poke me in the shoe,” says Liam. “I could have whacked that scorpion when it was attacking me.”

Each semester, Ithaca College teams up with local organization Family Math to introduce area youngsters to fun with math. Students and professors from the math and computer science departments volunteer to host activities such as computer art, musical math, origami, and more. The Lego room is always a big hit.

“The objects are just really cool to play with,” says Professor Woodworth. So there’s a constant stream of children coming in to have a turn with the robots.

“I am tired after three hours!”she says.

So it turns out the course does involve some child’s play.

Check out more computer science courses at www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/cs.

“There are so many objects with embedded computers that all need to be programmed.” fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 19

H&S: In the Field

C

hristine Olivier ’10 danced and performed her whole life, but when it came to picking a college, she decided not to stay center stage. “I didn’t want to make a career out of performance, but I didn’t want to give up the arts,” says Olivier.

“So I researched some of the best performing arts schools in the country and checked to see if they had matching business programs.” But few did. “Then,” she says, “I stumbled upon Ithaca and found the concentrated program”—a degree in theater arts management that offers an indepth, hands-on approach.

Photos by Mike Grippi ’10

That decision is likely to pay off. As undergraduates, many theater arts management students (or TAMs, as they are called) intern on tour shows such as Grease and Spring Awakening.

Graduates of the program land behind-thescenes jobs on Broadway (Jersey Boys, Wicked), in Vegas (Cirque du Soleil, Rent), and everywhere in between.

To prepare students for such big-name productions, classes integrate the organizational skills and financial know-how of a business major with the passion of a performance manager. “Our curriculum is set up in a really great way, because you take crucial business classes like law and accounting that regular business

majors take,” explains Olivier, “but then it gets more focused and specific to what we would be doing in the real world,” with courses like Theater Practice, Script Analysis, Stagecraft, Theater Organization and Management, Promotion and Publicity for the Performing Arts, and Dramatic Literature.

Being a TAM means more than getting a background in business, marketing, and the performing arts, says Olivier. It also means getting “thrown into the lion’s den,” also known as TAM Practicum, a class in which students run the shows that their peers are performing in. Though pressure-filled, Practicum is viewed by most TAMs as the best experience in the curriculum. Explains Alan Paramore ’11, group sales manager: “We get the opportunity to really run the theater.

Students are the ones managing the house, ushering, selling concessions, doing publicity, and working in the ticket office. But it goes way past that. When the doors are closed, we are also the ones counting the money and writing reports at the end of the night, making sure everything adds up.” It may be the students onstage who put on a great show, but it’s the TAMs who make sure the six productions per year go off without a hitch.

That isn’t always so easy. Olivier recalls one particular weekend when Practicum students had to guard doors to keep a group of (nontheater) student pranksters from trying to release a live chicken onstage during a performance of The Full Monty.

by LAUREN HESSE ’11

It may be the students onstage who put on a great show, but it’s the TAMs who make sure the productions go off without a hitch.

It’s this ready-for-anything mind-set, strong business sense, and passion for theater that help TAMs land plum positions right out of school and build solid careers. Take Carly DiFulvio ’07, for example. As company manager at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre, one of the homes of the Roundabout Theatre Company, her job is “to keep celebs happy—most of the time.” Those celebs include Sienna Miller (After Miss Julie), Frank Langella (A Man for All Seasons), Mary-Louise Parker (Hedda Gabler),

YOUR TICKET TO A GREAT JOB Mark Redanty ’78 is a principal of Bauman, Redanty & Shaul. Redanty heads up the New York City office of this bicoastal talent agency, whose clients have included James Earl Jones, Kristin Chenoweth, Jean Stapleton, and Michael Nouri.

Steve Michelman ’91 has worked as technical director for Cirque du Soleil’s O in Las Vegas.

and Matthew Broderick (The Philanthropist). Or take Matthew Fox ’96. He’s the theater manager at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre, home of the long-running hit show Jersey Boys.

One thing is for sure: A TAM has to be ready to face it all. All, that is, except being onstage.

If you’ve dreamed about working in the bright lights of Broadway, check out www.ithaca.edu/hs/ depts/theatre.

Laura Hill ’07 has been a development associate at the Boston Conservatory and the East Coast/ Canadian tour coordinator for International Music Network.

Zach Laks ’07 worked in the planned giving office at the Metropolitan Opera and is now assistant to the executive producer at 59E59 Theaters in New York City.

Amy Cohen ’08, codirector of the 2009 American Youth Circus Festival, is in the U.K. on a Fulbright scholarship studying circuses.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 21

Community Service

T

he move to a college atmosphere can be incredibly exciting, and while your classes and club activities may stave off homesickness, you might not realize how much you’ll miss the part of your family that makes home feel so cozy—your pets. The rules of residence hall living may leave you missing the comforts of home, including rubbing Fido’s belly and the sound of Fluffy’s purr. But don’t despair. In Ithaca, the answer to your animal woes is just around the corner.

ATTRACTION The Tompkins County SPCA Appreciates Pet-Loving Volunteers from IC

‹

Photos by Martha Pace ’12

by JULIA GADOMSKI ’10

Samantha Corrado ’11 (left) and Kit Meyers ’10 with new friends at the Tompkins County SPCA.

The SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) of Tompkins County is just 20 minutes from Ithaca College, and it’s unlike any other shelter in the country.

Students in Ithaca have the huge advantage of living near the only shelter in the nation that has both a no-kill and an open-admission policy, meaning they will never euthanize a healthy, treatable animal or turn away strays or surrendered animals from their doors. Oftentimes the only family these animals know are the volunteers at the SPCA. And that’s where IC students come in.

Samantha Corrado ’11 is a biology major from Hawthorne, New York, who has been volunteering with the SPCA for two years as a dog walker—or runner, in her case, as she likes to come to the SPCA in sweats to take the dogs for a run around the 10-acre property.

Corrado wanted to offer her time to the animals because she missed her pets from home so much, a German shepherd named Jessie and a gray tabby cat named Zoey.

“I just love animals,” says Corrado.

“You don’t realize how much you miss them until they’re gone.”

Corrado’s tasks while volunteering range from her runs to socializing the dogs, which includes playing with them, petting them, and helping them learn basic commands, all in the hopes of making them more adoptable so they can find homes of their own. “It’s so rewarding,” she says. “You come here and the animals are in kennels. They don’t have the family your pets have. And no matter what, they love you.”

“They look at you with their sad eyes and they’re so happy after you’ve spent time with them,” adds Kit Meyers ’10, an integrated marketing communications major from Rochester, New York. Also a dog walker at the SPCA, Meyers got involved when she read an article in the Ithacan about how the organization needed volunteers, and she was eager to help out. “I’m a huge dog person,” she explains. When she came to college, Meyers left behind her cockapoo Mosley, or “Mo,” who unfortunately passed away over a year ago. “This is what makes volunteering at the SPCA so special and important to me,” Meyers says. “Being surrounded

by dogs in Ithaca helped fill the void when Mo was two hours away and it helps fill the void now that he is gone.”

To become a volunteer, students must commit for one school year with a shift of two and a half hours per week. “It goes by so fast,” Meyers says. “It sounds like a big chunk of time, but it’s really not.” And there’s nothing to fear about working with abandoned animals since the ones you’ll be working with are all healthy and tame enough for interaction.

“It’s so easy to volunteer because we’re very flexible,” says Leah Brookner, former volunteer program manager at the SPCA. “We make the volunteer shifts work for each person.” And no experience is necessary either. “We provide both orientation and training,” she says.

“We’ll make you comfortable and you’ll get to meet other people through your experiences. It’s really fun. You play with animals for two and a half hours. People really enjoy their time here.”

Corrado says the number one reason she volunteers is that it leaves her feeling better, not only about herself but about making the day brighter for the friendly SPCA residents.

So what are you waiting for?

Make a difference in the community and in a homeless animal’s life. You may just make a new best friend.

Other Ways to Help Allergic to cats? No problem. IC can hook you up with a ton of other great community service opportunities: • Alternative Spring Break • Habitat for Humanity • S.W.I.F.T. (Stop Wasting Ithaca’s Food Today) • Big Brothers Big Sisters • Do Anything Nice • American Red Cross • Relay for Life

Learn more about IC’s community service options at fuse.ithaca.edu.

The rules of residence hall living may leave you missing the comforts of home, including rubbing Fido’s belly and the sound of Fluffy’s purr.

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | spring 2010 • 23

Featured Photo

Ithaca men’s lacrosse cocaptain and four-year letter winner Nick Neuman ’10 takes some extra face-off draws after practice.

Photo by Mike Grippi ’10

Ithaca at a Glance Ithaca offers a first-rate education on a first-name basis. Learn what you love from stellar faculty. Start a club, intern at your dream job, or spend a semester halfway around the world. Whatever course you set, you’ll love what you do. At Ithaca, you’ll have lots of choices and plenty of opportunities to find your passion in life.

LOCATION In the center of the Finger Lakes region of New York State, our modern campus is 60 miles north of Binghamton and 60 miles south of Syracuse.

The city of Ithaca is home to about 47,000 residents and neighboring Cornell University.

STUDENT BODY 6,400 undergraduates and 500 graduate students from 47 states, 4 U.S. territories, and 80 countries.

Over 70 percent of students live on Ithaca’s hilltop campus, which overlooks Cayuga Lake.

›

FACULTY 461 full-time faculty and 241 part-time faculty STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO 12 to 1 ACADEMIC PROFILE The high school average of most admitted students ranges from B+ to A. APPLICATION DEADLINE Freshman applications for fall admission due February 1

PROGRAMS OF STUDY With more than 100 degree programs to choose from, Ithaca has something for everyone. To learn more about the different schools and the majors they offer, visit the websites below. A complete list of majors can be found on the admission website at www.ithaca.edu/admission/programs.

SCHOOL

School of Business

STUDENT ENROLLMENT

700

SCHOOL HOMEPAGE

www.ithaca.edu/business

Roy H. Park School of Communications

1,450

www.ithaca.edu/rhp

School of Health Sciences and Human Performance

1,300

www.ithaca.edu/hshp

School of Humanities and Sciences

2,300

www.ithaca.edu/hs

School of Music

550

www.ithaca.edu/music

Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies

100

www.ithaca.edu/diis

For details about Ithaca’s application process, financial aid, tuition, and more, please visit www.ithaca.edu/admission.

›

DID YOU KNOW? ITHACA COLLEGE RENTS OUT CAMPING GEAR, TENTS, FISHING EQUIPMENT, CROSS COUNTRY SKIS, SNOWSHOES, KAYAKS, AND CANOES AT RIDICULOUSLY LOW PRICES!

OFFICE OF ADMISSION Ithaca College 953 Danby Road Ithaca, NY 14850-7000 800-429-4274 or 607-274-3124 www.ithaca.edu

Office of Admission Ithaca College 953 Danby Road Ithaca, NY 14850-7000 800-429-4274 607-274-3124 www.ithaca.edu

Get the inside scoop on Ithaca.

VISIT US! Learn more at www.ithaca.edu/admission/visit.php.

Fuse is a green publication. Read it and recycle it. Or better yet—share it with a friend!

Fuse uses 19,800 lbs of paper that has a postconsumer recycled percentage of 30 percent: 50 trees preserved for the future • 21,195 gallons wastewater flow saved • 2,345 lbs solid waste not generated • 4,618 lbs of greenhouse gases prevented • 35,343,000 BTUs energy not consumed • 18,750 miles of automobile travel saved • the equivalent of 1,482 trees planted. The inks contain 27 percent renewable resources.