Fuse winter 2010 | vol. 3 no. 4

FUSE STAFF

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, a publication that gives 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.

ENTS UD

contributors to this issue

›

DENTS

Maura Gladys ’11

Zachary Tomanelli ’11

I’m a journalism major from Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania. When I’m not in class, I coach a youth soccer team through the Ithaca Youth Bureau and freelance for the Ithaca Journal.

I’m a journalism major from Marlboro, New York. I’m on the WICB sports staff and I work with Water for Sudan, the fund-raising arm of IC’s STAND chapter.

FOR ST

—Fuse staff

BY STU

The Ithaca College Experience | winter 2010

Writer/Editors Matt Connolly ’11 Alyssa Figueroa ’12 Lauren Hesse ’11 Mia Jackson ’11 Alyssa Letsch ’10 Chris Lisee ’10 Danielle Paccione ’10 Meghan Swope ’11 Photo Editor Jeff Goodwin ’10 Photographers Caylena Cahill ’10 Mike Grippi ’10 Rachel Howard ’13 Martha Pace ’12 Allison Usavage ’12 Matt Watkajtys ’11 Videographer Kyle Kelley ’10 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Vice President for Enrollment Management Eric Maguire Director of Admission Gerard Turbide Executive Director of Marketing Communications Tom Torello ’87 Executive Editor Bonny Georgia Griffith ’92 Managing Editor Lisa N. Maresca

Mykal Urbina ’11 Brian Keefe ’11 I’m an accounting major and economics minor from Simsbury, Connecticut. On campus, I enjoy working with the Student Government Association and the Core Trading Consultants.

I’m an integrated marketing communications major from Gilbert, Arizona. I am also involved with the United Way Stone Soup Philanthropy Corps.

Rose Zonetti ’09 Michael Spears ’11 I’m an anthropology major with a recreation minor from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. In my spare time I enjoy hiking, camping, rock climbing, skiing, and cooking.

I’m a recent graduate with a B.A. in writing and minors in environmental studies and journalism.

I plan on pursuing work in an environmental field.

Web Editor Elise Nicol ’83 Copy Editor Tommy Dunne Print Manager Peter M. Kilcoyne ’05

contents

› 2 IN CLASS 3 INSIDE ITHACA 4 AFTER ITHACA 5 SPORTS REPORT

14 A Perfect Duet Ithaca College and local schools make beautiful music together. By Mia Jackson ’11

16 Dig It!

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

7 COMPASS Points

Anthropology students unearth Cayuga Nation history. By Michael Spears ’11

Professors Eric and Margaret Robinson take teaching math in a new direction.

By Matt Connolly ’11

Plus: The Calculus of Climate Change Applying math to real-world situations with Professor Tom Pfaff.

22 Finger Lakes Trailblazing Ithaca boasts top-notch trails for the hiker, mountain biker, runner, and skier.

By Rose Zonetti ’09

19 Teaching to Learn Through instructing, Professor Sean Eversley Bradwell gets an education too.

By Alyssa Figueroa ’12

By Chris Lisee ’10

10 American Invasion

24 Snow Days When the temperature drops, bundle up and head outside to play in Ithaca’s winter wonderland!

Getting to work in the U.K., interns talk about their jobs in politics, journalism, and marketing.

By Lauren Hesse ’11

By Maura Gladys ’11, Brian Keefe ’11, Zachary Tomanelli ’11, Mykal Urbina ’11

12 Tech Talk

20 Covering

In the assistive technology lab, students give voice to people who have none.

Comic-Con

By Lauren Hesse ’11 and Shanan Glandz ’09

A super-reporter’s adventures at the largest comic art convention in the universe.

By Danielle Paccione ’10

Volume 3, Issue 4. Winter 2010 Copyright 2009 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

IN CLASS Make Your Own Major What can you do when none of the majors offered

by IC feels quite right? You can build your own— music administration or sociopolitical photography, for example—through planned studies. Interdisciplinary by design, a planned studies major may incorporate classes from all five of IC’s academic schools and the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies.

While the program can be liberating, it also involves serious work. “There are a lot of logistical details that someone who just falls into a major might not have to worry about,” says Natasha Tanner ’11. Like having to outline your courses for every semester, which she did in her program proposal to study the African diaspora.

BIG ON THE ENVIRONMENT,

IC NOW HAS A DEPARTMENT TO PROVE IT Housed in the School of Humanities and Sciences, the new Department of Environmental Studies and Science encompasses two previously launched bachelor of arts programs: environmental studies and environmental science. Both have grown substantially since their inception, boasting over 100 students currently enrolled in a major or minor.

Whether producing and analyzing biodiesels developed from dining services’ used vegetable oil or studying plant-insect coevolution in Ecuador, environmental science students are gaining amazing insight from hands-on experiences. And that’s not all! In December, environmental studies students traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Visit fuse.ithaca.edu to read about staffer Meghan Swope’s experience there.

Designed for highly motivated students with a strong work ethic and a solid idea of what they want to study, the program requires students to undergo a rigorous application process, including submitting course lists and writing a goal statement detailing how they developed an interest in their topic. They also need approval from the planned studies coordinator, departRead more about planned ment chairs, and deans. studies and find a list of In other words, basket recently approved majors at weaving won’t fly, so fuse.ithaca.edu. slackers need not apply.

CLICK THIS

AN ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE IN PHILADELPHIA

O

n a recent two-day trip to Philadelphia, students of art history professor and department chair Stephen Clancy’s got a taste of Maurice Sendak’s illustrations at the Rosenbach Museum. Too Many Thoughts to Chew: A Sendak Stew was curated by Ithaca alum Patrick Rodgers ’81, who serves as the traveling exhibitions coordinator at the Rosenbach. All about food, eating, and being eaten in such classics as In the Night Kitchen and Where the Wild Things Are, the exhibition represents just a small fraction of the museum’s collection of more than 10,000 Sendak illustrations and manuscripts.

Crediting travel for developing his interest in art and architecture, Professor Clancy feels strongly about getting students out of the classroom to see great works in person. “It engages our senses and emotions far more powerfully than disembodied two-dimensional images,” he says. The weekend also included time at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as a walking tour of the city and visits to the Gothic revival Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Beth Sholom Synagogue.

FUSE

INSIDEITHACA

5NEW

ZOMBIES ATTACK IC! T

wice a semester, the walking dead take over the campus during a weeklong game of Humans versus Zombies. In this epic battle, similar to the game Assassin, nearly 80 students from every school join forces as humans to lay waste to the zombie outbreak.

The objective: for humans to stay human for as long as possible, and for zombies to kill as

many humans as possible. In this outdoor-only game, humans shoot Nerf guns or throw balled-up socks to stun the zombies, who, of course, are indestructible. Zombies, who wear bandannas on their heads for identification, convert their human counterparts by tagging them. Humans who are playing the game wear bandannas on their arms. Bryant Francis ’12 says the best advice he can give those eager to take on the zombies is: “Stay human.”

IC Accounting Association

Gets the Gold Earlier this year the IC Accounting Association (ICAA) received the Gold Award of Excellence as an Outstanding Student Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants. This top award goes to those chapters that provide high-quality programs and strong documentation.

The ICAA puts on many events throughout the year, including manuscript competitions, community service projects, guest speakers, and social gatherings.

This award has been won by the organization numerous times over the past 20 years. Chapter president Jake Zimmerman ’10 says, “The key is to find a good balance of programming that students are interested in, along with events that will help them grow as they become professionals.” Learn more about the club at www.ithaca.edu/business/ clubs/icaa.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT With over 25 new clubs so far just this fall, and more than 150 total, there are plenty of ways to get involved.

Standing Room Only This performing arts company engages singers, dancers, actors, and musicians in all stages of their craft, whether it be onstage, backstage, directing, choreographing, or accompanying.

Cake Wanna talk tunes? This music magazine features interviews, news, and upcoming concerts and events.

Creative Writing Project Students post their works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry online, then give and get feedback from their peers.

Ithaca College for Invisible Children (IC 4 IC) Dedicated to creating awareness about child soldiers in the war-torn regions of Uganda and the Congo, the club raises funds to help rebuild communities devastated by the conflict.

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) Ithaca College launched a chapter of this nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.

To see even more IC clubs, go to www.ithaca.edu/csli. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 3

FUSE

AFTERITHACA

Cookies A Photos courtesy of Amber Spiegel ’05

aren’t just for Girl Scouts

s a business administration major at Ithaca, Amber Spiegel ’05 spent her free time making bread and desserts for her roommates. “I was the resident baker,” Spiegel says. After deciding to make a career out of her hobby, she continued her studies at the Culinary Institute of America. But it was her Ithaca education that allowed her to take the next step.

“My background in business administration and marketing gave me courage to pursue my own business,” says Spiegel, who went on to launch her own cookie company, creating themed confections for weddings, parties, promotions, and gifts. “The overall experience at Ithaca gave me the confidence to take on this endeavor. In the School of Business, we were constantly working in groups, making presentations, learning to take constructive criticism, and preparing for life after graduation, all of which have contributed to my success.”

Take a look at Spiegel’s mouth-watering works of art on her blog (amberspiegel. blogspot.com) or buy some from her Etsy shop, SweetAmbs. Find the link at fuse.ithaca.edu.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPI R I T Want to start your own business someday? Talk to someone who’s done it himself. Jared O’Toole ’08 graduated with a degree in business finance but ultimately decided finance was not for him. Instead he created his own business. Under30CEO consists of a social network, online magazine, and web seminars for young entrepreneurs. In November he and cofounder Matt Wilson began broadcasting a national radio show via Small Business Television.

O’Toole (right) firmly believes in branding and marketing with new social media. “You’ve got to build your personal brand,” he says.“You have to get a blog up and running and start making a name for yourself doing whatever you want.” Twitter and Facebook are great resources, too. Not only do they reach a large interested audience, but they are free and easy to use. “It’s free marketing,” O’Toole says. “That wasn’t even a possibility 10 years ago.”

Check it out at under30ceo.com.

Making it onto

shoestring From dorm life to fashion, from dining to gardening, the online magazine Shoestring focuses on living the good life for less and in a greener way. The magazine recently featured two Ithaca alumnae, Khrista Trerotola ’07 and Giulia Rozzi ’00. Trerotola’s“Diva on a Dime” blog offers advice for thrifty living in a small space. Being a city dweller and living within her means isn’t a question but a statement, and her definition of the good life.

Rozzi, who keeps a hilarious blog of epistles to random objects, wrote one blog post in particular for Shoestring:“Dear Tiny Apartment.” All of you college-bound students, current students, and especially recent grads will certainly be able to relate!

See their work and get other brilliant tidbits of advice at www.shoestringmag.com.

FUSE

SPORTS REPORT

Game,Set,Match for BombersTennis

CROSS-COUNTRY SPEED DEMONS

The Ithaca College men’s tennis team made history recently when the doubles team of Taylor Borda ’10 and Josh Rifkin ’11 (below, from right) finished in third place at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Small College National Championships. The third-place showing secures All-American status for the duo, a first for Ithaca men’s tennis. Already

the career record holder in doubles victories, Borda now claims 62 career wins.

The pair’s two victories in the nationals tournament also moved Borda into a tie for most career wins in the squad’s history, with 113 singles and doubles wins.

The women’s tennis team is on a roll, too. In October they won their fifth straight Empire 8 title. The Bombers,

who became the first team to shut out every opponent in the conference tournament, earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs in May.

T

he women’s cross-country team has been on fire this season with the help of one of their newcomers, Jenn Randall ’13. When the Bombers ran at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference championship, Randall placed fourth out of 97 runners and was the top freshman finisher. Named NYSCTC rookie of the year, Randall also garnered an impressive streak of six Empire 8 Runner of the Week awards.

In addition to Randall’s personal success, IC’s women’s cross-country team was named 23rd best in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field & Cross Country Coaches Association.

CLICK THIS Check out IC teams in action in our sports photo gallery at

fuse.ithaca.edu.

Fast Finishes for

Women’s Crew Cold and rain couldn’t stop Ithaca’s women’s varsity 8 crew at this year’s Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The crew received a fourthplace medal, besting 31 teams in the collegiate eights division. “To get medals at such a prestigious race is very exciting,” says co-commodore Aliyah Emas’10.

The Bombers had a successful fall season, winning the collegiate eights event at the Head of the Genesee in Rochester and finishing second at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs. “We are definitely hungry after [finishing fourth at] last year’s national championships,” says Emas, “and I think that is what is igniting the fire and propelling us forward.” fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 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_exclusives for all this and more!

First-Year Students Making IC Home MULTIMEDIA

The start of a new adventure! This video provides a firsthand look at move-in day with the Ithaca College class of 2013.

Flaming Bananas, Apples, and the Onion PHOTO GALLERY

MULTIMEDIA

Check out photo galleries of flaming bananas Foster in the dining halls, Applefest downtown, and the Onion’s Seth Reiss’s visit to campus!

Roaming Campus with Fuse’s Roving Reporter Staff photographer Mike Grippi grabs a video camera and shares an insider’s view to all things IC.

Photo of the Week PHOTO GALLERY

Keep checking this photo gallery for great shots of IC students working out, hanging out, and dancing up a storm.

Tune In to Eleven—Fuse’s New Music Blog Follow the Fuse staff as they plug into the Ithaca music scene.

BLOG

H&S: Faculty Profile

IC Professors Take Teaching Math in a New Direction

by MATT CONNOLLY ’11

T

he math classroom can be a foreboding place, filled with complicated equations and concepts that require their own language to decipher. And most math students at some point in their education find themselves wondering, “How will I apply this to real life?”

That is just the question that Eric Robinson, a professor of mathematics at Ithaca College, found himself asking. What started as a private question almost 20 years ago has developed into a full-time passion.

Eric and his wife, Margaret Robinson, an assistant professor in both mathematics and education, are on the forefront of math education reform in this country.

These days in many public schools, math students are split up into two or more levels according to their ability. The intent is to be able to cater to the needs of students more precisely.

For those students tracked in lowerlevel classes, however, “the outcome was that students never got to have the opportunities the other kids did,” says Eric. “Once they split, they were on separate tracks.”

One of the goals of Curricular Options in Mathematics Programs for All Secondary Students, or COMPASS, is to create a teaching system that is fair to all math students, says Eric. Since 1997 he has been the director of COMPASS, a program started through a National Science Foundation grant that he applied for. COMPASS challenges certain assumptions in math education and explores why students should study math. The Robinsons want to find out what teachers want their students to know, and to determine what value there is in just teaching lessons straight from a textbook.

While the Robinsons have been involved with efforts to reform both course content and teaching methods in math instruction since 1992, this past summer an Ithaca alumna suggested a way to apply their work to a new area. Faith Muirhead ’00, a program director for the Math and Science Partnership in New York City, contacted her former math teacher Margaret Robinson and proposed they try mixing students of different math abilities together in one classroom. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 7

Photos by Allison Usavage ’12 and courtesy of Eric and Margaret Robinson

H&S: Faculty Profile

In an era of increased testing, the Robinsons push for more critical-thinking skills.

Two sixth-grade math teachers in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) agreed to work with the Robinsons, Muirhead, and a number of volunteer middle school students this past summer to develop the new method of instruction, called differentiated instruction. What emerged was a whole different approach to teaching.

“The teacher isn’t standing up in front of the classroom lecturing,” Margaret explains. Instead, instruction moves toward a format where students with different styles of learning can engage with mathematics. To explore the concept of equality, these students were given this problem: A zookeeper wants to weigh all his animals, but he only has a balance scale and bags of feed. How many bags of feed are equal to one lion? Two lions? Students experimented, adding and subtracting animals and feed bags while getting the chance to think about the math

Are you in?

properties of ratios, addition, and integers. There is no solution to the problem, no final answer. Students can go as far as they want. In fact, Eric observed that the students “started acting hungry for more information.” They brought up their own questions and were more actively engaged in the class.

This approach means a whole lot more for the Robinsons than developing new lesson plans. Teachers were asked what they expected students to learn from the lesson, and then evaluated the effectiveness of the lesson: How did students demonstrate understanding? What did students still need to learn?

What is the next step to address these needs?

At the end of the summer workshop, Kim Fontana, director of staff development and research for ICSD, told the Robinsons, “I never would have believed it could be done.” Fontana found the program successful enough that she agreed

to pilot two sixth-grade classes using differentiated instruction.

More on COMPASS

The program with ICSD is only the latest work the Robinsons have been doing. In an era of increased testing, the Robinsons push for more critical-thinking skills. The how of knowing is as important as knowing the material itself. As Eric explains, the approach of COMPASS, differentiated learning, and other similar projects involves a reorientation of goals. “Students should be able to develop an equation from a context and explain what the solution to that equation means,” says Eric.

The Robinsons believe that math can be a tool for dealing with the issues that people must confront in everyday life. Whether that tool can create an array for the distribution of cell phone towers, or a system to map and interpret climate change data, math is evolving to meet a changing environment.

COMPASS assists schools, teachers, parents, and administrators who are interested in improving math opportunities for their students. The organization conducts research, makes policy recommendations, and creates innovative curricula.

Learn more about the COMPASS project and the work the Robinsons do at www.ithaca.edu/compass.

my.ithaca.edu

Photos by Mike Grippi ’10

THE CALCULUS

by CHRIS LISEE ’10

OF CLIMATE CHANGE Applying math to real-world situations with Professor Tom Pfaff

F “Education is an important first step toward any sort of change in a society.”

orty years from now, warmer temperatures may mean that Rieslings will no longer reign as the premier wine of the Finger Lakes region. At least that’s what mathematics professor Tom Pfaff’s research indicates.

In independent study courses, Pfaff ’90 has been working with students to sort through data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research to create mathematical models of climate change. These models are applied to real-world situations, such as wine and maple syrup production. Riesling grapes require a number of cool nights at the end of the growing season; without them, quality may diminish.

Meanwhile, other Old World vinifera grapes, like those used to make chardonnay and cabernet franc, could improve with warmer winter temperatures and a longer growing season. That information could help local wineries decide what grapes to plant.

It’s one of the many ways Pfaff integrates sustainability and realworld information into his teaching.

“When I teach upper-level math classes, abstraction and theory are the important things to do,” Pfaff says. “But when you’re teaching courses like Calculus I or freshman statistics, you want to keep it as applied and real and concrete as you possibly can to make it engaging to those audiences.”

Environmentally savvy and healthconscious, Pfaff and his wife, Janice, grow their own produce, trying to harvest something from the ground

every month: garlic, carrots, parsnips that survive ground freezes, greens grown in cold frames (a box placed over plants to protect them from freezing), berries, and quinces. In the corner of his office, right by the pictures of his four beaming boys, sits a commuter bicycle, its gears and chain rusty from the winter’s salt and moisture. “You really can bike in February around here,” Pfaff says, even though it has reduced the bike to just one useful gear and brake. Though it’s his ninth year at IC, only recently have colleagues begun to comment on the bike’s “fuel efficiency,” he says.

For Pfaff, education is as much about gaining book knowledge as learning social responsibility. So he’s introducing math courses to the curriculum that you won’t find at any other school, like last fall’s Oil, Energy, and the Future of Society. For a recent assignment, he had students analyze oil usage statistics from various sources for their credibility.

“People have to have a solid understanding of why groups are concerned about climate change and about oil and coal use, so you have an educated population voting and making decisions,” Pfaff says.“Unless people have an understanding of what’s going on, there’s no reason to do anything differently. So education is an important first step toward any sort of change in a society.”

COOL MATH CLASSES Check out these thoughtprovoking courses taught

by Professor Pfaff.

Oil, Energy, and the Future of Society This class investigates the relationship between mathematics and culture, particularly the mathematical ideas of those who live in traditional or small-scale cultures.

Statistics for Business, Economics, and Management Professor Pfaff covers descriptive statistical techniques, introduction to probability, statistical inference, correlation and regression analysis, and multiple regression. Data sets and exercises are chosen from the fields of business, economics, and management.

Mathematical Reasoning with Discrete Mathematics Focus is on the underpinnings of and strategies for mathematical arguments that constitute mathematical proof. Students learn to employ these strategies and concepts to create basic mathematical proofs.

Learn more about the Department of Mathematics at www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/math. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 9

Soccer fanatic Maura Gladys’11 took time out from her internship with the Times of London to attend a Manchester derby match, where rivals Manchester City and Manchester United face off.

From left: Parliamentary candidate Kevin Bonavia joins intern Zach Tomanelli ’11 and two campaign supporters outside Cliffs Pavilion Theatre in Southend-on-Sea, England, to promote the Labour Party’s free theater ticket program.

Photo courtesy of Zachary Tomanelli ’11

It’s easy to assume that spending a semester in London is all about sipping tea, sightseeing, and soaking up the local culture, but each year some 75 London Center students get a jump on their careers with exciting internships in and around the city. Here are just a few of the valuable realworld experiences students have had lately.

‹

British Internships Sharpen Students’ Career Goals

‹

Photo courtesy of Maura Gladys ’11

Internsh ips

“I felt so lucky to be working alongside and learning from some of the country’s most talented journalists.”

Keyword Analysis

By Brian Keefe ’11 Apart from the incredible London culture, the main attraction of studying abroad for me was an internship opportunity. Even more attractive, instead of scrambling around London looking for work myself, the experienced and helpful London Center staff found a placement for me before I arrived.

Perfect Storm Media, a small online marketing firm, designs Internet-based ads for clients, which sounds simple enough. However, the actual system is much more complex. Daily tasks of the employees include keyword mining, algorithm refinement, negative keyword analysis, and other complicated phrases that I won’t go into. Their pioneering work with Google AdWords—they virtually redefined the entire online advertising model—has enabled Perfect Storm to secure very high-profile clients, including Seatwave (Europe’s largest fan-to-fan ticket exchange), GlassesDirect (the U.K.’s largest direct seller of eyeglasses), and Borro (the U.K.’s largest online pawnbroker).

I spent most of my time analyzing keyword data, creating new keyword combinations, reviewing company financials, and sending monthly invoices to clients. About once a week I got to meet with executives and marketing directors doing business with Perfect Storm, and I quickly learned that face time with clients is crucial in a market where huge amounts of money are invested into advertising campaigns.

Sports Reporting with the Times of London

Creating Online Homes for London Plays

Parliamentary Procedures

By Maura Gladys ’11

By Mykal Urbina ’11

For my internship in the sports department at the Times of London, I wrote stories for their website, wrote photo captions, and formatted articles to be published online.

I interned two days a week at AKA UK, a London-based theatermarketing agency. From the very start, AKA gave me a great deal of responsibility, immersing me in London’s theater culture. I especially loved that my work combined two of my defining assets—the skills I’ve learned as an integrated marketing communications major and my irrecoverable addiction to Facebook.

Thanks to the London Center, I secured a first-rate internship with parliamentary candidate Kevin Bonavia, who was tapped by the Labour Party to run against the Tory Party M.P. now representing the constituency of Rochford and Southend East. I was able to meet members of Parliament and take a private tour of the House of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. I learned the intricacies of the British political system. I wrote press releases and organized events for Bonavia. Perhaps most interesting were the weekends I spent on the doorsteps of ordinary British citizens, listening to them air their concerns and share their stories.

I talked to one gentleman who had just returned from Iraq.

I spoke with an elderly woman who wanted to know what could be done to get a bus stop closer to her home so she did not have to walk to her doctor’s appointments.

These conversations enabled me to experience Britain on a more personal level and gave me a unique perspective into British culture. The only thing I am left to wonder is how long it will be until I can return.

I also got to shadow reporters in the field as they covered press conferences and did interviews.

Some of my favorite moments: watching staff writer Patrick Kidd interview Charlotte Edwards (captain of the English National Women’s Cricket Team); helping staff writer Russell Kempson cover a press conference at the Arsenal Football Club training ground; and covering a professional game by myself (my biggest passion is soccer!), which was both scary and exciting at the same time.

Being part of one of the world’s most historic and successful papers was an unbelievable experience.

I soaked up as much information and insight as I could by sitting in on sports staff meetings, picking my coworkers’ brains, and reading up on cricket and rugby.

All summer, I felt so lucky to be working alongside and learning from some of the country’s most talented journalists.

My supervisor gave me complete rein to launch and maintain social networking campaigns for the major West End productions of Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde, and Three Days of Rain. I loved filling such an integral role in the agency and am proud that I was able to use my knowledge to produce significant results for AKA: a successful and lasting online presence for some incredible productions.

By Zachary Tomanelli ’11

Learn more about IC’s London program at www.ithaca.edu/oip/London/index.htm.

Checking out cricket matches. Shopping in Piccadilly Circus. Experiencing the Beatles’ hometown of Liverpool on the “Magical Mystery Tour.” Punting on the River Cam in Cambridge. Watching Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale in Stratford-upon-Avon, the bard’s birthplace. Exploring Stonehenge. Listening to live British bands. These are just some of the cool things these four students got to do while studying in the U.K. Check out their stories online at fuse.ithaca.edu. fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 11

HSHP: In the Lab

Photos by Bill Truslow

TECH TALK In the assistive technology lab, students give voice to people who have none

by LAUREN HESSE ’11 and SHANAN GLANDZ ’09

‹

Laura Badger, M.S. ’10 teaches a local boy with cerebral palsy how to use technology that can help him communicate.

Learn more about programs in health sciences and human performance at www.ithaca.edu/hshp/index.php.

H

ow does a child fill his pillowcase with candy on Halloween night if he isn’t able to say trick or treat? If he’s lucky enough to work with graduate students in the assistive technology lab at the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, he can get hooked up with a mobile communication device that, at the press of a button, will shout it out for him.

The assistive tech lab, part of the larger Sir Alexander Ewing Speech and Hearing Clinic, has a dual purpose—to educate students and to provide specialized services to the

that act as a mouse, allowing patients to control the computer with just head movements. There are also lower-tech options, including a range of toys that children with impaired motor skills can play with at the touch of a button or flick of a switch, and mobile messengers that allow nonverbal patients to communicate via a computer and a small speaker.

Having the opportunity to work with this cutting-edge technology was part of what drew Jennifer Grove, M.S. ’09, to Ithaca College.

“Actually getting to learn it, to see

just about trying to break it down to a level that he can work at right now,” explains Badger. “It’s one of the most fulfilling areas that I’ve worked in, personally. Giving a person a way to communicate—that is what speech pathology is, and it is such a rewarding experience.”

Badger’s client uses a computer program called Writing with Symbols, which allows him to type words and use picture icons to write text.

To speak, he uses an AAC called a DynaVox MT4, giving him the ability to hold conversations and express his thoughts. The lab has its own

that have never existed before have opened doors in amazing ways.

Technology unlocks doors for people with disabilities.”

The lab provides learning opportunities that cannot be found in a lecture hall or textbook. After working with her own client, Badger feels more confident in her abilities as a speech pathologist. “Not a lot of schools offer this type of experience; you usually have to go elsewhere to work with this population or be exposed to the level of technology that’s out there,” she explains. And with expanding technology comes expanding opportunities for Ithaca College students to have access to the latest advances in the field.

“Giving a person a way to communicate is what speech pathology is about, and it is such a rewarding experience.”

local community. People of all ages and differing communication skills, from stroke victims who’ve lost the ability to speak to children who’ve never been able to, come to the lab because of the sophistication of the equipment. “We have clients who have disabilities from cerebral palsy to global developmental delays to autism,” says clinical instructor Tina Caswell. Students get hands-on experience showing these clients how to work with a wide range of state-of-the-art technology.

And what technology it is. The walls are lined with adaptive computing devices such as joysticks, alternative digital keyboards that assist nonreaders using voice commands and symbols, and eyeglasses

it, to touch it, and to try it was really amazing to me,” she says.

This equipment is available to undergraduate and graduate occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology and audiology students to empower their patients and connect them to the world.

Laura Badger, M.S. ’10, took on a client as part of her Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC) class, an 11-year-old boy whose cerebral palsy has rendered him nonverbal. With Badger’s help, the boy has learned to use the technology in the lab to express his thoughts and emotions in ways he never could before.“You can see that he has so much to say, so it’s

DynaVox communication boards ranging in price from $100 to $7,000. These boards have symbols and pictures that can be produced right in the lab, where they are linked to their respective spoken words. Then users can hold conversations through the touch pads.

Having such sophisticated technology in a clinical education setting is beneficial for clients, who come from all over Tompkins County. But it’s also beneficial for IC students, who gain valuable experience using the tools and interacting with a variety of professionals in their fields.

“Students do a ton of learning in this lab,” says Grove. “If you think of how far technology has come,” she continues, “solutions

Fab Labs Other hands-on laboratories in HSHP include: • Movement analysis laboratory • Physical and occupational therapy clinic • Robert R. Colbert Sr. Wellness Clinic • Center for Life Skills • Athletic training clinic

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

MUSIC: In the Field

A Perfect

DUET

Ithaca College and local schools make beautiful music together

Photos by Bill Truslow

by MIA JACKSON ’11

I

t’s Monday at 12:30 p.m., and juniors in Ithaca’s music education program have taken over four classrooms at the Immaculate Conception School downtown. In room 203, Daniel Mahoney ’11 and Caitlin Henning ’11 try to get their fifth and sixth grade guitar students to make a smooth transition from a C chord to an F. Down the hall, Laura Gladd ’11 and Adrianne Wood ’11 lead a choral ensemble. Downstairs in the pre-K room, Donald Haviland ’11 moves a stuffed elephant from one little child’s head to the next, singing “Willabee, Wallabee, Woo.” And around the corner in room 105, Brendan Kimball ’11 leads another group of prekindergartners in singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”

Of the many music education partnerships Ithaca has with other schools, the relationship with Immaculate Conception is the longest-standing, going back to 1946, when the two schools were just a few blocks away from each other. And unlike other area schools where IC students contribute to the music program, at Immaculate Conception these students are the music program. Associate professor Jennifer Haywood ’94, who was once a student teacher and then a graduate mentor at Immaculate Conception, now oversees the program. What she liked about

Kimball, though only a month into his Immaculate Conception teaching, agrees. “I teach pre-K, which can be difficult. One of the best and the hardest things that I’ve learned is that they will give back exactly what you give to them!” But he feels prepared.

“The education program here is very positive and encouraging.”

Cruz says his first teaching experience—with fifth and sixth graders— was “nerve-racking.” In the end, though, he was impressed with his students and his efforts as a teacher.

“The way the students responded

teaching experience during the junior year.” The first two years are dedicated to foundational study.

Freshmen and sophomores also take Music Field Experience courses to observe teachers. Then as juniors, the real fun begins—fieldwork.

It’s Tuesday at 11:00 a.m., so the third-floor lobby of the Whalen Music Center is rapidly filling with IC music education students. Some are carrying two or three instrument cases; others have posters they’ll use as teaching aids. They look more like young professionals than college students: no jeans, no T-shirts, no

first time. But for Ithaca seniors, whose placements span the state from outside Buffalo to Long Island, running a class is old hat.

This year, Cruz starts an internship at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School in Ithaca, teaching second through fifth grade music classes, and he feels more than prepared.

“Having the junior student teaching program is definitely a plus,” he says. “At some schools, a senior teaching program is all that’s required, and you don’t have any prior experience.”

“Unlike other student teaching programs, our students participate in fieldwork during all four years of their undergraduate degree, including a major student teaching experience during the junior year.”

For more information about the music education program, visit www.ithaca.edu/music/programs/mused.

Learn where music education graduates are now at fuse.ithaca.edu.

it then—“the opportunity as an undergraduate to fully experience singing, conducting, and teaching with equal opportunity for scholarship and artistry”— still applies today.

Last spring David Cruz ’10 completed this rigorous yearlong experience at Immaculate Conception, which he said was great preparation for a career in teaching.

“I’ve learned a lot about patience,” he laughs, “especially with the younger students. I learned you have to give twice the energy to make students really respond to you and want to learn the lesson.”

is something that stuck out to me,” he recalls. “The feeling of respect that I gained from them really made me feel confident that I could teach them and that they wanted to learn from me. It made and continues to make me look forward to teaching.”

Even as juniors, these students aren’t going in cold. “Unlike other student teaching programs,” says Professor Keith Kaiser, who’s chaired the music education department for seven years, “our students participate in fieldwork during all four years of their undergraduate degree, including a major student

baseball caps, no flip-flops. The men are in coat and tie; the women in dresses, skirts, or dress pants.

As teachers, they need to look the part. A different group of students will head down to Immaculate Conception today, while others head off to four different elementary and middle schools across the county to give one-on-one instrumental lessons.

By senior year, when IC student teachers have to lead classes without the benefit of daily on-site supervision and mentoring by College faculty, students from most music programs are in front of a classroom for the

This intense preparation pays off: While many music education majors continue on to master’s programs, every single one who’s actively looked for a job teaching music has found employment within a year of graduating from IC. Yet another reason that, as Professor Kaiser says, the music education program at Ithaca “is universally recognized as one of the, if not the, finest in the country.” fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 15

H&S: In the Field

DIG IT! Photos by Martha Pace ’12 and courtesy of Jack Rossen

by MICHAEL SPEARS ’11

Anthropology Students Unearth Cayuga Nation History

‚

M From left: The summer 2009 team at Levanna; in the lab, Professor Jack Rossen examines an artifact; students get to work at the site.

y classmate Charles and I were on the first day of excavations and had been working for less than half a day when we made the find: a beautifully incised 1,100-year-old decorated pipe bowl. The thrill of discovery is exactly why I am an anthropology major, which combines academically based education with hands-on experience.

This summer I took my second Archaeological Field School course at Ithaca College, led by Professor Jack Rossen, head of the anthropology department.

On an unplowed and undisturbed piece of farmland in Levanna, New York, near the northeast side of Cayuga Lake, 11 students mostly from IC and Tompkins Cortland Community College (which cosponsored the course) helped Professor Rossen unearth a Native American village dating from the 900s. Amazingly it was well preserved just a few inches under the forest floor. Levanna, as the site is called, was a Cayuga village.

The Cayuga are part of the Haudenosaunee, better known as the Iroquois Confederacy.

One thousand years ago the Cayuga dwelled on the land surrounding Cayuga Lake, including modern-day Ithaca.

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

H&S: In the Field

The more than 100,000 artifacts we recovered connect Cayuga people today to their ancestors who lived in this area over a thousand years ago.

Professor Rossen invited two Cayuga natives from the Six Nations Reservation in Ontario to return to their homeland and excavate alongside us. They brought great insights to our daily discussions on the site, the Cayuga past, and native life today.

I learned that the Cayuga

community is organized today as it was at the site 1,100 years ago: around the longhouse. In fact, Haudenosaunee means “people of the longhouse.”

Meeting chiefs and clan mothers, who share equally in the leadership of the Cayuga Nation, taught me of the undying respect the Cayuga hold for their past and emphasized the importance of our excavations. It also showed me how much more advanced Cayuga culture was than Western culture in terms of gender equality. Long before American women had the right to vote, Cayuga women were equals within the Nation, and the clan mothers hand-selected chiefs to represent their clan within the longhouse.

The Native Americans visiting the site during excavation led me to understand not only the historical significance of the site, but also the spiritual power embodied within it, and the powerful entities held within the artifacts that were being uncovered daily. As I was working one day, an Onondaga faith keeper toured the site, then sat on a log in long silence next to my excavation square. What became obvious to me through his reverence of the site is that the artifacts are not solely artifacts

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

JACK ROSSEN

‹

Digging in a 2-by-1-meter hole might not sound exciting, but I loved it, and with the approval of the Cayuga Nation, our class helped to reshape and reclaim their past, which has up until now been told primarily from a Western perspective. Professor Rossen has been at the forefront of restructuring relations between Native Americans and archaeologists, working to bring direct involvement with the descendant community, in this case the Cayuga, into the archaeological investigation. That first pipe bowl and the more than 100,000 artifacts subsequently recovered help to piece together a new understanding of the Cayuga history and the roots which connect Cayuga people today to their ancestors who lived in this area over a thousand years ago.

The author (right) examines artifacts in the lab.

but are messages from the Cayuga past working to teach us what has been lost to time. Now I see that the innate winged design fragments of herring bone ceramics that I unearthed so often are a cultural transmission from mother to daughter that has carried on to Cayuga potters of this day.

Now, Levanna has been backfilled, and all there is to see are patches of grass. Yet the learning and discovery continue. After the dig, I worked on soil flotation to identify the plant remains at the site. And in last fall’s Archaeology Laboratory course, Professor Rossen taught us a variety of techniques to use in analyzing the Levanna artifacts. Given the vast number of artifacts and the different avenues that will be explored, the analysis is likely to continue for several years to come.

Discover more archaeological research opportunities available to IC students at www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/anthro.

Professor and chair of the anthropology department Jack Rossen loves to dig into history. He came to work with the Cayuga through his interest in local archaeology and history.

“After arriving at IC in 1996,” says Rossen, “I became aware of the deep-seated racism against Native Americans in this area, including openly operating anti-Indian organizations. I wanted to reform archaeology to be a positive force for native people, and to help students understand how intertwined the past and present are. We cannot begin to understand complex issues such as Indian land claims, gaming, and cultural survival and revitalization without thoroughly understanding the past.”

He and associate professor Brooke Hansen cofounded the Native American studies minor, a program that includes special events, field trips, and internship opportunities.

DIIS: Faculty Profile

by ALYSSA FIGUEROA ’12

TEACHING

LEARN

TO

S

ean Eversley Bradwell, assistant professor in the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (CSCRE), believes in the saying, “The more I learn, the less I know.” He constructs his classes based on that philosophy, walking into classrooms as a coparticipant in the learning process. “I don’t teach what I know; I teach what I want to learn,” he says.

“That’s what keeps my classes fresh and exciting.”

After earning his undergraduate degree in political science and a master’s degree in education from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in policy, analysis, and management at Cornell University, Eversley Bradwell began working at Ithaca College in 2001 in the Center for Teacher Education. In 2005 he moved to CSCRE, where he currently teaches classes such as Critical Race Theories in the United States and Hip-Hop Cultures.

THROUGH INSTRUCTING, PROFESSOR SEAN EVERSLEY BRADWELL GETS AN EDUCATION TOO

says he may be the most challenging professor she’s ever had. “The discussions, debates, and insights of each class took us down new avenues that we didn’t know existed,” she says. “Sean is extremely talented in provoking his students to think in different perspectives.”

Eversley Bradwell uses a variety of media in his classes—books, film, audio, the Internet— and though he may teach a course with the same title semester after semester, he always changes the material to keep the learning process going.

“Otherwise knowledge gets stale,” he says. “And knowledge is never static.”

Active both at the College and in the community, Eversley Bradwell serves on the President’s Advisory Committee for Diversity, as faculty-in-residence for the MLK Scholar Program, and on the Ithaca

Photos by Caylena Cayhill '10

“Knowledge is never static.”

In his classroom, he puts as much responsibility and ownership on students as possible. Instead of lecturing, he facilitates conversation to get students thinking in different ways. “Most students come here to obtain knowledge, as if they don’t impart knowledge or can’t create their own knowledge,” he says.

“I’m trying to get them to create new ways of thinking about the world.”

Natalie King ’12, who took Eversley Bradwell’s Introduction to African Diaspora Studies last year,

City School Board. He is also a member of several academic services on campus and a frequent keynote speaker and lecturer.

Eager to encourage dialogue, Eversley Bradwell wants to get students to start thinking differently and talking about those differences in order to discover more about themselves and others. “An excellent class is one that inspires conversations outside the classroom.”

Learn more about the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at www.ithaca.edu/cscre.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

A New Face in the Center for the Study of Race, Culture, and Ethnicity What does new CSCRE assistant professor Miranda Hallett think of IC so far? “I’m enjoying the enthusiasm of the student body,” says Hallett, who earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at Cornell University. She also appreciates the small size of her classes, which include Introduction to Latino/a Studies, Introduction to Whiteness Studies, and Nation, Migration, Citizenship. “We can really get to know the students, work with them, and integrate their life experiences into the course.”

fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 19

Internsh i ps

Covering

by DANIELLE PACCIONE ’10

A super-reporter’s adventures at the largest comic art convention in the universe

Laptop? Check!

Video camera, batteries, Cell phone?

Check, check, and check!...

‹

Photos courtesy of Danielle Paccione ’10

Digital camera?

Check!

The author (center) at Comic-Con, sporting swag from her internship.

Intrepid reporter Danielle Paccione reporting for duty. Time: Dawn.

Location: San Diego Convention Center.

Darting around camping tents, leaping over sleeping bags, and dodging death-ray glares from jealous fans waiting to get in, I zoomed to the front of the line, flashed my press pass, and dove into the chaos of Comic-Con 2009...

Like a kid at Disneyland for the first time, I wandered awestruck through aisle after aisle of comic books, video games, memorabilia, and colossal advertising exhibits from every major Hollywood studio.

As the convention center filled up, it began to look more and more like Halloween in July.

Weaving through the crowds, I spotted fans of all ages dressed as the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Harry Potter, and Spock. Some even brought

props, like lightsabers. The creativity of the costumes was astounding, as was the abundance of spandex.

But there was no time to stop and gawk at the authentic Alien and Predator duo walking in my direction. I was on a mission: to make my way to legendary Hall H, the main conference room for the convention.

Super- powerful press pass in hand, I bypassed the line (rumored to be up to six hours long) and took a seat next to a writer from IMDb.

During the four-day event, I covered everything that went on inside Hall H as part of my summer internship at Famous Monsters TV, a horror and science fiction website and online television company based in Santa Monica, California.

(They’ve since moved to the San Fernando Valley and are now called Famous Monsters of Filmland.)

This plum internship came courtesy of the Ithaca College James B. Pendleton Center in Los Angeles, an extension of the Roy H. Park School of Communications that’s open to juniors or seniors with a major or minor in communications.

At Comic-Con, I wrote about press conferences and presentations from the cast and crew of upcoming major motion pictures such as The Twilight Saga’s New Moon,Sherlock Holmes, and Avatar. I covered panel discussions

directing legend James Cameron (Titanic and the Terminator series) and powerhouse producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong) as they explained the movie-making magic behind their much-anticipated sci-fi projects Avatar and District 9, respectively.

Most journalists were there to generate online content for various news organizations, myself included.

We all raced to be the first to put up the best articles, videos, and photos.

swarming around the Hollywood A-listers. There was no time for being starstruck, though. Security held back the screaming fans as I struggled to get the perfect photo to accompany my articles. I glanced to the professional photographers beside me for tips. The lights from the thousands of cameras flashing around me blurred my vision as I raised my hand and gathered the courage to yell Transformers star Megan Fox’s name. “Megan!”

There was no time to stop and gawk at the authentic Alien and Predator duo walking in my direction; I made my way to the main conference room and took a seat next to a writer from IMDb.

Four days, 20 posts, four articles, and hundreds of photographs later, my mission was complete. For the sequel, next summer someone from IC will get to cover Comic-Con 2010: me! I landed a full-time job with Famous Monsters of Filmland and will head to California after graduation. Stay tuned for the further adventures of super-reporter Danielle Paccione!

Check out video from Comic-Con 2009 at fuse.ithaca.edu.

WHAT COMIC-CON TAUGHT ME ABOUT

about soon-to-be-blockbuster-hits like Ironman 2, starring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The film’s director, Jon Favreau, also addressed the audience about what they can expect from the superhero sequel. The appearance of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart to promote The Twilight Saga’s New Moon elicited shrieks and tears of excitement from numerous fans in the audience.

I listened intently to Hollywood

Reporters representing hundreds of entertainment websites pushed and shoved for power outlets in order to get their articles up. Getting this done as fast as possible was important, as each event was quickly followed by the next.

As a journalism major, I’m used to writing articles and reviews under a tight deadline. But what’s online media without visuals? I’m no photographer, but I grabbed my camera and sank into the sea of paparazzi

I screamed. “Mind posing?” I asked the actress politely, waving my camera above my head. With her hand on her hip, she faced my camera and gave me a wink. The photographers beside me thanked me for the great photo op.

Some of the event’s greatest moments called for video rather than writing. When Johnny Depp greeted his director and friend Tim Burton onstage, thousands of people rushed toward the actor to record him on their camera phones.

Between my courses at the Park School and writing for the Ithacan, ICTV, and the Ithaca Times during my first three years at Ithaca College, I thought I’d experienced every medium and learned all about multimedia technology, but reporting at Comic-Con was a real eyeopener to the way journalism is changing. There were no reporters with notebooks or handheld recorders. Instead, it was photos, videos, and articles being edited and uploaded right there as the news was happening, reaching the web instantaneously.

It seems that most journalism today is all about timeliness and choosing the best medium to tell your story, even if it means you have to shove a few paparazzi.

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

Recreation

THE HIKER Just a mile from IC’s campus, Buttermilk Falls State Park lured Lauren Glattly ’10 back again and again freshman year with the challenge of the steep Rim Trail and the mellowness of the Park Trail. “The stone stairs and walls, little waterfalls, and natural round pools make this an enchanting hike,” she says. “At the bottom, hikers are treated to a lovely view of the falls.”

Glattly’s love of hiking inspired her to enroll in Environmental Sentinels: Becoming a Natural Scientist, which led to her discovery of all sorts of on-campus trails. She chose a spot in the woods behind the Garden Apartments to journal for the course and still takes frequent walks through this miniature forest. Her favorite spot to hike, however, is through the woods behind Boothroyd Hall.

“It’s really gorgeous, and you can immerse yourself and get lost without fear of not finding your way back to campus,” says Glattly.

OTHER FAVORITES • Cascadilla Gorge, basically a nonstop staircase with views of cliffside mansions from downtown’s Fall Creek area up to Collegetown and Cornell.

• Taughannock Falls in Trumansburg (eight miles up the west side of the lake), a mostly flat trek to the highest single-drop falls east of the Mississippi.

by ROSE ZONETTI ’09

Photo by Jeff Goodwin ’10

THE MOUNTAIN BIKER The possibilities for biking in Ithaca—despite the hills—are endless. National cycling magazines routinely feature Ithaca in their destination pieces. Bike magazine included Ithaca in the “Top 5 Mountain Biking Towns,” and Bicycling magazine called it “a cycling nirvana.” And though Ithaca didn’t make Vernon Felton’s “America’s Best 10 Trails” cover story for Bike, it was included in his subsequent blog “The 10 We Shoulda Picked.” His favorite spot in the area?

Hammond Hill State Forest in Dryden, just 14 miles from campus. “It’s fairly remote, it’s heavily wooded, it’s twisty, and it’s full of short, mellow climbs and outrageously fun descents,” he wrote.“There are also a ton of fallen trees and log-overs to hop over. It’s just a ton of good, cross-country single-track.”

Mike Blizniak, M.S. ’10, former president of the IC Cycling Club, agrees.

“Hammond Hill offers great views and less technical riding,” he says. For more experienced riders, he recommends the “great single-track riding” at Shindagin Hollow State Forest, 2,000 acres of woods and 18 miles of trails in Caroline, 10 miles from Ithaca. Singletracks.com ranks it among the best in the world.

Find helpful links to more information about these trails at fuse.ithaca.edu.

OTHER FAVORITES • Connecticut Hill, an 11,000-acre wildlife management area in Newfield.

• Swan Cycles, for great trails, as well as expert advice on equipment.

“Skiing makes winter go by faster, and it’s a great workout.”

Read more about running routes in Ithaca at fuse.ithaca.edu.

THE RUNNER “It is great to be able to avoid running on pavement, and it is such beautiful and challenging terrain,” says women’s cross-country captain Amanda Boccio ’10 of the three-mile loop through the woods behind IC’s Terraces residence halls. “The scenery and change of environment make for a relaxing and enjoyable run.”

Just off campus you’ll find the South Hill Recreation Way, a 3.3-mile flat, gravel trail that mostly follows an old railroad bed along Six Mile Creek. It features numerous dirt path offshoots that offer runners a variety of routes.

Some of these connect to the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve, which offers more varied terrain as it winds above the creek and around reservoirs.

Color abounds when the wildflowers come to life in spring and summer.

OTHER FAVORITES • The Waterfront Trail, two (flat!) miles downtown in Cass Park along Cayuga Lake and the inlet.

• The 560-mile Finger Lakes Trail, which connects Connecticut Hill, Robert Treman State Park, Danby State Forest (a cross-country team fave), and Shindagin Hollow in the 50 miles within Tompkins County.

THE CROSS-COUNTRY SKIER Looking to get outside during the snowy months? “Skiing makes winter go by a little faster, and it’s an amazing workout,” says MaryKatharine Huebener ’10, copresident of IC’s Nordic Ski Club.

The club, which accommodates both competitive and recreational skiers, frequently tours the trails behind the Terraces and occasionally wanders down South Hill Recreation Way. But the club’s favorite place to ski is Swan Cycles, six miles east of Ithaca.

“Glenn Swan grooms the fields around his farm in the winter, and our team, the Cornell ski team, and other skiers utilize the awesome groomed trails all winter,” says Huebener.

OTHER FAVORITES • Podunk Ski Touring Center, north of Trumansburg, for rentals, instruction, and five miles of groomed trails.

• Connecticut Hill, with over 20 miles of skiing on unplowed roads and trails. Just be warned: It’s a favorite among snowmobilers too! fuse | fuse.ithaca.edu | winter 2010 • 23

Recreation

by LAUREN HESSE ’11

When the temperature drops, don’t hibernate—bundle up and head outside to play in Ithaca’s winter wonderland!

Cruisin’ Crucifers!

By now you probably know that winters in Ithaca can be cold. Really cold. But you don’t have to stay cooped up in your dorm room until the spring thaw. Check out these activities that Ithaca has to offer.

Lace Those Skates The ice rink at downtown’s Cass Park hosts the local coed recreational ice hockey league as well as open skating.

And if you’re not Wayne Gretzky or Michelle Kwan, don’t sweat it. Cass Park offers lessons for all ages.

Winter Is Gorges Summer isn’t the only time Ithaca is gorges.

Many of the gorges and falls are just as beautiful in the winter. Nearby Taughannock Falls State Park is open year-round.

Don’t forget your camera— when the falls freeze, they form incredible ice sculptures.

Ever feel the urge to hurl a large root vegetable?

Are you blessed with a competitive streak? Then the Ithaca Farmers’ Market’s annual Rutabaga Curling World Championship is for you. A Cornell grad student took home the gold last year (“along with eternal glory, honor, and fame,” according to the Games’ website). Will IC claim the championship this year? Please, no practicing in the dining halls.

Strap On Those Boards Greek Peak is the nearest ski resort, and IC Ride, Ithaca’s recreational skiing and snowboarding club, can help get you there.

Or you can join the Nordic Ski Club or the Ski Racing Club for more formal training or competitions. The College’s rolling hills also make for great winter terrain. Areas

by Boothroyd Hall, above the Terraces, and near Emerson Hall are all ideal places to get your snow on! Bring a snowboard, ski blades—heck, even your sled—and join other students in winter-only festivities.

Take a Hike!

Wading through thigh-high snow can make for a slow slog. But throw on some snowshoes and you’ve got a fun winter workout.

You can rent a pair from Cayuga Nature Center or IC’s Office of Recreational Sports.

Once you’re hooked, a new set from downtown outfitters such as Finger Lakes Running Company or Eastern Mountain Sports will set you back anywhere from $100 to almost $300. Trek around campus or explore the trails described in “Finger Lakes Trailblazing” on page 22.

For more information on these activities, visit fuse.ithaca.edu.

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 465 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 February 1: Freshman applications for fall admission due

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/index.php.

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? IC’S CLINTON B. FORD OBSERVATORY HOSTS PUBLIC NIGHTS TO VIEW THE NIGHT SKY.

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.

CHECK OUT: www.ithaca.edu CHECK IN: my.ithaca.edu

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

Fuse uses 21,390 lbs of paper that has a postconsumer recycled percentage of 30 percent: 54 trees preserved for the future • 22,897 gallons wastewater flow saved • 2,533 lbs solid waste not generated • 4,988 lbs of greenhouse gases prevented • 38,181,150 BTUs energy not consumed • 9,547 miles of automobile travel saved • The equivalent of 656 trees planted. The inks contain 27% renewable resources.