Auburn campus shows their red spirit for heart health
Collegian cayugacollegian@gmail.com
CCC wears red for heart health awareness
CAYUGABRIEFS ASSESSMENT DAY IS FEBRUARY 11th There are no daytime classes on Wednesday, February 11, 2015, however, evening classes will meet.
ACTIVITY FAIRS RESCHEDULED Cayuga Community College’s Norman Lee says because of the recent snow day, the planned activity fairs have been rescheduled. The Auburn campus student activity fair will be held on Monday, February 16th in the main hallway. The Fulton campus student activity fair is slated for Wednesday, February 25th from 10am – 1pm. Students and staff at Cayuga’s Fulton campus gather wearing red for heart health awareness and form a heart in the lobby.
FIVE REASONS TO WRITE FOR THE CAYUGA COLLEGIAN! 1. It’s fun and informative! 2. You will meet new people! 3. We have K-cup coffee in the office! 4. We have cool t-shirts! 5. It looks good on your resume!
COLLEGIAN OFFICE HOURS Kelsey McLean, co-editor-in-chief Monday: 10:00 am - noon Tuesday: 10:00 am - noon Wednesday: 10:00 am - noon Thursday: 10:00 am - noon Friday: 10:00 am-noon
Caleb Slater, co-editor-in-chief Tuesday: noon - 2:00 pm Thursday: noon - 2:00 pm Friday: noon - 2:00 pm
Vol. 61 Issue 11 February 10, 2015
Cayuga Community College embraced National Wear Red Day 2015 in full color on both campuses. Everyone was encouraged to wear red to raise awareness about heart disease especially in women. It’s not just a man’s disease. Heart disease and stroke kill one in three women, yet it’s 80% preventable. CCC nursing students on the Auburn campus spent the day taking blood pressures on request. Red bracelets for heart health awareness were also sold for $5 with all proceeds going to the American Heart Association.
Are you at risk for Measles? Find out. By Kelsey McLean, Co- Editor-in-chief
Measles hasn’t been a word on the public’s lips for a very, very long time, but it certainly is now, with a growing epidemic that has shocked the nation. A disease long since thought dead and gone has clawed its way out of the grave to terrorize the public once more... but not without some helping hands. The first outbreak of the disease happened in-- in what is perhaps the greatest evidence of nature having a sense of irony-- Disneyland, Anaheim. The amusement park was forced to close its doors to prevent further infection, but to no avail, as the outbreak spread to infect up to 102 people and counting, including one as close as New York City. If you don’t remember what measles are, or what they do, then you’d be forgiven. It’s a disease that hasn’t been relevant in decades, not since the vaccine was developed in 1963. It’s an airborne disease that spreads easily through coughing and sneezing, and won’t show any sign or symptoms until about ten to 12 days
after exposure, meaning you could infect others and hardly know it. The symptoms begin as a four day fever, then worsens into the distinct white ‘Koplik’ spots on the lip, and then finally into the full fledged rash. It is fortunately very treatable, and can only (usually) affect someone once, but it can also be lethal, especially to young children. If the disease has been stamped out through vaccines, it almost seems ludicrous to think that it’d be an issue at all, let alone an epidemic, but the answer is very simple -- people simply aren’t vaccinating their kids. Whether it be out of distrust for the vaccine, the school, or simply the government in general, there has been a growing trend of parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids. The ‘Anti-Vaxxers’, as they dub themselves, got their head start into stardom when Jenny McCarthy, TV personality and spokesperson for Autism Speaks, promoted a claim that there was link between vaccinations and autism -- a claim
that has been, thus far, completely scientifically unfounded. It’s no coincidence, either, that the outbreak started in the Golden State. California is one of 19 states where a parent can enroll their student into school without any of the mandatory vaccinations through ‘personal belief exemption’-whatever those beliefs might be. However, these recent outbreaks has called those exemptions seriously into question. This law isn’t new, having been in writing since the 1960s, but has only been relevant in modern times, with the numbers of unvaccinated children entering system having doubled within the last decade. This recent outbreak however, which has been narrowed down to have almost certainly been caused by unvaccinated children in the park, has seriously called this law into question. A law has been swiftly proposed, though not enacted, to eliminate this exemption altogether. Other states, as well, have proposed CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER OF CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
An update from Dr. DeCinque OPINIONS Here’s how I see it!
Kelsey McLean As you probably know, the Islamic State-- or ISIS-- recently released a shocking video of them burning one of their captors alive, Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseabeh. The video was a stunning display of shock and horror, and a hard watch for even the strongest of souls. Thus, it absolutely amazed me that certain news sites, FOX News in particular, decided to show clips of this travesty of a video. It was a bold move... but was it a right one? It’s hard to discern what’s ‘right’ in a situation like this. After all, it wasn’t the newscasters that killed this man, it was ISIS. The news was only doing what it was intended to do. ISIS is clearly where our anger belongs, not the news, and the Islamic State revealed this video with every intent of it being shared -- and that’s exactly the problem, to me. Showing these videos, I feel, is playing right into ISIS’s hands. This isn’t like the Vietnam War photos and videos, which sought to reveal a brutality that was being hidden from the world, this was intentionally shared with the intent of spreading terror -- as terrorists want to do. They understand the power of the social media, more so than any other terrorist group, and are using it to their advantage. Passing the video along is only giving their reign of terror more power. Furthermore, showing clips of a man who still has a family in mourning feels like it was in poor taste. There’s a reason why there’s such a thing as ‘too soon’. ...And yet, it’s hard to argue against it, because the video has blown up in a big way. The public seem to care more about ISIS than ever before, and across the world people are calling for more severe measures to be taken against the group, including Jordan’s own King Abdullah -who was sworn to take action in the wake of this tragedy. So which one is it? Is sharing the video a clear baiting tactic for more views and gossip? Or is it an act of sharing your outrage, your scorn, spurring people to take action? It’s not an easy question to answer. In times like these, with more and more atrocious acts being filmed and shared with the intent to terrify, it’s become more and more difficult to discern what is appropriate and what is not. While I feel like sharing the video with the public was perhaps a thoughtless and disrespectful move, and I question their intent, I cannot deny its effects -people are angry, angrier than they ever were before. Can you really argue against results like that? I’m not sure I can.
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It is a pleasure to welcome everyone to the beginning of the Spring 2015 semester. I always find it exciting the first few days of any new term as students return and the campuses feel alive again. I took the opportunity yesterday to have lunch at Subway, and then sat and listened to students talk about their new professors - which classes they thought would be “tough” and “not so tough.” Try it sometime; you can learn a lot about how students view things by listening to their conversations with peers. I know everyone is concerned about enrollment and the budget. The good news is that we are closing in on our budgeted enrollment goal as students continue to register and we begin the Cayuga Advantage courses. However, we are down from the number of students we had this time last year. We are analyzing the data, and I plan to have campus meetings to talk with you and share information, not only about this year but next year as well. I hope to schedule these sessions for early February. By then, we will have a better idea of what the State may do, as the Governor’s proposal will be released and will tell us what, if
any, increase in base aid he proposes and also give us an idea of where we may stand with capital funding that was left out of the budget last year in error. You all know that we still face some challenging financial times as a result of a number of factors. 1. County funding at the same level for five years 2. State funding lagging behind even what we were getting in 2008 3. Decline in enrollment and increased competition 4. Pressure to keep tuition low 5. A new out-of-area chargeback model to be implemented in 2017 that will reduce our revenue from out-of-area substantially As a result, it is going to be very challenging in building future budgets, and I will be sharing more specifics with you and seeking your help and support. We are looking forward to beginning our joint conversations with Cayuga and Oswego Counties about regionalization as one potential new governance model that would help stabilize our financial model. There is a great
deal to be done here; and even if all the parties agreed, I don’t see this happening before our 201617 budget year. In the interim we must continue to work on improving retention, increasing new enrollments, and aggressively controlling spending. We are expecting the final report from Anderson Strickler on the demand for student housing at both campuses, and this information will guide our decision making on this topic. We are also beginning to work with Clark, Paterson, Lee on an update of our Facilities Master Plan, and you will have an opportunity to participate in this process in February and March. We continue to seek a site for our athletic fields in Auburn, and I am hopeful that something can be decided by the end of the semester; and if the State capital funding is returned, we will move forward. We also hope to have an issue resolved around the financing of the Energy Performance Contract. Have a great semester, and I look forward to continuing to work with you on these very important matters. — Greg
Measles...Are You Immune? Measles elimination was declared in the US in 2000, however secondary measles cases and outbreaks occur from international travel and unvaccinated persons. With the current multistate outbreak originating at Disneyland……there is much talk and concern. In NYS, College Students….NOT College Employees, (if 6 credits on campus) must provide proof of measles immunity. Are you wondering if you are Immune? Here are some guidelines…………….. You are immune if: 1. You were born before 1957 2. You have 2 documented doses of live measles virus vaccine or 2 MMR’s or combination
3. You have laboratory proof of measles immunity 4. Children born in 1985 and after needed 2 MMR’s for kindergarten You could be non-immune if: 1. You were born between 1/1/1957 – 1/1/1985 2. Did not attend college after 1990 and born before 1985. 3. Never in the military 4. Not a healthcare worker 5. You have a medical or religious waiver that contraindicates vaccination If you have questions regarding your immunity, are unsure about your immunity status, or feel that is something your doctor takes care of. Please contact the health office and we can help you answer those questions. Suzanne M Wilson RN BS
KELSEY MCLEAN - CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CALEB SLATER - CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DUSTIN ALBINO - SPORTS EDITOR SHAQUELLA S. NEWBY - STAFF WRITER DUNCAN MERRITT - STAFF WRITER MARY G. MERRITT - FACULTY ADVISOR WANT TO JOIN THE COLLEGIAN STAFF? EMAIL US TO SET UP AN INTERVIEW.
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Governor Cuomo takes shot at community colleges By Susan Harris, Canton, NY Governor Cuomo had choice words for community colleges in his state of the state address last week. “Our community college in many cases is charging students exorbitant tuition, running up debt, giving them training and education for jobs that do not exist,” he said. The governor wants to improve job outcomes for community college students. He plans to do that by aligning colleges with regional economic development councils, incentivizing job training, and changing the state aid model. Community college leaders say a lot of this work is already happening at the college level and they’re not sure why the governor targeted community colleges for reform.
Listening to Governor Cuomo’s speech last week made interim Clinton Community College president Fred Smith mad. “Many people felt that his comments were — disturbing, to say the least, offensive,” Smith said. And when it comes to Clinton Community college, Smith says the governor’s information was wrong. “Now, our tuition for the year is $4060. Which is anything but exorbitant.” Carole McCoy is president of Jefferson Community College in Watertown. She says some students there are taking on more debt — but it’s because the college isn’t getting enough aid from the state. “We get less per student today than
we did in 2007. And of course costs have risen and risen. So our students are paying more and more of the cost of their education,” McCoy explained. The governor wants to tie community college state aid to schools’ suceess to graduating and placing students in jobs. Carole McCoy thinks it’s a bad idea. “I’m happy to demonstrate all day every day our tremendous results — we get great results — but I believe the state, if they want to make the most difference for students, will make the biggest difference by increasing our funding.” Cuomo also wants to link community colleges with employers in their regions. “Identify specific jobs that are
available and then educate and train for those jobs to make the community college system more rewarding,” the governor said during his speech last week. But about half of Jefferson Community College’s students come from nearby Fort Drum. Carole McCoy says Cuomo’s idea doesn’t make sense for soldiers and their families. “While we would love for every single one of those students to stay in Jefferson County, we know that’s not what’s going to happen. They’re going to move to another duty station. They’re going to go somewhere else. What we see our role is is to give those students skills and programs that are transportable.”T
An open letter to Governor Cuomo from the president of the Faculty Council of Community Colleges, Dr. Tina Good
More on measles... CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
to tighten their vaccines law in response to this outbreak. A good start, perhaps, but sadly not nearly fast enough to stop the outbreak, which is already spreading far and wide across the country -- from Illinois to New Jersey, New Mexico to Ohio, the outbreak starting in a place with such heavy traffic as Disneyland has clearly shown its devastating effects. No sign of the measles has
happened anywhere near CNY, but that doesn’t mean it still can’t happen, and it’s better safe than sorry. If you’re experiencing any kind of mysterious fever-like symptoms, especially if you know you weren’t vaccinated, and even if you were, it can’t hurt to check into a local hospital and get tested. It might be nothing, sure, but it just might save a life -- whether that be yours, or someone you love.
SERVING THE STUDENTS OF CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS!
There is also a letter-signing petition at change.org that Nassau Community College began in response to the governor’s address: sign the linked letter that will be forwarded to Governor Cuomo, our state and local elected officials. Here is the link: tinyurl.com/letter-tocuomo-2015
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Lady Spartans Come Back to Beat Lady Barons SPORTS
Kasey McGrath
The Cayuga Lady Spartans used a great comeback to come away with a thrilling 53-50 victory over visiting Corning Community College. With Cayuga trailing by nine points with six minutes left to play, they played great team defense to come away victorious. Maxine Williams
(Jamestown, NY) led the Spartans with 16 points, including eight in a row down the stretch. Lakin Mueller (Central Square, NY) scored 12 points, six rebounds, and five steals, while Allison Chase (Weedsport, NY) scored 10 points, and had nine rebounds, and
Shaqueria Everson (Syracuse, NY) scored seven points and had a team high 14 rebounds, while hitting two clutch free throws with 17 seconds left, and blocking a game tying three point attempt to end the game.
The Cayuga Community College Spartan Women’s Basketball Team
Maxine Williams
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