Last week our students were on Spring Break. While many of them headed to Florida for the traditional college "spring break" experience many others took this time to re-group, volunteer or rest and relax at home while our spring sports teams headed south for athletic competition. I had the opportunity to address almost 500 parents at a VSAC (Vermont Student Assistance Corporation) College Pathways annual series of workshops designed for high school juniors and their parents. I spoke to the parents about the transition from high school to college and while a good deal of what I presented made many of them "uncomfortable" and provoked a good deal of anxiety, it was important that parents more fully understand some of the issues I talked about. I have received a number of emails from parents who attended my session and I appreciate their comments and inquiries.
I met with my Practicum students yesterday and they began presenting their final yearlong projects which consist of a case study of a "client" at their internship sites. Kate Amey was the first and she did an exceptional job in clearly and concisely presenting her case study. My students interview someone at their site and then research whatever the presenting issues are and along with a site supervisor (and, of course respecting confidentiality and with the "client's" permission) prepare information for the class. This project allows my students to pull together much of what we have learned over the past academic year (Practicum is a two semester course) and it is always gratifying to see how my students can incorporate so much of what we discuss/research in class. I am looking forward to the rest of these case study presentations. We also discussed the REALITY that we only have 4 more classes before the semester comes to an end. While it was great that two of my students have now heard from graduate schools (congratulations to Rachael and Erika on getting their acceptances) it is also a somewhat frightening reality that the "race to the end" is upon us. The good thing is that this class has really come together as a highly functioning group so they are able to talk openly with each other and with me about their plans (or lack thereof) after graduation. Interesting and challenging times.
Men & Masculinities met last night and students did a presentation on Men & Masculinities and Film - this is an extremely thought-provoking topic and we ended with small group discussions on what THEY think the impact has been on them from all forms of media when it comes to the way in which they have been socially constructed to view men. Each small group consists of 3 women and 3 men so the interaction/discussion is fascinating to watch. This class also only has 4 more classes in the semester so they too are feeling the pressures of their time here coming to an end. I have been hosting "dinner at Dave's" for the past several Mondays and last night had 5 of these students over for dinner after class. I chased them out around 11:00 after a wonderful evening of food, discussion and their just having a chance to get off campus for a meal. They are always so appreciative of this opportunity and it certainly is a pleasure for me. My Practicum class now insists that I have THEM over for dinner too - we will work something out but they also insist on all being together so there won't be a splitting up as there has been with M&M - hummm perhaps pizza from Domino's????????
It is raining outside, dark and gloomy - much different from last week when they were all gone and I was able to get to the mountain and ski at Smuggler's Notch - temperatures last week were in the 50's and now they are hovering around 40 - but as I have often said, when the temperatures rise in the springtime their grades seem to fall - let's hope for some combination of studying and good weather.
Take care, be well and please keep the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Skype - and our global connections - The Lonely Soldier by Helen Benedict
I have mentioned that I am just learning how to Skype in a previous blog. Well, I am now putting it to good use in connecting with current/former students who are scattered around the globe. On Wednesday evening I was checking my email from home when Tom Robinson who graduated from SMC in the mid-90's popped up on my computer screen - Tom left here and studied at UVM in their Higher Education Student Affairs Master's program - he has had a number of positions within Higher Education over the years and we have remained good friends. When we connected through our computers, I asked him where he was and he responded Beijing. He is currently working for Northeastern University in Boston and is in China for two weeks working on a program where Chinese students study English in China and then come to the United States for three years for their undergraduate education. It was great to talk with him and to realize that I was in my home in Williston, VT talking with a friend/former student in China. Yesterday I Skyped one of my current students who is studying in Spain. Meghan Cormier is a second semester junior and one of my advisees. We are getting ready to begin pre-registration for the fall semester and she and I discussed what courses she wanted/needed to take her senior year. She was able to connect to the College's website, check her degree audit and tell me what courses she was interested in taking next year. Normally, with our Study Abroad students, it is a matter of either hoping to be able to talk by phone or many emails before academic advising is accomplished - this Skype thing is so much better. She is having an amazing time over there and was even able to get to Ireland for four days a week ago. Her Mom and sister are going over to visit her in a couple of weeks and she is so excited about that. I received an email from my friend/former student Matt Dunn who is an emergency room doctor - he is in Chile about to begin a grueling extreme racing event which, in spite of the recent tragedy of earthquakes IN Chile is still being held. I am going to see if Matt can Skype from where he is as the race progresses - he is in email contact with many of us here and we get to follow the progress of the race. I am amazed that the Chilean government is allowing this race to go on given the devastation but they want this to take place as it brings a great deal of money into the country and they need that desperately now. China - Spain - Chile all connected with SMC through technology - not bad!!!!!!!
Campus has been really busy with winter sports ending and spring sports just beginning. Many of our spring sports are heading to Florida for our Spring Break so that they can get a jump start on their seasons. I have some baseball players in my classes and they are looking forward to a lot of games while in Florida. With only a week before Spring Break, students are scrambling to get papers submitted and projects completed. Once they return we then have Easter break and then classes end on the last day of April - while they don't always appreciate my reminders that the semester is going by VERY quickly, they are working hard. I will, of course, remind all of them to use sunblock if they are heading to warmer climates :) Our weather has been amazing lately - I went skiing at Smuggs on Wednesday morning. While we haven't had a lot of snow lately, the slopes were well-groomed and the sun was shining brightly with temperatures in the mid-30's. I hope to ski every day of our Spring Break.
Thanks to an invitation from Kim Swartz, the Director of the Center for Women and Gender, last Tuesday I was fortunate to attend a luncheon with Helen Benedict who was speaking on campus that night. She is the author of a new book - The Lonely Soldier - she has interviewed a number of women who serve or who have served in the United States military. Specifically, she was interested in the experiences of women in combat. We met briefly and I told her about my Men & Masculinities class and that we were using Love My Rifle More Than You by Kayla Williams - Helen had just recently met Kayla and was impressed that there was a class here which WAS addressing this as an issue. Her luncheon talk was riveting and I look forward to hearing how my students responded to her evening presentation. This is an issue that has received very little coverage in the media. I asked her if anyone was listening as SHE has given a voice to those women who have no "voice" - she has appeared before Congress and knows that "some" in the military are at least aware of her book but she isn't sure that the message is really being heard. After writing The Lonely Soldier, she then wrote a play which has been on Broadway and is now writing a novel - all based on the interviews she has had with women in OUR military.......
Well, back to grading papers - please take good care and please keep all of the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
Campus has been really busy with winter sports ending and spring sports just beginning. Many of our spring sports are heading to Florida for our Spring Break so that they can get a jump start on their seasons. I have some baseball players in my classes and they are looking forward to a lot of games while in Florida. With only a week before Spring Break, students are scrambling to get papers submitted and projects completed. Once they return we then have Easter break and then classes end on the last day of April - while they don't always appreciate my reminders that the semester is going by VERY quickly, they are working hard. I will, of course, remind all of them to use sunblock if they are heading to warmer climates :) Our weather has been amazing lately - I went skiing at Smuggs on Wednesday morning. While we haven't had a lot of snow lately, the slopes were well-groomed and the sun was shining brightly with temperatures in the mid-30's. I hope to ski every day of our Spring Break.
Thanks to an invitation from Kim Swartz, the Director of the Center for Women and Gender, last Tuesday I was fortunate to attend a luncheon with Helen Benedict who was speaking on campus that night. She is the author of a new book - The Lonely Soldier - she has interviewed a number of women who serve or who have served in the United States military. Specifically, she was interested in the experiences of women in combat. We met briefly and I told her about my Men & Masculinities class and that we were using Love My Rifle More Than You by Kayla Williams - Helen had just recently met Kayla and was impressed that there was a class here which WAS addressing this as an issue. Her luncheon talk was riveting and I look forward to hearing how my students responded to her evening presentation. This is an issue that has received very little coverage in the media. I asked her if anyone was listening as SHE has given a voice to those women who have no "voice" - she has appeared before Congress and knows that "some" in the military are at least aware of her book but she isn't sure that the message is really being heard. After writing The Lonely Soldier, she then wrote a play which has been on Broadway and is now writing a novel - all based on the interviews she has had with women in OUR military.......
Well, back to grading papers - please take good care and please keep all of the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Enjoying the "fruits of our labor" -
I returned late Friday evening from a 7 day trip out West where I visited with four of my former students. I flew into San Francisco where Bob King ('84)met me at the airport and then the next day we drove up to Incline Village, NV to the home of our friends Davis/Ann Clark. Davis and Ann are former students from Pontiac Catholic High School in Pontiac, Michigan and I have known them since they were my students in 1975. We spent a wonderful time snowshoeing and skiing in Lake Tahoe. Ann is a high school art teacher in Incline Village and Davis is the IT person at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. I have had the pleasure of going into Ann's school and presenting to her classes and to the entire school on issues of hazing, bullying, alcohol and drugs. It is always such a joy to see former students who are now to actively involved in their communities. Davis is the IT person who speaks "English" and not technobabble so he is much appreciated by those he works with at the Hyatt - again it is good to see how people greet him as he walks through that beautiful resort hotel. He has also been a coach and a substitute teacher and since Incline Village is such a small community, whenever we are together they are both greeted by many of their current/former students. Bob works in corporate America and was a work-study in the Student Resource Center when he was a student at SMC. He is currently working at the person in charge of all video-conferencing for a global financial corporation but has never lost that sense of the Catholic nature of SMC and his personality shines through in everything that he does. Bob is also VERY creative as he showed us when, after a day of skiing at Diamond Peak (ten minutes from DAvis/Ann's home) he created a You Tube video of MY adventures on the slopes. It seems that these three have somehow forgotten that I AM 66 and so when they convinced me that I really could navigate Crystal at Diamond Peak, I foolishly believed them. It was quite a challenge and while I survived, Bob's video camera caught some interesting footage which he turned into a very funny You Tube video - I have to admit that I NEVER thought I would be on You Tube....... If you want a good laugh simply go to You Tube and put in Dave Landers Hallelujah - let me know what you think....... After Bob returned to San Francisco another former student, Craig Farnum '99 drove up to Incline and hung out with us before driving me back to Reno with him where the next day I went with him into his high school and presented to the leadership class. Craig is the Lead Counselor and at 33 is one of the youngest Lead Counselors in the State of Nevada. Craig was a psychology major at SMC and a Spanish minor and he has made quite an impact on the people he works with. The students clearly love him and two of his fellow counselors AND his principal took the time to tell me how much they value him as a colleague. One of the senior students in the leadership class mentioned that she has always wanted to study Psychology but wasn't sure about exactly what she could do with that major - she is interested in a "job like Mr. Farnum" and after we talked I invited her to become part of my Practicum class when "Mr. Farnum Skypes into my class to talk with my college senior psychology students - - again, it is nice to be able to "enjoy the fruits of our labor" as I was able to see four people who are making a difference in our world but whom I have known for so many years. I tell students that if you decide to go into education or counseling you had better understand the concept of "delayed gratification" as it can sometimes take many years for us to actually see the "fruits of our labor."
Now that I am back, I have just completed grading the first papers from my Sports Psychology class. They are pretty good and I look forward to more of their critical thought and analysis on the many topics we are exploring in class. Men & Masculinities meets tomorrow night and after class I will be hosting the first of 5 dinners at my home. I have 6 students for dinner right after class on Mondays and while I cook, they talk and just enjoy being off campus and having someone else cook. I have, in the past, had to throw them out around 11 because I need my sleep. It was also interesting to note that when I mentioned hosting dinners at my house to the 30 students at Craig's school they were amazed - this is something they had no idea that college faculty do. I know that this is NOT unusual here at SMC and I look forward every year to having these dinners.
On this past Wednesday, in Lansing, Michigan, Louis Stamatakos was honored with the Silver Star, the third highest award that our government can give someone. I had Lou as a professor in my earlier graduate school days at Michigan State University where I received my Masters Degree. My brother-in-law Jim Wall also had Lou as a professor and they have maintained a wonderful friendship for many, many years. Jim alerted me to the fact that Lou, while never discussing this with friends and family, had, at the age of 20 saved an entire airplane which was flying over Nazi Germany during World War II - two bombs became entangled inside the plane and had they hit the sides of the plane, all would have been lost. Now, 65 years later - 65 years after the fact, Louis Stamatakos was honored this past week with the awarding of the Silver Star for untangling the bombs and saving the lives of all on-board. My best to Lou and his family on this long overdue honor.
As our men and women fight in two wars I hope that WE don't wait 65 years to keep them in our thoughts and prayers and to honor their service to our country and to us.........
take care and be well.
Dave
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Technology and this generation's fascination/obsession with it.
Technology and this generation's fascination/obsession with it.
I have been "interviewed" twice this past week by students who are researching the implications of today's technology on today's students. One group is doing their senior project for Journalism and they spent over an hour with me - they recorded our conversation and they were full of questions about what I thought the impact was on college students today who are, according to recent reports, "using some form of media 7 hours and 38 minutes a day" - the other student is actually writing a book and he was looking for information on how social networking MAY be impacting students' interactions with each other. As I shared my own enthusiasm for today's technology and acknowledged that I Skype, text, Facebook, email, use eCollege, construct PowerPoints for class, pilot new classroom technology such as Tegrity (this allows me to record my classes and it captures everything I share with the class on my computer - I use it to record student presentations, guest speakers, etc. and when students or I use PowerPoint presentations, Tegrity "captures" all of it at the same time) - I also have a "paperless" classroom which means that after 40+ years of carrying student papers home to grade, it is all done today on my tablet computer. Our discussions were excellent and I was, as usual, impressed with the maturity and thoughtfulness of the students. They had researched their topics and seemed willing to listen to someone "older" :) discuss technology. One of the things we agreed on is that technology itself is not the problem, when/if there is a problem it is in how that technology is used or abused. Someone who spends hours and hours each day on FaceBook will most likely have other issues in their lives and their grades will suffer from that "obsession." Students or anyone (parents and grandparents are now on FaceBook) who uses social networking to take the place of one-on-one - face-to-face interactions will someday come to regret that. Many years ago, when new students arrived on campus in September our computer systems were shut down as they were infected with viruses - it took several days for our IT folks to be able to fix the problems - it was fascinating to watch how so many people went into panic mode because they couldn't "connect' with family/friends. I remember when I was finishing my doctoral dissertation and "word processing" was first introduced. someone suggested that I utilize that new technology instead of having a "typist" type each page for me at the exorbitant price of $.25 per page - yup, that was just a quarter. At the time I was NOT willing to "trust" my dissertation to any darned computer :) I laugh now as I get impatient when my computer doesn't boot up quick enough - how times have changed........
Things on campus continue at a steady and busy pace. Papers, projects, presentations are a daily event in class. Seniors are encouraged to work with our Career Services folks to make sure that they all have an up-to-date resume and the three career counselors are always willing to work with faculty or students and they provide excellent resources for the campus. Chris Clary will be coming into my Practicum class in two weeks to talk with my seniors (again) and to check in with them on the progress they have made in their post-graduation plans. Prof. Pat Standen is a member of our Philosophy Department and an outstanding educator. Pat was a 16 year old, two or three sport high school athlete when an automobile accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. As he realized that there literally were NO activities available for someone who USED to be an athlete he began his own journey and now he kayaks, plays sled-hockey, skis, holds the record for the Burlington City Marathon for adaptive athletes and he is about to take up the biathlon next week since he has always been interested in this but never has tried it. He is the founder of EDAA - Eastern Disabled Athletes Association. Pat came to speak with my Sports Psychology class on Thursday and it was amazing to see how quickly he became a part of my class. The students were intrigued, embarrassed (that they didn't know more about adaptive sports already) and full of questions. Pat has such an honest and comfortable teaching style that we worked very well together. A couple of my students know Pat because he is the Faculty Mentor for our Men's Hockey team and several of our men and women ice hockey players had assisted Pat when his organization put on a sled hockey event at Cairn's Arena. I have seen Pat play sled-hockey and it is truly an amazing sport to watch. I had Face-booked Pat during a recent Sunday afternoon Winter X Game run up to the Olympics because I had seen ski cross racing with adaptive skiers - he knows several of these competitors and so was able to also address that with my class. He and I agree that those of us who are TAB's (temporarily able-bodied) have an obligation to better educate ourselves on issues such as adaptive sports because we all know or will all know someone who has a disability that will restrict their ABILITIES - our awareness now makes us responsible for educating ourselves and those around us.
We have a long weekend starting next Saturday and I will be heading out West to visit some of my former students who live in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and Reno. It will be great to see them all and I am also looking forward to some great skiing while I am there. While our neighbors to the South have certainly received a great deal of snow the past 48 hours, WE have received NONE. I know it is useless to ask them to ship it up here but hopefully this week will bring us more snow in Vermont. At least I know that they have a lot out West as my friends in Incline Village - outside of Lake Tahoe tell me that they received 7 FEET a week ago - 7 FEET - of course, their normal temperatures are also around 30 degrees so the snow isn't much of an issue - I will hopefully post some pictures on my blog upon my return. In the meantime, take good care, be well, and as always, PLEASE keep all of the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
I have been "interviewed" twice this past week by students who are researching the implications of today's technology on today's students. One group is doing their senior project for Journalism and they spent over an hour with me - they recorded our conversation and they were full of questions about what I thought the impact was on college students today who are, according to recent reports, "using some form of media 7 hours and 38 minutes a day" - the other student is actually writing a book and he was looking for information on how social networking MAY be impacting students' interactions with each other. As I shared my own enthusiasm for today's technology and acknowledged that I Skype, text, Facebook, email, use eCollege, construct PowerPoints for class, pilot new classroom technology such as Tegrity (this allows me to record my classes and it captures everything I share with the class on my computer - I use it to record student presentations, guest speakers, etc. and when students or I use PowerPoint presentations, Tegrity "captures" all of it at the same time) - I also have a "paperless" classroom which means that after 40+ years of carrying student papers home to grade, it is all done today on my tablet computer. Our discussions were excellent and I was, as usual, impressed with the maturity and thoughtfulness of the students. They had researched their topics and seemed willing to listen to someone "older" :) discuss technology. One of the things we agreed on is that technology itself is not the problem, when/if there is a problem it is in how that technology is used or abused. Someone who spends hours and hours each day on FaceBook will most likely have other issues in their lives and their grades will suffer from that "obsession." Students or anyone (parents and grandparents are now on FaceBook) who uses social networking to take the place of one-on-one - face-to-face interactions will someday come to regret that. Many years ago, when new students arrived on campus in September our computer systems were shut down as they were infected with viruses - it took several days for our IT folks to be able to fix the problems - it was fascinating to watch how so many people went into panic mode because they couldn't "connect' with family/friends. I remember when I was finishing my doctoral dissertation and "word processing" was first introduced. someone suggested that I utilize that new technology instead of having a "typist" type each page for me at the exorbitant price of $.25 per page - yup, that was just a quarter. At the time I was NOT willing to "trust" my dissertation to any darned computer :) I laugh now as I get impatient when my computer doesn't boot up quick enough - how times have changed........
Things on campus continue at a steady and busy pace. Papers, projects, presentations are a daily event in class. Seniors are encouraged to work with our Career Services folks to make sure that they all have an up-to-date resume and the three career counselors are always willing to work with faculty or students and they provide excellent resources for the campus. Chris Clary will be coming into my Practicum class in two weeks to talk with my seniors (again) and to check in with them on the progress they have made in their post-graduation plans. Prof. Pat Standen is a member of our Philosophy Department and an outstanding educator. Pat was a 16 year old, two or three sport high school athlete when an automobile accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. As he realized that there literally were NO activities available for someone who USED to be an athlete he began his own journey and now he kayaks, plays sled-hockey, skis, holds the record for the Burlington City Marathon for adaptive athletes and he is about to take up the biathlon next week since he has always been interested in this but never has tried it. He is the founder of EDAA - Eastern Disabled Athletes Association. Pat came to speak with my Sports Psychology class on Thursday and it was amazing to see how quickly he became a part of my class. The students were intrigued, embarrassed (that they didn't know more about adaptive sports already) and full of questions. Pat has such an honest and comfortable teaching style that we worked very well together. A couple of my students know Pat because he is the Faculty Mentor for our Men's Hockey team and several of our men and women ice hockey players had assisted Pat when his organization put on a sled hockey event at Cairn's Arena. I have seen Pat play sled-hockey and it is truly an amazing sport to watch. I had Face-booked Pat during a recent Sunday afternoon Winter X Game run up to the Olympics because I had seen ski cross racing with adaptive skiers - he knows several of these competitors and so was able to also address that with my class. He and I agree that those of us who are TAB's (temporarily able-bodied) have an obligation to better educate ourselves on issues such as adaptive sports because we all know or will all know someone who has a disability that will restrict their ABILITIES - our awareness now makes us responsible for educating ourselves and those around us.
We have a long weekend starting next Saturday and I will be heading out West to visit some of my former students who live in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and Reno. It will be great to see them all and I am also looking forward to some great skiing while I am there. While our neighbors to the South have certainly received a great deal of snow the past 48 hours, WE have received NONE. I know it is useless to ask them to ship it up here but hopefully this week will bring us more snow in Vermont. At least I know that they have a lot out West as my friends in Incline Village - outside of Lake Tahoe tell me that they received 7 FEET a week ago - 7 FEET - of course, their normal temperatures are also around 30 degrees so the snow isn't much of an issue - I will hopefully post some pictures on my blog upon my return. In the meantime, take good care, be well, and as always, PLEASE keep all of the members of our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
Sunday, January 24, 2010
More joys of teaching.....
Very early Friday morning I left my home here and drove to Woburn, MA to meet my friend and former student Jim Howland '88 who was defending his doctoral dissertation at Boston University. I have been a member of his Ed.D. Committee for the past two years and it was very rewarding to be a part of his defense. He passed with revisions which is the normal path and will complete everything and graduate in May. As a full-time husband, father and the Social Worker at the only school in MA for kids in recovery, he has worked really hard to complete his degree - I was rather proud of him as I have been of other former students who have continued on with post-SMC graduate degrees. I have mentioned in my blog that preparing and submitting letters of recommendation take up a good deal of any faculty members time BUT it is also something I enjoy doing. When I got home from Boston I received a call from Jason Fuchs, a current senior psychology major who told me that he has received his first graduate school acceptance. He is the first of this year's seniors whom I have heard has been accepted - the next few weeks will bring many more and I did three recommendations this morning so the process continues.
Classes this past week were excellent and I continue to be impressed with the quality of my students. Tomorrow's Men & Masculinities class will bring Dr. Frank Landry back to talk with my students about men's health issues. Frank is an alum of SMC and this will be his 10th year as a volunteer speaker in my class. Because I don't believe in teaching in isolation he will not only address men's issues but he will also address women's issues - this is always a fascinating class and I advise my students NOT to miss this one - it may save their lives someday. He doesn't pull any punches and answers every question in an honest and direct manner. Students always tell me how much they appreciate his discussion and HE is always amazed at the energy and honesty of my students.
I have heard from a couple of you who read my blog (thanks) and appreciate knowing that someone IS out there "listening" to the blog. I have had people express their appreciation for my asking for thoughts and prayers for the members of our Armed Forces - I will continue to do that simply because it is the right thing to do. This past Tuesday our Student Association had a good discussion during Open Forum about how we could help out in the crisis in Haiti. Since we have colleagues and students who have been very personally impacted by the recent earthquakes it was good to hear how concerned our student leaders are about trying to make a difference. David Hiltz is our SA President this year and he referred to Dr. Jack Neuhauser's letter to the community about how SMC can help in Haiti in the short term AND in the long term - I posted Jack's message in my last blog. David asked everyone to think about both avenues of assistance - now and for their future. SMC students and faculty/staff have traveled to Haiti in the past doing volunteer work and I know that they will continue to do this - doing things simply because they ARE the right thing to do is just one of the many joys of working here.
please take care, be well and, as always please keep the members of our military in your thoughts and prayers as well as those impacted by the tragedy in Haiti.
Dave
Classes this past week were excellent and I continue to be impressed with the quality of my students. Tomorrow's Men & Masculinities class will bring Dr. Frank Landry back to talk with my students about men's health issues. Frank is an alum of SMC and this will be his 10th year as a volunteer speaker in my class. Because I don't believe in teaching in isolation he will not only address men's issues but he will also address women's issues - this is always a fascinating class and I advise my students NOT to miss this one - it may save their lives someday. He doesn't pull any punches and answers every question in an honest and direct manner. Students always tell me how much they appreciate his discussion and HE is always amazed at the energy and honesty of my students.
I have heard from a couple of you who read my blog (thanks) and appreciate knowing that someone IS out there "listening" to the blog. I have had people express their appreciation for my asking for thoughts and prayers for the members of our Armed Forces - I will continue to do that simply because it is the right thing to do. This past Tuesday our Student Association had a good discussion during Open Forum about how we could help out in the crisis in Haiti. Since we have colleagues and students who have been very personally impacted by the recent earthquakes it was good to hear how concerned our student leaders are about trying to make a difference. David Hiltz is our SA President this year and he referred to Dr. Jack Neuhauser's letter to the community about how SMC can help in Haiti in the short term AND in the long term - I posted Jack's message in my last blog. David asked everyone to think about both avenues of assistance - now and for their future. SMC students and faculty/staff have traveled to Haiti in the past doing volunteer work and I know that they will continue to do this - doing things simply because they ARE the right thing to do is just one of the many joys of working here.
please take care, be well and, as always please keep the members of our military in your thoughts and prayers as well as those impacted by the tragedy in Haiti.
Dave
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Haiti - campus reaction
I returned late last night from Atlanta, Georgia where I had attended the NCAA National Convention. I left Vermont early Wednesday morning when the news from Haiti was first starting to come in. The initial reports were that there had been a 7.0 earthquake but little information at that time. As things unfolded in Haiti I followed as much as possible while also attending the many meetings and workshops which took me to Atlanta in the first place. I serve as the College's Faculty Athletic Representative and am the liaison between academics and athletics. Our Athletic Director, Geri Knortz and I have attended the past few NCAA Conventions together and it is always good to renew friendships with colleagues from across the country who also work so closely with athletic programs and student-athletes. I would try to catch up on what was unfolding in Haiti as Saint Michael's College has had a long and positive history with that country and its people. A number of my colleagues from here are either FROM Haiti or have visited Haiti over the years so it was difficult to be so far away from here while things were being reported from Haiti. The devastation is almost too horrific for us to comprehend but knowing that friends and colleagues have family members there who are unaccounted for makes everything so personal. One workshop I attended was on academic support systems for student-athletes and as I read the bio's of the presenters I saw that one man - Jim Pignataro, was from Michigan State University so I went up to introduce myself to him as an alum of that fine institution. Much to my surprise (and his) when I said that I was from Saint Michael's College he told me that he is the brother-in-law to my friend and colleague Moise St. Louis who is not only our Director of Multicultural Student Affairs/Assistant Dean but also someone FROM Haiti. I was able to find out directly from Jim about some of the latest information about Haiti. My brother-in-law is the Global Managing Partner for Human Resources/Talent Management for Deloitte Touche and someone who has many resources which have helped us here at SMC over the years during times such as this. Jim kept me informed of the latest security briefings and I was able to forward those to my friends here on campus who are connected to friends in Haiti. I will attach our President's comments to the community at the end of this posting on my blog. We can donate money AND provide our prayers as we continue to support those more directly impacted than we are. This also is such a stark reminder of just how fragile life can be and the reality that it is so important that we make sure that those we love KNOW it - NOW..............
Classes began last Monday and I left on Wednesday so I am looking forward to re-connecting with my students tomorrow. We will be talking about Haiti AND, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some have complained that Saint Michael's College should join so many others and not have classes on this day in memory and tribute to Dr. King. Our philosophy is that it is important for us, as an educational institution, to have classes and all faculty are encouraged to use this as a time to remember and recall the struggles that too many people today take for granted. A recent Burlington Free Press article featured a front page story on the Society of Saint Edmund (the founding fathers of Saint Michael's College) and how the priests had worked so tirelessly in the South to bring peace and justice AND voting rights to those who were disenfranchised. The picture that accompanied the article was of Fr. Maurice Ouellet, SSE, as he was on a playground at an iron jungle gym reaching up to help little black children climbing on that piece of fun equipment - that picture tells so much about Fr. Ouellet (he hired me here and is someone I have such great admiration and respect for) as he was always reaching out to help others. There is always an afternoon convocation on campus with a featured speaker and talks by our students so instead of canceling classes and providing our students with an opportunity to "hit the slopes" we provide an educational opportunity - I think we make the better choice.
Several times during my travels to Atlanta, as I sat in airports in Burlington, Washington and Atlanta, members of our armed services walked by. When there was eye contact, I just gave a nod of thanks and they returned with a smile and a nod back. On one flight our attendant mentioned that several members of the military were with us who were being deployed to Afghanistan and the plane erupted in applause for our soldiers. As always, please remember the military and their families AND the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. Here is the response from President Jack Neuhauser to our community in response to the tragedy in Haiti:
take care and be well
Dave
January 15, 2010
TO: The Saint Michael’s College Community
FROM: John J. Neuhauser
RE: Haiti disaster
This week’s disaster in Haiti has affected many members of the Saint Michael’s community in a personal and profound manner, as family members and close friends have been lost. A number of individuals served as host families for a group of Haitian students who were with us in the fall, and many others have personal friendships with Haitian people, including faculty members and students, that go back years.
Indeed, the College’s solidarity with Haitiwas affirmed in 1994 with a weeklong observance in which our community expressed its support for the people of Haiti, who were calling for the return of their democratically elected president. The main event of the week was an address by then-exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who received an honorary degree. Haiti Solidarity Week became an annual observance, bringing Haitian scholars, activists, writers and artists to campus, especially benefiting students involved in related MOVE service trips to several communities in Haiti and a service-learning course in 2002. One of the invited speakers, Michelle Pierre-Louis, hosted our students during their 2002 trip, and the Student Association asked to invite her to return as commencement speaker in 2004, the year in which Saint Michael's College was celebrating its centennial and Haiti its bicentennial. Michelle Pierre-Louis waslater Prime Minister of Haiti (from 2008 to 2009). Sadly, Visiting Scholars Georges and Mireille Anglade, who became members of our community for the spring semester in 2001, have died in the earthquake.
It is important that each member of our community have a chance to respond in their own manner, including prayer, reflection and/or providing monetary and physical resources and even labor, at a time when this might be possible. The initial need centers on financial support. To expedite this process, I suggest that those who wish to contribute do so directly through Catholic Relief Services (http://crs.org/) or the International Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/eng), as these organizations have the ability to see that resources are quickly and appropriately brought to bear. Campus Ministry has already gathered some funds, and will continue to do so today and through a special collection at the masses on Sunday, January 24.
The College will also be developing a response that will allow members of the community to provide tangible and specific help to an educational organization, such as a school. It will take some time to work with partners in Haiti to learn where our efforts directed at reconstruction might best be applied. I believe it important that we develop an opportunity that involves students, faculty and staff directly, in keeping with the volunteer culture which so distinguishes Saint Michael’s. Plans for this venture are just beginning, but you should expect to hear more in the days ahead.
It is unfortunate that tragedy once again reminds us that in small things, we may differ, but in the large things, we are all much the same. Please continue to pray and offer comfort as you are able.
Classes began last Monday and I left on Wednesday so I am looking forward to re-connecting with my students tomorrow. We will be talking about Haiti AND, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some have complained that Saint Michael's College should join so many others and not have classes on this day in memory and tribute to Dr. King. Our philosophy is that it is important for us, as an educational institution, to have classes and all faculty are encouraged to use this as a time to remember and recall the struggles that too many people today take for granted. A recent Burlington Free Press article featured a front page story on the Society of Saint Edmund (the founding fathers of Saint Michael's College) and how the priests had worked so tirelessly in the South to bring peace and justice AND voting rights to those who were disenfranchised. The picture that accompanied the article was of Fr. Maurice Ouellet, SSE, as he was on a playground at an iron jungle gym reaching up to help little black children climbing on that piece of fun equipment - that picture tells so much about Fr. Ouellet (he hired me here and is someone I have such great admiration and respect for) as he was always reaching out to help others. There is always an afternoon convocation on campus with a featured speaker and talks by our students so instead of canceling classes and providing our students with an opportunity to "hit the slopes" we provide an educational opportunity - I think we make the better choice.
Several times during my travels to Atlanta, as I sat in airports in Burlington, Washington and Atlanta, members of our armed services walked by. When there was eye contact, I just gave a nod of thanks and they returned with a smile and a nod back. On one flight our attendant mentioned that several members of the military were with us who were being deployed to Afghanistan and the plane erupted in applause for our soldiers. As always, please remember the military and their families AND the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. Here is the response from President Jack Neuhauser to our community in response to the tragedy in Haiti:
take care and be well
Dave
January 15, 2010
TO: The Saint Michael’s College Community
FROM: John J. Neuhauser
RE: Haiti disaster
This week’s disaster in Haiti has affected many members of the Saint Michael’s community in a personal and profound manner, as family members and close friends have been lost. A number of individuals served as host families for a group of Haitian students who were with us in the fall, and many others have personal friendships with Haitian people, including faculty members and students, that go back years.
Indeed, the College’s solidarity with Haitiwas affirmed in 1994 with a weeklong observance in which our community expressed its support for the people of Haiti, who were calling for the return of their democratically elected president. The main event of the week was an address by then-exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who received an honorary degree. Haiti Solidarity Week became an annual observance, bringing Haitian scholars, activists, writers and artists to campus, especially benefiting students involved in related MOVE service trips to several communities in Haiti and a service-learning course in 2002. One of the invited speakers, Michelle Pierre-Louis, hosted our students during their 2002 trip, and the Student Association asked to invite her to return as commencement speaker in 2004, the year in which Saint Michael's College was celebrating its centennial and Haiti its bicentennial. Michelle Pierre-Louis waslater Prime Minister of Haiti (from 2008 to 2009). Sadly, Visiting Scholars Georges and Mireille Anglade, who became members of our community for the spring semester in 2001, have died in the earthquake.
It is important that each member of our community have a chance to respond in their own manner, including prayer, reflection and/or providing monetary and physical resources and even labor, at a time when this might be possible. The initial need centers on financial support. To expedite this process, I suggest that those who wish to contribute do so directly through Catholic Relief Services (http://crs.org/) or the International Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/eng), as these organizations have the ability to see that resources are quickly and appropriately brought to bear. Campus Ministry has already gathered some funds, and will continue to do so today and through a special collection at the masses on Sunday, January 24.
The College will also be developing a response that will allow members of the community to provide tangible and specific help to an educational organization, such as a school. It will take some time to work with partners in Haiti to learn where our efforts directed at reconstruction might best be applied. I believe it important that we develop an opportunity that involves students, faculty and staff directly, in keeping with the volunteer culture which so distinguishes Saint Michael’s. Plans for this venture are just beginning, but you should expect to hear more in the days ahead.
It is unfortunate that tragedy once again reminds us that in small things, we may differ, but in the large things, we are all much the same. Please continue to pray and offer comfort as you are able.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A new semester and Smugglers' Notch "rocks"
For the last three days I have gotten up early, had breakfast and headed to Jeffersonville and Smugglers' Notch or as those of us who enjoy the great skiing simply call it - Smuggs........ When we got 33.1 inches of snow last weekend, which set an all time record for Burlington, Smuggs got almost that much. I have been skiing there for 28 years and it just gets better every year. I love the fact that Saint Michael's College is one of the only, if not THE only college/university in the country which includes the opportunity (for a very nominal fee) of a season's pass at a great ski resort. I know that a large number of our students take advantage of this opportunity and while faculty/staff don't get the same benefit of the nominal fee, many of us also ski there. The President, the Chair of the Board, our VP for Human Resources Mike New and his wife Patti and many others of us who live and work here celebrate our weather instead of complaining about it. I have also been out snowshoeing a couple of times and hope to either ski or snowshoe at least a couple of times every week - it is always fun to introduce students to the fun of snowshoeing as many of them have never tried this sport. With the start of our new semester just a couple of days away, it was good to get outdoors and enjoy the mountains.
On Monday the new semester begins. Tomorrow (Friday) there are workshops on campus sponsored by our Information Technology folks who will make sure that all of the faculty are up-to-date on the latest technology available to us in the classroom. Between spending some time on campus this week doing letters of recommendations for many of our seniors and revising syllabi I am ready for the new semester. Men & Masculinities class has 15 men and 15 women - all seniors and I appreciate the opportunity to work with such eager students. I talked with Bryan Brunton and Pat McGuirk at the rink last weekend at their hockey tournament and they are both looking forward to this class - while I have had many of these students in class prior to this semester, there are still several I have never met so it will be fun to get to see how they respond to a class with an equal balance of men and women which specifically deals with men's issues. Sports Psychology is always exciting as we look at the intriguing connections between sports and psychology. My Practicum class went very well first semester and as we get together again for second semester I get to review what their site supervisors had to say about their first semester WITH each of them and I am looking forward to how they view the challenges of working in social services. Since many of the students told me in their semester evaluations that they want to spend some time this semester finalizing their post-graduation plans I have already spoken to Chris Clary, Director of the Office of Career Development who will come into class to work with my students on updating their resumes and help them figure out how to accomplish their career goals - since this semester will go very quickly, especially for our seniors, having folks from Career Development come into the classroom makes good sense.
I hope that everyone had a safe and fun holiday - I sure did. Of course, I WILL again remind all of my students that the H1N1 has NOT gone away yet so they still need to be reminded to take the appropriate precautions. I am getting my shot on Saturday now that they have lifted the restrictions and everyone is eligible for the shot. While classes begin on Monday, I leave on Wednesday for four days in Atlanta for the NCAA National Convention along with Geri Knortz,our Athletic Director. Stay tuned as I will probably blog from Atlanta.
As always, please take good care and keep all of our soldiers, veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
On Monday the new semester begins. Tomorrow (Friday) there are workshops on campus sponsored by our Information Technology folks who will make sure that all of the faculty are up-to-date on the latest technology available to us in the classroom. Between spending some time on campus this week doing letters of recommendations for many of our seniors and revising syllabi I am ready for the new semester. Men & Masculinities class has 15 men and 15 women - all seniors and I appreciate the opportunity to work with such eager students. I talked with Bryan Brunton and Pat McGuirk at the rink last weekend at their hockey tournament and they are both looking forward to this class - while I have had many of these students in class prior to this semester, there are still several I have never met so it will be fun to get to see how they respond to a class with an equal balance of men and women which specifically deals with men's issues. Sports Psychology is always exciting as we look at the intriguing connections between sports and psychology. My Practicum class went very well first semester and as we get together again for second semester I get to review what their site supervisors had to say about their first semester WITH each of them and I am looking forward to how they view the challenges of working in social services. Since many of the students told me in their semester evaluations that they want to spend some time this semester finalizing their post-graduation plans I have already spoken to Chris Clary, Director of the Office of Career Development who will come into class to work with my students on updating their resumes and help them figure out how to accomplish their career goals - since this semester will go very quickly, especially for our seniors, having folks from Career Development come into the classroom makes good sense.
I hope that everyone had a safe and fun holiday - I sure did. Of course, I WILL again remind all of my students that the H1N1 has NOT gone away yet so they still need to be reminded to take the appropriate precautions. I am getting my shot on Saturday now that they have lifted the restrictions and everyone is eligible for the shot. While classes begin on Monday, I leave on Wednesday for four days in Atlanta for the NCAA National Convention along with Geri Knortz,our Athletic Director. Stay tuned as I will probably blog from Atlanta.
As always, please take good care and keep all of our soldiers, veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave
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