SA subsidizes graduate school test prep classes

The Student Association will be paying for a portion of Graduate Record Examination prep courses for students this fall. The course will be run by Kaplan and participating students will pay between $300-500. (Annalee Bainnson/Assoc. Photo Editor)

The Student Association executive board announced a program on April 19 that will subsidize graduate school preparation classes during the 2017-18 school year.

The preparation classes will be subsidized with money from the mandatory student activity fees.

SA will be paying between $600-800 per student, according to Director of Academic Affairs Jesse Bennett. The average cost for a preparation exam course is between $1400-1600, and Bennett could get a discount, leaving each student to pay between $300-500.

“I think the students are really looking forward to it because they no longer have to pay $1400 for prep courses,” Bennett said.

The courses will be given through Kaplan Test Prep, according to Bennett. SA chose Kaplan partly because many students already take the test prep classes that they offer at Geneseo.

“They’re the most professional; they’ve done this many times, they’re also the easiest to access and they already run classes here that are not subsidized,” Bennett said. “Students are registering for the $1400 classes here and taking them so we’re getting them to give us a discount for the students and SA would be footing part of the bill for the students.”

The program will be directed toward the Graduate Record Examinations for its first year, because it is the test that is most commonly required by graduate schools. The GRE also received the highest response from students in a survey SA sent out, according to incoming SA President junior Kaitlin Pfundstein.

Outgoing SA Vice President senior Ashley Buttice detailed how the results to the SA feedback survey were generally positive. 

Pfundstein said that she believes the program will make SA more appealing to those who do not interact as much with the student body. 

“We thought it would be a good idea to reach out to students who don’t feel they get enough from the activity fees,” Pfundstein said.

Buttice said she also hopes that as an outcome of the test prep program, students will become more aware that the main point of SA is to advocate for students.

“I think we do a lot of good things with academic support,” Buttice said. “Hopefully, this makes it as easy and stress-free as possible so students can get to the next step of their lives.”

Pfundstein said she has heard only positive feedback from students regarding the new program.

“[Rising SA Director of Academic Affairs] Corey Wilkinson and [rising SA Public Relations Director] Barak Stokler are going to run a mass advertising campaign the first two weeks of school, where we’re hoping to target juniors and seniors,” Bennett said.

Communication major senior Lauren Ladeairous thinks this initiative will help students who are unsure of whether to take the class. 

“I think it’s a great idea because with it being subsidized, it allows people to try the prep class,” she said. “Raising your grades is never a bad thing,” 

French and international relations double major junior Allyson Schmelzer said that the fact that the test prep courses are being subsidized piques her interest in taking a course.

“$300 still is kind of a lot if you aren’t planning on taking the prep classes anyway,” she said. “It still makes you consider it.”

Geneseo students, alumnae receive Fulbright fellowships

View fullsize

Two Geneseo students and two alumnae were granted national Fulbright fellowships, in which these individuals will work as English Teaching Assistants for the 2017-18 school year. Pictured above are alumna Kate Dunn (upper left) who will be traveling to Malaysia, senior Natalie Dubois (upper right) who will be traveling to Germany, senior Erik Mebust (lower left) who will be traveling to Vietnam and School of Eudcation graduate student Kelli Panara (lower right) who will be traveling to the Netherlands. (Courtesy of SUNY Geneseo Office of Communications and Marketing)

Four members of the Geneseo community were awarded national Fulbright fellowships to go overseas for the 2017-18 academic years. The students will be taking the role of English Teaching Assistants.

The Fulbright program recognized two current seniors, a Geneseo graduate student and an alumna. One current senior is on the waitlist for the fellowship as an alternate. 

English and economics double major senior Erik Mebust will be going to Vietnam and mathematics and psychology double major senior Natalie Dubois will be going to Germany. School of Education graduate student Kelli Panara ‘16 will teach in the Netherlands and communication graduate Kate Dunn ‘15 will go to Malaysia. English and Spanish double major senior Kiaya Rose Dilsner-Lopez was additionally chosen as an alternate to be an ETA in Spain. 

ETAs will primarily work in classrooms to assist local students in learning English, but the Fulbright recipients are there to serve as cultural ambassadors between their host countries and the United States.

The Fulbright fellowship is a national program that can be quite competitive, according to Director of National Scholarships and Fellowships Michael Mills. Mills believes that so many Geneseo students have been awarded fellowships lately because they fit a lot of the qualifications.

“Geneseo students make great candidates,” he said. “Part of the reason is so many people study abroad here as undergraduates and some are education majors—not all—but a lot of them have research experience or have taught or have good language skills.” 

Dubois is not an education major, but she said that she felt the language skills she had would lead to a valuable experience.

“I had taken German in high school, but I also took it here because I wanted it for my language development,” she said. “Professor Klima encouraged me to apply, and I thought it would be really cool to go to Germany.” 

Mebust is going to Vietnam for his placement in August and thinks his Fulbright experience will be worthwhile even though he is not an education student. 

“I feel like this will be a really good life experience,” he said. “I think I’m going to gain a lot of soft skills that will be really useful for whatever I do. If I decide to do anything in the international arena, it’ll be extremely helpful.”

While Mebust realizes that his official job is to help students learn English, he said that he also accepts his unofficial role as a cultural ambassador. 

Panara will be traveling to the Netherlands, where she said she plans to put her education background to work. 

“I’m going to be teaching in two different schools,” she said. “They have a little bit of a different system there, so I’ll be working with students ages 12 to 19. I’ll also be helping out with both music and sports.”

Dunn leaves for her placement in Malaysia the latest of the four winners, in January 2018. In the years in between her graduation and placement, Dunn has been educating people about the environment through editorial writing. She said that she hopes to emphasize environmental education during her time in Malaysia. 

“I will have an opportunity to develop what are called ‘English Camps,’” she said. “In addition to working with students in the classroom, we’re also encouraged to work with them outside of the classroom and within the community. I’d love to organize maybe a hiking club or a nature exploration English Camp where the kids and I go out and explore all the natural wonders that are available to folks in Malaysia.” 

Mills concluded that the greater recognition for Geneseo students by the Fulbright Program was indicative of the strength of this group of applicants. 

“We’ve had a very good year with scholarships and fellowships,” he said. “This year it’s clearly reflective of the student body, otherwise there wouldn’t be as many students winning.”

Students elected to 2017-18 SA executive committee

View fullsize

Geneseo’s new Student Association executive committee has been elected for the 2017-18 academic year. Adolescent education major junior Kailtlin Pfundstein (right) will serve as SA’s new president, replacing current SA president senior Michael Baranowski (left). (Ash Dean/Photo Editor)

Geneseo Student Association held campus wide elections for eight new executive committee members beginning the week of March 7.

The election ballots were distributed via email and tied to a referendum vote that resulted in the decision to keep Student Activity Fees mandatory instead of voluntary. Around 20 percent of the Geneseo student body participated in the election, according to current SA President senior Michael Baranowski. 

The newly elected SA President is English adolescent education major junior Kaitlin Pfundstein. Pfundstein is currently serving as SA director of Inter-Residence Affairs and said she feels that holding this position has allowed her to make meaningful connections with different members of the administration, which will help her to better represent the student body.

“I’ve had some experience with how SA functions from an administrative level, which I think has prepared me to take on a bigger leadership role than I currently hold, and I’m going to be able to provide more guidance not only to our organizations, but also to the e-board and I’ll be a representative of the students to the administration,” Pfundstein said.

Pfundstein plans to focus on the concerns of students and to help resolve issues they care about. She also hopes to use the new website, Geneseo Speaks, to learn about student concerns of which she may be unaware. 

Economics major junior Jarred Okosun has been elected as SA’s new vice president. Okosun has held many positions involving student affairs, including serving as an orientation advisor and a resident assistant. He believes that this position will allow him to make a larger impact on the school.

“I hope to empower a lot of the student organizations we have, especially the culturally based, or the minority clubs,” Okosun said. 

Mathematics major junior Alberto Alonso will serve as the next SA director of student affairs and diversity. Alonso was previously involved in the SA subcommittee, Alliance for Community Enrichment; he believes that his experience with the organization will aid him in his new position and in achieving his goal of spreading multicultural awareness.

“I hope to create an inclusive environment for people to enjoy,” Alonso said. “Despite our differences, we can all come together to establish a community that is beneficial for everyone.”

Business administration and communication double major sophomore Julia Sisti was elected SA director of student programming. As a member of the Geneseo Community Activities Board, her goals are to increase GCAB’s popularity and to facilitate greater collaboration amongst the SA e-board and its various subcommittees, according to a phone interview with Sisti. In doing so, she hopes to bring about greater on-campus activities for students to enjoy.

Physics major sophomore Barak Stockler is the newly elected SA director of public relations. Stockler’s main goal while serving in his new position is to help more students learn about SA and to increase its overall awareness on campus. 

The newly elected SA director of academic affairs is physics and mathematics double major sophomore Corey Wilkinson. Wilkinson would like to improve general education classes and to transfer matriculation while working for SA next year. 

“There are a lot of SUNY mandated changes that have to be worked out academically, and I want to be the liaison for that,” Wilkinson said. “I’m also working on that with the curriculum rework, so I’d love to be that voice for the students as we figure out how to make the general education classes better and easier for transfers and easier for native students.” 

Physics major junior Zachariah Barfield will serve as the new director of inter-residence affairs, and aims to maintain and to improve the communication between residence hall representatives. He also hopes to expand upon advocacy initiatives within the inter-residence council. To fix this, Barfield proposed a possible campaign to increase the flow of communication between the hall council and residents. 

Business administration major junior Supriya Juneja has been elected SA director of business affairs. In this position, Juneja hopes to make clear for students how SA is spending their money.  

“I think it’s my responsibility to tell students where their money’s going and what clubs are on campus, especially to incoming students. They should know what clubs are on campus and what they do,” Juneja said.

Regarding those newly elected, Baranowski expressed praise and believes that the students will do an incredible job in their new positions.

“We have a lot of people that have a lot of talent, and are very smart,” Baranowski said. “I think they’re going to do a fantastic job.”

Staff writer Tyler Waldriff contributed to the writing of this article.

CAS promotes sustainability, works with small businesses

View fullsize

Campus Auxiliary Services holds a Pride of New York Showcase on campus every fall in order to promote the purchase of locally grown food. Pictured right is a cow that was brought to the event from an Upstate Cooperative farm. This event is part of CAS’s initiative to continue to improve its sustainability practices and local outreach. (Lamron Archives/Courtesy of CAS)

After exceeding the goals set for Campus Auxiliary Services in its five-year Sustainability and Outreach plan, CAS looks to continue to improve in these areas in the future.

CAS began to work on improving its sustainability and outreach in 2009 in an effort to expand the work done under the company’s “Corporate and Community Citizenship” Pillar, according to CAS Executive Director Mark Scott. 

“Under that pillar, we had three areas we were looking to impact. They were: improve our local spending, impact the minority and woman-owned business enterprises and reduce, re-use and recycle,” Scott said.

Scott acknowledged that different people have different definitions for the term local business and clarified that CAS considered local businesses to be those within a 100-mile radius of Geneseo.  

“Our focus was impacting the business community closest to the university,” Scott said.

The goals of the sustainability and outreach program set in 2009 were to have 20 percent of the businesses CAS worked with be local and 5 percent of the businesses be a MWBE company, according to Director of Supply Chain Tom D’Angelo.

Many of the local businesses that CAS works with are food related, such as Upstate Farms. Aside from Upstate Farms, which supplies most of the dairy products, CAS uses food purveyors to obtain fresh produce grown in the area into the dining halls and on campus.

“It’s important to recognize during the summer and out into the fall that there are local places that supply onions, potatoes and butternut squash,” D’Angelo said.

CAS works with many other local businesses that are not food related, including Thompkins Bank of Castile for banking and insurance purposes, according to Scott. CAS also uses local manufacturing companies, accounting and legal firms and automotive firms.

“One of the things people talk about when they talk about local food, particularly, is produce,” Marketing Manager for CAS Rebecca Stewart said. “We look at it company-wide; we look at food, not just produce, but outside of food as well … There is a very large economic impact, and there are economic multipliers as well when you get into spending locally.”

Stewart went on to explain that the local spending tends to impact communities because of the multiple jobs they create, mentioning the families that rely on those jobs and on other business that are in the community.

On top of using outreach as a means of helping to sustain the communities surrounding Geneseo, CAS works on being environmentally sustainable.

In the past, CAS got rid of all styrofoam products in the dining halls and has now begun to use floor cleaners that do not contain detergent, but instead ionized water.

“It’s not every floor surface and it’s not every square inch of the building that’s being cleaned with it, but in that way we impact the environment by not using chemicals,” D’Angelo said.

In the future, CAS hopes to utilize the eGarden more in order to find ways to improve composting attempts. Currently, CAS is working with black soldier flies in the eGarden to improve composting techniques, according to Stewart. 

While there is no timeline for these composting efforts, the main effort is to apply some of the eGarden’s practices on a larger scale, according to Scott. 

“Hopefully through this living research learning lab we’ll be able to impart some knowledge on the manufacturing communities to the policy factions that exist throughout the state,” Scott said.

Mexican restaurant opens, owner expects business to thrive

View fullsize

Geneseo’ s new Mexican restaurant, Rancho Viejo, opened on Feb. 9. The restaurant is located where the town’s Y Bar and Grill and the Sea Cow Grill used to be before closing down. Store owner José Leon Ramirez has additional restaurants located in nearby towns. (Annalee Bainnson/Assoc. Photo Editor)

Rancho Viejo, Geneseo’s newest Mexican restaurant, opened its doors on Feb. 9. Restaurant owner José Leon Ramirez said he feels confident that the restaurant will thrive despite problems past businesses have had in the same location.

Rancho Viejo is located on 4262 Lakeville Rd., which has been home to both the Y Bar and Grill and the Sea Cow Grill in the last 12 months. While Ramirez invested a total of $60,000 into developing this restaurant in Geneseo, he was confident that the business would succeed and currently does not have a timeline to break even.

Ramirez also believes that he can overcome potential challenges due to the location of his restaurant, as it is located farther away from the college campus than other food choices. 

“If the people want to eat something, if it’s good, they’ll go wherever,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez owns four other restaurants with similar food options in Batavia, Clarence and Warsaw, according to Rancho Viejo Manager Misael Ribas. While Ramirez has experienced success with these businesses, he also had two restaurants fail, which were originally located in Mount Morris and Le Roy.

“Mount Morris is very small and Le Roy is the same way,” Ramirez said. “Instead of staying in Le Roy, people go someplace else to do their shopping.”

Although those restaurants have failed, Ramirez added that they have yielded some loyal customers. While the restaurant is still in its infancy, the business is relying on word of mouth and reputation of Ramirez’s other restaurants to attract customers. 

Ribas, who has worked for Ramirez in his other restaurants for two years, echoed Ramirez’s sentiments. 

“Most of the customers we’ve had in the past few days know we have restaurants in other towns, so they love it,” Ribas said.

Ramirez is relying on word of mouth to attract customers because he prefers to give his businesses time to work out their kinks before they get flooded with people, referring to this process as a “soft opening.”

“A lot of people don’t do that and they have thousands of people at once, and if you don’t take care of them, they won’t come back,” Ramirez said.

Ribas described Rancho Viejo as a family restaurant that is for everybody. The menu includes authentic Mexican food and a variety of American food options such as chicken fingers and hamburgers, according to Ribas. The restaurant also offers vegetarian options.

“I think most people that come here enjoy it, you know? Sometimes you have good business and sometimes it goes down,” Ribas said.

Ramirez, respectfully, doesn’t see Bar-Eat-O as competition to his new restaurant.

“They have their stuff and I have my stuff, but it’s completely different. This is more of a sit down place and they specialize in burritos, so it’s completely different,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez hopes to attract students in a variety of different ways, including having a students’ day and offering specials on tacos and on beer—once the restaurant’s liquor license is approved.

“Everybody’s different. We specialize in Mexican food and Geneseo needs Mexican food,” Ramirez said.

New York State looks to raise legal smoking age

View fullsize

New York State is in the process of passing a law that would change the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18-21 years old. In passing this law, members of the New York State Senate and Assembly hope that the number of tobacco users will decrease.

Both the New York State Senate and Assembly have introduced bills aimed to change the legal age to buy tobacco products—including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, liquid nicotine and electronic cigarettes. Students and faculty have mixed views about the effectiveness such a law will have in deterring Geneseo students from smoking.

A survey conducted by Geneseo Health Center in the spring 2016 semester found that 13.6 percent of students had used tobacco products within 30 days of taking the survey, according to Alcohol and Other Drug Program Coordinator Sarah Covell. In addition, the survey found that 5.4 percent of surveyed students used tobacco products three times a week or more. 

Geneseo’s percentage of smokers is lower than the national average of college smokers at 17.9 percent, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association. 

Three hundred and sixty students took part in the survey, which is less than 10 percent of students enrolled, according to Covell. In addition, 66 percent of those students identified as female. 

Currently, the Geneseo Health Center does not have a nicotine cessation program because there has not been a significant demand for it from students, according to Covell. 

“Lauderdale tends to respond to the students’ needs, so if we had a lot of students coming in saying that they wanted to do nicotine cessation, we would definitely offer a program,” she said.

Covell said that she believes that public health organizations are succeeding in lowering the number of tobacco users because their initiatives to increase prices, and raising the legal age required to buy tobacco products will decrease the likelihood that people will purchase these products.

Geneseo students had varying opinions on the effectiveness of the proposed legal age change. Biology major sophomore Ahmed Ramzy thinks changing the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 will not affect the number of smokers on campus.

“Maybe if they handed out fines to smokers that would decrease the number of smokers, or maybe people buying packs at least,” Ramzy said.

Early childhood education and special education major freshman Jessica Walker believes the message the law will send if passed will be beneficial. 

“It would be beneficial if you set the age higher because it sets a higher expectancy, like ‘we don’t want our kids to smoke,’ which would be good because smoking is harmful,” Walker said.

Some students are uncertain whether the amount of smoking on campus will actually decrease if the new age restriction law is passed. Biology major freshman Robert Romano believes that while there would be a slight decrease in the number of smokers, the law would not significantly impact the number of individuals smoking. 

“It would be like alcohol,” Romano said. “You have to be 21 to buy that, and kids still find a way.”

Community Chat encourages college, village discussion

Geneseo’s second Community Chat took place on Thursday Dec. 1 at the Wadsworth Homestead. Community Chats allow individuals to express their opinions, to acquire information about Geneseo and to converse with a variety of members from the community. President Denise Battles and Village Mayor Richard Hatheway led the Community Chat, which occurred approximately six months after the first event.

Hatheway opened the Chat by explaining the village and the college’s goals of holding another Community Chat.

“We started with one of these last June and we had a nice community-college chat,” Hatheway said. “We were thinking there were some issues that would be of interest in the community and in the college, so we decided to sit down and get the people together again.”

Some issues that were reviewed during the Community Chat were communication between the village and the college, how to foster a more widespread feeling of safety throughout the village and how to create safer conditions for pedestrians.

The majority of the meeting’s attendees were made up of either college or village professionals, prompting Anita White—a resident of Center Street—to ask, “So at the previous Community Chat, we talked about communication, or lack of communication. Have you launched any new ways to communicate with us? How did people find out about this meeting?”

The Community Chat was advertised using various forms of media, such as the Livingston County News, the local Pennysaver, Facebook and flyers, according to Battles.

“I guess the village will have to get with the modern world here and join Facebook,” Hatheway said.

It was agreed during the discussion that while community members can receive news from the campus and vice versa, the issue of sustaining effective communication between the campus and the village may lie in finding a happy medium between having too much information and not enough information.

The village could also help to promote safety by showing solidarity with students who have felt unsafe on campus and in the community by hosting an event during the week of Martin Luther King Day or around the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, according to Hatheway.

“We’ve been doing what we can during these very challenging times on campus to signal that we are committed to a safe, respectful college community, but if there’s an opportunity to partner with the village that would make it all the more powerful,” Battles said.

The Community Chat also covered how conditions can be improved for drivers and pedestrians. The potential safety precautions discussed included adding lighting around Main Street’s fountain to improve visibility.

“We’ve had more people getting hit and accidents at the fountain than we have had at the North and Main Street intersection,” Village of Geneseo Chief of Police Eric Osganian said.

In order to remedy this, a spotlight was placed above Nothnagle Realtors on Main Street on Nov. 30. If this precaution improves the lighting of the fountain, then more spotlights will be installed, according to Hatheway.

In order to further improve safety conditions, a study is also being conducted in regard to the intersection of North, Court and Main Street in response to the petition concerning changing the stoplight to a full traffic light, Hatheway said.

Community member Lynette Maxim said that she believes the Community Chat was productive and that she hopes there will be future discussions to come.

“I’m happy for this privilege to be here among people who know a lot more than I do,” Maxim said. “I hope that we can do it often and be together as a community and students.”

Bosch presents at Cuban Cultural Center

Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History Lynette Bosch gave a presentation at the Cuban Cultural Center of New York on Nov. 20. Titled “Hybridity and Transnationalism in Cuban-American Art,” Bosch presented on mid-century and contemporary Cuban Americans. The Cuban Cultural Center of New York’s annual conference has been established for 15 years. Held at Sotheby’s in New York City, the event was entitled “El Arte en Cuba: Inside and Out.” The event consisted of artist panels, a series of presentations, a distribution of prizes and a tour of Sotheby’s Latin American collection.

Bosch started studying Cuban-American art in 1990. She spent time in Miami meeting with artists, curating exhibitions and gathering information before writing her book Cuban-American Art In Miami: Exile, Identity And The Neo-Baroque, which was published in 2004. Bosch’s interest in Cuban art stems from her Cuban heritage.

Bosch saw the opportunity to speak as more than just an occasion to put herself and her work on display. Bosch said that she believes that this event provided a chance for the museum studies minor to develop connections with the Cuban Cultural Center in order to help students become involved in the business side of art.

“The thing that I think is most interesting about this is we have the museum studies minor, which is new, and I’m hoping to take it into the direction of commercial art,” Bosch said. “Setting up links with the Cuban Cultural Center, and through them Sotheby’s is something that I think will be very interesting for doing internships and expanding things into the business side of art.”

By furthering connections with museums and curators, Bosch hopes art history majors will practically apply what they have learned during their studies.

“We have the scholarly and we have the museum side, but the business side of art generates tremendous amounts of income for the New York State economy and there are jobs there and so that’s our hope—that we can spearhead this kind of three part arrangement for the study of art here,” Bosch said.

Visiting assistant professor of art history and museum studies coordinator Alla Myzelev echoed Bosch’s sentiment on the importance of collaborating with outside art businesses.

“The more connections that we have the better we can direct the students to where they actually want to go. So it’s important I think, and it also attracts students to come here for the museum studies minor and potentially have people come here as guest speakers or guest artists in the future,” Myzelev said. “And we’re always looking for opportunities for our students to do internships in different places.”

As part of the museum studies minor, students are required to complete at least one internship at a museum or cultural center, Myzelev said.

Similar to that of Bosch’s, presentations that faculty may give in the future have the potential to attract more students to Geneseo and to the museum studies minor, according to Myzelev.

The art history program is also working to develop an art appraisal certificate program in the near future in order to increase the amount of opportunities available for students to gain experience in the business world and to practically apply their studies, according to Myzelev. This would allow students to pursue careers as art curators and other art related professions.

The practical and business side that the art history department is looking to include is unique in the SUNY system, according to Bosch.

“It’s the bigger picture,” Bosch said. “It isn’t just about giving this talk about what I’ve done, it’s about where could this go for our program and what can it bring back to the students.”

Deichmann speaks about worldwide religious freedom

Professor of history and theology at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio Wendy J. Deichmann ’81 delivered her address on Tuesday Nov. 15 entitled “One Nation, Under God: The Myth, Ethic and Hope of Religious Freedom in the USA” as part of the MacVittie Lecture Series. The Livingston County Coalition of Churches established the MacVittie Lecture series in order to bring in prominent theologians to raise the questions of ultimate existence and to honor Geneseo President Emeritus Robert MacVittie and his wife Margaret (Peggy) MacVittie, according to President Denise Battles.

Deichmann’s address was primarily focused on the religious freedom—or lack thereof—around the world and the foundation of religious freedom experienced by American citizens.

“Our subject here tonight impacts every one of you, and yet tonight’s topic is illegal in most of the world and we’re not even talking about drugs or murder,” Deichmann said at the beginning of her address. “We’re talking about something that you have that literally billions of people want and don’t have. Most of the world yearns for this … we’re talking about religious freedom.”

More than two-thirds of people across the world face severe religious restrictions originating from their own governments, according to Deichmann.

“In 2015, the U.S. Department of State reported increasing religious discrimination in 16 countries: Angola, Azerbaijan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Brunei, Burma, Vietnam, Central African Republic, Hungary, Bahrain, Ukraine, Russia and the Slovak Republic,” Deichmann said.

After describing instances of religious injustice inflicted by governments, Deichmann spoke about the state of religious freedom in the United States, including the “fear and suspicion” of Muslim immigrants.

“Challenges that affect all of us, related to religious freedom, go far beyond immigration policy and practice. Clashes of religious values have lately been pronounced in the U.S.,” Deichmann said. “For example, a 2016 study found that two-thirds of Americans want employers to provide birth control in insurance plans, while three-tenths do not for religious reasons.”

Deichmann highlighted other issues that divide Americans based on differences in religious beliefs, including gay marriage and whether or not transgender people can use the bathroom of their preference.

After this discussion, Deichmann spoke about the history of religious freedom in the U.S., which began as religious freedom for all Christians.

“[The founding fathers] assumed that religion and all its diversity would help to create an undergird and ethic for our lives together as part of the essential fabric, or glue, for society,” Deichmann said.

After presenting the history of religious freedom in the U.S. and in seeing the problems regarding religion and its practice in society, Deichmann argued that the world would perhaps be a more peaceful place if atheism was adopted in place of religious freedom. Deichmann believes that atheism would not solve problems of violence, because of the persistence of violence in communist states that tried to abolish religion.

Economics major junior Tyler Cook thought Deichmann’s argument for tolerance was powerful.

“I thought she was really influential saying that we live in a really diverse world and if everyone respects each other, we’ll live in a more peaceful world without religious uprisings,” he said.

Physics and mathematics departments receive funding, promote student research

Geneseo’s physics and mathematics departments have each received funding for undergraduate research. The two departments have received more than $495,000 for independent projects. The physics department will be working on a project entitled “Nuclear and Plasma Diagnostics for the EP-OMEGA and MTW Laser Systems” for the 24th year in a row with this funding. In the department of mathematics, Assistant professor of mathematics Cesar Aguilar received the funding in the form of a grant transfer for his project, “RUI: Controllability Classes and Leader-Follower Configurations in Complex Dynamic Networks.”

Distinguished teaching professor of physics Stephen Padalino is the project lead for the physics department’s independent research project. Geneseo will continue to work in conjunction with the University of Rochester at its Laboratory for Laser Energetics, which receives the initial funding for the project and then gives a percentage of the funding to Geneseo to participate in the project, according to Padalino.

“The major reason for this project is to study the inertial confinement fusion, and it is part of understanding high energy-density physics,” Padalino said.

The project will study the systems that make matter disassociate and form plasma, Padalino said. Plasmas are substances composed of agitated particles.

“This research is interested in energetic plasmas with high temperatures and high densities, where the ions—when they have sufficient energy—can actually fuse together in a process that’s called thermonuclear fusion,” Padalino said.

This is the same type of fusion that occurs in the center of stars, thermonuclear weapons and supernovas, according to Padalino.

On top of learning about thermonuclear fusion generating energy, the project also aims to learn about nuclear stewardship and to discover what the physics department can learn about astrophysics and states of matter, according to Padalino.

Funding for this project helps to pay for approximately 20 students to conduct research in full-time positions over the summer, he said.

The funding will also help the students and the program to develop the tools necessary for measuring the heat and density of the plasmas that researchers only have a few nanoseconds to measure, according to Padalino.

The Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems branch of the National Science Foundation gave a grant of $181,900 to Aguilar to conduct research for the mathematics department.

“The main project is on studying how the structure of a network influences dynamic properties of the network … what’s popular nowadays is the study of how social networks are structured and how the connectivity of a social network influences dynamic behavior,” Aguilar said.

The study is also looking at how the dynamic behavior of a network can be influenced once someone understands the structure of the network, according to Aguilar. The project uses a significant amount of linear algebra to study the mathematical side of a particular network, he said.

“Students who work on the project will be able to work on specific networks because network science has been growing rapidly and networks have been made for study,” Aguilar said.

Students will look for where network structures and dynamic processes have conjectures.

“If we study a whole bunch of examples and always see this pattern, it may be true not just for those particular networks, but for every type of network that has that particular type of structure,” Aguilar said.

Like the physics department’s project, the funding for Aguilar’s project allows students to work full-time as researchers during the summer.

Padalino commented that he has remained close while working with students over the years on the physics department’s research project.

“I remain very close with a lot of these students after they go off to grad school, or get married,” he said. “This is our 24th year in the project and my 32nd year at Geneseo, so I’m getting old but my students keep me young.”

Lee Chiropractic & Athletic Training offers free services to veterans

In an effort to thank and to give back to veterans, Lee Chiropractic & Athletic Training will provide free spinal adjustments on Veterans Day—Nov. 11—to those who served in the military. On Veterans Day, the office will be closed to non-veteran patients. Chiropractor and Athletic Trainer Dr. Jeremy J. Lee—owner of the practice—wanted to provide free treatment to veterans for the last couple of years, he said.

One of the obstacles Lee faced in assisting veterans was that he did not possess his own building space to practice in, according to Lee. Since the practice currently resides in its own home on 72 East South St., Lee said he is happy to be in the position to help.

“Now that we have the space to do this, we just wanted to give back and so we figured this Veterans Day we’d close down to any normal patients that we might have and be here to provide a complimentary service to veterans,” Lee said. “A lot of veterans didn’t receive a thank you when they came back and we’re just really looking to give back.”

Lee said many members of his family have served in the military, which motivated him to provide this service on Veterans Day.

“Michelle [Lee]—our office manager who is also my wife—and I both had grandparents who were career military guys,” Lee said. “My grandfather was in the Navy for 20 years, and so we’ve always had a great appreciation for what those guys do and how they help us and our country to have the rights that we do and live the lives that we do.”

This is the first year Lee will provide complimentary spinal adjustments to veterans, and he hopes to make it a yearly event, according to Lee.

Lee did not serve in the military himself, but he completed a short residency at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC as part of his training. As a civilian, Lee worked at the Naval Hospital on the Marine Base, and his work led him to greater appreciate veterans’ service to the United States, he said.

In addition to providing veterans with free chiropractic services, Lee would like to turn the event into a fundraiser to aid Honor Flight, an organization that flies veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the nation’s capital and memorials, according to Lee. Lee would also like to aid the local Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, which works to provide services to veterans, service members, their families and communities, he said.

Local VFW Post 5005 in Geneseo has sent out information about Lee’s complimentary service for veterans to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion email. The organization has also handed out pre-appointment forms at the meetings, VFW Quartermaster Richard Platt said in a phone interview.

“We think it’s a fine thing what Dr. Lee is doing, and we certainly appreciate it,” Platt said.

Lee hopes to raise money specifically for VFW posts because of his connection with the VFW post in York.

“The local VFWs are always doing some sort of fundraising stuff. The VFW in York has an appreciation dinner for [veterans] and their spouses, and my grandfather is no longer with us, but every year they invite my grandmother to go to this appreciation dinner,” Lee said. “So if we can give back and raise some money to help them put that on, I think that would be good. That’s really it, we just want to give back.”

“Understanding Key Factors Behind Presidential Election” panel educates attendees on political climate

Geneseo hosted a panel on Tuesday Nov. 1 entitled “How Did We Get Here? Understanding Key Factors Behind the 2016 Presidential Election” in order to discuss the current presidential election and the country’s political climate. The discussion was hosted by associate professor and Chair of the Communication Department Andrew Herman alongside a four-person panel including adjunct lecturer of communication Max Mertel, professor of sociology Denise Scott, professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations Jeffrey Koch and sociology major senior Katherine Zaslavsky.

The panel’s purpose was to inform students about processes occurring in this election, according to Herman.

“The purpose of tonight is not in any way to tell you who to vote for, but it’s really at this critical moment—when we’re hypersensitive to everything—to open up a few windows to make you a little more aware of some of the processes that are going on behind the scenes,” Herman said.

Mertel discussed social media’s contribution to increased support for Donald Trump and his eventual Republican presidential nomination. Mertel compared Trump’s mastery of social media—specifically Twitter—to how past presidents mastered other forms of media, including Franklin D. Roosevelt’s use of the radio, John F. Kennedy’s use of live television, Ronald Reagan’s use of movie quotes in his speeches and Barack Obama’s use of YouTube as free airtime.

“Many of us now exist in our own personalized media world, and I believe Trump uses media in a way that makes his messages unavoidable,” Mertel said.

Scott then spoke about how Hillary Clinton’s gender has impacted her campaign. Scott began her talk by illustrating the obstacles Clinton faced as a child.

“Hillary Clinton is a woman who knew she wanted to enter politics at a very early age … according to several sources, she wanted to be an astronaut when she was very young and presumably she wrote a letter to NASA and was told by the program that they didn’t accept women.”

At the highest levels of government and business, gender bias stems from family values that are deeply rooted in American society, according to Scott. This cultivates females to be passive and raises males to have more leadership qualities, Scott added.

“In this campaign, Donald [Trump] actually has used gender to denigrate Hillary—and other males, actually—to boost his image; that of a real man … the rough and tumble cowboy-type of masculinity,” Scott said.

During the discussion, Zaslavsky read quotes from Trump supporters to the audience in order to gain the perspective of a Trump supporter. Supporters of Trump admire his authenticity, Zaslavsky said.

“Donald Trump is not worried about being offensive; he’s not worried about hurting people’s feelings, and that is a really attractive viewpoint for a lot of people … that contributes to his celebrity status,” Zaslavsky said.

Some supporters also see Trump’s economic success as the embodiment of American capitalism, according to Zaslavsky.

Koch then provided insight as to what this election means for the future of American politics. Koch cited Obama’s approval rating and his administration’s failure to bring large scale economic growth by historical standards as his precursors to reasons why the 2016 presidential election should have been an easy win for Republicans.

“The way things are going economically and the amount of years the Republicans have held the presidency made it seem like this was going to be a Republican year,” Koch said.

Zaslavsky encouraged students to participate in the election at the close of the panel.

“If for no other reason, go out and vote because you have a unique opportunity to be a part of history,” Zaslavsky said.