A Degree, not Debt
Total college student loan debt in the United States recently eclipsed the $1 trillion mark.
Keuka College President Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera.
Keuka College students aren’t immune from paying their student loans after graduation, but the College works hard to ensure they aren’t saddled with mountains of debt. In fact, U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Keuka College in the top 5 in its category for students graduating with the lowest debt loads.
A Keuka education, according to President Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera, directly results in its graduates being well-prepared for successful and productive lives without the burden of excessive debt. (more…)
A Less Taxing Experience
Associate Professor of Accounting Rita Gow helps Yang Liu, a resident of Bengbu, China, prepare and file his income tax.
April 17 was a day many Americans circled on their calendars.
And not because they were looking forward to it.
April 17 was tax day.
“Imagine how most people feel about doing their own tax returns,” said Rita Gow, associate professor of accounting. “Now, imagine if you are a student from China, Vietnam, or South Africa and totally unfamiliar with the American tax structure or not familiar with the concept of taxing your income.”
A daunting task to be sure—unless you were one of the nine international students attending Keuka College who, thanks to a collaboration between Gow, the Center for Global Education, and AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, didn’t have to sweat April 17. (more…)
SIFE Team Helps Businesses Get “Smart”
Kyle Stephens, SIFE member, in training for Google Places. (Photo by Hung Do Le '12)
“Spend-ready” customers are the ones business owners most desire.
Now, a dozen members of Keuka’s SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team are ready-and-available to assist local Chamber of Commerce members from Rochester to Ithaca better market their businesses with Google Places.
A web tool from the online search-engine giant, Google Places merges the basics of Google Maps and the phone book with a simple business listing. But everything from hours of operation, photos, videos, payment options, customer reviews and more can be added to the basic listing to create a web search tool powerful enough to tempt say, a thirsty traveler with a GPS-enabled smartphone, anxious to satisfy a caffeine craving at the nearest coffee shop.
Dan Stephens of Montour Falls studies a Google Places listing. (Photo by Hung Do Le '12)
That’s how it works for Dan Stephens, sophomore English education major from Montour Falls.
“Anytime I go someplace I’m not familiar with, such as when I go to the Adirondacks in the summer, or go out to eat or go shopping, [I] go on Google [with my phone] and type in ‘local pizza parlors,’ and find 10 different [listings.]” (more…)
Keuka College, Rochester Folk Art Guild Team Up
Two Chinese students pursuing master’s degrees in management, with a concentration in international business, at Keuka College have embraced the College’s model of experiential, hands-on learning.
Yang An works at the Rochester Folk Art Guild.
For their final project, Yinqi Lu, from Guangdong Province in southern China, and Yang An, from Anhui Province in central China, are creating a business strategy and marketing plan for the Rochester Folk Art Guild’s woodshop in Middlesex.
“Simply asking the Guild questions would not be enough,” said Yang. “We started the consulting project by visiting the Guild, working together with the woodworkers, and observing their behavior. By doing so, we could obtain a direct awareness of their working procedure, define problems, and offer some potential solutions.” (more…)
Spirits High for 15th CSCY Day of Service
Volunteers conduct service for non-profit sites around Yates County for CSCY (by Case Hamilton '12)
On Sunday, Ashley Ortiz worked with a team of fellow Keuka College students to clean inside the sanctuary of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Penn Yan, and plant a few flowers and greenery in the beds outside.
Ortiz, front row, second from left, and the volunteers cleaning St. Luke's church. (by Hung Do Le '12)
The freshman occupational therapy major was one of about 175 volunteers – including youth, families, seniors or Keuka students – who came together Sunday for Celebrate Service … Celebrate Yates(CSCY), to perform community service tasks at non-profit sites around Yates County.
This year marked the 15th anniversary of the event, which is a collaboration between the College and the Yates County Chamber of Commerce. Volunteers team up on a variety of tasks, including painting, cleaning, and minor repair work for the non-profits. It was clear Sunday that even chilly temperatures could not dampen spirits.
“It’s just nice to be able to help the people that are around the College,” Ortiz said, adding that in her hometown of Olean, volunteer service enjoys strong support as well. “I’m sure they appreciate us coming out, even if we are only doing a few ‘little things.’ Every little bit helps in some way, especially if you keep doing this every year – it adds up.” (more…)
The Bard: A Reader’s Digest Version
By Amanda Harrison ’12
Shakespearean actor and author Tim Mooney will bring his one-man show Lot ’o Shakespeare to Keuka College Wednesday, April 25.
The next offering in the Spotlight Series, the show begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Red Barn Theater and is free and open to the public.
Mooney will perform a single monologue from each Shakespeare play, with the order determined by chance.
Lot ’o Shakespeare “takes highbrow art and mixes it with lowbrow fun,” said Matthew J. Palm of the Orlando Sentinel. “Mooney is an engaging presence and can switch from indignation in Comedy of Errors, to earnest in a love sonnet, to comical Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He may not be as physically imposing as some actors to play Henry V, but his St. Crispen’s Day speech made me want to take up arms with him.”
Chaim Eliyahu of KCStage.com called Lot o’ Shakespeare “a tour de force comprising no fewer than 19 Shakespeare scenes and sonnets. Mooney’s interpretations were outstanding, and not infrequently cast new light on obscure corners of Shakespeare’s work.”
Mooney has also garnered rave reviews for Moliere Than Thou, another one-man show. He is the author of an acting textbook titled Acting at the Speed of Life; Conquering Theatrical Style.
Field Period Sets Drumm on Capitol Hill Path
Drumm and Sen. Charles Schumer
By Amanda Harrison ’12
Freshman Thomas Drumm wants to follow in the footsteps of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y).
He’s already taken an important first step, thanks to Field Period.
The political science and history/organizational communication major from Oswego conducted his first Field Period at Schumer’s Central New York regional office in Syracuse during January. The senior senator from New York’s office was a logical choice for Drumm because he “shares Schumer’s Democratic platform” and they “relate on a lot of things.” (more…)
Spring Blast
One of the highlights of Keuka College’s annual Spring Weekend will be a fireworks display at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28.
The show, sponsored by the Class of 2013 and Student Senate, is free and open to the public. Seating will be available on the Norton Chapel lawn.
Top Student Worker, Boss Honored
Keuka's Student Employee of the Year, Ron Burd (third from right), with supervisors (from left) Eva Moberg-Sarver, Terry Fingar and Kathy Waye. Also shown are Director of Student Employment Sally Daggett and President Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera. (photos by Case Hamilton '12)
A “dependable and wonderful multitasking student” and a “detail-oriented staff member who takes time to listen to students and lends her support and guidance” were the respective recipients of the 2012 Student Employee and Work-Study Supervisor of the Year awards, respectively, at the Student Employment Awards Luncheon April 16.
Senior political science/history major Ron Burd and Administrative Assistant for the Division of Occupational Therapy (OT) Sandy Teague were selected by two separate panels of judges.
Burd was nominated for the award by Executive Director of Alumni and Family Relations Kathy Waye, Office Manager for Alumni and Family Relations Terry Finger, and Admissions Events Coordinator Eva Moberg-Sarver. (more…)
Eyes (and Ears) Wide Open
Senior Jason Troutman references a list of bird species in Keuka's ornithology field lab, taught by Dr. Bill Brown, at right. (All photos by Brett Williams).
Bundled warm in hoodies against the morning chill at Keuka Lake State Park, the students are standing still, listening intently. From the branches of trees nearby come chirps, calls and sing-song melodies, rising over the sound of the waves lapping the shore.
“What do you hear?” asks Bill Brown, assistant professor of biology and environmental science, who holds a Ph.D. and specializes in ornithology, the study of birds. Binoculars hang suspended from the students’ necks, but Brown wants them to listen first.
Seniors Steve Stout and Justin Henry record bird species they've identified during an outdoor field lab.
Pencils poised over palm-size waterproof notepads, the handful of students lower their heads and jot down four-letter codes for different species as they respond with the names: Mourning dove. American robin. Cardinal. Canada goose. Carolina wren. Downy woodpecker. [Eastern] Pheobe. House finch.
This is ENV/BIO 331, Keuka’s ornithology class, where one of Brown’s primary objectives is teaching students to master identification of some 104 different species of birds by sight. Thirty-nine of those species must also be identified by sound. And those are just the birds found here in New York state.
According to Brown, almost 90 percent of “birding” is done by ear; the rest comes from knowing what to expect in a given setting, whether that may be a small cluster of trees near a building, along a road, or deep in a forest fragment. (more…)
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