SUNY Oneonta

Eighteen students traveled to New Orleans from Feb. 24 to March 4 to complete wetlands restoration service-learning projects in the Lower Ninth Ward. Working with a nonprofit organization called Common Ground Relief, the students planted hardy, fast-growing native plants and removed invasive species in coastal areas imperiled by hurricanes, development and engineering projects that have eroded land and endangered wildlife.

Sophomore Alexa Amalbert was chosen as this year's recipient of the SUNYAC Elite 20 Award for women's basketball.

Teresa Anken and Madeline Frank were selected to the SUNYAC All-Conference Team in basketball.

Senior baseball player Thomas Bond was selected as the Pitcher of the Week in the SUNYAC.

More than 300 students met requirements for graduation from SUNY Oneonta following the Fall 2017 semester. Graduates were honored at a December recognition ceremony hosted by College President Nancy Kleniewski and held in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House. They also are eligible to participate in the college's commencement on May 12.

SUNY Oneonta's all-female a cappella group, Pitch Slapped, competed for the first time in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Central Quarterfinal on Feb. 10 at Ithaca High School. Pitch Slapped was one of nine teams from the surrounding area that performed at Kulp Auditorium in hopes of advancing to the ICCA Central Semifinal. The 18-member ensemble performed a set that included "Rise Up" by Andra Day, "River" by Bishop Briggs and "Have Mercy" by Eryn Allen Kane. "River" was arranged by Taylor Metz, a sophomore and one of the group's musical directors. Pitch Slapped vice president, Jaidin Tonneson, who documented the trip on the college's Snapchat, said the young women plan to attend again next year.

Three individuals and both cross country teams were recognized for academics by the USTFCCCA.

Twenty six SUNY Oneonta students attended The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show in Anaheim, Calif., from Jan. 25 to 28. The annual trade show is a The NAMM Show is a place for professionals in the music industry to explore and discover innovative new products being released in the new year. The students got a firsthand look at how music retail and music business go hand-in-hand, testing out the latest products from more than 7,000 brands, attending cutting-edge industry education sessions and demonstrations, and seeing lots of live performances.

SUNY Oneonta junior and music industry major Daniel Reid had a rock-star experience last week at a global music products trade show in California, which he attended for free as the winner of a prestigious scholarship. Reid and 26 other SUNY Oneonta students attended The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show in Anaheim, Calif., from Jan. 25 to 28. Reid was the winner of the NAMM Foundation's competitive President's Innovation Award, a $600 stipend given each year to select college and university music students interested in exploring career opportunities in music performance and/or music business.

"Harold's House," a photography exhibit by student Marissa Hogan, will open this week at the Project Space Gallery in the Fine Arts Center at SUNY Oneonta. The exhibit will run from Jan. 25 until Feb. 9, with a public reception Friday, Jan. 26, from 5 to 7 p.m.

"Welcome to Bestiary," a student show with digital prints by Teresa Memole, will open this week in the Martin-Mullen Annex Gallery at SUNY Oneonta. The exhibit will run from Jan. 25 to Feb. 9, with a public reception Friday, Jan. 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the lobby.

Sixteen students explored canyons and hot springs and camped under the stars during winter break as part of their Field Geology of Plate Boundaries course, led by Les Hasbargen, geology professor in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences. This course partially satisfies a capstone requirement for Geology majors and allows them to utilize everything they have learned in geoscience in an applied field setting, identifying rocks, fossils, faults, geomorphic features, folds and sedimentary structures in their natural settings. Students were able to visit some extraordinary places right on the plate boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. They were able to see evidence of recent fault movement and the results of rock deformation along the plate boundary. The students made many field observations and recorded them in a field book. They collected data along this boundary, from which they will create maps and diagrams that reveal how the Earth is tearing apart, shearing and colliding in this region. Most of the diagrams and data analysis will take place back at Oneonta during the spring semester. Assisted by Dr. Chris Karmosky and Dr. Kathryn Metcalf, Hasbargen and his class hiked for several hours a day in desert environments. Temperatures were in the 70s. In the evening, students prepared meals together and slept in tents at private, county and state park campgrounds. Russell Carpenter, a meteorology major, said the trip was beneficial both academically and socially. "This trip was a great hands-on opportunity to learn new information while sightseeing in a region of the U.S. that is new to me," Carpenter said. "In addition, it was great meeting people outside of my major."

Seven SUNY Oneonta students took the trip of a lifetime during winter break, traveling to the beautiful Islands of The Bahamas for the first offering of immersion course BIOL 394: Tropical Flora of The Bahamas. Stationed at Forfar Field Station on Andros Island, students explored plant communities on the islands and learned about the botanical diversity across habitats. They also visited national parks, heritage preserves and several museums to learn about the unique culture and history of The Bahamas. In their downtime, students visited nearby beaches and blue holes, snorkeled in mangroves and learned how to make traditional baskets. Faculty members Tami LaPilusa and Sean Robinson accompanied students on the trip, which lasted from Dec. 28 until Jan. 12. LaPilusa said she was inspired to create the course by a class she took in her undergraduate years.

A total of 185 SUNY Oneonta students earned Provost's List honors for the fall 2017 semester. To qualify for the Provost's List, a student must earn a perfect 4.0 grade-point average while carrying a course load of 12 hours or more.

A total of 1,534 SUNY Oneonta students earned Dean's List honors for the fall 2017 semester. To qualify for the Dean's List, a student must earn a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher while carrying a course load of 12 hours or more.

Junior Danielle Swierczyna and sophomore Jerome Wiggins attended this years NCAA Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C.

31 student athletes played for the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team this fall.

A group of SUNY Oneonta students' community outreach project has helped educate an entire elementary school of children this semester on the basics of environmental sustainability and stewardship. Through the college's Harvest Share Buddies service learning initiative, biology and sociology students spent time in 12 different classrooms at Riverside Elementary School in Oneonta, teaching children about food, the environment and plant biology. In their assigned K-5 classrooms, SUNY Oneonta students presented weekly interactive lessons and got to know the children. Concepts literally came to life for the kids, as vegetable grow boxes were built and installed in the classrooms, giving students a firsthand look at where food comes from. Students grew tomatoes, lettuce and a variety of herbs and spices. When full-grown, the ingredients will be harvested and used to make pizza for the children. This is the second year of the program, which is organized by Assistant Professor of Biology Sean Robinson and Associate Professor of Sociology Greg Fulkerson. On the last visit of the semester, fourth graders in one classroom recalled all they had learned from the SUNY Oneonta students and brainstormed ways to help "reduce, reuse and recycle." Takeaways included riding a bike instead of driving, not polluting, starting a compost pile, shopping local and growing food at home. Third-grade teacher Jacqueline Scanlon said her pupils loved having the college students come in each week. "We called them our SUNY friends, and whenever it was time for a visit, their eyes would light up," Scanlon said. "It's great for these kids to meet the college students and gain a mentor of sorts, and it's also something I appreciate because, with pressures on curriculum, this is a topic we don't often get to talk about. But it's so needed!"

28 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta women's soccer team during the recently completed fall season.

13 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta women's cross country team during the recently completed fall season.

22 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta men's cross country team during the recently completed fall season.

20 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta field hockey team during the recently completed fall season.

Sixty one SUNY Oneonta students received the Richard Siegfried Student Award this semester for earning a total GPA of 3.9 or higher. The students received their awards Dec. 5 during the Annual Richard Siegfried Lecture at the Morris Conference Center. Dr. James Mackin, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, presented the student awards before Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Sustainability Dr. Tyra A. Olstad gave the Siegfried Lecture on "Stewardship and Sense of Place in the Adirondack High Peaks." In order to be eligible to receive the Richard Siegfried Student Award, a student must be a full-time freshman or transfer student with a total GPA of 3.9 or higher. The award is named in memory of Richard K. Siegfried, SUNY Oneonta Professor of Theatre from 1958 until 1995. Professor Siegfried (or Sieg as generations of students fondly called him) epitomized excellence in his academic life, through imagination, meticulous scholarship and discipline, and through his expectation of the same pursuit of excellence in his students and colleagues. His dedication brought excellence to his work in such historical theater worlds as Aristophanes, Moliere, Ibsen, or Chekhov, to his rigorous study of the skills of voice and movement, and to his leadership in the imaginative creativity of improvisation.

A total of 32 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this fall through semester-long and academic-year programs in 13 countries. SUNY Oneonta offers study abroad and exchange programs in Finland, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan and the United Kingdom through the Office of International Education, plus international internship opportunities and short-term, faculty-led field courses abroad. Oneonta students also have access to more than 600 study abroad and exchange programs through the SUNY network.

Sophomore men's soccer player Daniel Ioos was selected as a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

A new exhibition in the lobby of the Martin-Mullen Art Gallery, "DESIGNING FOR THE USER: a crucial step in every design," features work by students Brandon Belaski and Danielle Thomas. It opened Nov. 30 and runs until Dec. 19, with a reception Dec. 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. "DESIGNING FOR THE USER" features a combination of graphic design for books, advertising and web use. QR codes will be presented to viewers to scan with their smartphones to visit web-based designs and explore the creations online. A large TV video display will also display the web-based work. "Every day we use our phones," the student statement reads. "The importance of good design in relation to everyday life is extremely important. Now more than ever before, good design is being seen in just about every material. In whatever project we designers take on, we always have to remember we are designing for the user." The Martin-Mullen Art Gallery and Project Space Gallery are free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday when the college is in session and during special events. For more information about the gallery or upcoming exhibitions, contact Gallery Director Tim Sheesley at (607) 436-2445, (607) 436-3456 or visit www.oneonta.edu/academics/art/gallery.html.

The latest exhibition at SUNY Oneonta's Project Space Gallery will feature the work of three student artists who have, through their artwork, explored the contrast in city and country lifestyles and the concept of vacationing in one place or the other as an "escape." The exhibit, called "[e]scape," features the artwork of Jessica Tyler, Tyler Burke and Henry Feist. It opened Nov. 29 with a reception at the Project Space Gallery and will run through Dec. 19. The show consists of a combination of silver-gelatin photographs and digital photographs ranging in size from 21 inches by 18 inches to 36 inches by 64 inches. In their combined artist statement, the students explained how their work explores the contrast between living in the city or country and visiting the city or country for a vacation. City dwellers often find summer homes in Oneonta, they explained, while Oneonta natives find themselves taking trips to explore the big city. Each reality is someone else's vacation. "Sometimes we forget what else is out there," the students wrote. "No matter which landscape you live in, whether it be the Catskill Mountains or one of the Five Boroughs of New York, the other always feels like an escape." "As the three of us prepare to graduate, we want to use this series as a means of exploring the contrasts in the lifestyles we've experienced and appreciating the good and bad of each one," the statement continues. "Even when things seem gray in the environment you're living in, there is always a burst of color that will follow. It's up to us to find our escapes."

A new project developed by SUNY Oneonta's Psychology and Sociology departments will give six students an immersive applied-learning experience in the fields of health care and human service while simultaneously looking to alleviate some serious community problems. During the year-long venture, student researchers Joshua Garufi, Kathryn Kilichowski, Taryn More, Judson Parisi, Stacy Pinto and Peter Richardson will work with several local health and social service agencies to examine the well-being of area residents and identify areas that need improvement. To learn more about the area and its residents, students will conduct survey research at the Southside Mall in Oneonta. This research will focus on knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of residents of Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Otsego and Schoharie counties. Specifically, it will assess residents' risk of alcohol/illegal drug abuse and mental illness and identify challenges to health wellness in rural areas. Funding for the research is being provided by LEAF Inc. (the Leatherstocking Education on Alcoholism/Addictions Foundation) and by a grant from the SUNY Oneonta Faculty Center for STEM-related applied learning. In its annual Community Health Assessments, the Otsego County Department of Health routinely names promoting mental health and preventing substance abuse as two of its top priorities, with an emphasis on affordability, since many residents are living at or near poverty level. "It is so important to include our students in this project and have them gather data from members of our community," said Julie Dostal, executive director of LEAF, "so we can better define the problems and also refine the resources we are offering." The project will culminate with students developing a county-wide map of substance abuse treatment and mental health services and resources. Students will also assist local agencies with program evaluations and run an analysis to identify gaps within the county's continuum of care. Each of the six student researchers will receive a $600 stipend for the project.

15 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta volleyball team during the recently completed fall season.

SUNY Oneonta's Fed Challenge team of economics and business economics students took third place overall at the 2017 College Fed Challenge, held Nov. 14 at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Donning blazers and nametags and standing in front of an audience and panel of judges, the students delivered a 15-minute presentation in which they analyzed economic conditions and recommended a course for monetary policy. Five students - Melissa Voyer, Heather Teichman, Carlos Salomon, Mike Deyak and Kevin Stearns - presented, while a group of non-presenters supported teammates and toured the vault at the Fed. Forty-three teams competed in the preliminary rounds on Oct. 31. Twelve teams advanced to the Nov. 14 semifinals, and three teams made it to the finals, where SUNY Oneonta took third place, Rutgers University - New Brunswick took second, and Pace University came in first.