UAlbany condemns recent graffiti on campus
The University at Albany condemned graffiti found around campus in an email sent out to the entire campus community today.
According to the email from Vice President of Student Success Christine Bouchard, some of the graffiti was racist, sexist and anti-Semetic and such conduct has no place at the University.
The Albany Student Press Aaron Scholder was able to snap a photo of a swastika in a Lecture Center mens bathroom, which as of yesterday afternoon remained in the stall while a large message on the door had been cleaned off. The email suggests that most of the graffiti has been found in the LCs and the Business Administration building.
UAlbany asks that anyone with knowledge about these incidents or future incidents that violate the universitys discrimination or sexual harassment policies at the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, ODI@albany.edu, or the Student Success office at ovpss@albany.edu.
The ASP would also like to hear from anyone with tips or leads regarding the situation. We can be contacted at asptipline@gmail.com
Heres the full text of the email:
Dear UAlbany Students:
University Police have notified me that there have been several instances of graffiti over the past few days in different areas of the campus – most notably in the LCs and the Business Administration building. Most of the graffiti occurred inside men’s restrooms, typically within stalls. While these incidents may or may not be related, some of the graffiti was racist, sexist and anti-Semitic and all amount to vandalism of University property. Defacing University property in this manner is prohibited by Community Rights and Responsibilities and is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by criminal penalties up to $1,000 and a year in jail. Such conduct has no place at the University.
These acts of graffiti also are forms of discriminatory harassment as the graffiti is intended to harass and intimidate members of the campus community. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the Universitys commitment to the principles of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. The University is committed to maintaining a campus environment free from all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other basis made unlawful by any applicable law, ordinance, or regulation according to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. All acts and forms of discrimination are an insult to human dignity, impede the academic process and have an adverse effect on the lives of those who study, work and live here.
Fostering a community of respect at the University requires a commitment from everyone. The University expects its members will educate themselves about such behavior and be vigilant in protecting the right to an environment free of harassment and abuse. This includes notifying the appropriate University Offices should they become aware of behavior believed to violate the Universitys discrimination and sexual harassment policies. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (formerly the Office of Affirmative Action) may be reached at (518) 956-8110 or via email at ODI@albany.edu; the Office of Student Success may be reached at (518) 956-8140 or via email at ovpss@albany.edu; the University Police Department may be reached at (518) 442-3131 or via anonymous reporting at police.albany.edu.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Christine A. Bouchard Vice President for Student Success
France Study Abroad: Love and French
Normally, I would say you shouldnʼt take advantage of men in order to practice your French, but Iʼve made a few exceptions here. One night, while eating a crepe in Vieux Lyon (amazing crepes, by the way!), a man came up to me and said “bon appetit!” (a very common expression, of course), and I said “Merci!” and smiled (thinking he would just pass by). He then sat down. I thought to myself, I wonder if heʼs a nice guy or a weird one? He then started to talk to me slowly and carefully, and he complimented me on my French (which, by the way, is not good…yet), and then asked me out to a drink. Ordinarily, if I was back in the states, I would never have even talked to him for more than a few minutes, but in France Iʼm supposed to be practicing my French, right?
So, I told him that Iʼd rather just talk where we were sitting (with lots of people around), and we talked about everything from our families to our pets (beginner vocabulary, but still…I couldnʼt believe I was having a conversation with someone really from France in French).
What I came away with from this experience was a greater desire to talk with locals and take some chances with my French. Be careful, of course, but donʼt be afraid to speak in a language youʼre just learning with locals. They donʼt care usually, and are mostly just happy youʼre speaking in French at all! Give yourself a pat on the back and ask a store merchant (or a cute French person) how theyʼre doing!
The people that Iʼve met really enjoy knowing where youʼre from and why youʼre studying French, so make the most of it and practice your French with them! Even if you mess up and make a fool of yourself (which you wonʼt, but if youʼd like to talk to someone who has made a fool of themselves – Iʼm right here), you really wonʼt be seeing these people for very long (depending on how long you stay). Concentrate on practicing your French and getting over insecurities about what people might think of you. Hey, it might even help you be a more confident person when you go back home!
Live from Newark: TEDxNJIT Simulcast, March 23, 2012 to viewers worldwide
New Jersey Institute of Technology
A TEDxNJIT event will take place again on March 23, 2012 in the Jim Wise Theatre on the New Jersey Institute of Technology campus and also via an accompanying live simulcast broadcast available to viewers worldwide. The independently organized event, licensed by TED, will focus on sustainability and will feature leaders in the field. It will bring together faculty and students to share their passion for innovation and sustainability. NJIT’s inaugural TEDx event took place last November.
“With the success of our first TEDxNJIT event, we wanted to improve from the feedback we received and create an even better event,” said event organizer Kevin Ly, a sophomore from West Orange who attends NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College and the College of Science and Liberal Arts, majoring in biology. “We decided our next TEDxNJIT event should focus on sustainability, a topic of interest to everyone, especially people living in an urban environment such as Newark.”
The event in the Jim Wise Theatre on the NJIT campus costs $30 a ticket for the public as well as NJIT faculty, staff and alums. Student tickets cost $15. To purchase tickets, register online at www.tedxnjit.com/register. One hundred tickets have been made available. Food and drinks will be available and is included in the ticket fee.
TEDxNJIT follows other TEDx university events, such as those at Harvard and Princeton universities earlier this year. TEDxNJIT not only targets the NJIT community, but those at surrounding colleges and universities in Newark including: Rutgers, Essex County College and University of Medicine and Dentistry.
Confirmed speakers include NJIT Associate Professor Richard Garber, an architect known for designing sustainable structures; NJIT Senior Vice President of Research and Development Donald H. Sebastian; NJIT student Tony Sorgi, who has been doing a project related to books everyone should read to make the world a better place; small business owner David Rosenberg, who previously ran a firm that made sustainable concrete and now runs a technology company that builds advanced farms in urban environments using aeroponics; Florence Hudson, Energy and Environment Executive, IBM and energy blogger Peter Spitz (http://chemengineeringposts.wordpress.com/) For an up-to-date listing of the speakers, see www.tedxnjit.com/speakers.
PNC students develop WebQuests for elementary students
Purdue University North Central Elementary Education students who were enrolled in the fall semester online section of the course, Integrating Technology into the Classroom have created a variety of inquiry-based web resources for use by the teachers and students of Lake Hills STEM Magnet Elementary School in Michigan City. During the fall 2011 semester, Erin White, PNC coordinator of Learning and Technology and continuing lecturer in Education, who taught the Integrating Technology into the Classroom online course, initiated the WebQuests project. It was decided that the class would create WebQuests to highlight the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines in response to the statewide emphasis placed on the STEM curriculum in the elementary grades. White and Shelley Deutscher, Lake Hills STEM coordinator, agreed to have the technologically-savvy PNC students apply their newly acquired skills to produce 18 different Indiana Standards-based WebQuests.
Montessori Schools – Choosing One to Suit Your Child
The environment of a Montessori school is a special one in that allows children a level of independence and freedom to learn. Naturally there are limits based on the child’s age and development. The psychological development of the child is an important focus in Montessori. One key to this theory believes that when a student is given the choice to act independently within their environment their psychological development will be optimized.
It is important to know what the key elements are in accordance with the American Montessori Association. It is not surprising to find schools that claim to be Montessori, but do not follow the guidelines of its founder Maria Montessori.
Elements for Montessori schools
When considering schools ask questions regarding these elements of Montessori
- Are the ages of the students in each classroom mixed? Example- 2-6 year olds in one class.
- Are there uninterrupted blocks of work time for the child to express independence within a guide?
- Are students expected to sit and listen to the lesson or are lessons taught hands- on with materials?
- Are lessons taught using the Montessori methods which can be taken from published works?
- Are classroom materials educational and developed by either Maria Montessori or her collaborators?
- Is independence and freedom of choice in regards to learning geared towards the child’s human development?
When a parent or guardian makes the choice of a Montessori school , they are choosing the best methods to allow the child to develop naturally. Montessori is a place to foster independent learning, hands on discovery, and offers educational materials that challenge the mind. Many home schoolers have started their children in Montessori and it has served them well in terms of independent learning skills and gives the opportunity to discover things hands on. Maria Montessori also believed that these methods of teaching invoked peace; she was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize six times.
Bring on the hockey playoffs
Basketball and volleyball playoffs will be good, but when it comes to competitive balance, nothing can top hockey.
The WCSSAA boys hockey league playoffs begin next Thursday with five teams — Forest Heights, SJAM, Grand River, St. Marys and WCI — having a realistic shot at winning the title.
The same holds true in the WCSSAA girls hockey league, which will start playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 21. SJAM, Resurrection, Jacob Hespeler, Elmira and St. Marys all have a shot out of the Tier 1 teams, while Grand River will be the darkhorse out of Tier 2.
Still with hockey, Tuesdays 2-1 win by SJAM over WCI was probably the most exciting high school game Ive seen during the current school year.
The game had it all. Big hits. Fast-paced, end-to-end action. Great passes. Good goaltending.
It was a lot of fun to watch and a playoff rematch would be worth taking in.
And one last hockey note. . . sorry to the St. Marys Eagles for predicting a fifth-place finish in the boys standings.
They can finish no lower than fourth thanks to their 5-2 win over WCI earlier this year.
Here are the playoff qualifying-round matchups for the WCSAA girls volleyball leagues. Regular-season seedings are in brackets.
JuniorSouthwood (12) at Preston (5) 3:30 p.m.SJAM (11) at Waterloo-Oxford (6) 3:30 p.m. Kitchener CI (K-W) (10) at Galt CI (Cambridge) (7) 3:30 p.m. Forest Heights (9) at Grand River (8) 3:30 p.m.SeniorPreston (12) at Galt (5) 7 p.m. Elmira (11) at Waterloo (6) 7 p.m.Bluevale (10) at Cameron Heights (7) 3:30 p.m.Southwood (9) at Waterloo-Oxford (8) 7 p.m.