Terry and Dana Baker with 2010 Morehouse Graduate Bricesin Scott
“Men can make an impression or an impact.”
-Edwin Louis Cole
Congratulations to Bricesin Scott (formerly of Syracuse) on his graduation from Morehouse College on Sunday. Scott graduated cum laude with a degree in business administration.
Giles and Choi
Syracuse University graduate students John H. Giles, Jr. and Eunyoung Christina Choi attended the 2010 Association of American Geographers meeting in Washington, DC last week.
Choi presented a paper titled: Everyday Practices of Bordering and the Threatened Bodies of Undocumented North Korean Border-Crossers.
Giles is a SIF Advisory Board Member.
Shelly Griffin: Cent$ + Sense-Ability
A statistic was cited during the recent Cent$ + Sense-Ability Fashion Show at The Newhouse School of Public Communications last week that the average American discards about 68 lbs of clothing and textiles each year.
In an effort to show that fashion too can ride the current wave of sustainability, this year’s annual fashion show for the Fashion Communication Milestone featured recycled materials, clothing, and material found in the trash. A host of material was donated by the Rescue Mission. The student designs promoted “Fashion in a Recession.”
A few of the evenings highlights included: hairstyles featuring soda cans as well as, Tina Fey impersonator and Newhouse Program Coordinator Shelly Griffin (pictured above).
Michele Palotta, Junior at Syracuse University
Hon. Dave Bing, Mayor of Detroit
During the past quarter century, when you thought of Detroit, you couldn’t help but think of a crime-ridden urban wasteland thanks to film such as RoboCop, True Romance, Blue Collar, Assault on Precinct 13, 8 Mile and Grand Torino.
The Honorable Dave Bing wants to paint a new picture of Detroit. The Mayor and NBA Hall of Fame guard, who is a graduate of Syracuse University, spoke yesterday at Whitman Day. He talked about coming and playing at Syracuse and being drafted #2 overall by the Pistons. He also said he had to work during NBA off-seasons to make ends meet.
Working those summer jobs (in banking and the auto industry) turned out to be one of the best things to happen to Bing, who says in his first entrepreneurial venture he lost 1/2 of his NBA savings.
After that minor setback, Bing became a salient model for post athletic business success and has parlayed his business influence all the way to city hall (he was elected in 2009).
“I am where I am and I compete where I am,” he said.
Beyond the court and the business world, Bing hopes his Third Act will include leading an economic, political and psychological transformation for the motor city.
Columnist Cynthia Tucker (right) with SU's Newhouse School Dean Lorraine Branham
Steve Perry, Principal
For too long the education system has fostered schools that are failing and according to Steve Perry, principal and education activist, failure is no longer an option.
“We can’t call a school a school if it doesn’t educate,” he says. “We have to create schools that are designed to be successful.”
Perry gave a lecture Saturday at Bethany Baptist Church that was sponsored by the Say Yes to Education program. He heads Hartford Prep (CT) and was featured on the CNN series Black in America 2 with Soledad O’Brien. Perry has also been interviewed often by New Inspiration for the Nation’s George Kilpatrick.
For Perry education is a calling, not just a profession. He drives several of his students to school each day and says 100% of the students at Capital Prep go on to college.
Perry says that he has no problem getting this across to his staff, and because you have a degree doesn’t mean you are a teacher. “I’ve fired some great people, they just weren’t good teachers,” he said.
Citing the McKinesey Report, Perry said that a child without an education will be a challenge for society. He said parents, teachers and entire community’s share responsibility for schools that don’t work.
“I love kids too much to care about grown people’s feelings.”
Hammer on stage with Mary Nelson
First, I was impressed with Baltimore’s Aquarium, then more so by Seattle’s; and then I was sure the Monterey Bay Aquarium was the pinnacle. But recently I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, and it became my new favorite. I also heard there may be a better aquarium in Europe.
For the price (free) however, I also thought the Aquarium at Santa Monica Pier was also nice. It’s more geared toward school-kids and does a good job tackling conservation and water quality.
Models and students from the College of Visual and Performing Arts participated in the second annual Freedom of Expression Fashion show last week. The show is coordinated by the Fashion and Beauty Communications Milestone and was organized around the Newhouse School’s year-long theme of celebrating the First Amendment.
I also covered the show last year.
I took some time off last week to work with my children to produce a short for my son’s class presentation. My son produced the music; my daughter coordinated the interviews, I was in charge of finding pictures. Here are the results of our work.