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4 The It hacan
Skype aids in learning languages skype from page 1
over a six-week period to learn more about the Arabic language and culture. “Students had fun with it,” Assad said. “They found new words and wrote down whatever they didn’t understand during the session and were able to ask questions. They accumulated more vocabulary and picked up on accents in the conferencing that they don’t get to hear in the classroom.” Assad GAYESKI said using said the videoconferencing technology spurs new ideas helps stuin students. dents gain knowledge in all bases. “They’re learning about culture, social aspects and mainly about education. They must learn this new system and know how to interact with people," he said. After hearing of the successes from previous programs, professors in other departments across campus plan to introduce it into their curricula as early as next spring. The James J. Whalen Center for Music is beginning to establish long-distance connections in the classroom through Skype. Cass Barbour-March, a video and electronic broadcast technician at the music school, said Skype was used in this fall’s convocation ceremony when its keynote speaker presented from his Florida office. “We in the School of Music are excited about the potential and have our sights set higher,” BarbourMarch said. “While we may not be able to pack a large ensemble into a van and visit a middle school in Rochester or D.C., we can certainly use videoconferencing to bring upand-coming musicians into our classrooms and vice-versa.” Amy Gerney, a new assistant professor of occupational therapy, said Information Technology Services has been welcoming and supportive of her future endeavors with the technology. She said she hopes to expand on her previous experiences with videoconferencing and bring them to her students who can gain a new perspective on real-life work in the occupational therapy field. Gerney used videoconferencing heavily in her graduate work in distance education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She said her primary goal is to bring content experts and clinicians in occupational therapy to speak with students through videoconferencing. “There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t connect students with experts in the field with the technology that’s available today,” Gerney said. “To be able to interject this kind of technology and these kinds of individuals into the classroom brings an energy to the learning experience that is really valuable.”
Th ursday, November 1 7 , 2 0 1 1
Students question value of degrees
which will go into effect in 2012. Beginning in 2014, new student borrowers will from page 1 be able to decrease their monthly federal loan payon her financial future despite her debt, some ments to 10 percent of their discretionary income, students are taking more proactive measures to and current students can make the same cuts starting in 2012. All debt will be forgiven after 20 years ease their economic burden. Since coming to the college, junior Rhiannon rather than 25 years, as the current law states. At the national level, college tuition and fees Youngbauer has made strides to decrease her debt by living off-campus and finding a job on the Com- have increased 4.5 percent in private colleges and mons, but it hasn’t been enough. Youngbauer said 7.9 percent in public universities. According to the College Board, these percentages are expectshe decided to lessen costs by graduating early. “College is not just classes,” she said. “It’s an ex- ed to increase by 6 percent annually, and by 2028, perience, and I feel like I am going to be missing out the cost for private colleges can go up from the current average of $119,400 to $340,800. on some things to an extent.” The national student debt currently stands at By graduating early, Youngbauer said she has to sacrifice taking some classes. She is pleased the col- more than $600 billion — about five percent of the lege has given her more financial aid each year, but national debt average, exceeding credit card debt for the first time this year. now, she said, the issue is more of a political one. Students attending four-year institutions “There’s only so much the university can do,” she said. “I’m kind of under the mindset that the state in New York graduate with an average debt of $26,271, the 10th highest debt or the government should in the nation, according to do more, because it’s not data from the Project on Stuall up to the university. It dent Debt and the Institute for shouldn’t be up to them.” College Access and Success. Warren Schlesinger, asThe project estimates about sociate professor and chair two-thirds of all 2010 college of the accounting departgraduates had loan debt avment, said increasing the eraging $25,250, up 5 percent financial aid budget would from 2009. mean charging wealthier These statistics bring up families more to subsidize —Zac Bissonnette the question of whether the low-income students. But benefits outweigh the drawforgiving students of their loans could also prove problematic for the college. backs in pursuing a post-secondary education. Youngbauer said she knew attending the col“Those extremely wealthy families, that 1 percent, is just not large enough for Ithaca College lege would put a financial strain on her family, but alone to charge differential tuition amounts in that the campus atmosphere won her over. “It seemed worth it to me because I knew I’d way and then forgive loans going forward,” he said. “We would not have the resources to pay salaries, be getting one of the best communications educations in the country,” Youngbauer said. to maintain the buildings and run operations.” Applebaum said when it comes down to it, Robert Applebaum, founder of the website ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com, said the problem students simply don’t realize they are making with student loans is that there is no examination poor financial decisions. “During their first two years, they don’t know for whether students will be able to pay back their what they are majoring in so they just take the loans after graduating. “Anyone with a pulse who wants to take out a required course and party,” he said. “If you want student loan to go to school can get one,” he said. some soul-searching time and some time to disOf the 6,321 students enrolled at the college cover what it is you want to do with your life after during the 2010-11 academic year, 4,347 were college, I think community college and in-state given need-based financial aid, according to the schools are a much better place to do that.” Zac Bissonnette, author of “Debt-Free U” and a Common Data Set, an annual collection of information the college distributes publicly. Students senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst used a total $33,156,693 in outside loans, exclud- who will graduate without debt, said students are ing parent loans, and $8,132,301 in federal grants too young to make such large financial decisions. “You are talking about people who are making and scholarships to help foot the bill. In October, President Barack Obama an- these decisions when they are 16, 17 and 18 years nounced a plan to reduce student loan burdens old,” he said. “17-year-olds are not allowed to for students who already have federal loans, drink alcohol or trade commodities or that kind
debt
Owes $30,000
"Everyone should have equal access to a quality, affordable education."
"You are talking about people who are making these decisions when they are 16, 17 and 18 years old."
--Lyndsey Lyman, Junior
Owes $75,000
"I don't know how I'm going to pay this off. I'm just getting my life started." --professor Mo Baptiste, Department of Education
of thing, but they are allowed to borrow $100 or $150,000 to go to college.” Though she does not have a solution to the problem she is speaking out against, Binder said she believes the first step toward addressing the issue of student loan debt is to lift the veil of ignorance. “A large part of making steps toward solving the student debt crisis is acknowledging that it is an issue,” she said. “This is a problem. This is a severe, severe problem.” Staff Writer Nicole Ogrysko and Assistant News Editors Erica Palumbo and Elma Gonzalez contributed to this report.
Administration supports environmental goals sustainability from page 1
have more sustainability coordinators in different departments across campus working to bring them to a higher level of environmental consciousness. While Brown works with the Office of the Provost, some employees are supported by outside forces like Sodexo, the company contracted by the college for dining services. Sodexo is the direct employer of Stephanie Piech, the sustainability coordinator for Ithaca Dining Services. She said her job is divided between Sodexo and Ithaca Dining Services, and collaboration with other campus employees. “[Eco] rep students do a lot of education about composting in the dining halls or in dining areas, and even if I just wanted to connect with one of them ... email isn’t the easiest thing,” Piech said. The college’s Eco-Reps program was established last year and is modeled after the University of Vermont. Its aim is to promote sustainable behaviors in residence halls through peer-to-peer education, se-
nior Margaret Keating said. “[We’re] peer-to-peer mentors, or resources for people who live on campus,” she said. Keating is one of 14 student eco-reps paid by the college to carry out this mission. Keating and the other eco-reps work under the Resource and Environmental Management Program, a division of the Office of Facilities. Mark Darling, one of the college's four official sustainability employees, coordinates the reps. Darling leads the college’s sustainability efforts that pertain to operations on campus. “There would definitely be an advantage of having everyone who’s working on sustainability housed together,” Darling said. “But I’m not sure about whether having them all report to one office, that reports to one vice president or to the president, would necessarily make it any more effective.” Brown said the administration's goal is to bring the college as a whole to a more sustainable state. “Our objective is to get the entire campus to think about making more sustainable decisions,” she
said. “So does that require a single entity to do that?” Brown said she questioned whether an Office of Sustainability would actually be productive. But, an actual location that housed all sustainability projects
would be helpful for campus visitors and members of the campus community, she said. “It could be valuable to the institution,” she said. “To our function, it probably doesn’t mean a hill of beans of difference.”
Senior Margaret Keating and sophomore Nick Tucker organize items donated previously by students Tuesday in the basement of Clarke Hall.
rachel orlow/the ithacan