C A M P U S
CURRENTS
Students build good will H
ammering, painting and drilling are not words that people usually associate with a college spring break. Yet, 19 students decided to spend their spring break rehabilitating five houses in Baltimore, Md., in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity. “This program, which has been around for five years, is a fun, positive, healthy option for students,” said Christy Lou Harrison Huynh ’98, coordinator of the Center for Service Learning and Community Service. Students in the past have traveled to Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland to take part in the program. Students who participate in the Alternative Spring Break typically rate the experience as a valuable one. Sara Hamme ’07 noted the connections made during the program. “I really enjoyed meeting the people who lived in the neighborhoods in which we worked. They had very little, in comparison to most of us, yet they were always smiling and saying hello, even to strangers. There was
an incredible sense of community,” she said. “The neighbors really supported our projects and thanked us for our hard work. You could tell they were also proud of their friends who were going to move into the house.” The Alternative Spring Break program also impacts students who participate on a deeper, personal level. “A lesson I took away from this experience was that community service is not just about helping others, but also about finding yourself and self-worth,” said Karen Jamack ’05. While the hard work and dedication involved in working on a project of this size ultimately ends, the imprint it leaves on participants endures. Meagan Smith ’07 was a late addition to the program this year. “I would love to go on Alternative Spring Break again. I met some great people and had fun. I would recommend this to anyone who really wants to help people in a practical way,” she said. — Catherine DeGenaro ’05
Nineteen students traveled to Baltimore to rehabilitate row houses for Habitat for Humanity. Here, from left, Stacy Phillips ’05 and Jenna Spencer ’06 haul supplies at the building site.
OAA launches OsweGoConnect online community THE OSWEGO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION now offers a new way for alumni to stay in touch with each other and their alma mater, with the launch of a new interactive online community, OsweGoConnect. This free and secure Web-based community is exclusively for Oswego alumni. “OsweGoConnect is one of our most exciting new offerings in years and we hope all alumni will sign on and be part of this interactive community,” said Betsy Oberst, director of alumni and parent relations at Oswego. At press time, over 700 alumni had registered for the online community. At OsweGoConnect, alumni can now Update their own profiles in a password-protected directory and search for classmates and friends;
Sign up for permanent e-mail forwarding to a free @alumni.oswego.edu e-mail address;
Check out a calendar of upcoming alumni events and register for them online;
Read and post notes to other Oswego alumni on the message boards; and
Find products and services advertised by fellow alumni or promote their own products or services.
To sign on, go to www.oswego.edu/ alumni/, click on OsweGoConnect, click on “Click Here to Register Now!” Find your unique security code to enter the community on the mailing label of this magazine. The nine-digit ID number is located right above the address. After the first time you enter the site, you can change to your own personal password. Alumni couples: Call the Alumni Office at 315-312-2258 or e-mail alumni@oswego.edu for your individual ID numbers.
Post updates and pictures about their career, family and interests;
Benefit from alumnito-alumni career mentoring and networking: post a resumé, review jobs listed by Oswego alumni and access thousands of job postings from more than 300 other colleges and universities;
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Have online “discussions” in real time in the chat room.
OSWEGO
Summer 2005