HUHC Student Voices: A Vision of Students Today

Last week we initiated a new weekly feature called HUHC Student Voices. The idea was to ask questions and prompt HUHC students to post quick, short responses. The initial response was terrific with some 25 students identifying a wide range of books that had changed their lives. As always, our goal is to spark conversation, share information, and grow as a community.

This week's "question" comes in the form of the YouTube video "A Vision of Students Today." Most faculty think we know who our students are and what they need. Most students think they know better. It's sometimes hard to tell who is right. "A Vision of Students Today" is one of the most watched YouTube videos during the past few weeks.

It was put together at the University of Kansas by Michael Wesh, a faculty member, and some 300 or so student collaborators. Give us your reaction to the video by clicking on the comment boxes below. Then, go see what Wesh has to say about the ways their video has been interpreted by following the this link to his blog click here.

HUHC Service Corps

I was never really interested in community service. It just didn’t seem like it was for me. But then I got an e-mail from Dean Russell a couple of years ago that talked about starting something called HUHC Service Corps. I’m not sure why I decided to join but it’s a decision that I’m glad I made.

HUHC Service Corps is a group of Honors College students that heads to the Interfaith Nutrition Network (the INN), just about five minutes down the road, every other Friday afternoon. We get there after the meals are served at lunchtime but there’s still much to be done.

Heather Bezarro is a senior and has been involved with the Service Corps since its inception in her second semester at Hofstra. She calls it an extremely rewarding experience. “The staff at the INN is wonderful, and so appreciative of the work that we've done with them, and their gratitude really helps me feel like I've accomplished something worthwhile,” she says. “I've done everything from painting their dining room to sweeping the kitchen to sorting hundreds of frozen turkeys for their Thanksgiving feast, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Working at the INN reminds me of how fortunate I am, and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the Service Corps to help those in need.”

“The INN is a great place and a great way to give back to the community,” says senior Shoel Khodai. “All the services they provide for the area surrounding Hofstra and throughout Long Island, such as serving hot meals, giving clothing to entire families, providing shelter, and even helping people get back into the workforce, allow those in need to survive. Once you volunteer, you're hooked. This is just a great organization and I love it.”

One of my favorite memories is of PeggyAnn teaching me how to paint. We used to be called on to do that a lot. It was very fulfilling when the dining room walls we had painted ended up in Newsday a few days later.

We expanded our reach last spring under the guidance of Michelle Lisi. For weeks we painted and decorated hundreds of bookmarks for special education students and eventually got to deliver them to the Variety Child Learning Center in Syosset. It was a lot of fun working with the little kids and helping them choose books to read.

I’ve made a lot of friends working with the Service Corps, including Heather and Shoel. It’s a great experience that really gives back.

Sounds like something you’d want to do? Look for the sign up sheets in the HUHC Living Room or search for “HUHC Service Corps” on Facebook to find the group and stay connected. There are just four more dates for this semester: October 26th, November 9th, November 30th and December 7th (all Fridays from 3-5 p.m.).

We’d love to have you join us.

The Dalai Lama

Sunday, October 14, twenty honors students were given the opportunity to see the Dalai Lama in Radio City Music Hall. The Dalai Lama, introduced by Richard Gere, spoke on several issues and then responded to questions that had been received by email. The overall consensus: the Dalai Lama was way more entertaining than anyone had expected! Not that we had expected less than great--after all, he is the Dali Lama-- but perhaps we simply were not expecting the Dalai Lama
himself to be so incredibly down to Earth. The moment he pulled his legs up to sit indian-style in his armchair and pulled out his visor we knew that it was going to be no ordinary C & E lecture. I am not sure if it was his sense of humor that struck us or if it was his ability to convey his thoughts on such universal issues so well in a language not his own. One thing is for sure: whether Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or of any other religion, no person in Radio City could have left untouched by his words. He spoke not as a Buddhist, not as a Tibetan, but as a fellow humanitarian to each of us sharing this globe.

HUHC Student Voices

This week we introduce a new weekly feature called HUHC: Student Voices. It’s a posting made up of quick student responses to a question or topic. Each week, the editorial board of HUHC: The Conversation will post a new question or topic that calls for short (no more than one or two sentence) responses. Topics can range from the serious (What should the U.S’s role in Darfur be?) to the intellectual (Name a book that changed your life?) to the mundane (What kind of snacks should HUHC be serving in the living room?). Our goal is to use these topics to spark conversation, share information, and grow as a community. Plus, it can be fun to see the various answers build throughout the week.

The featured topic of this week is:

NAME A BOOK THAT HAS CHANGED YOUR LIFE.

In Defense of Torre, Classy to the End

Joe Torre may have been the man to reject the deal, but the Steinbrenner's may as well have forced the "no" out of his mouth. Torre didn't want to leave this team, but had to in order to preserve his class and dignity. Many fans are beside themselves at the fact that anyone could turn down five million dollars for nothing, but I understand exactly where Torre is coming from.

Torre refused to take the 1 year, incentive laden, 5 million dollar contract to manage the team (with a team option for a second year). Torre's current contract his him getting paid 7.5 million per year. Why the cut in salary? It's a mystery to most; the man has led his team to the playoffs 12 years in a row. It's not Torre's fault the Yankees lost to the Indians; Chien-Mien Wang took care of that almost entirely by himself (and the bugs didn't help). He's either good enough to manage this team, or he's not. Don't needlessly penalize him and make the team leader look silly in front of all of New York.

Yankee fans wanted Torre out, and now they have their wish. But regardless of their feelings about Torre, who is going to step in and do a better job? Don Mattingly, with his one year of bench coaching experience, is certainly no sure thing. Yankee fans seem to feel confident about him because he played great defense a long time ago. Joe Girardi is another popular name, because of his success with the Marlins. However, the reasons for the 2006 Marlins success can be attributed to the surprising contributions of Hanley Ramierez, Dan Uggla, and Anibal Sanchez.

Torre picked the perfect opportunity to say no; he now looks like a hero compared to the bumbling jackassery of the Steinbrenner sons. I hope Torre finds another winner to manage, he certainly deserves that chance. If not, I hope he enjoys his days drinking Bigelow Green Tea and chuckling as the Yankee organization looks worse and worse.

Hofstra Buddies

For the past three weeks, Honors College students have been traveling to Walnut Street Elementary School where they work with kids who need additional one-on-one reading help during the school day.

Dr. Brian Clocksin heads up the Hofstra Buddies program. “Originally, Hofstra athletic teams (basketball and football) would send representatives to the school one day during the semester to read in the classrooms,” he says. Now about 20 students are participating. “It is a great opportunity for college students to develop mentoring skills and provide a needed service to their community.”

Stephanie Gilbert is assigned to a kindergarten class at Walnut Street and helps them learn letters. “Last week we made a book of all ‘A’ words and colored them,” she says. “I love working with these children because it allows me to actually see the learning process take place. It is so inspiring when they ask for my help and I can almost see the light bulb go off in their minds when they understand.”

I’m having a lot of fun so far with the program myself. I experienced some sort of culture shock when I walked in on the first day and sat in the back of a second grade class. I forgot how decorated these classrooms can get. There was this one girl who was eager to raise her hand when her teacher asked questions. When she got the answer right, she looked back at me and smiled, making sure that I noticed how smart she was. It was very cute.

Last Friday, I was assigned to work with this second grader named Andres. He’s in a bilingual class where the students learn both Spanish and English because they’re growing up in Spanish-speaking homes. The teachers (there are two – one teaches English and the other teaches Spanish) told me that Andres is having trouble “decoding,” which I think is a fancy term for reading, and they asked me to work with him using words that start with the letter “A.” One of the flashcards had the word “all” on it and, after Andres sounded it out, I put it in a sentence for him. “All of the kids in this class are very smart,” I said. “Except me,” said Andres. I asked why he would say that. “Because I can’t read,” he said.

That’s what Hofstra Buddies is trying to help with.

If your schedule doesn’t allow for you to participate during the day (between 11:00 and 1:00) but you still want to get involved, Dr. Clocksin also runs after-school programs twice a week from 3:05 – 4:20. On Tuesdays, it’s called “Moving and Shaking with Hofstra-MASH” and it’s “Club Hofstra: Academic & Athletic Mentoring Programs” on Thursdays. “Both programs offer students structured physical activity programs while developing social and academic skills,” Dr. Clocksin says.

If you’re interested in getting involved, send Dr. Clocksin an e-mail at Brian.D.Clocksin@hofstra.edu.

Next week, I’ll talk about another cool way to volunteer with HUHC.

Alcohol Age Limit

On the news today I heard the story of a College Freshman at Westminister Choir College of Rider University dieing due to alcohol related reasons. The typical response to this is, he was just being dumb. If it seems that obvious, then why is it still happening? Is education all we need?

I feel like the education provided by schools about alcohol awareness, typically high schools in general but throughout college too, only provides the education. Well, yeah, of course, that's what it's supposed to do. But education isn't enough, you need the experience as well.

Take people in foreign countries for example. Many of the drinking ages are (very loosely) 18, and some even younger. Alcohol is a part of their culture, they grow up around it, they know how to treat it. They have had the experience of being exposed to it, and are therefore not so ambitious and eager the minute it becomes openly available, legally or not. This makes them more aware of what they are dealing with. In due time, away from their parents and in a new setting, they know how to react and how to limit themselves.

Now we have an ideal American student, 17, freshman in college, never drank a drop in her life. Knows the consequences, and has been educated about the effects. Her new friends bring her to a party, where, not wanting to look like a loser, she takes a cup and fills it up. Gets involved in a couple of games, cups empty, time for a refil, no second thought. Do we all know where I'm going with this?

When it comes down to it, is it your experience or your education that counts? Where would you be without math homework, labs, internships, practice, doing things? In a bad situation, pushed into an experience you have never had before, and don't know if it's right. You don't know what is right from wrong until you have been shown. Unfortunately, many college freshmen who have not been shown the right way to handle a situation, are forced into the wrong way to handle a situation first.

It's kind of like when you're at a friends house taking a shower, and you're trying to turn it on. You're not really sure what to push, what to turn, and where to touch. You attempt various actions, pushing here, twisting there, meanwhile getting drenched by low pressure, freezing water, then by high pressure, boiling water. Eventually, after experience of twisting and turning, you know which knob does what and what to do to make it do what you need it to do.

Obviously, not everyone needs experience. Some people know somebody who has been negatively effected by alcohol, and stay away from it because of their experience with them alone. I, thankfully, have not known anybody that has had alcoholism, and I hardly have any experience around the stuff myself. So why have I stayed away from it? I know I have a bright future ahead of me, and I am not ready to throw myself into something I am totally unfamiliar with. It would be like being accepted for a job in archeology after graduating as an engineering major. Something most likely to result in failure and loss of a job. Except in the case of alcohol, my life is at stake.

What is my proposal? No drinking age. OK, so maybe this hurts the first generation that it is enacted into. But also take into consideration that the temptation to do something forbidden is taken away and isn't so "dangerous" any more. Plus, the one through ten year olds aren't tempted to run out and buy beer just because they would be able to. Their parents would be able to ease the substance into their lives, not making it such a big deal anymore. Counterarguments, anyone?

Japanese and robots in space!

Last Thursday, I was sitting in my Geography class, taught by Professor Jean-Paul Rodrigue. He caught my interest when he took a minute to delve into the Japanese culture and their inclination towards robotics. At the time, I wasn't sure why it all seemed so familiar, but giving it another thought, I've seen it all before! The Japanese have even embedded it in their television media.

For those who know what I'm talking about, I've no doubts that you've heard of Mobile Suit Gundam. Now one of the most famous Japanese animated series and a popular franchise, Gundam started out relatively unknown until action figures were produced and people began to take notice of the series. What Star Wars is to America, Mobile Suit Gundam is to Japan.

Gundam is most known for its large prevailing themes, space warfare, giant robots, and political intrigue. (Giant robots have been taking center stage in the recent decade) Given what Dr. Rodrigue said, we can explain why giant robots would jump start a series like Gundam to the limelight; but I was thinking, why space?

Being 1979 when the series was created, Gundam took place in the middle of the Space Age. But hey, wait a second; I'm pretty sure Japan did not participate in the Space Race, so why the fixation upon an intergalactic epic? Whether Japan was in the Space Race or not doesn't matter, Space was an entirely grand concept at the time.

The opening for the original Gundam

I mean, haven't you ever wished at some point to escape the confines of your daily life and just go explore uncharted territory? Maybe the same mindset that made Star Wars so wildy popular may have worked its magic upon Gundam as well. Like piloting an X-wing, wouldn't you find it thrilling to sit alongside Amuro Ray in the cockpit of the RX-78?

There's just something really entrancing about sitting in front of a media and being taken to an entirely different world; some people use books as their way, others television and movies. But whatever it is, we can't deny enjoying a new change of pace from time to time. (Which is probably why some people display so much hate against Reality TV) What's your medium?

- Jesse P.

McNabb and Racism

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb recently stated in an interview with HBO that he believes black quarterbacks face greater scrutiny than white quarterbacks. This is not the first time McNabb has been the subject of racial controversy; talking head Rush Limbaugh dismissed him as being overrated at his position simply because people want to see a black quarterback succeed.

As an avid sports fan, I find it fascinating to see how race, which is clearly still an issue in sports today, factors in with todays athletes and analysts. However, I believe that McNabb's beliefs regarding criticism towards black quarterbacks are greatly misguided. The reason McNabb gets criticized so much is because of his frequent injuries and poor play this season, not the color of his skin. McNabb playing this race card in this situation is irresponsible and careless. Why does an issue of criticism so frequently turn in to one of race? There are many examples of white quarterbacks facing a great deal of criticism. Earlier this season in New York, fans cheered when Chad Pennington was badly injured and had to leave the game due to his poor play. Before the team started winning again, Giants fans called up 660 WFAN (the premier sports talk radio program of New York) everyday to complain about how they wanted to get rid of Eli Manning. Criticism has nothing to do with race, it's all about the game of football. When the team wins, they love you; when it loses, you face scrutiny.

As a society we need to be able to look at sports (and larger social issues) and take away the race microscope used for looking at every detail. Even Titans quarterback Vince Young, who is black, said that he disagreed with McNabb and did not feel the scrutiny he was talking about. It is not a coincidence that Young played brilliantly last year while McNabb was hurt in the second half. I think McNabb will be pleasantly surprised to see the "racist" criticisms go away once his team starts winning again.

A line has been drawn, yet I do not think this issue is 100% one way or another. Race needs to be more carefully examined in sports so we are not so shocked (Don Imus, Isiah Thomas, Michael Vick) when a racial issue comes up. I would love to hear an opposing viewpoint; perhaps there's a middle ground I'm not seeing.

An Article and a Thought

I saw this article on the front page of the New York Times today and it caught my attention, not because of what the subject of the article, Samir Khan, is writing about, but because of the fact that he is using a blog to spread his message.


The article is a result of journalist Michael Moss’s interviews with 21-year-old American blogger Samir Khan and several others who promote Al Qaeda’s message through the use of the Internet, including the popular site, YouTube. Moss gives some details on the content of a few of these publications and briefly talks about Samir Khan’s life before he created his blog in 2005. The full article can be read here.

I looked at the comments that readers posted on the New York Times website, and there were a few people who were angry that anyone would be permitted to say these things on the Internet. Michael Moss responded to these comments, writing that Samir Kahn is still within the protections of freedom of speech, though Moss mentioned in his article that there have been several attempts to shut down the blog. Moss wrote in another response that Samir Khan’s family does not share his views, and in the article he reports that Mr. Khan’s father even cut off the Internet access once in an effort to “placate” his son.


This concern with the content of Samir Khan’s blog seems to go back to the problem that people have had with technology for a long time, and I wonder if technology is really benefiting us more than it’s hurting us. Cars are a way to get from point A to point B but they are also the source of traffic and parking problems. The Internet is a great way to send and receive information until someone writes something you don’t like, and then you might wish that you weren’t so connected to the rest of the world. Even a recorder seemed like a good a idea for the Culture and Expression classes, until it broke in the middle of a lecture (and I here I thought I was sparing myself that problem by getting a cassette recorder instead of digital one).



Any thoughts on the article? Does anyone have an anecdote about the inconveniences of technology? Did any malfunctioning robots wreck havoc on the city last week?

Youth, Activism, and Anger

NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote an interesting op-ed piece yesterday titled Generation Q. He's branded your generation the Q generation because on the one hand you remain optimistic and committed to making changes in the world, and yet, he seems to think you are too quiet for your own good. It set me wondering about whether you have to be angry to be a good activist. Friedman seems to feel like the people in power need a good "kick in the pants" and is nominating college age students to do the job. Maybe he's right? Thoughts from others? The link to his article is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/opinion/10friedman.html?ex=1192680000&en=b45a693d3a9ed381&ei=5070&emc=eta1

HUHC takes a tour of the UN

HUHC sponsored a trip this past weekend to see a tour of the United Nations. I was extremely interested in going seeing as I want to work there some day. They did not provide transportation, but luckily I have had enough experience and found my way to Penn Station. From there it was a definite learning experience on how to get to the UN, but fortunately with the help of a friend and a map I made it there only ten minutes late, due to the polish parade I annoyingly got stuck behind.

As we were waiting for the tour to start, we were able to observe the art work of children between the ages of about eight to thirteen. They were from all around the world, and were given the intruction to paint something that reflects global warming. I've posted a couple pictures of them. The winner, I believe (they were all so good it's hard to remember which actually won), was of a person holding an umbrella, and the wind is blowing in the background, and on the umbrella is painted the earth. The sadness was clearly visible from the way the kids expressed themselves. There was one humourous one that sparked my memory. It was of a polar bear dancing on a piece of broken ice floating down a river by some city. Anyway, there are pics of that just to give you a sense.

The tour lasted a really fast hour, it seemed, but it was a great learning experience nonetheless. We stopped into three or four major rooms where a lot of important stuff presumably happens. We learned random facts, like how the seating arrangement is ordered. Someone picks one contry out of the hat, and whoever that is gets to sit in the first seat and the remainder is in alphabetical order, starting back with a after it gets to z. Cool, huh? There were quite a few names of countries many of us didn't recognize, it's a good thing they keep track. We also learned the basics, things like the different councils, some of the UN's missions, etc. One thing that surprised most of us was the amount of money being spent on weapons. The UN made a graph type thing of how the money used could be distributed differently, and essentially we could eliminate world hunger, cure diseases, and solve problems up the wazoo with the money the world uses on military things. There is a picture of it, it's like an upside down pyramid, with the big red part being the amount spent on military things and the rest divided into sections for other purposes we could use it for, and the bottom half adds up to the top half. We saw many gifts that countries have given, like a very complex ivory carving and an intensly detailed model of a Japanese war boat. There was a really pretty mosaic as well. We completed our tour, thanked the tour guide who was really informative, and made our way out.

We were fortunate enough to be provided dinner courtesy of HUHC. We ate at this little italian restaurant called Mimi's, and the host was very gracious on putting tables together to seat a party of 18. The bread was delicious and of course the italian dishes were great as well. There was a piano player providing entertainment, and a couple of us contributed by singing the chorus of "Sweet Caroline". The pianist dedicated a few songs to us.

Then we all made our way back to Penn VERY quickly just in time to make the train with two minutes to spare. There wasn't much time to take in the night life or scenery, but that can wait. It was a learing experience for everyone.

I encourage more people to go to these things, well I guess if they did I would have to make sure I have my ticket reserved, but on this trip it was all freshmen and seniors...where are the...middle classmen? Well, I had fun anyway. Have a good week! Please keep reading!

HUHC Goes kayaking!

Approximately 18 students to a trip to Long Beach, LI for a morning full of ocean kayaking with Professor Clocksin and Professor Greenwell. It was a lot of fun for me, because I have never done ocean kayaking, never mind kayaking on sit on top ones. The day was great except for the wind which proved quite a struggle on our way back into the cove. There were many houses of different styles including huge docked house boats. We even spotted a couple swans. No one fell out, thankfully, and we ended our trip eating a nice lunch on the dock of the buisness where we were leant the kayaks. It was a great way to get off campus and have some adventures. Thank you for sponsoring this trip, HUHC.

Those Dalai Lama tickets!

Honors College reserved 20 tickets to see Dalai Lama in NYC on October 14th. I was eager to go and reserve a ticket when I saw the e-mail; my mother follows Buddhist principles and she had a large effect on me. Needless to say, I quickly wrote back to reserve a seat. How can I skip seeing him in person, after all?

Unfortunately, the spots and the wait list were filled by the time I got the reply. Just to clarify, I got the e-mail from HUHC on the 8th, and I sent out a request on the 8th. That was really quick, if I do say so myself! I never expected the tickets to go as fast as they did; I'd expect that from a Yankees game or something, but to see the Dalai Lama? College students surprise me every day.

Any blogger here nab a ticket fast enough to see his holiness in Radio City Music Hall? If you did, can you please give us a post synopsis when you return? Thanks in advance.

- Jesse P.

About Those Signs...

I think the new signs look like something you'd see at Disney World. I mean, who wouldn't want to ride the Cafe on the Quad? When I'm walking around campus the first things that I notice aren't the beautiful greenery or buildings, but those big, awkward signs.

However, I can't deny that they are very helpful in finding buildings where the name isn't very visible. The signs are definitely a positive thing to have on campus, but the idea should have been thought through better.

Test Discussion

Just to see who is with us... what does everyone think of the new signs around Hofstra?

Personally I think they are very cartoonish, but better signage was necessary considering plants cover a majority of the building titles carved into the walls. Signs would have certainly helped me with reference points as an incoming freshman when looking at my map. They make the campus more accessible for outsiders, but they could have been designed in a more classical fashion.