Archives: On Campus
The lakeside patio is “for the birds”
I love eating lunch outside this time of year when the humidity has all but disappeared and there is a light breeze off the lake. And I’m not the only one, because there are plenty of students out there. But the real crowd is not of the human form, but rather of the bird breed. So, if you don’t mind sharing your space with a posse of ibis who are not at all shy about checking you – and your food – out, then carry your tray on out.
It’s actually quite interesting getting this slice of wildlife during mealtime. The ibis are busy stalking any possible morsel of throwaway food; the birds in the trees are making quite a cacophony waiting to swoop down on their prey, and even a stray duck or two waddles by to survey the scene. I saw one ibis with a piece of foodstuff hanging out of its mouth. He goaded the others to follow him, and then flew away and dropped it into the lake (lucky duck). They reminded me of a bunch of kids taunting each other on the playground.
And the students have taken quite a shine to feeding their little wildlife friends, which I’m sure can’t be a good thing. Even in protected zoos there are signs about not feeding the animals, etc. So, I imagine those tossed French fries and burger buns can’t be very good for them. Plus, because they know they’ll be fed eventually, you have birds literally breathing down your neck.
So, what’s the consensus: to feed or not to feed? Just what are we doing to our Lynn bird population, besides making them nice and plump?
David Gregory talks to students – and me
Okay, not me personally, but I was in the audience in the AG when David Gregory spoke to the students prior to his Dively lecture at Lynn. In the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to meet and greet and hear many “name” speakers (the “wall of fame” in my office is testament to that). They always seem larger than life, and in David Gregory’s case, that is literally true. He’s a tall, lanky and very friendly-looking man, with an affable personality to match. I detected no “star” or diva-like tendencies during his time talking to the students, rather just the opposite. He was very engaging, open and real. So, here are a few of my notes from that session:
• On the current journalism scene: He was amazingly blunt when answering the question from a student about the job market in that field. “Bad,” he said. Local news has plummeted, but he said “the walls have been broken down on the production side” (describing an intern using a flip camera to capture a story), allowing for more outlets and opportunities.
• On social media: He realized he needed to reach out to a younger audience, and clearly understands and embraces today’s communication tools, with 1,388,481 Twitter followers (but who’s counting?). He recognizes that Twitter is part of the universe, but it isn’t the universe.
• On a college education: Today’s students expect information to find them. He talked about the importance of a strong liberal education, the need to be well read, write well and be a good critical thinker – even if you don’t know what you want to be (which he did since the tender age of 15). Great advice, I thought.
• On his career: The job of journalist seemed exciting, he was naturally curious and wanted to be a participant; never wavered from his ambition. He’s been at NBC since the 1990s; covered the White House and his first presidential election (2000) during which he remembers “lots of partying including disco balls and margaritas on the plane.” He describes his job as moderator of Meet the Press as the best he ever had, but a very difficult and challenging one – “a real gift.” He said preparing for interviews is rigorous; you want to make news; get people “in the moment;” and he identified Hilary Clinton as his best AND worst interviewee.
If you were at the student session or the actual Dively lecture, feel free to share your impressions here.
Breaking News: Plan to “Supersize” university squirrel population revealed!!
Is this a simple case of littering, or a larger university conspiracy? (Read on to find out.)
Liz McKey, editor of Lynn Magazine, is – in what spare time she has – a fan of writing and reading mystery novellas. So perhaps she alone would have suspected something sinister was afoot when she came upon this scene in the Schmidt staff lot last week. What appeared to be a simple case of littering – and a squirrel intent on making the most of the act – caught her attention.
Acting on her tip, I started sniffing around. Literally. A visit to the scene (one of the admissions office’s visitors spaces) revealed nothing but a spot of mustard and a discarded napkin (the squirrel’s?). Next, I set out to discover if the staff lot was under surveillance (”No, should it be?” said Mike Mayer, director of security). With no camera footage to reveal the source of the McDonald’s bag, I was left to following a hunch. A sinister hunch.
Knowing that our squirrel population, though cute and curious, was a source of occasional consternation due to their affection for jumping power lines and transformers (and causing more than their fair share of power outages), I went to the university’s auxiliary services director to see if he might have some intel to offer. Boy did he.
Matt Chaloux, who also piloted the winning raft in last week’s “Anything That Floats” boat race (see video evidence here), apparently felt the need to get his secret operation off his chest. This is what he told me via e-mail:
“You have caught us. In the Office of Auxiliary Services never ending effort to reduce the disruption of power on campus caused by squirrels getting onto the power lines, Auxiliary Services staff have been baiting campus with a variety of Mickey D’s delights. It is our objective to cause significant weight gain to the squirrel population so that their ability to climb trees and utility poles is hampered to the point of causing no further outages. A socially conscious group on campus has been seen sneaking food from the Sunshine Cuisine Healthy Choices line in the cafeteria to counter our efforts however. The battle wages on.”
Battle lines are apparently being drawn. And we all may be forced to pick sides. Me? I’m with Matt and his team (and my fellow blogger Laura Vann, who was once stuck in an elevator during one of those squirrel-induced outages). Say we: “Eat well, little buggers.”
You heard it here first, folks. I am now clearing desk space for my Pulitzer!
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving recipe?
The first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in what is present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving.
So, Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful, we know, but we also know that it is really all about eating (and watching football).
So to honor our forefathers, let’s talk turkey! Everyone has a favorite recipe handed down through the generations.
What is your favorite, or unusual or mouth-watering, not-to-be-believed recipe – the one that keeps ‘em coming back for more?
A shout out to Steph
A few months ago, I wrote about how impressed I was with fellow blogger, sophomore Steph Hammerman - and that was before the Disability Awareness Month activities even began. So, let me say that I’m even more impressed with the way she pulled off this extremely successful initiative. From the Disabilities Forum, to the Different Abilities Dinner, to the World with Wheels to the Matt Glowacki presentations, and all the while raising funds for Bubba, it all seemed to go off so well and so seamlessly. Even President Ross acknowledged her outstanding efforts during his State of the University address.
But beneath the surface we know the amount of work, dedication and passion that went into it all. And believe me, after just a mere week of my own awareness event – myLynn Awareness week – I know keeping up the planning, organization and pace for an entire month of major events had to be extremely stressful and exhausting.
Steph said in her recent blog post: “I would have never imagined last year at this time that I was truly capable of putting together an entire month of events and having them go as well as they did.” Well, Steph, imagine no more. You did it!
On Founders Day, it’s not about who will win, but who will SWIM
When you live in South Florida, the leaves don’t fall from the trees in November. Citrus fruits do. So it’s always hard at this time of the year to believe it really is fall. But then along comes Founders Day at Lynn and suddenly you’re a believer. There’s something about the smell of roasted, syrup drenched corn that now says “fall” to many of us. Oh, and the smell of lake water on cotton.
This year, organizers of our fifth annual Founders Day have upped the saturation point on the day’s most popular event (Canoe Challenge) by adding a new “Anything That Floats” category to the mix, along with a costume competition. That means you’re likely to see someone navigating the lake between the administration building and Old Lynn on a recycle bin or a Gilligan-style raft of coconuts and bamboo shoots (use your imagination – and local materials – here, people). Me? I’m showing up early to ensure I get my kettle corn and a good spot on the south bank to watch the madness unfold.
A Sun-Sentinel photo from the 2007 canoe challenge. Man overboard!
As in year’s past, the buzz on campus isn’t about who will win, but who will swim. President Ross, along with CIO Chris Boniforti and senior vice president Greg Malfitano, had one of the wettest runs on record back in 2007 (that’s our president above with a drier team – sorry Chris and Greg – back in 2006). And last year, I saw a bunch of students in banana suits all but park their canoe on a fountain head. Good times.
Of course, my third favorite part of the day (behind the canoe races and outdoor breakfast) is the evening picnic. This year, keep your eyes on two-year-old Eli Hughes on the carnival games circuit. Kid’s got an arm (a gift he didn’t inherit from his father, I’m sorry to say). Consider yourself warned!
As for those of you who are canoe challenged, any predictions?
H1N1 vaccine is here, if not on campus yet
On Tuesday I sent out an alert to campus to let students know that Lynn’s shipment of the H1N1 vaccine is now being forecast to arrive in mid-November (this according to the county’s health officials). This is more than a month later than expected. The news was not much of a surprise given the seemingly nonstop media coverage on the national shortage in recent days.
That said, apparently not all is lost if you’re intent on being among the first to get the vaccine. One of our own students (thanks Adriana!) emailed to say that she and her daughter both received the vaccine earlier this week at a local hospital. If you’re in a hurry to get this, try going through the county. You can access more information at:
http://www.pbchd.com/spotlight/h1n1.html.
In the meantime, keep washing those hands!
It’s Phillies vs. Yankees – even at Lynn
For those of you living under a rock – or who maybe just don’t care – the World Series has begun. It’s the battle of the Phillies vs. the Yankees, a big Northeastern rivalry (score one for the Phillies).
I saw these 2 students walking together in the Assaf courtyard today, each sporting his team hat. Mike Deluca (Philly fan) and Matt Dumoulin (Yankee fan) are buddies and neighbors and have a friendly rivalry, but draw the line when it comes to watching the games. Both go off to watch with their fellow fans and say they don’t care where they watch as long as there’s a big screen TV.
Fans and even non-fans seem to have a love/hate relationship with one or both of these teams. So, I’ll admit my team preference here and say: Go Phillies! Can they do it a second year in a row? What do you think? I’ve gotten several high fives from fellow Philly fans here at Lynn. So, come on … fess up, who are you rooting for?
MyLynn “votes” are coming in fast and furious
We’re only 3 days into our weeklong myLynn awareness effort and I need to say publicly that I am so thrilled by the response. Everyone – and I do mean everyone from students to staff to faculty to even our own CIO – has been more than willing to stop and take 30 seconds to fill out our ballots, even proudly wearing the “I voted for myLynn” sticker. Considering we’re in their face and cornering them as they hurry to lunch or class, they have been gracious and willing participants. So, I’m thanking everyone here in advance. And a shout out to some of our myLynn fans I didn’t even know we had – professor Jill Levenson said she “loves” myLynn and student Dan Hennessey says he reads it all!
We’ll be around for a few more days donning our “Vote for myLynn” T-shirts and urging you to cast your ballots – and then we promise to leave you alone while we go about the business of pouring and sifting through the results. Our Discovery Phase is almost behind us, what with this massive voting week and the various sessions we’ve had with student and staff groups. We are hearing you all loud and clear; we will take it all in and process it.
As we go about the business of redoing, rebuilding, redesigning – whatever you want to call it – know that you have played an important role. Also, please feel free to offer input, feedback or ask questions at any time.
One final note: During a lunch session on myLynn with our student bloggers, they wondered aloud why our blog – Knight Writer – was able to commandeer such prime real estate on the Home page now. What about them? They are still relegated to the black hole of the Community tab (hey, I’m just saying it as I hear it). We are working on getting them more front and center, so if you do not regularly read their blogs you should. They’re awesome!
Big news about big bucks (and a few more details about that soccer stadium)
At the State of the University on Wednesday, the big news was all about the big bucks– a recent $1 million anonymous gift to the university for a soccer stadium and the $45,000-plus savings possible for those students selected for Lynn’s new 3-year degree program. As the Sun-Sentinel’s Scott Travis reported, the Lynn Degree 3.0 initiative “will start next school year and will be available to freshmen who receive at least a 3.0 grade point average their fall semester and maintain or improve their GPA during the spring semester.”
Exciting stuff. And the 3.0 marketing materials are already moving. The table tent above will be going on the road with Lynn’s admissions officers beginning immediately. (That’s our Lynn design team, Andreia Brunstein and Shaun Aaron in the background.)
As for the soccer stadium, here are a few more details you didn’t hear about Wednesday. The site selected for such a facility is the current intramural field (west of the deHoernle Center) and is expected – according to our most recent athletics master plan – to have approximately 1,000 seats.
Last but not least in this rundown of State of the U news: if you were at the fourth annual address by Dr. Ross, you saw the person below snapping pictures from a variety of angles. Some of those pics have been loaded to our Facebook page. And the photographer? None other than CIC grad and master’s student (and marketing photographer!) Carolina Gonzalez. The photographer on this blurry shot? Me. Yes… that’s why we have Carolina shoot the important stuff!
