Around the SUNY Oswego campus

Videographer and licensed drone pilot Jim Kearns provides this view from high above the Oswego campus, which will look quite different in less than a month when the Class of 2022 and new transfers move into their residence halls.

Rebecca Smith (pictured), a December 2017 graphic design graduate, and art faculty member Amy Bartell spoke about “Art and Activism -- Issues, Images and the Ways We Make Change” at the Brown Bag Lunch Series July 19 at Oswego State Downtown. Smith designed the "What Don't We See?" piece in the "We are Lake Ontario" exhibition and was co-designer of the exhibition logo. The exhibition ties into the campus-wide Grand Challenges project of Fresh Water for All. (Submitted by Kristi Eck)

Tatyanna Hiciano, a SUNY Oswego senior broadcasting and mass communications major, primes a roof during a SUNY Stands with Puerto Rico trip. Joanne O’Toole, associate chair of curriculum and instruction in Oswego’s School of Education, served as team leader for a group of 29 students -- including 15 from SUNY Oswego -- that traveled in June to the island devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Alesha Barrett, a May graduate in journalism, blogged from Puerto Rico for the college, calling the experience “beyond humbling.” (Submitted by Joanne O’Toole)

Many of the homeowners that SUNY Oswego and other volunteers encountered in Puerto Rico prepared homemade meals for the students on one or more days. “This was particularly touching to the students, and they took photos celebrating the homeowners and the meals they were served,” trip leader Joanne O’Toole said. SUNY students (all in the front, from left) are Oswego’s Roger Greenidge; Giselle Henriquez and Sarah Kilroy, both of University at Albany; and Oswego student William Alonzo (red cap). (Submitted by Will Alonzo)

SUNY Stands with Puerto Rico trip leader Joanne O’Toole (in glasses at railing, near top of stairway) gathers with Team 4 volunteers from SUNY and CUNY schools, and homeowners Ishmael (orange cap at top of stairs) and Miriam (white shirt next to Ishmael) in Guaynabo, just outside of San Juan. Their grandson and his wife and their children lived on the upper floor until the hurricane hit last year. “The tin roof on the upper floor was destroyed by the hurricane, permitting wind and water to damage to the entire upper level,” O’Toole said. “This was the fourth home on which we worked, and we did so from June 25 to 28. In that time, we were able to accomplish a great deal, but we did not finish because of the enormity of what needed to be done.” (Submitted by Alesha Barrett)

Laker junior pitcher Rebecca Vilchez (left), representing Peru, and assistant coach Morgan Nandin, playing for Colombia competed against some top talent from around the world in the USA Softball International Cup in California earlier this month. Vilchez’s honor builds on a successful sophomore season that saw her earn both Pitcher and Player of the Year honors from the SUNY Athletic Conference. (Photo courtesy of @oswegostatesb on Instagram)

The Fantastic Four mentor group — one of 11 formed at Camp College on Oswego’s campus the weekend of July 6 to 8 — signals the group’s identifying number, as friendly competition gets under way in field activities during a break in workshops, discussion groups and other college-readiness activities. Established in 1999 by the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling, the respected Camp College for high school students, at SUNY Oswego for the first time, attracted 141 students and 56 adults serving as mentors, supervisors and other staff.

Dozens of high school students attending the Camp College pre-college experience at SUNY Oswego prepare to play “The Admissions Game,” led by Claudia Mendez, a counselor at Packer Collegiate High School in Brooklyn. One of several workshops held July 7 in Shineman Center, the game featured Mendez sharing three hypothetical college applications with the students, and asking them to discuss why or why not the applicants were good candidates for college admission. The same day, among many other activities, the campers attended simulated college classes offered by SUNY Oswego faculty members Karol Cooper, Isiah Brown, Helen Knowles, Amy Bidwell and Alana Ossa.

SUNY Oswego Office of Admissions staff members Emmanuel “Manny” Cruz (front, center) and Sandra Montalvo prepare to assist July 7 with Camp College outdoor activities that included basketball, volleyball, soccer and quiet chats along Lake Ontario. Cruz, who works for the college in New York City-area admissions, served as Oswego’s liaison with two Camp College supervisors from the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling. Montalvo, who coordinates Oswego’s Start Now program with Jefferson and Onondaga community colleges, worked as a small-group mentor.

As part of a rousing send-off, Camp College participants gather in their SUNY Oswego shirts for a group photo on the steps of Sheldon Hall.

On July 13, senior zoology major Joe McCarthy shared with the children at Rice Creek’s Exploring Nature program the butterfly research he is conducting at field station. After McCarthy explained his study, the children looked at butterfly scales under microscopes, saw some of the live butterflies he is studying and joined him as the butterflies were released near the herb garden. Exploring Nature is an annual two-week program presented by Rice Creek Field Station that encourages the curiosity and concern for nature for children ages 5 to 14. (Submitted by Rebecca Hokanson)

From left are Bishop’s Commons residents Johanna Van Geet and Mae DeCastro, with Abel Cortes Correa and Milayka Ortiz. Correa and Ortiz, both from Puerto Rico, are in a group of international students participating in a six-week English language immersion program at SUNY Oswego. They were among 20 English Immersion Program students who made a July 3 visit to Bishop’s Commons in Oswego for a chance to practice their language skills while enjoying an afternoon of getting to know local seniors. (St. Luke Health Services photo)

Dr. Yasmina Grullon (left) hugs her new friend, Bishop’s Commons resident Kay Daino. Grullon is among a group of international students participating in a six-week English language immersion program at SUNY Oswego. (St. Luke Health Services photo)

The STARTALK Chinese Language and Culture Academy on campus July 2 to 20 presented a range of educational and fun activities to area children in grades 3 to 12. The afternoon of July 7 featured making and eating Chinese food -- such as these steamed buns that students flattened, filled and rolled before eating -- using Chinese vocabulary as they did so.

Activities during the STARTALK Chinese Language and Culture Academy, such as these students making dumplings, followed a theme of campers “traveling to China,” according to event co-coordinator Ming-te Pan of the history faculty. “We set up the classes as four Chinese cities, Beijing, Xi'an, Hangzhou and Wulumuqi.” Students then rotated (or traveled) to all four cities, learned to introduce themselves and what to see, do or eat in each place. Students also enjoyed “a chance to compare the cultures, history, legends, people and the attractions of each city,” Pan explained. “The goal is in the end of the camp, they will be able to introduce themselves, to say which city they like, which one they don't like, and why, in Chinese,” with a goal of going from as little as no previous knowledge to medium-novice level.

What are the odds of four people with Oswego connections meeting in Aarhus, Denmark? Pretty good when physics chair Shashi Kanbur, accomplished alumnus Earl Bellinger and the former Oswego philosophy faculty duo of Lori Nash and Brad Wray are all in the Danish city. From left are Bellinger, now a post-doctoral fellow at the Stellar Astrophysics Center of Aarhus University’s department of physics; Nash, now an assistant editor of Metascience; Wray, now a professor at Aarhus University; and Kanbur, who like Bellinger was attending the TASC4/KASC11 Workshop at Aarhus University. (Photo courtesy of Shashi Kanbur)