Thursday, September 30, 2010

Fall Time at ESF


So its that time of year again.  The summer heat gives way to cool fall days and the green leaves show their true and vibrant colors.  With the changing of the seasons comes a changing of outdoor activities for people to do.  


Instead of taking a trip to the beach.  Try checking out the Lafayette Apple Festival 
http://www.lafayetteapplefest.org/
You can see apple cider getting made and get to sample it fresh from the press.  Or learn how to make apple dumplings.  There is live music, games, and plenty of hands of activities to enjoy! 


Think you have a good sense of direction?  At Critz Farms in Cazenovia, NY you can take a hay ride, pick you own pumpkin for Halloween, and then test your orrienation skills in on of the larges corn mazes in the area.   http://www.critzfarms.com/fall.html

Lastly, is the monthly TG! This Friday, October 1st at 5pm the Graduate Student Association will be hosting a TG in Nifkin Lounge. In addition to our normal selection of pizza and Middle Ages beer, we will also have: 
NY Wine
NY grown Apples
NY produced cheese 
Crackers, Grapes, Pepperoni, and more!!!

Please join us for a relaxing evening of food and drinks. Remember, this is a TRASH FREE EVENT.  Please bring your mug!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Maymester Course: Environmental Social Marketing

EST 496/696

May 17 – May 28 (M, T, W, Th, F)

9:30am-2:00pm

Instructor: Bruno Takahashi

Recycle, turn off the lights, ride the bus, use less water, reduce consumption. Wonder how to get people to effectively and permanently engage in these behaviors?

This new 3-credit course is intended to provide students in communications, business, and public policy, among others, with an introduction to the current theory and practice in the emerging field of social marketing, and its application to promote pro-environmental behavior change.

You will learn the tools that commercial marketers successfully use to sell their products and services, drawing from a wide range of disciplines including communications, psychology, and sociology. We will focus on the ways in which social marketing techniques can be used in conjunction with other approaches such as policies, education, and information to influence voluntary behavior change. This course could be used towards communication option or methods requirements, or just as an elective.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Finding Housing


View Larger Map

It's that time of the year: time to find a roommate.

Here are my tips on finding housing.

Most students live in the Westcott neighborhood, off of (Outer) Comstock Ave., or in Nob Hill. If you want to be within walking distance of most other ESF grad students, look in the Westcott area. Generally, the closer to campus you live, the more undergraduates you'll find. This may mean "party time", be forewarned.

Roosevelt Ave., Miles Ave., Westcott St., Allen St., Westmoreland Ave., these are all streets that have more graduate students and families on them. These streets are not nearly as wild on a weekend night as the ones closer to campus.

The ESF Graduate Student Association just started a rent/sublet forum. Search housing, sublets, post if you're looking for a roommate:

http://esfgsa.webs.com/apps/forums/

Another site that people often use to find apartments is Orange Housing:

http://www.orangehousing.com/

Plus, there is always Craigslist:

http://syracuse.craigslist.org/search/hhh

Expect to pay from $275-$450 before utilities, up to $550 with utilities included. Good luck!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Living: Tipperary Hill


Located on the West Side of Syracuse, Tipperary Hill is a great neighborhood, only a short commute from campus. A handful of students live there, encouraged by a preponderance of split-level homes, and a young, festive atmosphere, especially around St. Patrick's Day.

Originally a predominantly Irish neighborhood of Syracuse, the area is still true to its roots, hosting the Tipp Hill Shamrock Run, and famosly the location where green beer is delivered by tanker truck to Coleman's Pub.

On a more historical note, Tipp Hill, as it is known to residents, is home to the world's only upside-down stoplight. In the 1920s, the children of Irish immigrants, in their hatred of the British, would throw rocks at the stoplight at the corner of Tompkins St. and Milton Ave to knock out the "British" red light that hung over the "Irish" green. When the city realized this problem would not go away, an upside-down stoplight, with the green on top, was installed at the intersection.

The Palace Theater


The Palace Theater, on James St. in the Eastwood neighborhood, is a one-of-a-kind venue, active in the community since its opening in 1922. It hosts current movies, 35mm cult film triple-features, and other assorted events. Recently, I caught "Invictus", the story of Nelson Mandela and the South African rugby team, at The Palace shortly after it left the main theaters. I went there with some ESF classmates to see "Total Recall" and "Conan the Barbarian", and was greeted by nerdy trivia and prize giveaways between shows.

As part of the same Brew & View series, Monty Python's "Life of Brian", "Time Bandits" and "Brazil" will be showing on Saturday, May 1. Don't miss "The Big Lebowski" on May 21.

Additionally, if you are so inclined, The Palace is generally the venue to catch a rousing Halloween showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show (something I have yet to experience).

The Westcott Community Center


Housed in a former firehouse at the corner of Westcott St. and Euclid Ave., the Westcott Community Center is a hub of local activity, from bands and community meetings, to art exhibitions. It has also hosted ESF departmental potlucks with students and faculty, and can be rented for any event.


Among the activities it hosts:

- Figure drawing
- African dance and drumming
- University Neighbors Lecture Series
- Karate
- Exercise classes
It is also home to a GED program, as well as a childrens' after-school program.

The Westcott -- as it was called, especially before the movie theater down the street also converted to a concert venue -- is perhaps best known for hosting local young and amateur music acts in an alcohol-free venue friendly to highschool students. Concertgoers still gather on spring and summer evenings to pass the time outside before a show.
In the meantime, tune in online to Westcott Radio, also housed at the Community Center.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sustainability in Action: Biodiesel Production


Dirty cooking oil does not go to waste on the ESF or Syracuse University campuses.

Several times each month, it is gathered in 55-gallon plastic drums and deposited at the old greenhouses on the ESF campus. When heated, cleaned, and processed with methanol and an acid catalyst, it is ready to be mixed and used to power campus vehicles. Biodiesel production involves students at every step of the process, from collection to creation.

Mike Kelleher, ESF Director of Renewable Energy, often integrates the biodiesel project with students' classwork. Engineering students may redesign the biodiesel processing unit, while environmental science students may compute a cost-benefit analysis of expanding the current system.

ESF stores its biodiesel - mixed with petroleum diesel at 5% for winter and 10% in the summer - next to the fuel cell and ethanol tanks behind Walters Hall.

To read more, click here, or visit the project page for even more in-depth information on multiple biodiesel-related projects.

Sustainability in Action: Fuel Cell


ESF's very own fuel cell was dedicated on February 21, 2006. Since its installation, it has provided approximately 17% of campus energy needs (at 250 kW/hour). It does so with close to 0 emissions, through an efficient process that utilizes oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen from natural gas. In the winter, excess heat from the unit is used, by means of a heat exchanger, to heat adjacent Walters Hall.

To read more about our fuel cell, and check out a diagram of the electricity generation process, click here.

Sustainability in Action: Green Roof


Believe it or not, this is a summertime photo of the rooftop on Walters Hall. As part of the campus-wide sustainability plan, wildflowers and native vegetation were installed as a "green roof".

The green roof system reduces stormwater runoff by slowing moisture passage through its soil layer and root structure. It regulates temperature - the black tar roof is now as cool as a field of wildflowers. This has the added benefit of prolonging the life of the roof.

Plus, for those few weeks in the summer, it is truly eye-catching. Learn more about ESF's efforts, including background and design diagrams, here.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Living: Westcott Neighborhood



Many visiting prospective students ask where graduate students live, whether on- or off-campus, and what there is to do outside of class. For myself and a large contingent of my classmates, the Westcott Neighborhood is home. Approximately 1/2 mile from the ESF campus, students that live here can easily bike or walk to class in minutes. Rents are generally from $300 (shared) - $450 per month, per person, including utilities.

Its old houses and mix of residents, students, and graduate students gives the area a relaxed, yet vibrant atmosphere. Rental units - often split-level homes - are mixed together with owner-occupied housing. There is always some commotion in the business district, regardless of the day of the week, but the calmer neighborhood sections are quiet and peaceful.

The neighborhood is home to a handful of local businesses, including:
For those that enjoy soccer or basketball, Barry Park (previous post) is at the end of Westcott Street, not more than a mile from campus. Petit Library is the neighborhood public library, a quiet and shade-speckled place to check out a book or study.

Food and Drink: People's Place

Every graduate student's best friend, cheap coffee.

Founded in 1971, People's Place is a student-run non-profit coffeeshop located in the basement of Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University quad. It is only a small nook set into the wall, but it fills the entire hallway with commotion during class breaks. Only a short walk off the ESF campus, People's Place offers not just coffee, but also tea, juices, bagels, donuts, soup, and sandwiches.

For ESF students tend to carry around their reusable school-branded mugs. If you are so inclined, People's Place offers a 10-cent discount for those that bring their own container. When most drinks are between 50 cents and $1.00, this amounts to a generous environmentally friendly discount.

For a short student-penned piece on People's Place, including a photo essay, click here.

Construction on Campus


Visitors to our campus may notice a big chunk of earth being carved out, fenced off, and pushed around between Bray and Walters Halls. This project is the creation of an access road meant to create a navegable loop out of the one main road on campus. Formerly, cars traveling to this corner of campus would have to turn around and exit the way they came.

While access to Walters Hall from Bray, the flagpole and surrounding parking are out-of-commission for the moment, they will return soon.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Food and Drink: Syracuse Real Food Co-op



Located at 618 Kensington Road, in the Westcott neighborhood, the Syracuse Real Food Co-op has been providing local, fresh and organic foods to area residents since its inception in 1972. The store is open to the public, though a co-op membership entitles the holder to special voting privileges and periodic discounts. Organic cereals, energy bars, snacks, and milk products are available, among a range of products.

While other grocery stores such as Wegman's, P&C, and Price Chopper may offer a wider selection in a larger location, the Co-op has all the necessities in an easy bike- or walkable location. It is located two blocks from Westcott Street, near Barry Park:


View Larger Map

Food and Drink: Middle Ages Brewery



A Syracuse institution, Middle Ages Brewery, has been pumping out tasty microbrews for almost 15 years. Its local flavor and focus on quality is especially popular with students. Its tap room on Wilkinson Street is open Monday-Friday from 11:30-6pm and Saturday until 5pm. Its beers are named with a medieval flair: Grail Ale, Dragonslayer, Druid Fluid, Wizard's Winter Ale. Wailing Wench and Swallow Wit wheat beer are both regular selections at the ESF graduate "TG" parties.

Sample the wares responsibly, and don't feel pressured to make a purchase. If you do, however, beers can be carried home in half-gallon refillable glass "growlers".

Food and Drink: Farmer's Market


The Central New York Regional Market is a favorite Saturday-morning destination for the go-getters in the ESF community. While early morning around 10am is best, the market is open until 1pm. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or more fellow students and professors doing their weekly shopping on a typical visit.

The Market features locally grown produce, especially during the summer and fall, when the offerings change on a weekly basis, from berries and fruits to apples, squash, and potatoes in the autumn months. A large number of vendors offer necessities with a specialty flair: cream-on-the-top milk, fresh yogurt, unfiltered apple cider, homemade pastas, granola, and breads.

In the summer, fresh local peaches are a must-have. Highly recommended and year-round are the very reasonably priced Mennonite baked goods, locally produced cheeses, and various free-range and grass-fed meats, from Buffalo to Lamb.

Food and Drink: Inn Complete


Every graduate student's favorite hang-out, the Inn Complete is housed in the former ski lodge on South Campus. You can reach it by car or via the Winding Ridge bus route, free to students. The Inn features standard student fare - chicken fingers, cheese fries, wings, sandwiches and wraps - all with a 25% discount for showing your grad ID. Apart from food, there is a great selection of beers at very reasonable prices - $1.50 is the "grad special": a random bottled beer or a selected draft.

On Thursday nights they host a trivia night, and at least twice per year they host a Friday "TG" party for ESF students. Apart from its food and drink, the Inn is also home to free foosball, pool, ping pong, and Nintendo Wii for all students and visitors. (I head here regularly with other ESF friends for my foosball fix.)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Food and Drink: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que



Dinosaur Bar-B-Que - on Willow Street, near Clinton Square in Downtown Syracuse - is a Syracuse landmark and must-see destination. In May 2009, it was voted America's Best Barbecue in a Good Morning America poll. For bikers, blues fans, and barbecue lovers, it needs no introduction.

Try the cornbread, pulled pork, or ribs. All meat is slow-cooked in their own wood-fired barbecue.

It features live blues and rock music Monday-Saturday nights and only takes walk-in reservations. Carpooling is suggested, as parking in the restaurant's general vicinity can be difficult. Campus groups that are lucky enough to have Dinosaur cater their event are usually descended upon by a pack of hungry graduate and undergraduate students.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

New composting system


Thanks to Green Campus Initiative, a student group dedicated to making the ESF campus more environmentally friendly, we now have our very own on-campus composting system. Located near the greenhouses on the edge of campus next to Oakwood Cemetery, the new system will handle food waste collected from across the campus and turn it into rich organic material.

Related news:

Students in the Green Campus Initiative and ESF President, Dr. Cornelius Murphy, Jr., will give a demonstration of the new food and organic waste composting operation tomorrow (Thursday, March 11, 2010) at 1:00PM.

The project includes an innovative process called static aerated composting which produces a weed free, pathogen free compost in as little as 3 weeks.

Scheduling of candidacy exams and thesis/dissertation defenses

A message from Scott Shannon, Dean of Instruction and Graduate Studies:

MS and PhD Students & Colleagues:
As the busiest season of the year for defenses and candidacy exams approaches, I’d like to remind everyone of the standard protocol for setting times and dates and reporting these to the graduate office. First, if you have not already filed a Form 5B or 6B this semester, do not plan on scheduling your exam or defense this semester or graduating this May; we are now well beyond the deadline for assigning defense or exam chairs or scheduling exams/defenses (Feb. 12, 2010).

Assuming you have requested and been assigned an exam or defense chair, the first step is to hold a “planning meeting” to schedule the exam or defense and all the activities associated with each. DO NOT hold a planning meeting or schedule a defense or candidacy exam without the examination or defense chair PRESENT. Please do not set any dates, times, or locations prior to the planning meeting. The examination chair is “in charge” of this process, and neither students nor major professors should preemptively attempt to get ahead of things, as it often causes great difficulty in coordinating schedules with the examination chair.

In the planning meeting, you may find that not all members of the graduate committee can be present at the time of the defense or exam. While we prefer all members of the graduate committee to be present, they MAY participate via conference call or Skype if they cannot be here on campus. When the dates and times of an exam or defense have been set, these should be reported to the graduate office, preferably by e-mail or other written form.
Thank you for your help-

Scott Shannon, Dean of Instruction & Graduate Studies
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
227 Bray Hall - 1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210

Outdoors: Winter fun


For those that enjoy outdoor activities during the winter months, options abound. Highland Forest, Beaver Lake, Oneida Shores, and Onondaga Lake Park are popular for cross-country skiing. You can view trail conditions and maps here.

Sledding at Thornden Park or at one of the snow bowls on South Campus is always fun (and free).

Downhill skiing locations include Labrador Mountain (my favorite), Toggenburg, Song Mountain. Special discounts for college students include $15 lift tickets, special "college night" events, and various other promotions at all three locations. Toggenburg also offers snow tubing.

Further North, Whiteface in Lake Placid, home to the 1936 and 1980 Winter Olympics, offers the largest vertical drop east of the Rockies. Gore Mountain in the Adirondacks, and, closer to home, Greek Peak round out the skiing possibilities.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Chili Cook-Off

Graduate Student Association presents the


Annual Chili Cook-Off TG!


TOMORROW
Friday, March 5th at 6:30PM
in Nifkin Lounge


Bring your chili, vegetarian chili, and
cornbread to compete for PRIZES!


To enter: e-mail Katie at
cghaase@syr.edu (walk-in's welcome).

Please bring your own ways of keeping chili warm,
serving utensils, etc. Don't forget your ESF mugs, bowls and spoons!


Must be 21 to participate, please bring a valid photo ID.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Spring graduation deadlines

All graduate students planning to graduate this semester (Spring 2010), please be advised of the following important deadlines:

Important Deadlines for Spring 2010

Last day to request appointment for defense of thesis/dissertation examination committee (Form 5B)
2/12/2010

Last day to drop a class
3/23/2010

Fall 2010 Registration Period
4/5-4/9/2010

All MPS, MF, and MLA students planning to graduate must notify OI&GS of their intent to complete the degree to have name included in convocation program
4/28/2010

Last day to defend to qualify for degree
4/30/2010

Last day to submit a final, revised, and signed version of thesis or dissertation and associated paperwork to OI&GS
5/4/2010

Last day of classes
5/4/2010

ESF convocation
5/15/2010

Commencement
5/16/2010

*Individual departments may also have other internal deadlines. Consult with your major professor or curriculum coordinator with questions.

Other important information:

If you have not turned in your Program of Study (3B) form to the Office of Instruction and Graduate Studies (OIGS), we ask that you do so as soon as possible.

If you are scheduling your candidacy exam or thesis/dissertation defense, please give OIGS two week’s notice.

For information regarding formatting of theses/dissertations, visit: http://www.esf.edu/graduate/graddegreq.htm

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Graduate TG


The Graduate Student Association will be having its first Graduate TG of the semester on Friday, January 22nd at 5:30 in Nifkin Lounge.


This month's TG is a Snowman Building Contest!! Build a snow man (or woman) in the ESF quad anytime before the TG and possibly win a prize!! Judges include GSA's advisor, the Assistant Dean Vandeburg, and other faculty or staff members.


Join your fellow grads in a fun night outside, good food and drink inside, and start the semester right!
A valid photo ID is required on entry - non one under 21 permitted.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Gearing up for Spring Semester


Happy New Year and welcome to 2010! Things are quiet on the ESF campus this week, as most students have yet to return to campus. Spring classes begin on January 19th this semester, so only those with research to do or other obligations have returned so far.

Things aren't entirely quiet. Construction continues on the pass-through road behind Bray Hall, which will turn on-campus road access from a dead-end into a loop.

Upcoming events on campus include a graduate student TGIF party and snowman-building contest on Friday, January 22nd. Hopefully the snow will stick around!

Here's wishing everyone a happy and productive Spring semester.