The Office of Career Servicesstaff reports that salaries andplacement for Oswego State

graduates have risen steadily to a10-year high. Based on a survey of1998 graduates, career prospectsare positive.

On-campus recruiting anddirect referral of candidates’resumes to employers are also “updramatically,” according to RobertCasper, director of CareerServices.

That is partly becauseemployers are responding to afavorable job market and partlydue to the support of the CareerServices Office, he says.

In the area of first salaries,graduates from the College ofArts and Sciences have seen their first-job earningsrise 15 to 20 percent. Graduates in computer sciencecommanded the highest average salaries. Other highfirst-time salaries went to a biology major earning$60,000 and a communication studies graduate mak-ing $65,000.

In the School of Business, increases were demon-strated in accounting and finance majors’ pay, wherethe mean salary was $29,642.

Education graduates also fared well. For example,78 percent of graduates seeking social studies open-ings found jobs right away.

High salaries for elementary education, secondaryeducation and technology teachers were steady at$37,000, and vocational-technical education majorspulled down the highest salary at $42,300 and thehighest mean, with $32,280.

Graduates followed a trend common in New Yorkstate by going to work for small- to medium-size busi-nesses and organizations, Casper says.

“Another trend we see is more activity in the jobmarket via various sources,” he says. “More job open-ings are posted to our office. Overall Oswego Stategraduates are successfully finding placements in theirfields.”

Among the accounting graduates in the Class of 2000 who landed jobsat major firms months before graduation are, from left, ChristinaGianetto, Matt Hill, Bob Hollenbeck, Professor Charles Spector, BillKing and Professor Eleanor Henry.

ParentsO S W E G OA Publication of the

Office of Alumni and

Parent Relations

ParentsOSWEGO

Office of Alumni and Parent RelationsKing Alumni HallOswego StateOswego, NY13126

IN THIS EDITION:• Welcome From the President• Scholarships Aavailable for Oswego State Students• Something New for Spring Break• Oswego Graduates Find Jobs

F A L L 2 0 0 0

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

Non Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 317

Oswego, NY

President’sWelcome

Welcome to to the 2000-’01 acade-mic year. As we end a long yetproductive summer, I am pleased

to have an opportunity to communicatedirectly with parents and other mem-bers of our students’ families.

The return of our student popula-tion to Oswego State, most importantlyour incoming class of freshmen andtransfers, will invigorate the campuscommunity. As always, I anticipate ahighly successful year for them as theyengage with our superior faculty anddedicated professional staff. However, try to make a special effort to informparents that the ultimate success of ourstudents will be in direct proportion tothe level of their participation in theacademic and social life of this college.Please urge your sons and daughters totake full advantage of the many oppor-tunities available in classes, arts pro-grams, athletics, and community serviceso that they might develop as educated,informed and contributing citizens.

As loyal parents, you are importantmembers of the Oswego Family, and Iinvite you to help us maintain our repu-tation for high academic standards andleadership by: assisting in the recruit-ment of other talented students; cheer-ing for Oswego State athletic teams,and becoming part of our network ofalumni and parent mentors. You canalso support the Parents’ Fund, whichhelps provide for our students many ofthe day-to-day enrichment opportuni-ties that are not covered by theirtuition.

I look forward to meeting you atParents, Family and Friends WeekendOct. 13-15 and other times throughoutthe year. Welcome.

President Deborah F. Stanley

Career Prospects Good For Oswego Students

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2 ◆ O S W E G O P A R E N T SQuest 2000:Scholarshipand Creativity

Oswego State’s annual Quest Day, asymposium dedicated to sharing thescholarly and creative pursuits of

faculty, staff and students, was com-prised of more than 90 overlapping pre-sentations this spring. In addition toshowcasing research, scholarship andcreativity, Quest also incorporated theannual Honors Convocation, whereawards and scholarships are presented toaccomplished students.

More than 100 scholarships aremade available through the OswegoAlumni Association and the OswegoCollege Foundation. Among them arethe Dr. Girgis B. Ghobrial awards,which honor the memory of his parentsBakhoum Ghobrial and L. Zahia SorialGhobrial. This year, Dr. Ghobrial, pro-fessor emeritus, history, chose to recog-nize students in the following cate-gories: a student of African descent,won by Natasha Rodney ’02; a studentpursuing a master’s degree in history,won by Steven Kellogg ’01; a student ofNative American descent, won byMichael Stone ’01, and a student who iscommitted to the field of technology,won by Richard Ketcham Jr ’01. Allrecipients must have outstanding acade-mic records.

Oswego State students may obtainscholarship information on the Web atwww.oswegoalumni.oswego.edu/scholar-ships or request a booklet at the Officeof Alumni and UniversityDevelopment.

OSWEGO PARENTSPublished each semester by the

Oswego StateOffice of Alumni and Parent Relations

Linda Loomis ’90, ’97, Editor

Kiefer Creative, Design

Myredith Press, Production

Office of Alumni and Parent RelationsKing Alumni Hall

Oswego State,Oswego, NY 13126

Betsy Oberst, Executive Director

Phone: 315-312-2258Fax: 315-312-5570

E-mail: alumni@oswego.eduwww.oswegoalumni.oswego.edu

On the slopes of Windham, Barbara and MichaelVanIderstine shared their passion for skiing withtheir children, Erin and Keith. Now, the whole

family is avid about the sport.The Long Island couple believe in passing on the

things they love and value. That’s why they havetaught their children to “give something back, makea difference for the things that matter to them.”That is one reason they made a gift to the ParentsFund at the President’s Circle level.

Barbara says she and Michael, who is a seniorvice president for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter,know their son, Keith ’03, is “getting a great educa-tion at a bargain price” at Oswego State. A zoologymajor and lacrosse player, Keith participated in aFunelle Hall floor hockey team and other co-curricu-lar activities during his first year on campus. Hechose Oswego State over other possible collegesbecause Oswego offers the combination of zoologymajor and lacrosse.

“We’ve followed Keith’s interest in sports and theout-of-doors all his life,” says his mother. It’s nowonder then, that Barbara and Michael were some-

times in the bleachers, cheering for the Lakers lastseason.

“Keith had a great freshman year in a positiveacademic, athletic and social atmosphere,” saysBarbara. “So, our gift is to show gratitude for that,but it’s also because we’ve been fortunate financially,and we do believe in supporting the things thatmake a difference to us. We are teaching our chil-dren to do the same.”

Erin is in graduate school now, and Keith is soak-ing up the sun working at the country club poolbefore returning for his sophomore year. “We hopethat when they are alumni, they will want to giveback to their colleges to make it possible for otherstudents to have the opportunities they have had,”says Barbara.

The Parents’ Fund helps support day-to-dayenrichment activities and programs that are not cov-ered by tuition. To learn more, visit the OswegoAlumni and University Development Web site atwww.oswegoalumni.oswego.edu. Or call the Officeof University Development at 315-312-3003.

Long Island Parents Teach Children Value of Philanthropy

The Vanlderstine family—Erin, Barbara, Keith ’03, and Michael.

Dr. Girgis Ghobrial and NatashaRodney ’02.

The Department of Campus Life exists to provideopportunities for students to experience successthrough co-curricular involvement. Richard

Hughes, director, explains that the department com-prises four distinct, yet related, operations:

• Student Activities—advisement and supportfor student organizations through the StudentActivities Program Board, Hewitt Union BringingActivities to Campus (HUBAC), and the CampusCenter Activity Board.

• LEAD Center—Leadership EducationActivities Development assists students in their lead-ership growth through seminars, opportunities towork on a magazine, and other activities.

• Intramural and Recreational Activities—coor-dination of open recreation and organized intramuralactivities, including dance, karate, swim and othersports.

• Hewitt Union Operations—maintaining pro-gramming and reservations for the use, by campusand community, of the student union facility.

Hughes says his office also coordinates opportuni-ties to maintain communication with students andthe entire campus, such as the monthly calendar of

events. The department is also a link to registeredGreek social organizations and the director is willingto discuss students’ possible participation in theseorganizations.

“If parents have questions about what the pledg-ing process might entail, for example, they can callme for information,” says Hughes.

He also wants parents to know about the popularHewitt Union Final Exam Goodies, treats that canbe ordered for delivery before exam week to help stu-dents cope with study stress. Call 315-312-2301 toorder.

Campus Life — What Is It?

Parents, Family & Friends Weekend

Join Students, Faculty and Staff

Oct. 13, 14 and 15

•Entertainment•Activities

•Opportunities

For Information:

Holli Stone 315-312-2301

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Student Center inPlanning Stages

A$20.4 million Student Center is in theplanning and design stages. The multifunc-tional center will be funded at 85 percent

from the State Construction Fund and 15 per-cent from private gifts.

What’s New OnCampus This Fall?

Capital improvement projects have contin-ued on campus throughout the summer.A few of those that will be most visible

to students include the following:• Work in progress on the $10.2 mil-

lion renovation of Johnson and Riggs resi-dence halls, part of a $49 million bondissue to modernize residence halls acrossthe state. Johnson Hall is closed for work;Riggs will be next in the three-year project.

• Tyler and Mahar Halls are affected bythe replacement of the plaza deck, water-proofing over underground space, and newlandscaping. Pedestrian traffic is re-routedsouth of Tyler Hall to access the academicplaza.

• Three advanced technology class-rooms are being upgraded in Lanigan andMahar halls with expected completion byfall.

• Rich Hall will be off line for twoyears while renovation continues to housethe School of Business in this building.

• Lee Hall pool will be rehabilitated,with plans to reopen it by mid September.

EconomicsWeb Sites

The home page of the Oswego StateEconomics Department,www.oswego.edu/~economic/, receives

between 22 and 33 thousand visits eachweek. Dr. John Kane, who built and main-tains the site, says it is comprised ofapproximately 400 separate pages and offersapproximately 3,000 links to onlineresources.

Kane also offers lectures and notes insupport of his classes throughwww.oswego.edu/~kane. He has also puttogether a collection of resources related toeconometric research,www.oswego.edu/~kane/econometrics/, andsites for South-Western and HoughtonMifflin that were discussed in an article inthe December 1998 issue of The Region, apublication of the Federal Reserve Bank ofMinneapolis.

“Most economics department classesare supported by class web pages,” saysKane. “Oswego State was the first under-graduate college in the United States to par-ticipate in RePEc, an international consor-tium that provides online indexes of depart-mental working paper series. Informationon this innovative project is athttp://ideas.uqam.ca/.

Two Honored for Advisement

This year’s academic advisement award, whichgives special recognition to “wise and trustedcounselors who aid students in the forma-

tion and development of their academic and lifegoals,” honors Dr. Pamela A. Brand and Dr.Virginia R. Gregg, both of the psychologydepartment.

Brand, assistant professor of psychology, isadvisor to 41 students. She says parents can sug-gest that their sons and daughters find the nameand location of their advisor as soon as theyarrive on campus. “When students meet with anadvisor early in their college careers, they shouldbe able to identify their academic needs andmeet those needs during four years. Studentsshould also take full advantage of internship

options. Such experiences are useful in helpingto clarify career goals.”

Gregg serves as advisor to 22 students, hasparticipated in advising transfer students, andhelps out when people call the department officelooking for advice. As chair of the department’sfaculty assessment committee, she worked withanother member of the committee to develop aquestionnaire to allow students to evaluate theiradvisors in the psychology department.

Both of Oswego State’s advisement awardrecipients for 2000 agree that advisement isabout more than academics, more than just regis-tering for classes. Advisement is working withstudents on all facets of their educational andcareer futures.

The debut season of Oswego State’s SpringBreak in London saw 106 first- and second-year students and 12 members of faculty and

staff enjoy an exciting, educational week in thecapital of Great Britain.

Upon arrival March 19, students and groupleaders took a panoramic bus tour of London,stopping for a photo on the steps of St. Paul’sCathedral. During the week they toured theTower of London and the British Museum,Houses of Parliament and the National Gallery.They attended a play, visited St. Paul’s Cathedraland the new Globe Theater and toured theEnglish countryside, visiting Stonehenge andBath.

A highlight of the London experience was adinner-dance cruise on the Thames, which wasalso attended by Oswego State alumni living andworking in England.

“Financially, this trip was a real bargain, andit was a unique opportunity to interact with

other students and with professors and staffmembers in a learning environment that affordedus a lot of fun,” says Student Association VicePresident Joseph Storch ’02. He agreed with theoverwhelmingly enthusiastic response of otherstudents who completed questionnaires aftertheir return to Oswego.

Susan Ansara, director of the Office ofInternational Education, said, “The program wasdesigned to give students an inexpensive andculturally enriching alternative to the usualspring break migration to Florida.” She addedthat it was intended to preview what studying inLondon for a semester would be like and encour-age students to consider studying abroad whenthey become third or fourth year students.

“We were so pleased with the program thatwe intend to make it an annual event,” saidAnsara. First-year students will receive a mailingabout Spring Break in London early this fall.

Spring Break in London

Alcan Rolled Products continues a secondround of sponsorship for a $6,000 undergrad-uate environmental fellowship this summer

and next at the Oswego State EnvironmentalResearch Center. The initial grant was made in1998.

Under the guidance of James J. Pagano ’74 ofthe research center, an undergraduate environ-

mental fellow will participate in tracking thetrail of the pollutant polychlorinated biphenylsin the offspring of laboratory rats that were fedLake Ontario salmon during pregnancy.

This project is a collaboration between theEnvironmental Research Center and OswegoState’s Center for Neurobehavorial Effects ofEnvironmental Toxins.

Alcan Funds Research Project

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