The Snapper: Millersville University » Anthony Fucito

Are you familiar with TAT?

Anthony Fucito — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:03:56 +0000

Have you witnessed a violent activity on campus? Do you or a friend feel like they are being harassed? Have you overheard someone making threatening remarks? If so you were probably unsure of what action to take.

The safety of the Millersville campus starts with students themselves, but to help there is an organization on campus designed to give students the proper resources and knowledge to ensure the safety and security of their peers.

The Millersville University Threat Assessment Team, or TAT@MU was instated in January of 2008 and stems from the incidents that occurred at Virginia Tech in April of 2007. It is also modeled after the threat assessment team at West Chester University. Its function is to investigate any reports of threatening or violent behavior that may pose a risk to campus safety.

TAT@MU consists of University personnel with expertise in human resources, employee assistance, law enforcement, threat assessment, tactical applications, University operations, medical knowledge, social equity, and student affairs.

“If you witness or overhear something that disturbs you, report it and let the experienced University Threat Assessment Team sort through the possible implications of observed behaviors or statements that appear on the surface to be a matter of concern to ordinary observers,” said Executive Deputy to the President, James McCollum.

It is the responsibility of faculty, staff, and students to report any individual or occurrence that could cause harm to anyone on the Millersville campus. The TAT hotline number is 717-872-3717, or in case of emergency, call 911 or 717-872-3911.

“Don’t live in regret, Report a threat and Call Up That TAT!”

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Millersville Students to Compete in ‘Battle of the Brains’

Anthony Fucito — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:00:15 +0000

Several Millersville students are currently preparing to compete in the thirty-forth annual IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. The contest is the world’s most prestigious computer programming competition, with regional competitions expected to draw tens of thousands of students from universities in approximately 90 countries, on six continents, for an all-out “battle of the brains.”

The regional competition is scheduled to take place on November 7, 2009 at Shippensburg University. Local colleges competing include Dickinson College, Gettysburg College, Lebanon Valley College, Millersville University, Moravian College, Penn State Harrisburg, Shippensburg University, and West Virginia University. Millersville’s team is coached by Todd Echterling, a distributed systems specialist of the university.

“Qualifying for ‘The Battle of the Brains’ is a huge accomplishment,” Alan Ganek said, chief technology officer and vice president of strategy for business and technology at IBM Software Group, “These students are tremendously talented and have the ability to solve incredibly difficult problems. They have the ability to make our lives richer and our planet smarter.”

In the competition, students are assigned into groups of three and given a grueling five hour deadline to solve complex, real world problems. One hundred regional champions will meet for the final contest on February first through the sixth of, 2010 in Harbin, China. The best and brightest students from around the globe have the opportunity to win scholarships, prizes and, “the world’s smartest trophy.”

The contest is harsh. Students are expected to understand complex problems, rank the difficulty of the problems, deduce the requirements, design test beds, and build software systems that solve the problems under the intense scrutiny of expert judges. For a well-versed computer science student, some of the problems require precision only. Others require a knowledge and understanding of advanced algorithms.

“The world faces some really daunting challenges. Problems of pandemic diseases, global climate change, finite energy resources, population density, congestion, and urban development planning. It’s going to take some very bright, creative and innovative problem-solvers to tackle these problems,” said Doug Heintzman, director of strategy for IBM Software Group and sponsorship executive of the ICPC, “So we believe it’s very important for the industry and academia to work in partnership to promote excellence in problem solving.”

The IBM corporation has been hosting the competition since 1997. Since then, the contest has grown to eight times as many participants. The contest hosts more than 7100 teams from 1800 universities around the world.

The Association for Computing Machinery is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.

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Second Mile searches for Friend volunteers

Anthony Fucito — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:35:37 +0000

Second Mile Foundation is reaching out to Millersville students for help.

Are you a positive role model looking to help kids and make a difference in your community? If so, The Second Mile needs your help.

The Second Mile foundation is asking for Millersville University students to volunteer with its Friend Program. The Second Mile is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the youth of Pennsylvania.

Friends are college students who help mentor local children through a variety of healthy and educational activities.

Millersville students can help The Second Mile foundation by joining the Friend Program and attending each of the eight events and also by being paired as a mentor with a Young Friend.

Alyson Clark, a senior Psychology major has been participating in the second mile for two year, and enjoys the interaction with the student.

“It connects Millersille University with the community for a good cause,” Clark said.
The opportunity to work with Lancaster City kids she believes is a great experience, “These are kids who have been recommended from their school counselor,” Clark informed. The program gives the children guidance and structure that the students need.

There are different tables set up for each session such as arts and crafts, basketball, and sports outside of brooks gym.

They can also create or sponsor a particular activity for the Friend events if they are part of an organization, club, or team.

These events can include a variety of activities such as a science experiment for science day or a game about another culture for multi-cultural day.

During the past year, more than 600 Pennsylvania college students participated in the program at six sites, including 100 Young Friends at the Millersville site.

The Friend Program is committed to helping youth and making a difference in their communities. It is one of The Second Mile’s nine programs and is free to participants.

The children involved in these programs are in need of help, and they are referred by school counselors, teachers, and parents, for having difficulties with areas such as, family circumstances, academic problems, social issues, or lack of adult support and guidance. College Friends serve as positive role models for these children by encouraging social interaction, positive behavior, and attention to academics.

The Second Mile was formed in 1977 by former Penn State Football Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky and served more than 100,000 children and youth in 2008. The organization continues to grow and work toward a brighter future. It also challenges young people to achieve their potential as individuals and community members by providing opportunities for them to develop positive life skills and self-esteem as well as by providing education and support for parents and professionals addressing the needs of youth.

Most of the Millersville Friend events are located in the Brooks gym on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The program is currently looking for positive Millersville students who want to make a difference in their communities and help guide children to a positive future.
Students interested in joining this program or assisting with activities should contact Melissa Mogle at (717) 763-4614 or through email at Melissa@thesecondmile.org.

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Second Mile Foundation Reaches Out To Millersville Students for Help

Anthony Fucito — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:45:24 +0000

Are you a positive role model looking to help kids and make a difference in your community? If so, The Second Mile needs your help.

Friends are college students who help mentor local children through a variety of healthy and educational activities. Millersville students can help The Second Mile foundation by joining the Friend Program and attending each of the eight events and also by being paired as a mentor with a Young Friend. They can also create or sponsor a particular activity for the Friend events if they are part of an organization, club, or team. These events can include a variety of activities such as a science experiment for science day or a game about another culture for multi-cultural day.

During the past year, more than 600 Pennsylvania college students participated in the program at six sites, including 100 Young Friends at the Millersville site.

The Friend Program is committed to helping youth and making a difference in their communities. It is one of The Second Mile’s nine programs and is free to participants.

The children involved in these programs are in need of help, and they are referred by school counselors, teachers, and parents for having difficulties with areas such as family circumstances, academic problems, social issues, or lack of adult support and guidance. College Friends serve as positive role models for these children by encouraging social interaction, positive behavior, and attention to academics.

Most of the Millersville Friend events are located in the Brooks gym on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The program is currently looking for positive Millersville students who want to make a difference in their communities and help guide children to a positive future.

Students interested in joining this program or assisting with activities should contact Melissa Mogle at (717) 763-4614 or through email at Melissa@thesecondmile.org.

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Ribbon cutting ceremony for Polling and Research house

Anthony Fucito — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:30:40 +0000

Dr. Adam Lawrence, Dr. Kerrie Farkas, Dr. Melvin Allen and Dr. Vilas Prabhu standing outside of the newly opened Polling and Research house for the ribbon cutting on Sept. 14

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the recently opened Polling and Research office on Monday September 14, 2009 at noon.

The office is housed within the Civic and Community Engagement and Research Project’s Center for Public Scholarship.

They offers start to finish services, from project design to analysis and reporting, to assist clients with all aspects of the survey research process.

This includes working with clients in selecting appropriate research methods, conducting the research using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing or face to face interviews, and preparing statistical reports of survey results in a variety of formats such as tables and descriptive statistics.

The polling and research services are available to Millersville staff and students and to the surrounding community.

The office is a nonpartisan research and polling office whose mission is to provide high quality public opinion research and analysis serving the public interest.

The Polling and Research Office is a member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research or the AAPOR, and Association for Computer Assisted Surveys, or ACS. The AAPOR is a non-profit organization interested in public opinion and survey research.

The CCERP is located on George Street in the Huntingdon House across from the SMC.

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Millersville Students Attend Rodney Mack Phialdelphia Big Brass Seminar

Anthony Fucito — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:00:27 +0000

A seminar held this summer gave college and high school brass students the opportunity to work with world renowned musicians.

Six students from Millersville’s music department studied at the Rodney Mack Philadelphia Big Brass Seminar this past summer from June 1st to June 6th at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. These students are trumpet payers John Maurer, Devin Doherty, Dan Stauffer, french horn player Tommy Rieger, trombone player Nate Petley, and tuba player Dan Meeker.

This included members of the Rodney Mack Philadelphia Big Brass, and trumpeter and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.

Five of the students selected to go are members of “The Celestial Brass,” a multi genre brass quintet that was formed back in September 2008.

Millersville faculty member, Matthew K. Brown coaches the group and was also on faculty at the Curtis Seminar.

This experience not only gave them the ability to learn outside the realm of Millersville’s music department, but also gave them a better perspective as musicians.

“My favorite experience was being able to play in a group with total strangers and still be united with the single goal of creating great music,” trumpet player Doherty said.

The opportunity to work with some of modern jazz’s biggest names was monumental for these students. It gave them the chance to be taught by their major inspirations.

“The host of the seminar, Rodney Mack, was a great influence to me personally, since he plays the trumpet like myself. Wynton Marsalis actually came to Curtis one afternoon to work briefly with each quintet. The fact that I was able to even meet, let alone receive feedback from arguably one of the greatest trumpet players alive was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Doherty continued.

This seminar was a growing experience for these musicians, after which they were able to take what they learned back to Millersville and apply it there.

Trumpet player Dan Stauffer said, “Being able to study with great teachers and clinicians was an absolute privilege.”

The Celestial Jazz quintet was one of five quintets to attend. They are still active in the area and can be found on Facebook.

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