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Press release:

When Genesee Community College hosts its second annual Scholars' Symposium on Thursday, March 30, students, faculty, staff, community leaders and friends will showcase some of their most inspired work.

Presented by the Genesee Community College Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities (CURCA) Committee, the full-day event includes presentations, performances, exhibits and guest speakers -- all focused on the most inventive and bright the minds of our community. All events are free and open to the public.

"We're looking forward to exploring the creative and innovative work accomplished by our students, faculty and friends of the College," said JoNelle Toriseva, director of GCC's English, Communications and Media Arts, who is organizing the event. "The Scholars' Symposium is a day to catch your breath from the rigors of academia, and enjoy expanding the possibilities for professional and personal growth."

John Covach will deliver the event's keynote address on "The History of Rock and Roll." He is professor of Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music, as well as the chair of the College Department of Music, director of the Institute for Popular Music and a Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Rochester. He has published dozens of articles on topics dealing with popular music, 12-tone music, and the philosophy and aesthetics of music. As a guitarist, Professor Covach has performed throughout the United States and Europe. He remains an active performer with the progressive-rock band, Land of Chocolate.

Another highlight to the Symposium will be sharing GCC's Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnerships. Two Latin American Academy Fellows for the USA-Mexico Multistate COIL Program (MCP) are giving presentations after the keynote address in the Stuart Steiner Theatre. Under the leadership of the COIL Center, the Latin America Academy (LAA) is developing course-based partnerships between SUNY (State University of New York) campuses and universities in Latin America, which are members of the growing Global Partnership Network (GPN). The COIL Center selected GCC and its faculty to develop and pilot equitable, team-taught coursework to emphasize experiential and collaborative student learning and help sustain long-term international teaching and learning partnerships. Through COIL, students from different countries use web-based technology to gain a new cultural lens for an enriching intercultural experience.

GCC's Assistant Professor of Photography and Art, Joe Ziolkowski, has been working with Carlos Flores, Ph.D., from the University of Colima, while Toriseva has joined with Luis Marin-Urias, Ph.D., from the University of Veracruzana for her English 102 course. Both Flores and Marin-Urias will meet with faculty, students and administrators in addition to delivering academic talks in the afternoon.

The full schedule of events for GCC's Second Annual Scholars' Symposium is as followed:

• 8:30 – 11 a.m.: Registration (William W. Stuart Forum)

• 9 – 10 a.m.: Oral Presentation Session A (Conable Technology Building, T102, T122, T121, T119 A & B)

• 10 – 11 a.m.: Oral Presentation Session B (Conable Technology Building, T102, T122, T121, T119 A & B)

• 11 a.m. – Noon: Poster Session (William W. Stuart Forum)

• Noon – 1 p.m.: Lunch (Cafeteria or Subway) and Visit various art exhibits in the Steiner Theatre Lobby; Media Center of the Alfred C. O'Connell Library; and Penumbra Exhibition Space – second floor hallway between B205 and B207. 

• 1 – 2 p.m.: Professor John Covach, Keynote Address, "The History of Rock and Roll" (Stuart Steiner Theatre)

• 2:15 – 2:45 p.m.: "The Internet of Things: Past and Present Challenges" presented by Dr. Carlos Flores, University of Colima (Stuart Steiner Theatre) 

• 2:45 – 3:15 p.m.: "Merging Artificial Intelligence and Writing in COIL" presented by Dr. Luis Marin-Urias, University Veracruzana (Stuart Steiner Theater)

• 3:15 – 4 p.m.: Award Ceremony (Stuart Steiner Theatre)

The event is sponsored, in part, by a President's Innovation Award (PIA) which provides funding for innovative activities and projects that promote community involvement in the life of the College, stimulate student and community pride, or help establish pilot programs and initiatives with the potential for positive long-term impact. For further information on the Scholars' Symposium, visit: http://www.genesee.edu/events/scholars-symposium/

For specific information about the Scholars' Symposium contact Director of English, Communications and Media Arts JoNelle Toriseva. Her email address is:  jrtoriseva@genesee.edu, and her telephone: 585-343-0055 ext. 6627.

It might be obvious to most, but you should probably stick to logging in to your own Internet accounts. In fact,  you can get in trouble for logging in to another person's Web site accounts and making changes. 

A Darien teenager is learning that lesson right now as 17-year old Brittany N. Barto was issued a ticket to appear in Darien Town Court on March 24 after logging into somebody else's account, where she made unspecified changes.

According to The Buffalo News, it caused the victim "a substantial inconvenience." 

Everywhere I go I see people texting or talking on their cell phones. Now the craze of constantly checking each other’s status has gone to the next level. Technology today offers numerous ways to not only stay connected to friends and family, but to keep a constant eye on them, to know wherever they are, whenever.

On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Google launched Latitude, a location-tracking service that uses GPS hardware found in smart phones to pinpoint your real-time position on a map and share that information with friends. The program seems simple to download: enter your cell phone number and wait for the link to arrive to your phone.

Seventeen-year-old Oakfield resident Justin Potter said he would love to try the new Google Latitude application. “Cool, I would love to check this out,” Potter said after he heard what Latitude was all about.

Before users are able to see where their friends are, they must first have an account with Google, have Latitude downloaded, and make sure their phone is compatible. Potter was eager to try it. Unfortunately, his cell phone was not compatible, and the only other way he could use the program was through his computer at home.

“I would rather have it on my cell phone,” Potter said, disappointed.

Even though Potter wasn’t able to download Latitude to his phone, he said this would be an easier way to connect with his friends.“I will definitely check out this program,” he said, adding that his friends would likely enjoy it, too.

At first, Potter thought that anyone would be able to track his location. Latitude’s maps shows the user’s location, marked with a picture of the person that has been uploaded onto their Google account. But users must add friends and then send an invite, similar to the friend request system used with Myspace and Facebook. Your friends must accept before you can track their location.

Batavia resident Alicia Philips, 40, screamed with excitement about using Latitude.

“Heck yes! I would love to use this,” she said. “This would be so beneficial, especially in case of an emergency.” Phillips is the mother of three and said she would love to use it as another means to find out exactly where her children are.

Google gives the user three privacy settings: a user's location can be updated automatically, manually updated, or they can hide their location from friends. And, of course, they can always just turn Latitude off.

Not everyone is so enthusiastic, however. A "privacy" group based in the UK that goes by the name of Privacy International issued a full statement on what they found to be a major security flaw with the program: the potential for a third party to hack into the program. The group's conclusion sounds damning:

Privacy International believes Google has created an unnecessary danger to the privacy and security of users. It is clear the company is aware of the need to create a message alert on Latitude-enabled phones but has chosen to launch the service without universal access to this safeguard. The Director of Privacy International, Simon Davies, said:

"Many people will see Latitude as a cool product, but the reality is that Google has yet again failed to deliver strong privacy and security. The company has a long way to go before it can capture the trust of phone users."

"As it stands right now, Latitude could be a gift to stalkers, prying employers, jealous partners and obsessive friends. The dangers to a user’s privacy and security are as limitless as the imagination of those who would abuse this technology."

As to be expected, Google was swift to respond.

“We recognize the sensitivity of location data, so we've built fine-grained privacy controls right into the application,” Vic Gundtra, Google's VP of engineering wrote in a blog post. 

The program can be installed at Google Latitude.

Latitude is currently available in 27 countries, and Google hopes to expand. The program is free but there may be carrier charges. Phones that are enabled to use this program include: T-mobile Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Motorola, Nokia, Nokia S60, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Windows Mobile.

     A toast to friendship and find something old in something new.

     Earlier this week I went out on a limb. I had heard about My Space and Facebook but I didn't know much else. I decided that while the the snow was blowing and the kids were down for a nap I would wander through one of these sites. I chose Facebook just because it was the first one alphabetically.

      I found that registering was easy however I realized that I had already revealed more info then I would ordinarily prefer. No woman wants everyone to know her age and birthdate. I had put it out in cyber world that I was OLD.  This however was easily corrected.  I had dodged a bullet.

     Next came the question of how  and where do I go. How do I communicate with others? Can I really find anyone that I know? Amazingly enough it's easy. I put that I graduated from York Central and SUNY Fredonia.  To my amazement I found friends that I had long given up hope of ever hearing from again. With a few key strokes and an invitation, they were back in my life.

     Catching up after over 2 decades was easier then I thought.  We shared similar stories. There were moves, divorces, kids, and more kids, illnesses and loses. Some stories were suprising while others seemed to fit  just fine.

     The memories started to flood back of moments shared. How in my senior year a tight group of us did everything together. Instead of  individual crazy pictures for the yearbook, we chose to take ours together. We were in silly outfits because of spirit week. We hung upside down on the jungle gym. I remember almost passing out from having to hang there for minutes at a time. It is immortalized in the yearbook.

     As we share the stories of our lives, it is almost as if we have never been apart. Some people went on to do exactly what they had said they would. Others had wandered down different paths. Economics and hardship had also played a roll.

     I listened to one friend that said he left his chosen career on the day that an accident had almost killed him. He was one of the lucky ones that survived a roof collapse in a print shop. It killed three of his co-workers. He never went back.

     People asked how I had switched from Political Science to becoming a Paramedic. I told them my story. How on a dark night  just before Halloween, I was in a car accident. That moment was life altering for me. If it were not for the First Aid training a friend of mine had just finished I wouldn't  be here. He saved my life. When I asked him one day how I could ever repay him, he said "Lori Ann - Just take a First Aid class. Some day someone will need it."   I hope that I could make him proud.

     I have lost classmates too. In fact, we lost one the day I joined facebook. We as a "family" found out together. We were there to comfort each other, to send condolences to those Chris had loved.

     These past friends of mine were near and far. Some  were as close as the next town over. We wondered how our paths had never crossed. Then I found  that one of my dearest  friends from college was in Bahgdad. I didn't realize that he had returned to the military. September 11 had had a powerful impact on him. He felt compelled to re-inlist in to the Army. Now here we were, talking by IM (instant messaging) as if we sat across the table from each other. We laughed at things we had done in college. We remembered things that we probably shouldn't have done too. It was decided that some things should just stay in the closet. As they say, "No harm - no Foul."

     Facebook had done something that I could not. It had opened doors that long ago had been closed. So as I said in the first sentence. Something old came out of something new. Old friends are now in my life again. We are writing, talking, having fun and laughing.

     See - trying something new isn't so bad.  Hey, If you are bored try looking up an old friend. You might be pleasantly surprised.  I was.