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THE

Cayuga Community College’s Only Student Newspaper Vol. 53 Issue 5 February 28, 2005

The Legend Lives On...-Josh Cradduck, Editor-in-chief

Remembering Prof. Brunell

A guest book is set up in the hallway of CCC for people to leave theirgoodbyes and memories of Professor Brunell.

There are very few people in the teach-ing profession that, when their name ismentioned, words such as “legend” or“revered” follow. However, there was oneman close to us all who fit the bill to per-fection. . .the late Mr. Robert Brunell.

There are also very few people whomeet the dreams and goals of their child-

hood, later in life. . .We all, at some pointin our childhood, dream of becoming law-yers, astronauts, teachers or doctors.Clearly, at some point we begin to realizethat the goals set by our young mindswere too outlandish and impossible. Onceagain, such is not the case with ProfessorBrunell. At the age of six, he was askedwhat he wanted to do with his life. Hisresponse? According to an interview heconducted with ExperienceWorks.org -teaching. Not even he could imagine whatwould become of his dream.

Born June 5, 1922 in Massachusetts,Professor Brunell attended Colby Collegein Waterville, Maine during the start ofWorld War II. He would become involvedin the war as a French Interpreter for U.S.Army Intelligence, and kept the positionfor three years. Professor Brunell wouldlater return to Waterville’s Colby Collegein 1947 and earn his bachelors degree inForeign Language and English. Later thatyear, he would receive a French Consu-late award and begin his career at LittleFalls Central School. His educational jour-ney would continue when he received hisMaster’s degree from Middlebury Collegein Vermont in 1949. He went on to Syra-cuse University to study and decided tomake Central New York the base for hiscareer, as he taught at SUNY Oswego for2 years. His next position, of course, wouldbe his last and certainly most spectacular.

1954 would be the beginning of a grandera for Cayuga Community College, whichat that time was known as Auburn Com-munity College. He would join the lan-guage department and would later becomethe chairman. However, his position wasnot limited to just the English language,as he would teach German, French (hisspecialty), and Spanish. Such roles mayhave tired out other teachers, but not Pro-fessor Brunell. He would later serve on anumber of boards and become the Deanof Students. Advising the Cayuga Colle-gian newspaper, the Nainrubua yearbook,Phi-Theta Kappa and the student-runschool government were also things Pro-fessor Brunell enjoyed.

Awards were certainly not anythin new to Professor Brunell, as he recived countless amounts year after yearfor his incomparable teaching skills.Most notably, he was presented theaward for New York State’s MostOutstanding Older Worker by formerfirst lady, Senator Hillary Clinton in 2003.Others include: the SUNY Chancellor’sAward for Excellence in Faculty Servicein 2004 (also in 1974) and the AlumniOutstanding Educator Award fromColby College in 2003.

Throughout all of his accomplish-ments, Professor Brunell remained downto Earth with his students, using hisstraightforward and somewhat intimidat-ing teaching style until his final days.Never shy to use his natural wit in class,he knew when to let up on the work andinject a little life into a subject thatwould usually bore students. Long andtenuous essays were the norm in hisclasses, yet most felt compelled to trytheir best, as he enjoyed readingstudents’ work in front of the class.

Upon initial inspection, newerstudents would see nothing more thanan old man sitting with his legs crossedin a yellow chair in front of the chalk-board, with messy white hair, an old-style suit, and the occasional largeglasses. They would wonder when theclass would end and feel the urge toescape through the doors the momenthe released you.

Clearly, upon further inspection, hewasn’t just the old man sitting in theyellow chair – he was a legend in hisown time. A great and classy gentlemanthat we wish was around for one moreconversation. The classes of 2005 and2006 still have papers to write for him. ..for he is the standard which all follow-ers will be held to.

The legend does, indeed, live on. . .

Professor Brunell

Just one semester into his 50th year atCayuga Comunity College, beloved Pro-fessor Robert Brunell passed away unex-pectedly on December 22, 2004. It is ob-vious how many lives he touched not onlyby the somber mood around school butthe loving thoughts and memories thatwere written in his memorial book that wasin the lobby. ‘You’ve taught me so muchand inspired me to make the most of mylife,’ was just one of the comments writtenin his memorial tribute book. Asking afellow student, who would like to remainanonymous, what it was if anything shegot out of one of his classes she said “Hewas the man, he was just awesome. Hisappreciation for the written word and thevisual arts just made you want to learn.”

Not only was he an extraordinary pro-fessor, Brunell, born in Gardner, Massa-chusetts on June 5, 1922, was also aWWII veteran. For three years Brunellwas part of the U.S. Army intelligence as aFrench interpreter. He also taught Frenchto the army troops, participated in the D-Day invasion, and in the Battle of theBulge. “He was a staunch American andProud Veteran,” said his good friend LindaTownsend. He kept his deep feelings forhis country throughout his life. He wouldspend every summer in Vermont where heproudly drove his flag adorned car in theJuly parade. Though having such a greatlove for his country after 9/11 he was leftwith a heavy heart believing that our na-tion was not ready to deal with the threatof terrorism.

Not only did Brunell touch thousands

-Melissa Gauss, staff writerof student’s lives, and serve his country,he also touched the lives of thosethroughout the community. His passionfor music led him to be an accomplishedmusician. He played the organ for St.Lukes, and was not only the moving forceof the K of C but also the Director for over30 years. He also did the music for theSeward House for nearly 30 years. Brunelldid near 20 performances a year at the areanursing homes and came to be known as‘Mr. Cayuga Comunity College’ to the resi-dents. “He touched many lives through-out the Community. Whenever he wascalled upon or needed he would drop whatever it was he was doing and lend a hand,”said friend Townsend. From Benefits tosinging telegrams he was there.

Not just an accomplished musician,Brunell was also an avid reader and verywell read. He could do a New York Timescrossword puzzle in three to four minutes.His love of books was something that hewanted to share with future generations.It was that love that led him to donate hisprivate collection to the newly renovatedPort Byron library.

Apart from the community and the col-lege Brunell was also a family man. Hewas predeceased in 1980 by his wife,Catherine Clark Brunell. He is survivedby his two children, son Lee H. Brunell,daughter, Reverend Martha Brunell, andfour grandchildren.

Touching lives of many people RobertBrunell will be greatly missed by youngand old alike.

PAGE TWO

OPINIONS

CayugaCayugaCayugaCayugaCayugaCollegian

THECayugaCayugaCayugaCayugaCayugaEditor-in-chief: Josh CradduckStaff Writers: Melissa Gauss

Caryn PurdyJare SmithTim Meyer

Advisor: Mary Gelling Merritt

The Cayuga Collegian is published onannounced publication dates duringregular semesters at Cayuga CommunityCollege, 197 Franklin Street, Auburn, NY13021. Our phone number is 315-255-1743. The Cayuga Collegian is funded byCCC’s Faculty-Student Associationthrough student activity fees. Opinionsexpressed in columns, news stories,features, interviews or letters to the editorare not necessarily those of the collegeadministration, faculty, staff or students atCCC. The Cayuga Collegian is a memberof the Associated Collegiate Press.

By: Josh Cradduck, Editor-in-Chief

Now it’s official - the Drew Bledsoe era forthe Buffalo Bills has come to an abruptend.

After going 23-25 since the 2002 season,Bledsoe has been replaced by second yearquarterback and 22nd overall 2004 NFLDraft pick J.P. Losman. Will a change atQuarterback finally get them over thehump and into the playoffs? Was this even

the right move? Of course, time will telland only in mid-November may we knowhow good this decision made by Bills headcoach Mike Mularkey and General Man-ager Tom Donahoe really was. With all ofthese questions, one may even overlookwhat they actually have at the Quarter-back position in terms of skill and pureintangibles. The REAL question is: Howgood is Losman?

Born March 12, 1981 in California,Jonathon “JP” Losman brings quite a bitto the table for any football team - whetherit be the NFL or high school. Losman at-tended Venice (Calif.) High School, play-ing football for three seasons under coachAngelo Gasca. He certainly did more thanwarm the bench as he earned Parade All-America honors, was rated the No. 3 quar-terback in the nation by Prep Star, andwas a member of the Dallas MorningNews National 100. Soon after high school,Losman applied, and was accepted toUCLA. He, however, would not spend hiscollege career there. . .he would transfer

Losman - What’s in a Starter?

to the “Green Wave” Tulane, in Confer-ence USA. The move was considered astep-down by some, but not to J.P. “UCLAwas just too close to home, and I had toget away,” he said in an interview withPro Football Weekly. “I was not learning.I was not learning in terms of outside foot-ball. Football’s football, but when you’rea football player, you definitely have a lifeoutsi! de of football. And while at UCLA,

I was so bombardedwith so much familypressure andfriends coming up tothe college. It didn’treally feel like I wasin college. I realizedI needed to getaway. And so that’swhat I did.”

He sat out the 1999season at becauseof NCAA transferrules. He saw exten-sive action as afreshman in 2000, ro-tating with now-Redskins QB PatrickRamsey. Eventually,

with Ramsey off to the NFL, the startingjob was Losman’s in 2002. He did notdissapoint. With 230 completions in 401attempts for 2,468 yards, 19 TDs and only10 interceptions, Losman posted one ofthe top passing and total offense seasonsin school history. His 2003 season waseven better, as he continued to make aclaim for the first round of the NFL Draft.He completed 251-of-422 passes for 3,077yards with 33 TDs and 14 INTs, one of thetop three seasons in Tulane history. His33 TD passes are the second-highestTulane single season total. Losman is con-sistent too, as he threw at least one touch-down pass in every game that year; ninegames with more than one and SEVEN withthree or more. He finished his career rankedin the Green Wave all-time top 10 in 18categories and his great performances onthe fi! eld would not go unnoticed — ashe was one of seven Finalists for theJohnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, theDavey O’Brien Award and was an All-American candidate.

So he certainly had a great college career.That doesn’t mean it will automaticallytransfer into the National Football League.

When examining J.P., one notices manysignificant weaknesses that must be im-proved before he steps on the field thiscoming September. Losman does not havethe best mechanics around, he seems tofade away when he passes and doesn’tstep into his throws. He needs to keep hisfeet more active in the pocket as he tendsto stand flat-footed too much (or with hisfeet apart). Losman relies on his armstrength way too much, which means hedoesn’t seem to think he has throw a me-chanically correct football at times. He willtake chances while on the field, that is forsure. However, that is not necessarily abad thing. . .great quarterbacks such asBrett Favre and Jim Kelly (two quarter-backs he is often compared to) took largegambles everytime they took the snap. Hewill likely struggle to read NFL defensesfor a year or two.

Positives for J.P.? He certainly has a lot ofthem. As mentioned, Losman has an NFLarm that will help when the ball needs tobe shredded through the howling Buffalowind at Ralph Wilson Stadium. He is mak-ing strides as a leader and will need tobecome one this coming September. . .Hehas a great mind for the game and is abso-lutely dedicated to being the best man onthe field - which he thinks he is - as hecertainly has the brash and cocky confi-dence any NFL coach would want in aquarterback. Oh, and boy does he havespeed for a quarterback. His 40-time was4.48; mobility will help him behind a po-rous, but improving Bills’ offensive line.

The bottom line then becomes: is heready? We don’t know that yet. Neitherdoes head coach Mike Mularkey, offen-sive coordinator Tom Clements, quarter-backs coach Sam Wyche or Losman him-self. We can’t look into the future and seehow well he will do facing teams such asthe Falcons, Patriots and Bucs this up-coming season. We do know he has thetalent, but how well he transfers it ontothe field will be the big issue.

Better than Bledsoe?

J.P. Losman seems like the best for the joband the Bills won’t be taking anymore riskwith Losman than they would by keepingDrew Bledsoe under center for one moreyear. He was a mistake waiting to happen.His incredible lack of mobility and slowdecision making became increasingly evi-dent as opponents discovered the mosteffective way to stop the Bills was to blitzthe heck out of Drew. If he wasn’t beingsacked, he was forcing terrible, low throws.Either way, he was susceptible to a turn-over and they came at the least oppor-tune times. Bledsoe continued to showthroughout the season that he doesn’talways locate open receivers quicklyenough. He took too long to set up andusually did his trademark “pat” on the balleverytime he lost track of the defense.Drew Bledsoe was a class act and he didmuch to restore the Buffalo Bills in 2002after an awful 2001 season. The franchise’scredibilty was brought back once hestepped the field.

However, times change. He looked like a95-year old trying to use a computer - veryslow and confused.

If anything, at least J.P. Losman will bequick and confused.

Dear Editor,

I, like most other students, hold a part orfull time job to pay for the cost of livingand education. What many understandis that from every paycheck received acertain percentage is removed to pay forstate and federal tax or health benefits isso desired by the employee. At the endof the tax season, one might receive amuch anticipated tax refund in the mail.Yes, I as well as everyone else lookforward to this time of the year. Whatmany may not realize is that 6.2 percentof my wage earnings, as well as another6.2 percent from my employer is paid toSocial Security. This total of 12.4percent applies to the first $76,200,which means that I, who only workspart-time, have a lot of time to put inbefore I reach those earnings. Although these deductions may notseem that bad right now, when we reachthe golden age of retirement will SocialSecurity benefits be available to us? In1940 when the first Social Security checkwas issued, there were over 40 workersfor every retiree. Today that number isunder five and by the time we reachretirement, there may only be one or twoactive workers for each retiree. Sincethe money to pay for our Social Securitybenefits is generated from the payrolltaxes of active workers, it is inevitablethat our taxes, as well as our children’staxes are going to rise and that ourfuture retirement benefits will bereduced under our current SocialSecurity plan. I want action now! It my be 40 plusyears before I reach my retirement age,but I want to see action before it is toolate. This has become a campaign issue.However, I have not heard a logicalresolution that will benefit citizens of myage. Federal Reserve Chairman, AlanGreenspan has also expressed his viewson the issue. He pitches the idea of anincreased retirement age or a raise in theSocial Security tax. There are many options on the tableto solve this matter: such as thosediscussed by our current governmentofficials, altering the benefit formula toreduce benefit payments, or a restrictionof eligibility and funding that can beincreased for the Social Securityprogram. Though these options may bebeneficial to some age groups, I thinkthe greatest solution would be acomplete restructuring of the program.Workers should be allowed to savemoney in private accounts that yieldhigher returns than the current SocialSecurity program. Whatever the chosenoption, action must be taken immedi-ately. The government must look aheadto benefiting our future!

Sincerely,Keith A. Labbe

Talk to JoshCollegian

Editor-in-Chief

Wednesdays

3-6 PMCollegian Office

Cayuga Community College is offeringMyCareer, a free Web-based career ser-vice that showcases the qualifications ofparticipating students and alumni to po-tential employers.

Through a pilot program developed byChicago-based StaffCV, students andalumni can enter their educational profileand employment preferences in a search-able system for prospective employers.Standardized criteria permit accurate com-parison of candidates’ qualifications byemployers, and help level the playing fieldfor job seekers.

Employers of any size and type can regis-ter with Cayuga Community College touse the MyCareer system. The employerprovides screening criteria to generate a“short list” of qualified candidates for ajob opening. During this screening phase,a candidate’s identity is confidential. Per-sonal information is not revealed until thejob seeker chooses to do so. The systemautomatically sends a confidential queryto job seekers whose qualifications andpreferences match the opening. Thoseinterested in applying or interviewing forthe position can indicate their willingnessonline. FedEx Ground in Syracuse is thefirst local employer to use MyCareer; thecompany is recruiting package handlingemployees.

The system, accessible from the college’swebsite at www.cayuga-cc.edu/mycareer,complements counseling and other pro-grams offered by Cayuga’s career servicesoffice to assist students and alumni withjob and career placement and internships.One of five colleges in central New Yorkto offer MyCareer during the spring 2005semester, Cayuga is joined in the pilotprogram by SUNY Cortland, Le MoyneCollege, Onondaga Community College,and SUNY Oswego. If successful,MyCareer will be offered to campusesacross the SUNY system.

New Web Program

PAGE THREE

Tuesday, March 1, 2005 11 AM Fulton Campus

Facts & Snacks Location: F147

Wednesday, March 2, 2005 11 am - noon

Engineering Tech Club Meeting - Auburn ECR

Friday, March 4, 2005

Mardi Gras Celebration 2005 to benefit the program of Unity House

and the Cayuga Community Action Agency, 7 PM - Midnight at the

Holiday Inn-Auburn. Donation $20. Features a costume contest,

That 70’s Band and WSTM Meteorologist Chris Brandolino as Master

of Ceremonies.

Friday & Saturday March 4 & 5 7:30 PM

Marcellus High School presents “Grease”

Saturday March 5, 2005

Spaghetti Dinner to benefit the programs of the Marcellus Boy

Scout Troup 66. St. Francis Church activity center, South Street,

Marcellus.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Deadline to order Easter Lilies or Hyacinths from Phi Beta Lambda.

Call Matijas at X2317 for more information.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Alumni Phone-a-thon begins

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

Massage Therapy - Fulton Campus

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 10 am - 1 pm

Resume & Interview Cafe outside Student Development Center

Friday, March 11, 2005 7 :30 PM Syracuse War Memorial

CCC Night with the Syracuse Crunch. Limited tickets available.

Own transportation required.

Sunday, March 13, 2005 2 PM

Seneca County Arts Council presents a “Celebration of Women’s

Music” with Soprano, Ester Hardenberg and pianist Ross

Barentyne-Truluck. Tickets $10. 140 Fall Street, Seneca Falls

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Massage Therapy - Auburn Campus

Monday, March 21, 2005 10 am - noon

Alcohol Awareness Event Main Foyer

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 11:15 - 11:45 AM

PBL Chapter Meeting in Distance Learning Room

Spring Break March 24 - April 3Saturday, March 26, 2005 2:00 PM

CCC Men’s Lacrosse v. Monroe

Activities -Jare Smith, Staff WriterCrow ProblemBy now the overpopulation problemwith crows in Auburn should be nosecret. Due to the abundance ofthese birds Auburn decided to call insome help. The help they got came fromthe USDA in the way of fireworks andrecordings of crows in distress. Thiswas what they called hazing the crows. Before the biologists from the USDAstarted their hazing they estimated thecrow roost to be around 63,800. Afterthey set off their pyrotechnics, playedtheir recordings, and used some laser

effects the roost was said to havedropped nearly ninety-eight percent. But a question arises, “Will the crowsstay gone?” If a person were to standoutside your front door with a shotgunfiring shots into the air, it’d be prettyeasy to sneak out of your back door.Once the gun-toting psycho left mostpeople would just return to their home. Dr. Kevin J. McGowan of CornellUniversity has a web-page answeringfrequently asked questions aboutcrows. http://birds.cornell.edu/crows/crowfaq.htm. Dr. McGowan stated thatcrows can learn to recognizepeople as individuals. Knowing that,what if the crows that left saw themembers of the USDA in themidst of their hazing. Isn’t there achance that the crows would notice thatthe biologists left?

Callers Needed forAnnual AlumniPhonathon The Auburn/Cayuga CommunityCollege Alumni Association isaccepting applications for its annualspring phonathon, set to beginMarch 7. The College’s students are verymuch invited to support the effort.Goals include strengthening rela-tionships with alumni, updatingalumni records, and encouraginggiving to the College’s foundationfor college and alumni associationprograms and services. A commitment to serve part-time in the evening will be neces-sary, along with “good people skillsand a sunny disposition,” accordingto Elisabeth Hurley, director ofalumni affairs. Interviews for paid and volun-teer positions will be scheduledsoon. If you are interested to beconsidered, please sign up in theAlumni Office – M238.

You have a voice.

Join the Collegianstaff.

We needrepresentativesfrom all clubs andteams.

Email JoshCradduck @Collegian@cayuga-cc.edu

PAGE FOUR The Cayuga Collegian

More at the Mall Ready for more construction? Evenmore traffic? The Finger Lakes Mall areasure is.

Springhill Suites, a division of MarriotCorp., will begin construction this Julyon an $18 million hotel at the Fin-ger Lakes Mall betweenJCPenney and Aldis. The four-story, 119 suite building willhave a swimming pool, exerciseroom, spa, guest laundry, valetand small meeting rooms, withdaily rates averaging $109 perroom. Attached to the this giant hotelcomplex will be a Houlihan’s restaurant,along with a 10,000 square foot confer-ence center that will seat up to 250 people.

It seemed like just yesterday the Fin-ger Lakes Mall was in peril, as establish-ments such as Friendly’s, the skating rink,and Mr. Topps were struggling to survive.However, that all changed with a bangwhen Bass Pro Shops moved in and es-tablished their ‘destination’ shopping ex-perience store. Many people feel BassPro Shops has benefited more than themall itself. Still many new businesses aremoving into the Auburn area now, andthe Finger Lakes Mall has definitely be-come a center point of it all. In the past,many stores have come and gone leavingthe mall a faded out, dying place. Bass

-Caryn Purdy, Staff Writer

Pro Shops looks like it’s here to stay. Inresponse, Finger Lakes Mall’s manage-ment has performed several renovations,including the removal of the fountain,which resulted in the expansion of Café

Square. The Square was also redeco-rated with new tables, lamps, and

even a new floor that carrieson the feel of Bass Pro Shops.

The mall is thriving now,and one would hardly believe

it is the same place it used to be.Gina Speno, General Manager at the

Finger lakes Mall, is enthusiastic aboutthese changes. She says many new busi-nesses have been eager to make a homein this mall now, including: puppy storeMaxie Biggs; Steve and Barry’s, a big hitfor it’s low prices; the cleverly named “YouCan Stuff It”, which allows customers tomake-your-own teddy bear; and severaltrademark stores, each of which give themall an entirely new feel.

“We’re looking forward to 2005 beingjust as busy as 2004, if not more” Spenosays with great confidence.

With positive steps forward like this,the business at Finger Lakes Mall can onlygrow larger. Still to come this spring is anew restaurant, Fiesta Taco, and PacificSun will open April 29.

Join the staff of

The Cayuga Collegian

email us @collegian@cayuga-cc.edu

Congratulations to the CCC Mens’Basketball Team for a great season!

Keeler Wins CCC Award The Cayuga Community College2004–5 Faculty Award for Excel-lence has been given to Steven R.Keeler, chair of the division ofhumanities and director of Cayuga’sbroadcasting and electronic mediaprogram. Announcing the award, Collegepresident Dennis Golladay notedthat the criteria include consistentexcellence in teaching and profes-sional service, as well as outstand-ing contributions to the College.Keeler, who joined the Cayugafaculty in September 1987, hasbeen instrumental in developingrecording, production, and broad-casting facilities for radio andtelevision degree programs.