Spring 2019

A degree in fortitude

salibalr — Mon, 13 May 2019 19:51:06 +0000

A degree in fortitude salibalr Mon, 05/13/2019 - 15:51

Long days on the farm, grit and determination have come to define dairy management student Carrie Shuman on her journey to graduation.

Born and raised on a former dairy farm in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Shuman amassed emotional and financial hardship following the death of her father during high school and the recent loss of her brother.

The unassuming, petite, 22-year-old has persevered and received her bachelor’s degree in May. It is more than a stepping stone into the dairy industry — it is a badge of her fortitude.

There were early indications when Shuman was young that she wasn’t one to give up.

Author

Debra J. Groom

Growing up and raising dairy steers and beef cows with her family, she bought her first Holstein heifer, when she was 12, after attending a Pennsylvania Holstein Association meeting. It was then that she began thinking more about her future and how it could include dairy, milking and possibly even processing milk into ice cream, cheese or yogurt.

The family began purchasing and raising more dairy heifers for their farm, Jessa Farms, a herd which has grown to 34 Registered Holsteins and Brown Swiss.

Shuman’s future was bright. She had plans to go to college. Life was good.

Then, on what was supposed to be a normal day in 2012, her father was tragically killed in a farm accident. Her brother, Joshua, was also injured and has since recovered.

Shuman was a freshman in high school at the time. Her father’s death caused financial hardships and uncertainly about her future plans. A small life insurance policy covered only some funeral and medical costs.

From that point, everyone had to do more around the farm. Shuman started working at local farms to help out with finances, too.

“As the reality of our financial situation set in, I realized that if I wanted to fulfill mine and my father’s dream of me going to college, I would have to work harder than before.”

She excelled in school, graduating at the top of her class, and enrolled at ��Ƶ.

Her financial situation was eased by a Life Lessons Scholarship of $10,000, given by Legal & General America, which recognizes students like Shuman for perseverance in the face of adversity following the loss of a parent or guardian, with little to no life insurance.

“This money will help me get to my dream of building a dairy barn with an on-farm creamery to take my family farm into the future.”

Shortly after receiving the scholarship, her brother Jake ’05 lost his battle to cancer in December 2018.

Strength came in many forms from the college she describes as having a family atmosphere with caring faculty.

“Carrie’s senior year was difficult, however, she never missed a class. She was always upbeat and always carried her team to the end,” said Sheila Marshman, associate professor of agricultural business.

The team refers to a group of students who worked together in an Agricultural Business Marketing & Distribution class to develop a product to manufacture and sell.

Shuman’s team developed Fall Wake-Up Call, a seasonal blend of pancake mix.

“The product is representative of Carrie’s values, beliefs and passion for rural living,” Marshman said. “She and her team also developed a marketing plan to distribute and sell it throughout the Northeast.

“Determined, willing to learn, and willing to step outside her comfort zone are the first words that come to mind when I think of Carrie,” Marshman added. “Although a dairy major, she frequently ventured over to agricultural business to learn more about product marketing and product development.”

Morrisville opened a lot of doors and opened my eyes to other opportunities. It has helped me to fulfill my dream.

She took an idea of a milk processing business to the college’s Cotton Business Idea Competition, which gives students a chance to advance their product idea, and placed second.

“In my area, there are only two farms processing and they are selling raw milk, different milk flavors and ice cream,” Shuman said. “I was doing market research and found there are enough people in our area to come to the business.”

“She is determined to fulfill her goal of opening a farm processing center,” Marshman said.

Shuman credits ��Ƶ with helping her to think bigger. She participated on the cattle judging team and traveled to competitions in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Louisville, Kentucky, and the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin.

She participated in the Dairy Club, too, serving as donation chairperson for the Annual Autumn Review dairy sale.

An internship she completed at Trinity Valley Dairy in Cortland, New York which makes pasteurized but non-homogenized milk and cheese curds, further broadened her horizons.

“Morrisville opened a lot of doors and opened my eyes to other opportunities,” she said. “It has helped me to fulfill my dream.”

Published date

May 15, 2019

News Type

Norwich professor and his “live-learning” class author article in scientific journal

salibalr — Mon, 13 May 2019 17:51:43 +0000

Norwich professor and his “live-learning” class author article in scientific journal salibalr Mon, 05/13/2019 - 13:51

Talon Abrams has been fascinated with amphibians and reptiles since he was 4 years old, catching snakes and frogs in a backyard creek at his Madison, New York, home. Some even made their way into his bedroom so he could examine them more closely in a glass bowl.

That allure eventually led him to ��Ƶ to pursue a bachelor’s degree in renewable resources technology. He wants to land in a career where he can help aquatic life, animals and the environment.

Much of Abrams’s coursework at ��Ƶ is paving the path for that future, including “live learning” in Eric Diefenbacher’s Herpetology class, which has students already digging into their future careers.

The popular course recently gained notoriety when Diefenbacher, assistant professor of biology at ��Ƶ’s Norwich Campus, and students in his fall 2018 Herpetology class, were published in a scientific journal.

Their study, “Use of Data Loggers to Investigate Temperature Trends Above and Below Cover Objects Used by Plethodontid Salamanders,” is published in IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians Conservation and Natural History.

“This helps fulfill a career goal I’ve had since I started teaching — getting an entire class published in a scientific journal,” said Diefenbacher, who is also a field biologist.

Author

Franci Valenzano

This helps fulfill a career goal I’ve had since I started teaching — getting an entire class published in a scientific journal.

Deifenbacher’s elective Herpetology class gives students actual experience with reptiles and amphibians in their natural environment.

“I love to get students involved to see what real field work is all about,” Diefenbacher said. “They get great experience and the techniques they learn are marketable skills they can put on a resume.

Diefenbacher’s work provides important research for the facilities his classes visit, and his real-life approach is giving students valuable field skills and an opportunity to explore different career choices.

“This is stuff you don’t get to do every day,” Abrams said. “This is so hands-on. You are actually doing work you would do if you had a job in this field.”

Phil Keville, a renewable resources technology student from Oneida, is interested in a career in captive breeding sea turtles and releasing offspring. “I specifically took this course because we will learn about breeding reptiles and that is important for what I want to do,” he said.

The following are authors in the scientific journal:

Eric Diefenbacher, of Norwich, assistant professor of biology at ��Ƶ’s Norwich Campus

Emily Coscomb, an environmental & natural resources conservation associate degree student from Boonville, New York, who is matriculating at the School of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University
Talon Abrams, a renewable resources technology bachelor’s degree student from Madison, New York
Kate Augustine, a renewable resources technology bachelor’s degree graduate from Saranac Lake, New York, who is currently working on red squirrel radio telemetry in the Yukon
Sam Casler, a renewable resources technology student from Little Falls, New York
Collin Sullivan, a renewable resources technology student from Springville, New York
Phil Keville, a renewable resources technology student from Oneida, New York

Published date

May 15, 2019

News Type

Plots, Games and Twists

salibalr — Mon, 13 May 2019 17:35:04 +0000

Plots, Games and Twists salibalr Mon, 05/13/2019 - 13:35

The room went silent as this year’s Global Game Jam® (GGJ) theme, “What Home Means to You,” was unveiled.

And with that, James Cook and his teammates sequestered themselves in a classroom at ��Ƶ, serving as a host site, and spent the next 48 hours in imaginative indulgence and intensive programming, creating a video game from scratch.

Four ��Ƶ teams joined 47,000 other jammers during this year’s 2019 GGJ, a hackathon-style event, in which participants worldwide collaborate to design functional video or board games in a weekend, to the same theme.

Teams from places like Turkey, Argentina, Norway, Germany, Egypt and Pakistan took part in the event, recognized as the largest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Growth in the area is clear as ��Ƶ celebrated its 10th anniversary as a GGJ host site and recently added a minor in game programming.

The boon in the billion-dollar video gaming industry made way for the college’s new minor, which has increased in popularity since Dr. Richard Marcoux, associate professor in the Computer Information Technology (CIT) Department, seeded four elective courses in his curriculum years ago.

“The gaming industry is larger than the movie industry and it continues to grow,” Marcoux said as participants nodded in support of his plan to add a game programming major by 2020 fall semester.

Cook, an information technology – application software development bachelor’s degree major, was among the first to sign up for the new minor, which is open to students in any bachelor’s degree program who have an interest in creating software for 2D, 3D and virtual reality (VR) video games. Courses cover game design concepts, user interface design, and software development of video games.

“Creating video games is something that allows me to take advantage of my talents and many of the things I like to do,” said the Oneida, New York resident, who traces his lifelong gaming passion to Nintendo cartridge games.

Author

Franci Valenzano

Creating video games is something that allows me to take advantage of my talents and many of the things I like to do.

There have been so many changes since then — the rise in mobile gaming with smartphones, high-speed data and technological complexity — with Cook eagerly embracing all of them.

Game Jam gave him a firsthand look at what goes into creating a game and a chance to sharpen his skills.

Throughout the weekend, participants got a dose of computer coding, animation, design and dubbing background music — all tools needed to create a video game in an industry growing by leaps and bounds.

Jam Time

Infectious energy and creativity filled classrooms at ��Ƶ’s jam site in Charlton Hall, as story boards and strategies unfolded on white boards, programmers took to their keyboards to create the code that makes the game run, and artists and musicians devised compelling aesthetics.

Cook’s team of four classmates masterminded an adventure-based video game, “Randy Has a Bad Day,” in which their main character (Randy) must choose between multiple paths as he tries to get home. Cook focused on coding, while fellow teammate Benjamin Robbins, a computer information systems major, worked on graphics.

They relied on skills from an Introduction to Game Development course, taught by Marcoux, where they learned the core mechanics of making a game as they prime for an industry that is home to diverse job opportunities, creative work environments and high starting salaries.

Through Morrisville’s CIT programs, students are already gaining a breadth of skills that qualify them for careers in programming, network administration, help desk, cybersecurity, web development, application software development and game programming, to name a few.

“Companies are looking for graduates with skills,” Marcoux said. “Their skills are in high demand.”

Events like GGJ are adding to their arsenal, allowing them to take their passion to a greater level and to birth new ideas.

This year was Tyler McDowell’s eighth participating in GGJ. The 2015 information technology – application software development graduate was doing a little bit of everything for his team, including programming and adding music and graphics. McDowell, a program analyst at PAR Technology in New Hartford, New York, attends the jam to network with students and alumni, and to hone his skills.

“It’s a great opportunity to experience working as a team,” he said.

That was a lure for Cook, too. “This (GGJ) experience will definitely help me in the future,” he said. “Every company has to collaborate to write pieces of code to make an effective product.”

For Brendan York, a current information technology – application software development major eyeing a career in creating video games, versatility of the new minor is a draw.

“I learn by experimenting and exploring, and this minor is allowing me to do that,” said York, of Hamilton, New York. “The flexibility enables me to get the creative juices flowing.

“And everything I am doing in class is similar to what is being done in the industry,” he added.

Even for students who do not end up in the gaming world, the skills they learn prepare them for a variety of programming opportunities.

“Regardless of the degree, they will have a job in the end,” Marcoux said.

Kobey Proulx lauds ��Ƶ’s computer programs overall. “They give you a chance to explore so many fields. If you decide you don’t like one, you can fall back on so many other things,” he said. It was the computer information technology student’s first year participating in GGJ.

“You are prepared to do a lot of different things,” said GGJ participant Courtney Mooney, a 2018 information technology – web development graduate who works as a help desk technician at Northeast Regional Information Center in Albany, New York. “It has opened a lot of doors for me.”

Match Game

In celebration of ��Ƶ’s 10th anniversary serving as a Global Game Jam® site, Richard Marcoux set a $1,000 matching gift challenge to CIT alumni, in which he would match dollar-for-dollar any gift made to the CIT program, up to $1,000, during the month of January.

CIT alumni rose to the challenge, surpassing it with gifts of more than $1,700, taking in a total of more than $2,800 for the program.

Published date

May 15, 2019

News Type

Lax Legacy

salibalr — Mon, 13 May 2019 16:57:01 +0000

Lax Legacy salibalr Mon, 05/13/2019 - 12:57

Tossing a lacrosse ball back and forth was a big part of Louie ’15 and Nick Geswaldo’s childhood. While others were playing video games, the brothers were shooting and catching, from dawn to dusk, in the backyard of their LaFayette, New York, home.

As they got older, their love for lacrosse deepened their brotherly camaraderie and spread to a college community.

“We’re very close,” Nick said. “We’ve always had the same interests and hobbies and ended up always doing them together.”

“We’re best friends,” Louie III added. “We do everything together — work, hunt, fish and lacrosse.”

A three-year age gap never distanced the closeness between the brothers and carried over into college. Nick, 21, followed Louie, 24, to play lacrosse and study at ��Ƶ, where they dedicated themselves to achieving their career goals while also scoring them at a record-setting pace on the lacrosse field.

Nick, a senior residential construction major, is applying his well-rounded Morrisville education renovating and renting residential property in Syracuse, New York, following in the footsteps of Louie, and their father, Louis Jr.

Louie graduated from Morrisville in May 2015 with an associate degree in wood products technology – finish carpentry option. An attacker on the lacrosse team, he made his mark on the field registering 122 goals and a school-record 200 points during his four-year career.

A dream came true for Nick and Louie when they shared the field as teammates in 2016. .

“It was great to get one year to truly be on the same team,” Nick said. “We always had great chemistry just from playing together in the yard all those years growing up. Going to Morrisville and having the chance to play on the same team was definitely something we wanted to do.”

Author

M.F. Piraino

We always had great chemistry just from playing together in the yard all those years growing up. Going to Morrisville and having the chance to play on the same team was definitely something we wanted to do.

“Playing together with him that one year was huge,” Louie said. “In high school it never worked out because of our age difference. Then we finally got the opportunity. .”

The Geswaldo lacrosse legacy made it into the Morrisville record books. Nick broke his brother’s school record for career goals last season. He also is on track to surpass another of Louie’s records to become Morrisville’s all-time points leader.

“It’s an accomplishment I’m very proud of because my brother held the records,” Nick said. “When I set the record for career goals last year, he was there on the sidelines to congratulate me. It was a memorable moment for me.”

Nick,an attacker from LaFayette High School, recorded 49 goals and 20 assists last season. He was a key component to Morrisville winning its fourth straight NEAC conference championship and sending the Mustangs to its fourth consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. The team netted its first-ever victory, as well, with Nick scoring the game-winning goal in overtime.

He entered the2019 season with a school-record 127 career goals, while being ranked second behind his brother in career points with 179.

“It makes me extremely proud he’s going to break all my records,” Louie said. “I hope he sets the bar high and we can be one and two in the record books for a long time.”

For the last four years, Nick has successfully balanced sports and a full course load.

In addition to making the Dean's List and earning NEAC Scholar-Athlete awards, he made first team All-Conference last season and was named NEAC Player of the Year in 2017 as a sophomore.

His work ethic is unrivaled. On top of juggling lacrosse, academics, and buying and renovating homes, Nick works a seasonal job at Watson Farms in his hometown, where he logs50-plus hours a week, putting to good use the horticulture, landscaping and hardscaping training he receives at Morrisville.

Plant identification in landscaping, building retaining walls and building patios are all things he’s learned through assignments and hands-on projects. “I’m using all the skills I learn every day,” Nick said.

His passion for hardscaping — adding artistic design through wood, block, stone and brick —began in high school and was fueled when he designed and built a brick patio at the family’s home. When it came time to choose a college where he could pursue both lacrosse and hardscaping construction, Morrisville proved to be the perfect fit.

Real-world assignments have him immersed in hands-on projects, including those in local communities building decks, remodeling houses and laying bricks for foundations.

One of his memorable college projects is building the brick walkway at Crawford Hall.

“The instruction and hands-on training I’ve received in landscaping and residential construction will play a large role in my life.”

As school and lacrosse wind down, Nick plans to spend more time in the family enterprise, acquiring and transforming vacant homes into viable rental properties.

“The family business is growing,” said Louie, a Syracuse City firefighter and assistant coach of the LaFayette varsity lacrosse team for the past three years. “It’s awesome we get to do this all together.”

Published date

May 15, 2019

News Type

Canna-Bliss

salibalr — Thu, 09 May 2019 19:27:28 +0000

Canna-Bliss salibalr Thu, 05/09/2019 - 15:27

After playing a major role in the revitalization of industrial hemp in New York State, ��Ƶ is rolling out a new minor in cannabis studies that will prepare students for the rapidly growing medicinal and recreational marijuana industry.

While online curriculums or certificate programs have provided a patchwork approach to education in the field, ��Ƶ is one of the first mainstream campuses to offer a minor in cannabis studies. The new program focuses on what ��Ƶ does best — preparing students with hands-on skills and knowledge — and capitalizing on an industry that is one of the fastest-growing sectors in agriculture nationwide.

The curriculum for the 16-credit minor is currently under development, with classes and labs designed to cover both the agronomy (hemp) and specialty crop (medical and recreational) sides of cannabis. This curriculum would include topics like CBDs, an oil derived from the plant that has also seen a surge in popularity.

Students spent the spring semester exploring growing methods; the cannabis minor will officially launch in fall 2019.

Alumni who have already found jobs in the burgeoning cannabis industry say the existing curriculum in Morrisville’s horticulture program has prepared them to thrive in the workplace.

“As I read the job descriptions for this field, it is everything we teach,” said Kelly Hennigan, associate professor of horticulture and chair of the Horticulture Department. “They need attention to detail, they need the science behind the propagation of these plants. They need knowledge about fertilizer. It is all applicable.”

But the new degree program will push the field past its underground roots, applying the scientific method and peer-reviewed research trials to an industry that has been secretive for decades due to legal issues.

Author

Alaina Potrikus Beckett

Cannabis Studies Special Projects Class

From seed to harvest

The greenhouses at ��Ƶ have their own life cycle, filled with poinsettias at the holidays and hanging baskets and Easter lilies in the spring. Students tend to the plants as part of their coursework, learning how to nurture each species with proper nutrient loads and hydration techniques.

Hennigan and instructional support assistant Howard Rice treat the cannabis plants with the same care and oversight. One room in the Spader Horticulture Center is dedicated to germination, with plants growing under different lighting conditions to determine optimum growth. Flowering takes place in an adjacent room, where high-pressure sodium lights require students to wear safety goggles when they enter to take measurements.

In the greenhouse, a row of cannabis plants are being watered with different solutions so that students can learn to recognize and diagnose the symptoms of nutrient deficiencies. Still another setup is experimenting with hydroponics, which Hennigan says is standard for many indoor growers.

“From seed to harvest, whatever it is you want to grow it for, we want to grow it the best,” Hennigan said. “That’s what we teach. And that’s what makes this a perfect fit for us.”

Propagating a future

When Riley Cepiel arrived at ��Ƶ, he was nervous about telling his fellow horticulture students about his interest in the medical marijuana industry.

“I quickly realized it wasn’t just me, there were more of us,” said Cepiel, who grew up outside of Saratoga Springs, New York.

He spent his semesters at Morrisville working in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) greenhouse, knowing that the experience of working with a 4,000-gallon indoor aquaponics system would give him an edge when applying for jobs.

“My friends would know when I had lab because I had dirt under my fingernails when I came to the dining hall,” said Cepiel, a horticultural business management bachelor’s degree student.

His resume landed him a position at Triple M — Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts — where he was promoted within six months to the role of propagation manager.

“I was the only person with a horticulture background,” Cepiel said. “The things I was training people to do — mixing nutrients, how to properly water plants — that was what I had learned from my time at Morrisville.”

Cepiel sees potential in the industry and has hopes of starting his own cannabis breeding company one day.

“It is an exciting industry,” he said. “You can always feel that energy in the air.”

A new chapter

Fellow alum Cody Sheldrake ’17 grew up outside of Ithaca, New York, and spent a lot of time at the garden center started by his grandparents. His grandfather was a professor at Cornell University who invented a brand of peat mix still used today; their farm focuses on annuals and perennials from February to July and sells vegetables and sweet corn at a roadside market.

Now, the family business is looking to expand into hemp and CBD, with Sheldrake and his father obtaining a state license for their first crop this summer.

“I think my grandfather would be all over this for sure,” Sheldrake said of the burgeoning cannabis industry. “It breaks my heart to see farms crumble. This could bring some new lifeblood for those that weren’t making ends meet before.”

Sheldrake, a horticultural business management bachelor’s degree graduate, said one of the biggest hurdles remains the stigma surrounding cannabis. “Researching the plant and legitimizing it in academia would be a great step forward,” he said.

Sheldrake said he is excited for the new focus on cannabis at ��Ƶ, which he credited with his success in both botany and business.

“You learn a lot in the classroom, but you learn even more in the field,” he said. “All of the growing classes apply to everything that we grow here.”

Did you know?

Currently, 33 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical use, while 10 permit recreational use.

New York legalized medical cannabis in 2014, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed legalizing recreational marijuana in 2019.

Analysts have predicted the future of the legal cannabis industry in the U.S. will be worth more than $24 billion, and the global medical marijuana industry will be valued at more than $50 billion.

Economists predict that the cannabis industry will create 250,000 jobs by 2020.

A plant with a purpose

Both hemp and marijuana are the Cannabis sativa plant and are cultivated for a wide variety of uses from textiles and industrial raw materials, to food and medicines as well as recreational purposes.

Industrial hemp is bred to have below 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, which contains 10 to 20 percent of the chemical compound.

“Cultivated varieties have specific characteristics bred into them, depending on the purpose of the plant,” said horticulture professor Kelly Hennigan.

From student to teacher

After Howard Rice ’16 earned his bachelor’s degree in horticultural business management at ��Ƶ, he moved to Colorado where he worked for a large greenhouse production company growing annuals. He returned to Morrisville in 2018 and is playing a major role in developing the curriculum for the cannabis degree.

He answered a few questions for Momentum.

Q. How do you think your education at ��Ƶ set you up for success?

A. The horticulture program at Morrisville set me up for success by giving me plenty of practical experience. I realized this after I graduated and began working full time — many of the horticultural practices I learned in college made it easy for me to transition into the green industry.

Q. Why do you think it is important to train students properly for the emerging cannabis industry?

A. We stress the importance of training because we want to send professional individuals into the industry who will make ethically sound decisions when it comes to growing cannabis. With the proper education, our students will be ready to make a smooth transition into the cannabis industry, which will positively influence cannabis legalization by providing knowledgeable employees.

Q. How are the students reacting to the new cannabis studies minor?

Students seem to be excited about the new cannabis initiative here in the horticulture program. They are constantly checking how the plants are doing and they ask many questions. They are ready to sign up for Cana 101 this fall!

Published date

May 15, 2019

News Type

Reining Champion

salibalr — Thu, 09 May 2019 19:17:44 +0000

Reining Champion salibalr Thu, 05/09/2019 - 15:17

Breaking into the upper echelons of professional horse training isn’t easy, especially for east coast riders who aren’t from horse families. Jeremy Gates ’99 is proving that hard work and determination can overcome geographical boundaries and a later introduction to the horse industry. His career boasts one of the highest scores in a National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) event, as well as world and reserve world championship titles.

"I had never ridden a reiner before coming to school. It opened up a whole new world of opportunities,” he said.

Gates started riding at 13 after his family moved to Arcade, New York. He needed a job, and the barn at the end of the road needed help. His first chore was cleaning stalls. Not content to watch from the sidelines, he soon negotiated a deal to work in exchange for lessons. Eventually, he bought a horse and competed at local open and 4-H shows.

As high school graduation approached, he considered two options: law enforcement or horse training. He chose the latter, enrolling in ��Ƶ’s equine science & management program. He joined the school’s Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Western team and spent three summers riding in the school’s colt-breaking and showing program run by instructor Spike Holmes, who has since retired.

“Those summer experiences were a representation of what it was going to be like in the real world after graduation,” Gates said. “It was much more than riding horses. It was an immersion into what it takes to be a trainer, from cleaning stalls to feeding and working horses and packing a trailer to go to a show after a long day in the barn.”

Author

Katie Navarra

Those summer experiences were a representation of what it was going to be like in the real world after graduation.

His commitment was apparent.

“Jeremy always showed a lot of interest in learning and had a really good work ethic,” Holmes said. “He would listen to constructive criticism and had a natural talent.”

Gates originally wanted to be an all-around trainer. That meant he would teach riders to compete in multiple Western events shown on the rail and on a pattern, but also included reining — a fast-paced precision event with crowd pleasing spins, rollbacks and slides. Although he learned a lot about the sport of reining while at ��Ƶ, he felt it was his weakest event.

Holmes connected Gates with renowned Maryland-based trainer Dutch Chapman where Gates worked as an assistant for three years. He soaked up as much as he possibly could from his new mentor. Under Chapman’s guidance, Gates earned his first national award showing Ms. Peppy Mint Chic for owner Terri Key. Together, they were crowned the NRHA Limited Open Reserve World Champions, which is based on total money earned throughout the year. The pair also finished in the Intermediate Open Top Ten.

“I had no prior knowledge or contacts that could help me advance in the industry before college,” Gates said. “School helped me get connected to the right people to advance my career.”

In 2004, he moved home to New York to work for Stony Ford Ranch in Campbell Hall. He has sinceput the facility on the map. In 2008, he won his second NRHA World Championship riding Peptos I Brow for the farm. He also purchased and trained Lil Dreamin Magnum for owner Kathy Biesecker. Gates showed the stallion to a $108,000 in earnings and earned his highest score at one show — a 79.5 and a 77 for a composite score of 156.5 under two judges.

In reining, every horse and rider starts with a score of 70. There are eight maneuvers that must be completed in a prescribed pattern. Judges score each maneuver individually from -1.5 to +1.5. A zero on a maneuver is considered average. It’s very difficult to earn a perfect score on every single maneuver.

“It’s probably one of the highest scores ever marked in the East and few people in the country have marked that high,” he said.

He won the Level 2 Novice Horse Open Reserve World Championship with Watchitgalsgottagun in 2017, and his total NRHA career earnings now stand at $328,301.

“He is dedicated to trying to improve and that’s the secret to successful horse training. There’s never a pinnacle, there is always something new to try,” Holmes said. “In the show pen he is being rewarded for all his hard work.”

Gates remembers where his success started. He has leveraged his connections in the industry to promote ��Ƶ, enabling its faculty to appear on RFD-TV, the nation’s first 24-hour television network featuring programming focused on the agribusiness, equine and rural lifestyle, along with traditional country music and entertainment.

He has also been a great supporter of Morrisville, purchasing foals from the school’s breeding program and hiring students as interns.

Giving back to the larger reining horse industry is important to Gates. He currently serves on the Central New York Reining Horse Association Board of Directors and runs the Northeast Breeders Stallion Auction. In 2018, the fundraiser raised $51,000. In 2019, bids increased to $81,999.

By taking a leadership role in the local reining horse club, he is helping raise awareness of the quality of trainers and events on the East Coast. The area was once a hotbed of activity for the sport, which moved west to Ohio, Texas and Oklahoma. Those efforts help support the trainers of today and those studying at ��Ƶ who want to stay in the state and have a fruitful career.

“Serving on the board is important to me because it’s important for us to have high-quality shows with big cash payouts that we don’t have to travel all over the country for,” he said.

Published date

May 15, 2019

News Type

A Noble Mission

salibalr — Wed, 08 May 2019 17:39:04 +0000

A Noble Mission salibalr Wed, 05/08/2019 - 13:39

Five years ago, Elizabeth Hope Noble ’16 was finishing high school and serving as valedictorian of her senior class. The self-described "small-town girl'' was ready for college and thinking about life beyond it. She knew she wanted to work in a field where she could have a positive impact on people and she knew she wanted to see more of the world.

Today, Noble, 23, lives in Rochester, New York, where she works as an emergency room nurse at Rochester General Hospital. In her down time, she likes to read, explore the city and its parks, and raise funds to take part in medical missions in remote corners of the world. If you said she lived up to the character of her name — giving hope to others through noble causes — you wouldn't be the first.

Author

Margaret McCormick

In January, the ��Ƶ nursing graduate completed her second mission to Uganda through Resurrection Life Fellowship Church, in Eaton, and David's KidZ, a nonprofit Christian organization (with a ��Ƶ connection) that offers opportunities for people to sponsor children in Africa who are in need of medical care, education, clothing, clean water and food.

While there, she volunteered as a nurse at clinics in rural villages that included physicals, treatments, dental exams, administering medicines and prayer. The clinics serve hundreds of children, and children hold a special place in Noble's heart. She herself sponsors a child through David's KidZ; a young girl she has had the opportunity to meet and hug during her travels.

“It's not a vacation, but I take vacation time to do this,’’ Noble said. “This trip was only about a week and a half. We have the clinic for about five days, two days in one village and three days in another village.

“This is probably going to end up being something that I do every year. It's so cool to see how these communities are getting used to us being there. We've heard that people wait a whole year to see a doctor when we're there because they don't have money to see a doctor otherwise.''

Prior to the January mission to Uganda, Noble contacted members of the nursing faculty at ��Ƶ seeking donations of medical scrubs to take along on the trip. They were happy to help.

“She’s an amazing young woman,’’ said Tammy Chandler, an assistant professor in the School of Science, Technology & Health Studies who has known Noble since she was a child.

The January mission took Noble and other volunteers to Jinja, a small city in southern Uganda. Volunteers stay at a hotel and meet for breakfast before the dusty and bumpy ride to the rural communities where they perform their work. The volunteers teamed with men and women in the villages, who serve as translators and helped the volunteers secure medical supplies and food. Most of the patients they see are children, Noble said, some with distended bellies and yellowish eyes associated with malnutrition. Diarrheal disease, dehydration and dental issues are among the problems they encounter and treat.

In addition to medical care, the volunteers also provided meals for the children. Meals might include rice and beans and a little meat — a treat for kids whose diet typically consists of porridge and mashed bananas. At the end of the day, the volunteers returned to their hotel to relax and unwind.

Visiting undeveloped areas and experiencing cultural differences and health care disparities firsthand is eye opening and thought-provoking, Noble said. “When you’re first exposed to how people live, it can be hard to see, for sure, especially when you compare it to how we live,’’ she said. “It makes you think. But that is their way of life there. That is their normal. They don't know anything different. For them, as long as they have shelter and food and health, they're happy.’’

Noble grew up near Morrisville, the youngest of four children. She graduated from New Life Christian School, in Hamilton, New York, in 2014 and had planned to become a teacher until her father suggested she consider a career in nursing.

While in high school, she took part in a medical mission to Haiti, accompanying an aunt who is a doctor. The experience sparked her interest in the world of nursing and international health services and she began to think seriously about nursing as a career.

She visited several colleges, but when she did the math for tuition and housing at other schools, Morrisville moved up on her list. It also helped that, as valedictorian, she qualified for a scholarship to Morrisville.

“I've always been that girl who said ‘I would never go to Morrisville,’'' Noble recalled. “But it kept happening that doors were opening for me to go there. I'm really glad I did.”

Following graduation, Noble was offered a position at Rochester General Hospital. She served as a nurse on several of the hospital’s general medicine floors while working toward a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from SUNY College at Brockport.

Late last year, she requested a transfer to the hospital’s emergency room. She plans to get a couple years of ER experience under her belt and explore the steps needed to reach her goal of working for Doctors Without Borders or another international organization that provides medical humanitarian care.

“I’m really passionate about international health and public health, and ultimately my goal is to work in this area,’’ Noble said. “Over this past year, I've realized more and more that is what I want to do, long term.’’

About David’s KidZ

David’s KidZ International is a nonprofit organization established by John and Kristy Camp in memory of their son, David, who died in 2010. At the time of his death, David was a business student at ��Ƶ. In 2007, David had a life-changing experience: volunteering at a small orphanage in Africa. It was his goal to return some day, on a mission of hope and help.

Published date

May 15, 2019

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