Brian Howe
Special to the Critic
Teachers posing as candidates give a close-to-home debate.
Two faculty members went head to head in a mock presidential debate on Monday in the Alexander Twilight Theatre.
Representing Barack Obama was David Plazek, professor of Political Sciences, and representing John McCain was Alexandre Strokanov, professor of History. The moderator was Micheal Dente, chief technology officer at LSC. A poll was conducted by INT-1020 students; 70 polling cards were collected at the end of the debate. Results from the polling cards showed that 69 percent of the attendees at the debate said Obama would win the debate, while only 20 percent thought McCain would win.
Some of the questions asked of the candidates were issues of gun control, global warming, health care, our current economy and improving international relations. The two candidates had 90 seconds to respond to a question and two minutes for a rebuttal; the rebuttal gave the candidates the opportunity to argue back and forth. Global warming and gun control were issues that had a lot of debate.
At times during the debate it was obvious that Plazek and Strokanov didn't know everything about the candidates and their views.
“We want to make sure that you know that we are debating on our views and opinions of Barack Obama and John McCain”, said Plazek before they started debating.
When it came to global warming 76 percent thought Obama had a better argument. The question on gun control was nearly dead even with 51 perecent saying Obama won, while 49 percent thought McCain had a stronger argument.
“Some questions I might have disagreed with, was single payer universal health care.” said Plazek.. For the most part he(Plazek) agrees with Obama's views and says he will support him.
“No of course not, I don't agree with everything. It was a role first of all and some of the time I do agree with him. But for the most part I disagree with Obama”, said Strokanov who debated for McCain. Strokanov did not disclose who he was going to support this election.
By the end of the debate 70 percent said that Obama had won the debate, while only 20 percent thought McCain won.
Compared to the first question voters didn't change their mind on who they thought was going to win the debate. Only 9 percent said that this debate changed their minds on who they are going to vote for, while 83 percent said they feel the same after the debate.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
NACA makes event choice easier
Aimee Lawton
Special to the Critic
CAB representatives attend conference to improve campus activities.
The successful activity planning of the Campus Activities Board stretches beyond the creative minds of the students on the LSC campus.
While members and other students are a great source of ideas for CAB, they are not the only source. NACA, or the National Association for Campus Activities is another useful (and professional) source that provides CAB with many of its ideas for activities.
Every year, NACA holds conferences in each of its seven designated regions across the United States. These conference sessions, lasting three days each, feature many things that can be useful tools when planning activities for college students across the country.
Each year, advisors and student members of CAB represent LSC at the NACA regional conference for the Northeast; designated for schools from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and the Canadian Provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.
Stephanie Tyler, Campus activities coordinator and CAB advisor said that these conferences are great because they have workshops for many things such as successful programming, organizing, and creative advertising for activities that can be done on college campuses. Tyler also said that there are a variety of different entertainers that perform at the conferences including comedians, magicians, singers, and bands.
“The entertainers that get booked at colleges are the ones that perform,” Tyler said. “You get to see how good they are before you book them.”
Tyler also said that these conferences provide great networking opportunities with other schools in the region.
“It’s a good opportunity to share ideas, and to hear about what worked for other schools and what didn’t,” Tyler said, “It’s also just a good way to get to know other people.”
Tyler, along with Laura McNaughton and five student members from CAB are traveling to Hartford, CT this week to attend the Northeastern NACA regional conference for 2008.
For additional information on NACA, you can visit their website at http://www.naca.org.
Special to the Critic
CAB representatives attend conference to improve campus activities.
The successful activity planning of the Campus Activities Board stretches beyond the creative minds of the students on the LSC campus.
While members and other students are a great source of ideas for CAB, they are not the only source. NACA, or the National Association for Campus Activities is another useful (and professional) source that provides CAB with many of its ideas for activities.
Every year, NACA holds conferences in each of its seven designated regions across the United States. These conference sessions, lasting three days each, feature many things that can be useful tools when planning activities for college students across the country.
Each year, advisors and student members of CAB represent LSC at the NACA regional conference for the Northeast; designated for schools from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and the Canadian Provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.
Stephanie Tyler, Campus activities coordinator and CAB advisor said that these conferences are great because they have workshops for many things such as successful programming, organizing, and creative advertising for activities that can be done on college campuses. Tyler also said that there are a variety of different entertainers that perform at the conferences including comedians, magicians, singers, and bands.
“The entertainers that get booked at colleges are the ones that perform,” Tyler said. “You get to see how good they are before you book them.”
Tyler also said that these conferences provide great networking opportunities with other schools in the region.
“It’s a good opportunity to share ideas, and to hear about what worked for other schools and what didn’t,” Tyler said, “It’s also just a good way to get to know other people.”
Tyler, along with Laura McNaughton and five student members from CAB are traveling to Hartford, CT this week to attend the Northeastern NACA regional conference for 2008.
For additional information on NACA, you can visit their website at http://www.naca.org.
Dead Professor
Steve Cormier
Special to the Critic
Steve experiments with new age journalism among other things.
It was nearly 40 years later as I strode, uneasy-by-northwest, looking for a man none of us had ever known. Kalman Sandor Toth, who was this man, and why the hell was I being sent out to survey some rock just below left field?
I got there and the clouds were as low as my hopes. The walk had taken a lot out of me and any chances of an intelligent interview had been left behind with my lunch at the dining hall.
Cold October evenings rarely relay much information and indeed, Toth’s plaque was not feeling very forthcoming. Any attempt on my part to make it feel at home and comfortable with my line of questioning was met repeatedly with only name, rank and academic affiliation:
Kalman Sandor Toth, born September 27, 1907 in Szeged, Hungary. Immigrated to the United States in 1956. First Chairman of the mathematics department. Died November 25, 1968.
Sure, the rock and plaque were forthcoming but I needed more and talking to myself below an abandoned autumn baseball field would soon bring unwanted attention. Besides, I was feeling depressed. I would never be chairman of anything other than maybe a bowl of popcorn. I decided to go to bed.
I got up sometime between Wednesday and Saturday, somewhere between my room and the kitchen. I decided to hunt down Alan Boye, Curator of the Archaic at Lyndon State College. He had once regaled a class about the professor who had been buried on the campus and I figured that with his literary expertise on the ghoulish maybe he had interviewed the rock and gotten more. As a professional I was embarrassed with how the previous day had turned out.
I walked into the office, it was a mess. I was a mess though and nothing was lost in translation, we were on equal ground. A few papers pushed out of the way and Boye was handing over the documents, the history, the story and the man I needed: Toth.
The documents provided that not only had Toth come from Hungary but was involved in their attempted revolution to kick the Communists out in ’56. He fled to the United States that year seeing it as a “wonderland” and “land of opportunity” according to Toth’s daughter Erzsebet. These papers were being much more cooperative than that godforsaken rock and I was glad I had left it out in the cold.
Toth came to work at Lyndon in the fall semester of 1960 and joined the mathematics department before becoming its first chairman and is understood to have built up the major.
Toth died on November 25, 1968 as the result of a two-car collision on Route 5 in St. Johnsbury with the wish that he be buried on campus. Cremated, so his soul could be freed, his urn was interred in the grass that is now outside of the Alexander Twilight Theatre. At last he had found the peace and freedom that he had fought for a decade earlier.
This is not the end of our hero’s story though. After going out to the steel sculpture that now resides beside ATT and wandering around in the snow hoping not to look like a complete fool I discovered the truth.
Eight years after he had been interred, indeed during the construction of the very steel sculpture I now found myself sitting on, his urn and earthly remains were removed by the college and moved out to the hill between the Brown House and the baseball field.
At least Toth has the best view on campus now. My own view was all too morbid now. Too depressed – this freedom fighter, this esteemed academic, this honorable mathematician who had come half a world to LSC only to be moved – I decided to go find my intelligence and my lunch.
Special to the Critic
Steve experiments with new age journalism among other things.
It was nearly 40 years later as I strode, uneasy-by-northwest, looking for a man none of us had ever known. Kalman Sandor Toth, who was this man, and why the hell was I being sent out to survey some rock just below left field?
I got there and the clouds were as low as my hopes. The walk had taken a lot out of me and any chances of an intelligent interview had been left behind with my lunch at the dining hall.
Cold October evenings rarely relay much information and indeed, Toth’s plaque was not feeling very forthcoming. Any attempt on my part to make it feel at home and comfortable with my line of questioning was met repeatedly with only name, rank and academic affiliation:
Kalman Sandor Toth, born September 27, 1907 in Szeged, Hungary. Immigrated to the United States in 1956. First Chairman of the mathematics department. Died November 25, 1968.
Sure, the rock and plaque were forthcoming but I needed more and talking to myself below an abandoned autumn baseball field would soon bring unwanted attention. Besides, I was feeling depressed. I would never be chairman of anything other than maybe a bowl of popcorn. I decided to go to bed.
I got up sometime between Wednesday and Saturday, somewhere between my room and the kitchen. I decided to hunt down Alan Boye, Curator of the Archaic at Lyndon State College. He had once regaled a class about the professor who had been buried on the campus and I figured that with his literary expertise on the ghoulish maybe he had interviewed the rock and gotten more. As a professional I was embarrassed with how the previous day had turned out.
I walked into the office, it was a mess. I was a mess though and nothing was lost in translation, we were on equal ground. A few papers pushed out of the way and Boye was handing over the documents, the history, the story and the man I needed: Toth.
The documents provided that not only had Toth come from Hungary but was involved in their attempted revolution to kick the Communists out in ’56. He fled to the United States that year seeing it as a “wonderland” and “land of opportunity” according to Toth’s daughter Erzsebet. These papers were being much more cooperative than that godforsaken rock and I was glad I had left it out in the cold.
Toth came to work at Lyndon in the fall semester of 1960 and joined the mathematics department before becoming its first chairman and is understood to have built up the major.
Toth died on November 25, 1968 as the result of a two-car collision on Route 5 in St. Johnsbury with the wish that he be buried on campus. Cremated, so his soul could be freed, his urn was interred in the grass that is now outside of the Alexander Twilight Theatre. At last he had found the peace and freedom that he had fought for a decade earlier.
This is not the end of our hero’s story though. After going out to the steel sculpture that now resides beside ATT and wandering around in the snow hoping not to look like a complete fool I discovered the truth.
Eight years after he had been interred, indeed during the construction of the very steel sculpture I now found myself sitting on, his urn and earthly remains were removed by the college and moved out to the hill between the Brown House and the baseball field.
At least Toth has the best view on campus now. My own view was all too morbid now. Too depressed – this freedom fighter, this esteemed academic, this honorable mathematician who had come half a world to LSC only to be moved – I decided to go find my intelligence and my lunch.
Haunted wheelchair: the real story.
Letter to the Editor :
The Halloween issue of the “Critic” contained an article about Emma Vail and the infamous wheelchair and I must add my two cents to the discussion of this beloved campus myth.
With deep respect for Alan Boye, I must make a correction to the information on the two Emma Vails. I refer to the book “In One Man’s Life” by Albert Bigelow Paine, a biography of Theodore N. Vail’s life, for the following. Theodore N. Vail did indeed have an older sister named Emma who was born in 1842. Vail married his cousin Emma Louise Righter on August 3rd, 1869.
In 1905 Mrs. Vail’s health was shaky but T.N. Vail was assured by her doctor that an upcoming trip to England could be taken without worry. The book continues, “Mrs. Vail, who at this time seemed better than usual, remained at Speedwell Farms, which she preferred to all other places….She died suddenly, February 3, 1905. Her husband, who had received no warning of the approaching change, arrived from England, a little more than a week later.” For those who don’t know, the current Vail building sits on the site of T.N. Vail’s mansion which was the centerpiece of Speedwell Farms.
The wheelchair was purchased in 1976 as a stage prop for the Twilight Players’ production “These Ruins are Inhabited” which was set in a nursing home. The revival of the show happened last year at Homecoming with the chair pressed back into service onstage. Dennis Koch, an alumnus and former employee of LSC, confirmed that he purchased the chair at a yard sale. The chair lived backstage in storage for many years. The stories that have been passed down of its adventures, along with the reported sightings of Emma’s ghost, were often centered in the theater. That must be where the supposition began that the chair was hers.
Pat Webster
LSC Library
The Halloween issue of the “Critic” contained an article about Emma Vail and the infamous wheelchair and I must add my two cents to the discussion of this beloved campus myth.
With deep respect for Alan Boye, I must make a correction to the information on the two Emma Vails. I refer to the book “In One Man’s Life” by Albert Bigelow Paine, a biography of Theodore N. Vail’s life, for the following. Theodore N. Vail did indeed have an older sister named Emma who was born in 1842. Vail married his cousin Emma Louise Righter on August 3rd, 1869.
In 1905 Mrs. Vail’s health was shaky but T.N. Vail was assured by her doctor that an upcoming trip to England could be taken without worry. The book continues, “Mrs. Vail, who at this time seemed better than usual, remained at Speedwell Farms, which she preferred to all other places….She died suddenly, February 3, 1905. Her husband, who had received no warning of the approaching change, arrived from England, a little more than a week later.” For those who don’t know, the current Vail building sits on the site of T.N. Vail’s mansion which was the centerpiece of Speedwell Farms.
The wheelchair was purchased in 1976 as a stage prop for the Twilight Players’ production “These Ruins are Inhabited” which was set in a nursing home. The revival of the show happened last year at Homecoming with the chair pressed back into service onstage. Dennis Koch, an alumnus and former employee of LSC, confirmed that he purchased the chair at a yard sale. The chair lived backstage in storage for many years. The stories that have been passed down of its adventures, along with the reported sightings of Emma’s ghost, were often centered in the theater. That must be where the supposition began that the chair was hers.
Pat Webster
LSC Library
Is there life after LSC?
David Lapham
Critic Staff
Students worry about paying off loans and finding jobs.
Are Lyndon State college students worried about employment after graduation in the current state of the United States economy?
“Yeah I am a little worried, I think that having a bachelors degree isn’t going to be worth it in this area money wise,” Michelle Emerson, Junior business administration major said.
According to a 2007 graduate survey report prepared by Linda Walcholder, Director of Career Services, 95 percent of students who responded (only 132 students) of Lyndon State’s 2007 graduates reported that they were either employed or were continuing their education. 92 percent of respondents reported that they either obtained employment or continued their education within 6 months.
Those numbers do not necessarily reflect the feelings of some of the current Lyndon State College graduating hopefuls.
Nate Taylor, business administration major graduating in May 2009, is worried that he may not find employment after graduation.
“I think it’s going to be hard to get a job in this area after graduation, I don’t think that companies are going to be as willing to hire people,” Taylor said.
Many students are fearful of what might happen to them when they graduate and have to pay back student loans. Walcholder advises: “This is not the time for students to be discouraged, because then effectively students are giving up before they attempt to obtain a job.”
Not all students are completely discouraged, Bob Thompson, Business administration major graduating in May 2009, feels confident in getting a job.
“The possibilities are out there, my concern is with the current economic situation and how it may be unfavorable at this time for those who only have a degree and lack experience.”
The job market in this shaky economy fosters competition, so, graduating students need to find creative avenues to display themselves and their skills.
Finding a job “isn’t just posting you’re resume on a few web sites, or walking the streets and just handing out resumes to random shopkeepers,” Walcholder said.
“During this economic downturn students really need to take advantage of all the job search techniques available to them to hunt for a job. That means networking, considering internships, presenting themselves well on paper, refining their interviewing skills, really taking advantage of researching the positions for which they apply and taking advantage of every opportunity open to them.”
Eric Durocher, business administrator majors and Music business industry minor graduating in May 2009 does not share the same uneasiness with finding work after graduation.
“I am not as concerned with finding a job, but I am concerned to find one I enjoy,” Durocher said.
While many students flock to the job market after they graduate, trying to scoop up available jobs, there are some students who are focused on a particular field.
Lindsay Siner, 2010, an undecided LSC student is concerned that she will not be able to make a living in her desired profession, and plans to leave LSC after one year to pursue a degree in dietetics and Nutrition.
“I would like to come back here, the North East Kingdom is special, but I don’t know how I would make a living if alternative healthcare doesn’t catch on,” Siner said.
Emily Comstock, a junior Natural science major who is a veterinary school hopeful is not very apprehensive as to whether or not she will find employment, “A lot of large animal vets in the kingdom are creeping closer to retirement age and in that sense some are looking for a new flock to come. “
Instead, she is concerned that she might not meet the heavy demands for large animal veterinary schools.
“Veterinary schools are 10 times more competitive than medical schools because there are only twenty eight schools in this country,” Comstock said.
As college freshmen and sophomores move toward graduation they might want to consider certain career paths which have been perpetually employing.
Alia Wedemeyer, class of 2010, Lyndon State student enrolled in Castleton State College’s Nursing program is not anxious about finding employment after graduation.
“I’m confident, nursing is an extremely in demand profession. The population in the U.S. is aging. Think baby boomer. It’s unfortunate, but with age comes health deterioration,” Wedemeyer said.
Critic Staff
Students worry about paying off loans and finding jobs.
Are Lyndon State college students worried about employment after graduation in the current state of the United States economy?
“Yeah I am a little worried, I think that having a bachelors degree isn’t going to be worth it in this area money wise,” Michelle Emerson, Junior business administration major said.
According to a 2007 graduate survey report prepared by Linda Walcholder, Director of Career Services, 95 percent of students who responded (only 132 students) of Lyndon State’s 2007 graduates reported that they were either employed or were continuing their education. 92 percent of respondents reported that they either obtained employment or continued their education within 6 months.
Those numbers do not necessarily reflect the feelings of some of the current Lyndon State College graduating hopefuls.
Nate Taylor, business administration major graduating in May 2009, is worried that he may not find employment after graduation.
“I think it’s going to be hard to get a job in this area after graduation, I don’t think that companies are going to be as willing to hire people,” Taylor said.
Many students are fearful of what might happen to them when they graduate and have to pay back student loans. Walcholder advises: “This is not the time for students to be discouraged, because then effectively students are giving up before they attempt to obtain a job.”
Not all students are completely discouraged, Bob Thompson, Business administration major graduating in May 2009, feels confident in getting a job.
“The possibilities are out there, my concern is with the current economic situation and how it may be unfavorable at this time for those who only have a degree and lack experience.”
The job market in this shaky economy fosters competition, so, graduating students need to find creative avenues to display themselves and their skills.
Finding a job “isn’t just posting you’re resume on a few web sites, or walking the streets and just handing out resumes to random shopkeepers,” Walcholder said.
“During this economic downturn students really need to take advantage of all the job search techniques available to them to hunt for a job. That means networking, considering internships, presenting themselves well on paper, refining their interviewing skills, really taking advantage of researching the positions for which they apply and taking advantage of every opportunity open to them.”
Eric Durocher, business administrator majors and Music business industry minor graduating in May 2009 does not share the same uneasiness with finding work after graduation.
“I am not as concerned with finding a job, but I am concerned to find one I enjoy,” Durocher said.
While many students flock to the job market after they graduate, trying to scoop up available jobs, there are some students who are focused on a particular field.
Lindsay Siner, 2010, an undecided LSC student is concerned that she will not be able to make a living in her desired profession, and plans to leave LSC after one year to pursue a degree in dietetics and Nutrition.
“I would like to come back here, the North East Kingdom is special, but I don’t know how I would make a living if alternative healthcare doesn’t catch on,” Siner said.
Emily Comstock, a junior Natural science major who is a veterinary school hopeful is not very apprehensive as to whether or not she will find employment, “A lot of large animal vets in the kingdom are creeping closer to retirement age and in that sense some are looking for a new flock to come. “
Instead, she is concerned that she might not meet the heavy demands for large animal veterinary schools.
“Veterinary schools are 10 times more competitive than medical schools because there are only twenty eight schools in this country,” Comstock said.
As college freshmen and sophomores move toward graduation they might want to consider certain career paths which have been perpetually employing.
Alia Wedemeyer, class of 2010, Lyndon State student enrolled in Castleton State College’s Nursing program is not anxious about finding employment after graduation.
“I’m confident, nursing is an extremely in demand profession. The population in the U.S. is aging. Think baby boomer. It’s unfortunate, but with age comes health deterioration,” Wedemeyer said.
Another internet line?
Eric Downing
Critic Staff
LSC pays for a second internet connection used only for emergencies.
Most students at Lyndon State College don’t know that there is another internet line into the college.
The extra line, which runs directly into the IT department instead of through Vail building like the normal line, has only a fraction of the other line’s speed. Whereas the line used by the campus community runs 30 megabits per second, this line, used only for emergencies, runs 1.5 megabits.
Being separate from the main network allows the emergency line to remain active, even when the other line is cut, such as when the network was down for six hours earlier this year. The line was put in two years ago in case of such an event. Chief Technology Officer Mike Dente estimated that it costs about $70 a month, compared to the $3500 a month cost to run the network across campus.
Only a couple of places on campus have access to the emergency line, which comes from Charter by way of a cable modem. This is because the line is used principally if the network across campus is having problems.
“If something happens to the main line…” Dente said, knocking on the wood of his desk.
The extra line is also used for testing the primary line. As it is completely separate from the normal line, using the emergency line to communicate with the primary line, it simulates what would happen if an outside computer were to communicate with the server.
Unlike the primary line, the emergency line works even when the power is out; this is because the line runs directly into IT. Although the servers in Vail run on a generator, students in the dorms can’t access the primary network in a blackout because that would require all the wiring closets that span the buildings to run on generators, which they do not.
Dente said that IT is looking into putting an access point in Vail so that one or two important people can use the line in the case of a network outage. In the meantime, though, Dente has a temporary solution in case the business office has to get something important done in a network outage.
“They can come here and work on my desk,” he said.
Critic Staff
LSC pays for a second internet connection used only for emergencies.
Most students at Lyndon State College don’t know that there is another internet line into the college.
The extra line, which runs directly into the IT department instead of through Vail building like the normal line, has only a fraction of the other line’s speed. Whereas the line used by the campus community runs 30 megabits per second, this line, used only for emergencies, runs 1.5 megabits.
Being separate from the main network allows the emergency line to remain active, even when the other line is cut, such as when the network was down for six hours earlier this year. The line was put in two years ago in case of such an event. Chief Technology Officer Mike Dente estimated that it costs about $70 a month, compared to the $3500 a month cost to run the network across campus.
Only a couple of places on campus have access to the emergency line, which comes from Charter by way of a cable modem. This is because the line is used principally if the network across campus is having problems.
“If something happens to the main line…” Dente said, knocking on the wood of his desk.
The extra line is also used for testing the primary line. As it is completely separate from the normal line, using the emergency line to communicate with the primary line, it simulates what would happen if an outside computer were to communicate with the server.
Unlike the primary line, the emergency line works even when the power is out; this is because the line runs directly into IT. Although the servers in Vail run on a generator, students in the dorms can’t access the primary network in a blackout because that would require all the wiring closets that span the buildings to run on generators, which they do not.
Dente said that IT is looking into putting an access point in Vail so that one or two important people can use the line in the case of a network outage. In the meantime, though, Dente has a temporary solution in case the business office has to get something important done in a network outage.
“They can come here and work on my desk,” he said.
Disaster drill prepares LSC students for the unexpected
Ben Holbrook
Critic Editor
Lyndon State College experienced a school shooting Saturday morning.
Dan Williams, professor of English, and Peggy Sherrer, professor of Psychology, ran their simulated disaster drill early Saturday. The disaster drill is part of a class, Responding to Psychological Trauma, that allows students the opportunity to experience what happens during a real emergency.
“I expanded my class to three credits this year to give students more training,” Sherrer said. “I wanted to give them a dynamic experience where there is chaos, unpredictability and make the students have to think on their feet.”
This year’s scenario involved a school shooting and a hostage situation. Students from both the human services and journalism majors were involved. The journalism students were required to leave campus in order to simulate how journalists would respond to such an emergency.
“I wanted to give them (journalism students) exposure to people who are suffering from trauma and dealing with officials who would be at a scene like that,” Williams said.
The whole scenario began around 9:30 a.m. with the shooter walking into a classroom in HAC where he shot the professor and a number of students before taking another student hostage. Soon after the shooting took place, emergency responders including state and local police and ambulance crews, began arriving on scene.
The simulation proceeded with emergency crews treating the wounded students, police began a search of the area to find the shooter, and the human service majors began evaluating and counseling the victims. The journalists who took part in the drill were scrambling around trying to get as much information from officials and victims as they could.
The entire drill lasted until about 1:30 p.m. before everybody was gathered to discuss the events of the day.
Although the drill was a success, there were still aspects of the drill that Sherrer and Williams want to change.
“I would love to involve professional, semi-professional and theater majors as actors,” Sherrer said. “They (professional actors) could help to psychologically prepare the volunteer actors.”
Williams also wants to make changes to the journalism portion of the drill.
“I’d like to involve professional journalists in the class,” Williams said, “because it’s the type of training that professionals need and often don’t get.”
Besides preparing for a real life emergency, the disaster drill also gave students the opportunity to interact with each other in a professional role.
“There’s a lot that happens when you put our students together,” Sherrer said. “I think the students gained a mutual respect towards each other’s role, my students learned that journalists aren’t just there to harass a victim, they are just doing their job.”
Responding to Psychological Trauma is offered during the fall semester.
Critic Editor
Lyndon State College experienced a school shooting Saturday morning.
Dan Williams, professor of English, and Peggy Sherrer, professor of Psychology, ran their simulated disaster drill early Saturday. The disaster drill is part of a class, Responding to Psychological Trauma, that allows students the opportunity to experience what happens during a real emergency.
“I expanded my class to three credits this year to give students more training,” Sherrer said. “I wanted to give them a dynamic experience where there is chaos, unpredictability and make the students have to think on their feet.”
This year’s scenario involved a school shooting and a hostage situation. Students from both the human services and journalism majors were involved. The journalism students were required to leave campus in order to simulate how journalists would respond to such an emergency.
“I wanted to give them (journalism students) exposure to people who are suffering from trauma and dealing with officials who would be at a scene like that,” Williams said.
The whole scenario began around 9:30 a.m. with the shooter walking into a classroom in HAC where he shot the professor and a number of students before taking another student hostage. Soon after the shooting took place, emergency responders including state and local police and ambulance crews, began arriving on scene.
The simulation proceeded with emergency crews treating the wounded students, police began a search of the area to find the shooter, and the human service majors began evaluating and counseling the victims. The journalists who took part in the drill were scrambling around trying to get as much information from officials and victims as they could.
The entire drill lasted until about 1:30 p.m. before everybody was gathered to discuss the events of the day.
Although the drill was a success, there were still aspects of the drill that Sherrer and Williams want to change.
“I would love to involve professional, semi-professional and theater majors as actors,” Sherrer said. “They (professional actors) could help to psychologically prepare the volunteer actors.”
Williams also wants to make changes to the journalism portion of the drill.
“I’d like to involve professional journalists in the class,” Williams said, “because it’s the type of training that professionals need and often don’t get.”
Besides preparing for a real life emergency, the disaster drill also gave students the opportunity to interact with each other in a professional role.
“There’s a lot that happens when you put our students together,” Sherrer said. “I think the students gained a mutual respect towards each other’s role, my students learned that journalists aren’t just there to harass a victim, they are just doing their job.”
Responding to Psychological Trauma is offered during the fall semester.
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