W ith Tunnel of Oppression coming

closer and closer with the passing

weeks, I wanted to go out and give the stu-

dents an idea of what Tunnel of Oppression

was truly about. To achieve this mission, I

went to Elizabeth Raterman, the Cultural

Chair of Alfred State College. She is one of

the leading forces in the coordination of the

Tunnel of Oppression program and a forerun-

ner in the nuts and bolts of the overall pro-

cess of getting the stories of the many stu-

dents out to the campus in an interactive and

intense way. In the time spent, I was able to

get a few of her thoughts about the idea of

what Tunnel of Oppression is. In her view, the

Tunnel of Oppression program is a program

that gives a means to the raising of awareness

of various types of oppression in the world.

For the past two years, the program has shed

light on many types of oppression ranging

from the most seriously viewed, like racism

and discrimination, to the most overlooked of

issues ranging from domestic abuse to the

human image. In these experiences, students

were given a tour through the tunnel, expos-

ing them to an intimately intense, close range

perspective of the situation, as portrayed by

the view of the students who crafted the

room. Ms. Raterman continued to comment

that the experiences were not only effective

for the student viewers, but for herself as

well. In her experience aiding in the creation

of the program, she found that each time she

helped with the Tunnel, she found that she

learned more with each run. In her perspec-

tive, it was eye opening to see the amount of

resilience that students who brought these

issues to the table have towards the realities

that they themselves have experienced in

some way, shape, or form. This idea was

birthed from the fact that most of the people

who have brought these issues to the table

were, in fact, survivors of such

oppression, which in turn makes

the experience more powerful for

the viewer to embrace. To delve a

bit further, I wanted to know her

opinion on the idea of why such

an intense experience would be

important for someone to em-

brace. In turn, Ms. Raterman' s

view of the reason why closely

correlated with the idea of under-

standing. The exposition of these

scenes are meant to give a means

of making a meaning of the situa-

tions at hand. Without knowledge

of the truth of the issues around

us all the time, how can we truly

have a understanding of these is-

sues and, from there, help some-

one who is going through those

issues? With the essence of un-

derstanding comes subsequent

growth. She also expressed what

she felt was best about this pro-

gram, in correlation with the

above stated idea. Within this

program, it is not faculty that is creating these

scenes, but students of our very campus. The

ideas portrayed are from the experiences of

students that we may pass each and every day,

and may never see the union with the issues

at hand that they carry. Considering this, Tun-

nel of Oppression serves as a voice to the

ideas that our fellow student body feels need

to be seen. I myself was involved with last

year's Tunnel of Oppression program as well.

I was an actor in one of the scenes, which fo-

cused on domestic abuse. As an actor, I had

experienced the ups and downs of having to

portray the scenes from a physical and emo-

tional standpoint. However, in all of the runs

of the scenes that we had done, I could feel

two existing essences floating about my per-

son. From one end, there was each and every

reaction to the ideas portrayed during the

scenes. I could hear people enter the room

with energy, and leave seemingly breathless,

having gained some sense of the situation that

domestic violence could be. From the other, I

found myself delving into the mindset of

someone who inflicts such pain on another,

and found myself learning more and more

about the truths of domestic violence with

each performance. Conclusively, I wanted to

bring light to the exhibition of Tunnel of Op-

pression in the Spring semester. The program

is a number of things, and each person,

whether they've been a part of it or has been

on the viewer's end, can tell you something

different. What will your experience be?

Ali Q. Moore

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Tunnel of Oppression will

be presented over February 4, 5, 6. There is still

time to volunteer and be a participant in the

2014 Tunnel of Oppression.

Tunnel of Oppression: What’s It All About?

T O

R

E C

H O

Tor Echo / Alfred State / Fall 2013 / Issue 4

2

By Kaylie Cytrowski

On Monday October 14, 2013 from 5:00pm until

7:00pm Mr. Tod Williams of Tod Williams Billie Tsien

Architects, gave a highly important lecture to all Archi-

tecture and Design students and staff, who overfilled

the Engineering room 215. The Tod Williams and Billie

Tsien website describes: “Tod Williams has been in

partnership with Billie Tsien since 1986. Their studio,

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, located in New

York City, focuses on work for institutions: museums,

schools and non-profits; organizations that value issues

of aspiration and meaning, timelessness and beauty.

Their buildings are carefully made and useful in ways

that speak to both efficiency and the spirit. A sense of

rootedness, light, texture, detail, and most of all expe-

rience are at the heart of what they build. Parallel to

their practice, Williams maintains an active teaching

career and lectures worldwide. Their long list of design

awards includes the 2013 AIA Architecture Firm

Award. Among their distinguished buildings are the

American Folk Art Museum, the Asia Society Hong

Kong Center, the David Ru-

benstein Atrium at Lincoln Cen-

ter, the Center for the Advance-

ment of Public Action at Benning-

ton College, the Cranbrook Na-

tatorium, the Neurosciences In-

stitute in La Jolla, CA, the Phoe-

nix Art Museum, the Reva and

David Logan Center for the Arts

at the University of Chicago, and

the new home for the Barnes

Foundation in Philadelphia.”

Tod starts off the lecture with a

poem called “Oysters” by the

famous poet Seamus Heaney. He

based his presentation

“Architecture is a noun” off of

this poem and left the students open to interpretation.

Then Tod began to lecture on how he designs. The

first thing he showed was what his office is like in New

York City next to Central Park. He displayed a photo

of how his firm works on a daily basis. In the photo the

desks were messy and functionally unorganized display-

ing everyday items like a persons running shoes as art.

He states that this way everyone feels comfortable in

the place that they work because it brings a piece of

them out. He then quoted a famous architect by saying

“We measure the value of our work by the quantity of

the lives lived in our buildings”. Then Tod began to

present his past architecture projects that he and his

firm have worked on. Some of his works included: The

Center for the Advancement of Public Action in Ben-

nington College in North Bennington, Vermont, Reva

and David Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago, Illi-

nois, The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylva-

nia, Tata Consultancy Services in Banyan Park in Mum-

bai, India, Lakeside Center in Prospect Park in New

York City and lastly was the Common Giardini in Ven-

ice, Italy. Most of the work that Tod presented was

emphasizing the naturist use of materials to make the

structure leave a long lasting impression for many years

after the architect has past away. He and his company

also strongly emphasized the idea of going green by

using materials that were scrap such as railroad track

and marble slabs that were scattered in pieces on a site

and construction so that there was very little waste.

For example for the Barnes he and his company de-

signed around the idea of “gallery in a garden” or

“garden in gallery” because of the high importance he

believed the landscape had an effect on the structure

and the way it made people feel. Also there was a lot

of green roof incorporation into these designs. Anoth-

er interesting aspect in Mr. William’s green designs was

that for Tata Consultancy Services in Banyan Park in

Mumbai, India he designed fenestration into the roof of

the pool area to let rain water in as a “Monsoon

Pool” (or rain fountain) because it rained so harshly

there that sometimes it reached up to 39 inches in a

day.

The philosophy of Tod Williams and

Billie Tsien Architects is: “We see ar-

chitecture as an act of profound opti-

mism. Its foundation lies in believing

that it is possible to make places on

the earth that can give a sense of grace

to life and believing that that matters. It

is what we have to give and it is what

we leave behind. “Students and faculty

of the Architecture and Design De-

partment learned an inspiring amount

from his lecture and were very thank-

ful for his insight. This was the pro-

found beginning to a stimulating learn-

ing experience for the Architecture

and Design lecture series given at Al-

fred State College.

Architect Tod Williams Visits Alfred

Professor Rex Simpson (left) talking with Tod Williams (center) and Professor

Mary Golden. Professor Simpson helped organize and advertise the meeting

along with Professor Golden who also helped to organize the reception.

3

SPOTLIGHT ON AN RA

Miracalle Taylor

Miracalle “Meme” Taylor is

the Head Resident Assistant

of Mackenzie North and a

native of Rochester, NY.

Meme, a junior in the Sports

Management program, is a

“die-hard” Philadelphia Ea-

gles fan, and plans on going

to graduate school for

Sports Media or Sports

Communications in the

hopes of one day becoming a

Broadcaster for ESPN. She

enjoys writing songs, danc-

ing, junk food, napping, and

watching reality television.

Meme works off campus part

time, is a Civic Connections

Coordinator, a tutor, and

Late Night assistant.

Why did you become an

RA?

“I wanted to act as a re-

source for those who found

it hard to adjust to college,

because I knew what it felt

like to be in that same posi-

tion as a freshman. Even as

an upperclassman I found it a

bit challenging to get com-

pletely comfortable with the

reality of being away from

home and all of my family

and friends. More than any-

thing else, I wanted to be a

leader.”

What her RD says…

“Miracalle “Meme” Taylor is

an outstanding RA. As one of

the HRAs of Mackenzie

North, she brings the staff of

15 RAs together for team

efforts. She oversaw the col-

laboration for North’s build-

ing-wide Midnight Breakfast

program, and, as an advisor

for North’s Hall Council, she

was instrumental in oversee-

ing the election of the new

executive board. She is hard-

working and reliable, and

these are just some of the

things that make Meme a

great RA.”

What have you gained from

being an RA?

“Being an RA is the most

fulfilling job that any young

adult and scholar can have

on campus. Not only does

this job title look amazing on

a resume, it also shows that

you have key qualities most

employers are looking for,

and that's individuals with

great interpersonal skills.”

What are your most

memorable RA experi-

ences?

“Getting to participate in

Alfred experience last se-

mester, attending the RA

Banquet and spending time

with all the other RAs in dif-

ferent buildings, and visiting

Kueka College during train-

ing to take part in a variety

of different ropes courses.”

Are you interested in becom-

ing more involved on-campus?

Wanting leadership opportu-

nities that will transform the

course of your Alfred experi-

ence? If so, you should consid-

er becoming a Resident Assis-

tant for Spring 2014! The Res-

ident Assistant position is one

of the highest student leader

positions a student can hold

while in college. Being an RA

equips you will skills, experi-

ences, and connections that

will improve your college ex-

perience, as well as prepare

you for your future career.

Many Resident Assistants hold

their jobs for more than one

semester because of the con-

nections they form and the

leadership experience they

gain.

The following are testimonials

from current RAs as to why

they hold their position:

“I am an RA because I enjoy

interacting with students and

programming with them. Be-

ing an RA has opened so many

doors for me, and I have

learned so much from the

experience. I do not regret

becoming an RA, and I will

continue to better the com-

munity on my floor and pro-

gram for the students not only

in my building, but for the

campus as well.”

-Alex Pacific (Former RA, now

employed by Gerster Trane

Heating and Cooling)

“I became an RA to become

involved in the building and

the campus. Becoming an RA

lets you become an integral

part of your building by host-

ing programs and building

community. You get to meet

new people and create new

relationships with your resi-

dents, your co-workers, your

boss and other people across

campus during your RA ca-

reer. There is no better tool I

have found for professional

networking on campus.” -Josh

Stellrecht (HRA, MacKenzie

East)

“The reason I became an RA

was to help people better

themselves. Knowing that

someone is entrusting you

with their troubles because

they know you are willing to

listen and help is what makes

the job worth it. I really en-

joyed being an RA and would

do it all over again if I had the

chance.”

-Mike Starr (Former HRA,

now employed by the Nation-

al Department of Defense)

“I became an RA to push my-

self to develop the personal

and interpersonal skills that

will be invaluable to me in my

life, and future career.” -

Michael Levandowski (Former

HRA, now employed by Re-

trotech)

“I am a Resident Assistant

because it gives me the op-

portunity to grow as a person

and help the community. Be-

ing an RA gives me the chance

to help residents but also to

get residents to take part in

their building. Becoming an

RA gets you out of your room

and breaks you out of your

shell.” -Adam Richardson

(Former HRA, now employed

by Zausmer, Frisch, Scruton &

Aggawarl Architecture Firm)

We want YOU to be a part of

the Residential Life team! If

you are interested in becom-

ing a Resident Assistant team

for Spring 2014, please speak

with a current Resident Assis-

tant, Residence Director, or

anyone in the Office of Resi-

dential Life.

Also, please attend the “Who

Wants to Be an RA?” Open

House on October 23, from

8pm-10pm. Each residence

hall will host the Open House

in their RA Office and will

have staff available to provide

information and answer any

questions.

The Resident Assistant appli-

cation can be found at: https://

my.alfredstate.edu/webform/ra

-application-form

How and Why to Become an RA Yourself

4

Dear Editor,

I am contacting you regarding

an issue I believe needs atten-

tion at the Alfred State Cam-

pus. Online learning has been

falsely labeled as easier than

traditional learning. Online

students face many difficulties,

some of which are out of

their control. They must work

harder to accomplish the

same goals as conventional

students. Even though online

classes are deemed easier,

online learning is more prob-

lematic than classic learning

because there is a lack of

communication between pro-

fessors and students, there

are various web-based difficul-

ties, and there is a greater

need for self-discipline and

dedication.

Communicating with

one’s professors is hard to

begin with, let alone in an

online atmosphere. A large

factor in communication is the

personal connection one

makes with another; this con-

nection is difficult to make

with online instructors. This is

especially true when they are

teaching other courses con-

currently with their online

courses; because of this, stu-

dents may feel left out or

abandoned. A prominent issue

in text communication is that

it is quite difficult to express

emotion through text. This

makes it almost impossible to

tell if someone is being sarcas-

tic or obnoxious or is feeling

depressed or joyful. In addi-

tion, there is generally little or

no policy regarding email

communications. This creates

the possibility of extensive

delays in responses from pro-

fessors and students. For ex-

ample, if a student emails his

or her instructor for assis-

tance with an assignment,

over a week before it is due,

he or she would expect an

answer prior to the due date.

This is not always the case!

How well are you communi-

cating with your online stu-

dents?

Online learners face a

unique challenge that tradi-

tional learners do not: web-

based difficulties. There are

often multiple websites that

one must have access to: one

site for general announce-

ments and posting assign-

ments, and another for the

submission and grading of the

assignments. If either of these

websites goes down, then stu-

dents are left in the dark.

Moreover, just because the

sites are available doesn't

mean the school network is

available. There are many rea-

sons that the school network

can be down: scheduled

maintenance, power outage,

or technical difficulties; one’s

home network is susceptible

to the same issues as the

school network. In addition, A

student’s home network can

also be completely removed

from the learning equation by

the inability to pay for inter-

net access. Furthermore, if

the internet connection drops

during an exam, then that ex-

am is graded upon the work

completed at the time the

internet connection was lost.

From this stems an issue that

is just as frustrating: the lack

of responses from technical

support personnel. Depending

on the type of issue, tech sup-

port response times vary from

hours to days. A delayed re-

sponse form tech support

regarding a website used for

assignments may be cata-

strophic to the student: the

ability to have and maintain an

internet connection is abso-

lutely critical to online learn-

ing.

The amount of dedication

and self-discipline required by

an online student is immense.

As compared to a traditional

student, an online student has

no classroom to report to.

While having no physical

classroom to go sit in is a nice

perk, it can quite easily lead to

excessive absenteeism. In ad-

dition to forgetting about the

attendance requirement, the

student may simply forget that

assignments are due. A tradi-

tional student has a constant

reminder that he or she is in

school, and assignments are

due. The largest factor in the

need for self-discipline as an

online student is his or her

"option" to buy his or her way

through the course. A student

can easily find a large variety

of papers or assignments on

the internet; he or she can

also merely pay an individual

to do the work for him or

her. One will find that online

students are more dedicated

to his or her education than

traditional students.

It is easy to mistake an

online class as less intense as a

traditional class. However,

there are many challenges that

a student must overcome to

be successful in online cours-

es: communication, access,

and motivation; extra effort is

required in order to mitigate

these challenges. One would

be wise to weigh the differ-

ences in online classes and

traditional classes against their

own abilities.

Sincerely,

Justin Kuhlman

Tor Echo welcomes letters. The

ideas and opinions expressed

are solely those of the writer, not

of Tor Echo or its editors.

Let

ter

to t

he

Edit

or

Challenges Faced by Online Learners

5

6

The posters have been up for weeks! The Rush

parties have been in full swing! Now the time

has come as all of Alfred State’s proud Brothers

and Sisters of Greek life commence with pledg-

ing season once again! The official pledging

date has been set as Sunday, October 20th. For

the next four weeks the pledges of Alfred State

will experience the unique bond that is Greek

brotherhood and sisterhood and what it means

to be Greek. Tor Echo wishes all of the houses:

Alpha Beta Chi, Alpha Sigma, Delta Chi Ome-

ga, Pi Nu Epsilon, Psi Sigma Psi, Kappa Sigma

Epsilon, Mu Theta, Pi Rho Zeta and Psi Delta

Omega and all of their respective pledges good

luck! Want more information? Pledge and find

out!

~ Editor-in-Chief

Josh Altemoos, President of the Student Senate, spoke to the Senate on Tuesday, October 15, about the importance of the student voice and student involvement on committees on campus. These are the committees, he said, that help shape and make decisions that affect everyday life here at Alfred State. Not every com-mittee, however, has a student repre-sentative. “These are very important po-sitions,” said Altemoos, “and as such stu-dents typically have a vote on each com-mittee. Because of the importance of these committees, Student Senate histor-ically has awarded 1 Column B point per committee to an organization each se-

mester for each committee a student sat on – that we had record of.”

Students are needed to fill these vacan-cies:

Alumni Council – Student Representative

College-Wide – Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

College-Wide - Student Health Advisory Committee

College-Wide - Student Health Advisory Committee

Faculty Senate - Academic Integrity (SAT)

Faculty Senate - Academic Integrity (SAT)

Faculty Senate - Budget & Planning

Altemoos asked students to come for-ward ASAP to sit on any of the com-mittees. He also said he would answer any questions regarding any of these committees. He can be reached at al-temojr@alfredstate.edu.