Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch

150 Honor Ioxus, Jim Jordan At Chamber Banquet

Friday, October 9, 2009

COOPERSTOWN

Ioxus COO Chad Hall, in left photo, accepts a state Senate proclamation honoring the Oneonta-based ultra-capacitator innovator at the Otsego County Chamber's 10th annual Small Business Banquet at The Otesaga last evening.
More than 150 people attended the banquet, where Ioxus received the chamber's Breakthrough Award and Jim Jordan Associates, the Richfield Springs architectural firm, received the Small Business Award.
In top photo, Hall pauses for a photo on The Otesaga's veranda with, from left, Leah Hall, Custom Electronics founder and Ioxus chairman Peter Duchowitz, and Thor Eilertsen, chief technical officer.
Ioxus, a spinoff of Custom Electronics, has begun producing the devices that connect a power source with its function -- a battery and the bulb, for instance -- while only slightly degrading the original power source. Future uses are anticipated for hybrid cars and to add efficiency to the National Grid.

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown Oneonta

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 10:09 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

A Marriage Of 2 Muses: Meeting Of True Minds Simply Happenstance

By JIM KEVLIN

COOPERSTOWN

Bob Schneider’s parents were businesspeople. Mom worked for IBM; dad had his own auto- and aircraft-upholstery business. They worked a lot, and outside of the house.
Susan Goetz’s family were artists. Dad’s studio was at home, and he had to clog the keyholes with Crayons to keep the neighborhood kids from peeking at the nude models.
So there was a bit of culture shock when she was hired in 1978 as a bartender at Bistro 22 in Beacon, where he was already a waiter, and she brought him home for the first time.
“There were all these people at the Goetzes’ house, always,” said Bob. “It was like being at a continuous cocktail party.”
From different starting points, Bob and Susan Goetz Schneider ended up in the same place, and have been together since that fateful day when they “immediately” discovered their common interest. (It was Bob’s birthday; hold that thought.)
They recently moved their studios and Cooperstown Art School back into the Key Bank building – the former Studio 54 building across the street had been sold – and continue, into a third decade, to pursue their joint vocation from the high-ceilinged and spacious offices that formerly housed the Leatherstocking Insurance Co. (now in Hartwick Seminary).
The difference is dramatic: Paintings now line the walls from floor to ceiling.
In Susan’s studio, one wall is paintings of artists who had a major influence on her. There’s
a portrait Lajos Markos, one teacher, did of her when she was 15. There’s a painting by her father, a delicate still life that, she remembers, took months to complete.
In his studio is on the building’s bright northeast corner – the daylight factory windows from its days the Arthur H. Crist Publishing Co.’s plant let in the north light artists’ covet – landscapes range from small oil sketches set on the top of the door frame to a large canvas on an easel.
At the time they met, Bob had enrolled at the Portland (Me.) School of Art and planned to attend that fall.
Susie was studying under Frank Mason at the venerable Art Students League in New York City – once-future greats from George Bellows to Georgia O’Keeffe studied there – and she talked Bob into joining her.
Bob was raised in what he describes as a “normal” family – although his father took up flying, and brother John became Bo Duke on “The Dukes of Hazzard” – in Katonah, Westchester County.
Growing up, he was always “the kid who could draw,” but art “didn’t look like a career path in my business-minded family.”
He visited the Rhode Island School of Design and Pratt, nonethelss, but was turned off by the exclusive focus on abstract painting. Instead, he got a SUNY Delhi hospitality degree, then spent a year in Atlanta with Hilton before refocusing on his first interest.
Susie’s father Robert was from Oklahoma. In New York City before World War II, he flirted with the coat-girl at the Arts Student League. She introduced him to a girlfriend. They soon began a four-year engagement as he went off to war, then married and six children followed.
Susie’s mother chafed in Oklahoma, and part of the deal was that the family spend the three summer months back in her hometown of Bedford. The father taught at the League in New York City and founded the Old Chatham Art School in Columbia County.
By 8, the daughter was attending her parents’ art classes, along with her brothers and sisters, four of whom grew into artists. The other two became scientists, but found artistic expression in music.
In the late ‘70s, Robert Goetz had students helping him renovate a barn into studio space, in exchange for art lessons, when Susie brought Bob home. Soon, father, daughter and future son-in-law were spending evenings painting views around the seven-acre property.
That fall, the couple studied painting together.
Bob calls teachers like Frank Mason “powerful personalities.” (The teacher once drew a streak of white paint across his student’s canvas to prove a point.) Susan calls them “titans.”
Unschooled, Bob learned “you have to work down from big pieces, rather than build from a lot of little pieces.”
Under the influence of the Hudson River School (and later American Impressionists), he turned to landscapes, attending Mason’s summer program in Stowe, Vt. Susan turned to portraits. Both remain on those tracks, although not exclusively, until today.
In 1983, their mentor painted “The Betrothed,” with the couple as models. In 1984, they married indeed, buying a big house in Beacon and – like her father before them – opening an art school, which they operated for a dozen years, and still maintain ties there with their students’ self-proclaimed High School School, after the school’s location.
For instance, Bob’s “Autumn Sunset: A View of the Hudson from Olana,” is on display in “An Enduring Influence: Eight Painters Inspired by the Hudson River School” at the A.S.K. Gallery, Kingston, through Oct. 31.
Susan’s longtime com-mission to do portraits of people awarded the West Point Class of 1931’s Sylvanus Thayer Award – the paintings hang in the Academy’s Lee Hall – extended to 2006, long after the Schneiders made Cooperstown their home. (Most of those portraits had to be done from photos, but Sandra Day O’Connor was among those who agreed to a sitting.)
As son Philip entered school, his parents – looking at private-school tuition and the cost of maintaining a big house in pricey Westchester County – began a place for our son to grow up.”
After a year in San Antonio, the couple moved to Stamford. That Valentine’s Day – Feb. 14 is Susie’s birthday – Bob bought tickets for the Susquehanna Ball, held at The Otesaga in the 1990s as part of the Cooperstown Winter Carnival.
He’d been to Cooperstown once as a boy; she, never. And since they knew no one, they were seated at the table with everybody else who knew no one. They met Sam Roth, who invited them back to visit him at Mohegan Lodge, and he showed them the sights.
They were entranced by everything Cooperstown had to offer, and moved up as soon as they could. (Son Philip graduated from CCS in 2008, and is studying fashion design – and, more recently, painting – at the Fashion Institute of Technology; he has gone painting a few times with his parents.)
As any couple in business together, the experience has ranged, no doubt, from high romance to high tension.
“I’m much more sales driven,” said Bob. “She’s much more aesthetics driven.”
She paints 8-12 hours a day; he much less. But he completes 60 canvasses a year; she’s been known to work on the same picture for three years, and has a half-dozen portraits in progress right now.
“It’s a good thing Bob’s in my life,” said Susie, “or I would starve to death.”

Labels: 10-16-09, The City of the Hills

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Weekend's Best Bets

For The Love Of Stargazing

Attention, stargazers.
Astronaut John Grunsfeld, who repaired the Hubble Space Telescope in outer space, will talk about his experience in a simulcast that can be viewed during an Enchanted Skies Star Party at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at Room 401, Johnstone Hall, Hartwick College, Oneonta.
The Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society is planning a similar party at 8:30 p.m. At the Waterville Public Library, and – weather permitting – will set up telescopes on the library lawn for stargazing.
For more details, check www.enchantedskies.org.

LUNCH, POLITICS: Barbara Bartoletti, the state League of Women Voters legislative director, will speak at a noon luncheon Saturday, Oct. 17, at The Otesaga, sponsored by the Cooperstown and Oneonta chapters. All are welcome. Lunch is $19.

RUN v. CANCER: The “One of Our Own” 5K Run/2 Mile Walk, steps off at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, from the Clark Sports Center, to benefit cancer victims. A kids’ fun run is at 10:15. A Brooks BBQ follows, noon-2 p.m.

ALL THAT JAZZ: John Jorgenson and his Gypsy Jazz Quintet opens the Cooperstown Concert Series season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at CCS’ Sterling Auditorium. Info, 547-1812.

WWII EXHIBIT: The opening reception for “Oneonta & World War II” A Salute to the Greatest Generation,” is 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the Oneonta History Center, 183 Main St.

ZITI, HAIRCUT: A Ziti Dinner/Hair-Cut-A-Thon is noon-3 p.m. Sunday at The zone, Ann Street, Richfield Springs. Dinner $5.50; haircut, $10; basket-bingo cards, $1.50 each.

Labels: 10-16-09, The City of the Hills, weekend's best bets

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

The Hills are Alive

Sam Goodyear

Among the multiple pleasures of participating in the performing arts, especially in our region where there are so many opportunities, one major benefit is the friendships forged with one’s fellow performers.
I have made numerous “best friends” in my appearances with Glimmerglass Opera, Orpheus Theatre, the Cooperstown Theatre Festival and Leatherstocking Theatre Company.
In the mid-1980s, I also was a member of the Catskill Choral Society. Weekly rehearsals were something I keenly anticipated, not only for the stimulation of the beautiful music we were working on, or the high quality of musicianship from conductor Thurston Dox and my fellow choristers, but also for the pleasure of checking in with my best friend in the tenor section.
Bob Groves had a soft-spoken cordial demeanor, a splendid sense of humor, and a ready laugh. Though we worked hard and concentrated fiercely on the music, I always felt like a junior high school kid on a Saturday in his presence. His taste for fun was infectious.
I also had the pleasure of performing with him in an Orpheus production of “Oklahoma!” When he was not treading the boards with that organization, he was masterfully running the busy box-office. He also had time to dazzle countless lucky citizens with his floral expertise.
I confess to tears when he and his wife Helen showed up at the opening of a solo exhihibtion of mine at the Smithy Pioneer Gallery one June afternoon many years ago. He was, in addition to everything else, truly loyal.
Bob died a few months ago, in his late ’80s, something of a miracle really, because he had had seriously dangerous bouts with heart disease for decades. Perhaps it was his figurative “good heart” that gave him a surcease on life. He is deeply missed.
But he will be celebrated when the Catskill Choral Society dedicates its first concert of the season to him at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, in the First United Methodist Church on Chestnut Street in Oneonta.
Music director Timothy Newton will conduct Franz Josef Haydn’s “Grosse Mariazeller Messe in C.” This will also mark the ensemble’s 40th consecutive year of superb music-making. Timothy Horne will officiate at the piano.
This particular mass is not as well known as some of the “standards” heard regularly throughout the land. All the more kudos to the Catskill Choral Society.

Labels: 10-16-09, Art Beat, The City of the Hills

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Erik Miller Will Do, Not Just Talk

To the Editor:
I’ve had the privilege of speaking to Erik Miller, who’s running for mayor of Oneonta.
He listened intently to my concerns, from filling vacancies within city government, addressing downtown economics/ development of city property, providing fenced dog parks, having the city focus on green energy.
I found him knowledgeable on the many issues facing our city. Having served on Common Council for two years, he can make city government more transparent, and has a solid plan to keep the city within budget, yet provide the services we expect.
We got a new ball park with the last mayor; coincidentally, his father owned the Oneonta Tigers. Listening to Dick Miller, I found myself wondering, do I want a mayor whose wife is running the Maple Street Consulting Group? The same group hired by the county for downtown economic development. Where is the transparency?
Ask yourselves, were vacant city positions filled? Were the problems of downtown economics/development solved? Were our streets, sidewalks, water-treatment plant and sewers repaired right the first time?
Do you want more of the same?
Erik Miller is a refreshing reprieve to the status quo plaguing Oneonta. He has a record of doing, not just talking. He represents the ordinary citizens who love this community and want to see it prosper into the future, not fall by the wayside as many Upstate communities have in recent years.
Erik Miller has the experience necessary to work in partnership with the citizens, businesses and Common Council; formulating and implementing new solutions that will lead to a brighter future for Oneonta should he become mayor.
He has my vote. I hope he will have yours on Nov. 3!

BARBARA JASS
Oneonta

Forces Seem Arrayed v. Health Care For All

To the Editor:
What do various factions debating health care have in common? Answer. Fear.
One faction wants to keep the status quo. They have Cadillac insurance policies and good health. They giggle at mention of “doughnut holes,” pre-existing conditions” and “death panels.”
Many are insurance executives, lauded for producing enormous profits for stockholders. Never would they insure a sick person. Their secret fear is that their gravy train may end and they and Congressional friends will be forced to travel on a less profitable track.
Then there are those who fear more government involvement in their lives. Would they consider doing away with government-run fire protection, police protection, veterans’ benefits and the postal system?
There are some who have health insurance but are still headed toward bankruptcy from paying medical bills, some who have had treatment refused or are stuck in jobs they hate because they don’t dare lose coverage.
They are fearful that what coverage they do have, however imperfect, will be tampered with by Congress and they could lose what they have. As a result some are noisy, downright mean, with their sloganeering .
Finally, there are those who want to make sure government knows that everyone is entitled to health care as good as what members of Congress receive.
They see insurance companies holding doctors and patients hostage, see refusal to insure as a criminal act, and wonder how insurance experts dare intrude into decisions that should be made by doctor and patient.
They fear that money-drenched members of Congress will again cave to corporate interests and produce nothing of substance instead of a practical everybody-in, nobody-out, affordable-for-all health-care system.

EARL CALLAHAN
New Berlin

Drilling Impacts, No Revenues!

To the Editor:
The Hometown Oneonta editorial on the proposed natural gas drilling regulations was spot on. The proposed regulations are a bad joke – totally inadequate when compared to those of other states.
An even bigger joke on New Yorkers is that there is no state severance tax on gas production. New York is one of only three states without such a direct tax on gas production.
So the residents won’t get adequate safeguards for their drinking water, and the state won’t get any revenue from the gas produced. What a deal!
CHIP NORTHRUP
Cooperstown

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown Oneonta, Hometown Views, Letter From The Editor

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

‘Lock And Ring.’ Ahh, Perfection: City Of Hills Sweet Adelines Striving For That Magic Moment

By JIM KEVLIN

By mid-morning, City of the Hills Sweet Adelines were holding their tongues. Literally.
Lori Snow, a voice coach from the Albany area, was making members of the 27-voice Oneonta chorus hold their tongues – literally – as they sang.
Linda Allen tried it. And Susan Perkins.
It’s common, Lori explained, for singers to tense up while they perform. Their tongues move to the back of their mouths, blocking the full expression of the vocal chords. Learning how to relax the tongue lets the sound out.
It was Saturday, Oct. 10. The Sweet Adelines had traveled up from their namesake City of the Hills the evening before to Pathfinder Lodge, a Baptist retreat on the east shore of Otsego Lake for a two-day retreat.
That Friday evening, they had trained with Lori Snow for three hours. Now, in the knotty-pine interior of the pavilion, its western wall all glass to optimize the view of James Fenimore Cooper’s Glimmerglass, they were training for a full day.
Jo Melmer, the retreat’s organizer, has been with the City of the Hills chorus since 1981, joining two years after “the girls” – “I guess I should call them, ‘the ladies’,” she said – had gotten together, and four years before the local group was issued its charter by Sweet Adelines International in 1985.
Since then, they’ve become a fixture of the Oneonta social scene, performing a capella music, all together or in groups of four or eight, some 20 times a year. Their semi-annual concert – last year, the theme was “100 Years of Song,” celebrating the city’s centennial – is much anticipated.
The trick to superb a capella singing, said Jo, is, “You have to match every vowel” – all the ladies strive to sing identically, no mean trick.
Lori Snow advised the chorus to get “The Julia Sound” – to sing in that hoity-toity way that Julia Child talked.
When the vowels coincide and are sung in “The Julia Sound” by all four parts – all Sweet Adelines music is in barber-shop style, four parts – you achieve an effect called “lock and ring.”
Then, said Jo, “you hear a fifth note an octave higher.”
It’s like a zen master striving for enlightenment.
“I hear it in our chorus now and then,” she said. “It’s a sound that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.”
Like a lot of big things, the Sweet Adelines started small: Founder Edna Mae Anderson gathered a few friends at her home in Tulsa, Okla., on Friday, July 13, 1945. Today there are 600 choruses around the world with 27,000 total members.
Later this month, Jo Melmer and her two sisters are planning to attend the Sweet Adeline International Convention in Nashville, where 33 choruses and 52 quartets will compete for top honors. (Competitions begin closer to home, and the City of the Hills chorus competes regionally every year; it has achieved third-place prizes despite its relatively small size.)
A highpoint of the weekend will be “The Largest Singing Lesson in the World,” planned the Saturday of the convention. A representative of the Guiness Book of World Records will be on hand to record the happening.

Labels: 10-16-09, Front Page, Hometown Oneonta, Sweet Adelines

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 1 comments

Bookmark this post with:

City of The Hills

3 Mayoral Candidates Will Debate
The three candidates for Oneonta mayor will debate at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Conference Center, sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
They are Dick Miller, Democrat; Erik Miller, Republican, and Jason Corrigan, independent.
Also, city judge candidates will read position statements.

SPA, BOUTIQUE: Karma Spa & Boutique’s grand opening is 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at 219-225 Main St. Mayor John Nader will cut the ceremonial ribbon at 5:15 p.m. The owners are Gina Tarbell and Erin Muller.

COLLEGE UPDATE: The College Council of SUNY Oneonta will meet at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, in the Morris Conference Center. President Nancy Kleniewski will deliver a report on the College.

CROP WALK: The Interfaith Ministries group in Oneonta will host a Crop Walk to raise money to fight hunger at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. The one- and three-mile walks both begin at the Salvation Army Church, 25 River St. The goal this year is have 300 walkers, 600 feet, and raise $6,000.

Labels: 10-16-09, City of the Hills, Front Page, Hometown Oneonta

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

HOMETOWN Views

Oneonta IS Music Capital Of Upstate New York. Brand It!

It was a powerful, joyful sound.
If you were standing in front of the risers at Pathfinder Lodge on Otsego Lake, the back of your neck would have tingled as you listened to the City of the Hills Sweet Adelines, on a weekend retreat with a voice coach.
The Adelines are just one powerful note in Oneonta’s ongoing celebratory symphony of art in all guises.
•
Why shouldn’t Oneonta be a Nashville North, a Spoleto on the Susquehanna or some such?
Dance. Jacey Lambros is a Rockette. Carleigh Bettiol is seeking fame and fortune on Broadway. The Terps. The Decker Dance Studio and its annual “Nutcracker.” The Oneonta Dance Center.
Music. The legacy of the late Al Gallodoro and his famed sax. Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles” creator. Larry Santos of “Candy Girl” fame. The Catskill Symphony. The Catskill Choral Society. The Little Delaware Youth Ensemble. The Oneonta Community Concert Band. NIZZ-miff.
There’s also something very current, very today, about the local music scene: Lets Tokyo, Kakiat Park, 20 Grand and The Funk Band are SUNY spinoffs that can be heard regularly at the General Clinton Pub and other local venues. And longstanding groups, from Little Stevie’s latest, Chemical Pumpkin, to Reservoir Road.
Theatre. Orpheus. Foothills. Franklin Stage. The Oneonta cinema.
Art. U-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-A, (which is actually considering a name change.) B. Sharp Gallery. The annual City of the Hills Arts Festival. The Art Gallery at SUNY Oneonta. Hartwick’s Yager Museum. Arc Otsego’s brilliant Main View Gallery. Jack Beal. Otego’s Irwin Hollander, who did print work for Motherwell and the Abstract Expressionists. Richard Walker of Schenevus. There are dozens, if not hundreds of painters, sculptors, fine photographers and movie makers within a 30-mile radius of Oneonta.
Add in SUNY Oneonta’s music industry department, which has 600 majors studying production, performance or the business of music at any one time.
Oneonta is an arts center that’s simmering, simmering, waiting to be brought to a boil.
•
The just-launched initiative to “brand” Oneonta may be just that opportunity. Branding is not making something up out of whole cloth; it’s distilling what’s already there and repackaging it, if you will, in an exciting way.
Oneonta, The Hills Are Alive. Or Oneonta, The Sound of Music. Or Oneonta, Broadway Upstate.
Some such branding campaign would pull together all the elements that people outside of the city perceive – weakly – about Oneonta: It’s a college town set amid great natural beauty with a small-town atmosphere and a historic ambience.
And it weds those concepts with a reality that is little perceived: How Oneonta is teeming with creative expression.
Folding in Glimmerglass Opera, the Cooperstown Chamber Festival and other activities around Otsego Lake would only strengthen the franchise.
You wouldn’t even have to organize any special programming – it’s already here, every weekend, and many days in between in the many, many venues.
Arts as a draw would not only assure such ventures as the Foothills Performing Arts Center and the Oneonta Theater revival, it would buoy the hotels, restaurants and downtown revival generally.
Let’s go for it.

Oneonta, Madison Square Garden? Beautiful Harmony

Beyond branding, here’s a good first project for “Oneonta, The Hills Are Alive” campaign.
Madison Square Garden Enterprises is trying to force a Bonaroo-like mega music fest on tiny East Springfield, up on the Montgomery County line.
One of the many lovely venues around Oneonta would be much preferable, in terms of community benefit, fan/customer access, and synergy.
SUNY Oneonta’s music-industry department’s 600 majors would provide a ready workforce. Oneonta’s music-related brand and MSGE’s corporate intent would be mutually supportive.
SUNY and Hartwick Presidents Kleniewski and Drugovich, City Hall’s downtown consultant Dick Miller, county Tourism and Economic Development czars Taylor and Lewis, and the Otsego Chamber’s Rob Robinson should find a site, prepare a proposal and present it to MSGE’s high priests.
The East Springfield plan is on hold until the economy rebounds, so there’s time to act, and act we should.

Labels: 10-16-09, Editorial, Hometown Oneonta

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Hartwick Undeterred In Adversity

Editor’s Note: Here are excerpts from the “State of the College Address” delivered by Hartwick President Margaret L. Drugovich on Thursday. Oct. 8.

2008-2009 was a good year for Hartwick College. This might be a surprising statement, given the turmoil in the economy and the challenges faced by every sector, including higher education.
I have often said, if you have to run like a dog, you might as well in front of the pack.
Run we did, and Hartwick College led in some remarkable ways.
We sharpened our focus by creating an organizing principle that helped us keep our eye on our true north: being the best at melding a liberal arts education with experiential learning.
This planning helped us to isolate and ask the questions that are critical to our future success.
Our students achieved remarkable success, proving our ability to deliver on our promises.
Examples include:
• Miranda Lahr, who was selected for an assistantship in France, where she is teaching in the English program at the University of Nice.
• Lexy Fowler, who received the highly competitive Angelo Tagliacozzo Memorial Geological Scholarship, which allowed her to travel to the Bahamas to study ancient corals in a fossil reef.
• Ryan Twardowski, who was one of only 10 students worldwide awarded a 2009 fellowship from Sigma Beta Delta, the International Honor Society for Business, Management, and Administration.
Our faculty achieved notable success. Evidence of this can of course be seen in the development of our students.
Examples of achievement outside of the classroom include:
• Brent Delanoy, whose novella, “Benediction,” won the A.E. Coppard Prize and was published by White Eagle Coffee Store Press, and his short story, “A Flock of Birds, Thick” was published in May’s issue of decomP magazine.
• Katherine O’Donnell, whose “Weaving Transnational Solidarity: From the Catskills to Chiapas and Beyond” was published by by Brill Press in The Netherlands (in press).
• Susan Young, who was was awarded the 2009 ACS Distinguished Teacher award by the Binghamton Section of the American Chemical Society.
• Peter Wallace, who was awarded a highly selective fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Others recognized our strengths. “2010 Fiske Guide to Colleges” noted Hartwick to be one of the 330 best and most interesting U.S. colleges and universities.
Forbes magazine and the Center for College Affordability & Productivity ranked Hartwick number 362nd out of more than 4,000 college campuses nationwide, based on quality of education, student experience, and student achievement.
“The Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange 2008” ranked Hartwick second nationwide in the percentage of students who study abroad among schools likes ours.
The Princeton Review “2010 Best Colleges in the Northeast” listed Hartwick among 217 outstanding educational institutions for our excellent academic program.
And in Washington Monthly’s “College Rankings: What Can College’s Do For The Country?” Hartwick was recognized for its contributions to the public good, commitment to social mobility, research and services.
And we took the lead by establishing the three-year-degree program, which remains one of the only programs of its kind in the U.S. This was the right thing to do for our talented students, and their families.
We will celebrate the success of our first group of talented three year degree students who entered the college this fall.
We met the financial challenge by cutting our expenses and reducing our draw from the endowment to record levels so that we could invest another day, all the while remaining committed to the quality of the academic program, and to assisting our students with the cost of their Hartwick education.
We did the right thing by remaining committed to access.
There will be challenges to come. Challenges amplified by uncertainty. To meet them we will Think. Plan. And act.
At my inauguration just one year ago I offered the following thoughts:
“We are learners – all of us, all the time – students of tradition and of innovation – students of the tangible and of the elusive – students of success and of failure – students of compromise and of commitment – students of the past and of the present.
“It is in this most important role – as learner – that we create, we contribute, we build, we add.
“We question, we collaborate, we re-evaluate. We must.
“We reshape. We must.
“We define our collective future. We must.”
Now, after a year, I can add these two words with confidence: We will.

Vince Foti Sr. Among SUNY HoF Honorees

Retired dean Vince Foti Sr., who played on SUNY Oneonta’s first soccer team, and Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Farber will be among six honorees who will inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Dewar Arena during Homecoming Weekend.
Also to be inducted are former coach Hurley “Mac” McLean, and former SUNY Oneonta athletes Werner Kluefer ’71, Allison Weller ’00 and Mike Baran ’72.
This will be Oneonta’s 11th class of honorees and will bring the total number to 91 individuals, plus four teams of distinction.
Later that day, two alumni and two retired faculty members will be inducted into the Music Department Hall of Fame at 1 p.m. at Goodrich Theater.
Alumni Rosemary Summers, ‘77, and Scott Miller, ‘88, will join Carlton Clay and Charles Burnsworth as the 2009 induction class.

Labels: 10-16-09, Guest Column, Hometown Oneonta, Hometown Views, Margaret L. Drugovich

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Local Actors Star In Short Film, To Be Debuted At Foothills

Bearing Bad Tidings, a short film, will have its big screen debut at the Foothills Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The film, produced by Craig Hook of The Mock Films, California, was filmed and edited by Bob Murdock II, originally of Hartwick, now liveing in Syracuse.
This summer Murdock wrangled Steve Dillon, a friend and actor living in Oneonta, and a few family members to star in the film. He choose his property in Hartwick to be the set.
“Hartwick doubled for California. Bob owns land with waterfalls and fields, so it worked pretty well,” said Dillon, who is known locally for roles in Orpheus and Foothills productions as well as for his “Art a la Cart” arts and entertainment calendar radio show on Sundays on WZOZ.
When not acting, Dillon works at Central New York Radio as an account representative.
Dillon describes the film as a dark comedy and satirical look at greed. It is set in the 1800s during the gold rush, but it foreshadows the economic downfall of current times.
Other local personalities in the film include Murdock’s father Bob, of Hartwick, Tom Winne of the Cooperstown area, Murdock’s brother Dan, who lives in Jordanville and his other brother Ben’s band, the Tremperskill Boys.featured.
, out of the Andes area, provided the musical score.
The debut at the Foothills will include a screening of film, a Q&A session, an outtakes reel and a live performance from the Tremperskill Boys. Admission is $5 to benefit the Foothills and a cash bar will be available.
They hope to have at least a few more local screenings of the movie.

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown Oneonta, Hometown People

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

HOMETOWN Sports

Team Of Heart And Poise

CHRIS McSWIGGIN
SPORTS BEAT

Coming into their game last Friday night against hated rival Norwich, OHS had put up at least 40 points in each of their last three contests. Like the old proverb says, all good things must come to an end; that stood oh-so-true Friday night. Oneonta was taken completely out of their element by the Purple Tornadoes, and weren’t able to execute anything offensively. They now drop to 1-1 in the division, with Norwich moving to a staggering 3-0. They are 3-3 overall now, and their hopes at a division title are slipping slowly away. Their hopes at a postseason may be over too, unless they get a little help.
Lets hash this big mess out. Oneonta needs to win out vs. Chenango Valley and Windsor and they need Valley or Windsor to beat Norwich. None of it matters if they don’t win out, however if they do things can get really interesting. Oneonta found themselves in a situation where their destiny wasn’t in their own hands last year, and it wasn’t fun. This year team has a chance to finish with a winning record and still not make the playoffs.
“We played hard, there is no question about that” said OHS assistant coach Dave Bishop, “we played hard we just didn’t execute. It is as simple as that. I don’t think anyone who saw the game can deny that we did play hard.” The humbling 30-14 score would indicate otherwise to some who may not have been there, but this Oneonta team has heart and poise. Their final home game is this weekend against Chenango Valley, and it is their opportunity to shine. A win here and a win against Windsor will mean they just have to play the waiting game; a game that can be devastating to your nerves. However, a loss this weekend will bind OHS to yet another cross over game, in which they lost last year to Vestal. This will be the final home game as a high schooler for Senior QB Dan Broe, and it is up to him to make it memorable.
This is the ultimate sting or get stung situation.

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown Oneonta, Hometown Sports

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

IN MEMORIAM

Raymond Rainville, 69; Overcame Blindness To Excel As Professor

ONEONTA – Raymond E. Rainville, 69, who overcame blindness to become a distinguished psychology professor at SUNY Oneonta, died of ALS and throat cancer at his home on Sunday evening, Oct. 4, surrounded by his wife and three children.
Ray was born in Manchester, N.H., on Aug. 29, 1940, son of Ernest O. (Joe) and Claire Rainville. He was raised on Kimball Street in Suncook, N.H., and graduated from Bishop Bradley High School in Manchester in 1959.
He attended the University of New Hampshire in Durham, graduating with a B.A. degree in political science in 1963. After graduation, Ray worked at the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center as a teacher and counselor. After surgery for the treatment of glaucoma left him permanently blinded in 1965, he returned to the UNH where he obtained a master’s in 1968 and a Ph.D. in 1971.
On Sept. 1, 1967, Ray married Barbara Mudarri at the St. John of Damascus Church in Boston. They lived in Durham until August 1970, when he accepted a position of professor of psychology at SUNY Oneonta.
Early in his career at the college, he developed and taught a course on sleep and dreams. In 1972, he was awarded a Letter of Commendation for Innovation in the Teaching of Psychology by the American Psychological Association.
In 1974, Raymond received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1992, the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association granted him a faculty award for superior performance.
He was a dedicated teacher for 39 years until his retirement in September 2009.
During a sabbatical leave from the college, the family spent two years in Onset, Mass., where Ray worked as clinical director for the Wareham Area Counseling Service.
Upon his return to Oneonta, he opened a private clinical psychotherapy practice, which he operated from 1980 to 1998.
Throughout his career, he published many papers, and he authored “Dreams Across the Life Span,” published by American Press in 1988.
A research paper, “A Contemporary Look at College Students’ Dreams,” appeared in the September issue of Dreaming, the Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams.
Ray was a loving husband, father, grandfather, dedicated teacher and devoted friend. His distinctive personality, sharp wit and warm spirit endeared him to all. Ray was an avid reader who enjoyed debating politics, history, philosophy and science. He loved downhill skiing, camping, beaches, swimming and cycling on a tandem bicycle.
In addition to his wife of 42 years, Ray is survived by his three children, Michelle Thomson and her husband Alex of Buffalo, Marc Rainville of Phoenix, Ariz., and Laura Rainville and her husband Timothy Potts of Berkeley, Calif. His five grandchildren are: Hunter, Evelyn and Mackenzie Thomson, Sophia Rainville and Diego Potts. He is also survived by two brothers: Gene Rainville and his wife Margaret of Bluffton, S.C., and Richard Rainville of Tampa, Fla.
A memorial service was held Monday, Oct. 12, at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta.
Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.

George Cuyler, 87; Operated Mid-City Service Station

ONEONTA – George W. Cuyler Jr., 87, died Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009, at his home, surrounded by family, after an extended illness.
George was born Aug. 17, 1922, in Stuyvesant, to Harriet (Best) and George W. Cuyler, and attended Kinderhook schools. He served the Army Air Force during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1943.
Coming to Oneonta as a surveyor with the D&H Railroad, he met Wava L. Hatcher and they were married at St. James Episcopal Church on Thanksgiving Day 1944.
George operated the Mid-City Service Station on Main Street. He then worked as an area salesman for the Sunshine Biscuit Co. for more than 20 years, before joining SUNY Oneonta’s Maintenance and Operations Center, from which he retired in 1986.
George was a life member of the Oneonta Lodge BPOE 1312. He loved cars and enjoyed many happy summers with his family boating on Otsego Lake.
In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his sister, Gladys Puckett, in 1999.
George is survived by his wife of 64 years; three sons, G. William (Denise) of Oneonta, Christopher (Jackie) of Amissville, Va., David of Dover, Del., and a daughter, Alison (James Seymour) of Glenville; grandchildren Jacqueline (Chris) Jones of Schenectady, Karen (Tom) Oliver of Oneonta, Diane Cuyler of Amherst, Michael (Chieko) Cuyler of Bristow, Va., Daniel Seymour of Ballston Lake, and Daniel and Dylan Cuyler of Dover, Del.; great-grandchildren, Christina and Abigail Jones, Clark Oliver, and Kosei, May Elizabeth and Anika Cooper Cuyler; and several nieces and nephews.
To honor George’s wishes, there were no calling hours. A service to celebrate his life took place at St. James’ Episcopal Church, Tuesday Oct. 13, with his interment, with military honors, in the church’s columbarium.

Carol Fuller, 67; Realty Executive

ONEONTA – Carol A. Fuller, 67, of West Oneonta, a former banker and Board of Realtors executive, passed away on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, at the Fox Hospital.
Carol was born on April 4, 1942, in Oneonta, the daughter of Michael and Nellie (Morzillo) Cannistra. She married Donald C. Fuller on June 17, 1961.
Carol worked as an office manager for Wachovia Securities in Oneonta until she retired in 2006. Prior to that she was executive officer for the Otsego/Delaware/Schoharie Board of Realtors. For 25 years she was a dental assistant for Dr. Sam Pondolfino.
Carol was a member of St. Mary’s Church. She was an avid golfer and in the Oneonta County Club.
Carol is survived by her husband of 48 years; her sister, Pat Conway and husband, Al, of Oneonta. Also, nieces and their husbands, Kristin and Christopher Twomey of Biddeford, Maine, Kathy and D.J. Stein of Otego, and Kim and Jay Frazier of Oneonta; her five grandnephews and one grandniece, Casey and Cameron Twomey, Tyler and Nicholas Stein, and Jackson and Makenna Frazier; her sister-in-law, Joan Fuller of Otego, and several cousins.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Catskill Area Hospice, 1 Birchwood Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Arrangements are by the Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, Oneonta.

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown Oneonta, In Memoriam, Obituaries

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

HOMETOWN History

125 Years Ago
Harvey Beams and W.H. Baker were last week sentenced by Judge Scramling to two years and six months each at Auburn prison for the brutal assault upon Wm. Knapp, near Colliersville, some months since. The convicts are members of the Baker Hill gang – men, who though not naturally unruly or disorderly when sober, are quarrelsome and dangerous when filled with the poor whiskey in which they freely indulge. It is to be hoped that both themselves and others of the gang will profit by their bitter experience.
October 1884

100 Years Ago
The Local News – Packer & Sherman have just received a new undertakers’ wagon which rivals the best in use anywhere. The wagon is of the low-down city type, has solid rubber tires and is most convenient in construction and handsome in appearance. Reserved seat tickets for Paul Gilmore’s elaborate production of the comedy-drama “The Call of the North,” under the direction of A.J. Spencer go on sale Saturday at the Oneonta Theatre. Written by George Broadhurst and based on Stewart Edward White’s novel “Conjuror’s House,” the new play has its locale in the historic Hudson Bay Company’s territory in Northern Canada. A large audience, embracing besides members of the Christian Science church many other residents of Oneonta, listened with close attention to an able and scholarly address given at Municipal Hall by Frank H. Leonard, C.S.B., of Brooklyn, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship. Mr. Leonard impressively told of his own healing when suffering from a supposedly incurable organic disease.
October 1909

80 Years Ago
In recognition of his devotion and services to Masonry in New York State and his interest in the children who are wards of his fraternity in the Masonic Home at Utica, the Hon. Charles Smith of Oneonta will be honored Saturday, October 19, at 2 p.m. when a building at the Masonic Home will be named the Charles Smith Children’s Hospital. Large delegations from many Masonic Lodges in the Otsego-Schoharie district are expected to attend as well as officers from the Grand Lodge and many prominent Masons from around the state ... Mr. Smith is without doubt the most prominent Mason in this part of the state having served 14 years as an officer of the Grand Lodge culminating in his elevation to the office of Grand Master of the Masons in New York State in 1912-1913.
October 1929

60 Years Ago
“One out of every eight or nine persons employed in the United States today is a government worker.” This startling statement is the first line of Solomon Fabricant’s statistical study titled “The Rising Trend of Government Employment” issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Altogether, a total of 6,000,000 adults are employed by “federal, state, and local governments, including school and other ‘districts,’ and government enterprises and corporations. Among these employees are members of the armed forces as well as civilians, and unclassified and temporary employees as well as civil service appointees. In 1900 these units employed about 1,000,000 persons.
October 1949

40 Years Ago
Students from both Oneonta colleges left their respective campuses on foot and in cars yesterday to spread the peace message of the Vietnam Way Moratorium to surrounding communities. When the day was done the students had collected an estimated 5,000 signatures on petitions calling for peace in Vietnam and an end to the war. The day began with prayers and meditation in a 24-hour vigil at the recently dedicated Chapel House at Hartwick College and ended in a similar fashion. During the day, more than 400 students, faculty and clergy attended a secular convocation on the quadrangle at SUCO. A Mass for Peace at St. Mary’s Church was attended by an estimated 1,000 people, many of them students and faculty, a gathering some said was the largest ever assembled in the church.
October 1969

20 Years Ago
The Motion Picture Academy’s award-winning film for the Best Foreign Film titled “The Official Story,” will be shown at the State University College at Oneonta on Tuesday. Introductory remarks will be made by Dr. Carl Meacham of the Political Science Department. “The Official Story” examines the social and psychological trauma of the recent history of Argentina’s dictatorship when many people were kidnapped and tortured by right-wing death squads and then vanished without a trace.
October 1989

10 Years Ago
Last Thursday, October 7, Lt. Governor Mary O. Donohue, chair of the Governor’s Task Force on School Violence, announced a wide-ranging series of recommendations aimed at preventing violence in schools. “Our state’s future hinges on our ability to provide our children with a solid education,” said Donohue, a former district attorney, state Supreme Court judge and teacher.
October 1999

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown History, Hometown Views

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Hometown People

New Allstate Office Opens in Oneonta
Allstate Insurance has opened of a new office in Oneonta, the Koffer-Schultz Agency, located at 739 Street Highway 28. It is independently owned and operated by agent Kathleen Koffer.
“We’re committed to helping Oneonta residents protect the things that are important to them, whether it’s their car, life, home or business,” says Koffer, who worked in the insurance industry for the past seven years.
She resides with her husband and four children in Cooperstown, and serves as a soccer coach and Brownie Girl Scout leader in her spare time.

RETURNING: Lindsay Meehan has been named communications and marketing manager for the Mirabito Family of Companies. Meehan is a graduate of Sidney High School and Virginia Tech. She returns to Mirabito where she served as marketing manager from 2006 until 2007. She has served in the Executive Press Office of the Governor of Florida, and most recently, as a program coordinator and health care services coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Central New York.

SUNY WRESTLERS RAISE $3,000:

Serving as the kick-off to the its 50th season as a varsity sport, the SUNY Oneonta wrestling team raised a total of $3,076 for the Pit Run – a new record for the team, greatly surpassing last years record of just over $2,300. The team tradition encourages the men to get involved with the local community by supporting a great cause. Participating in the event are, from left, first row: Coach Ritter, M. Croft, A. Stroh, F. Provanzano, J. Yarosh, J. Hauser; second : Z. Crain, A. Destefano, A. Cabibbo, R. Benigno, D. Conant, A. Guillaume; third (kneeling): E. Galvin, M. DiOrio; fourth (Standing) : J. Davy, D. Staulters, E. Simmons, N. Fedorov, D. Broughton, D. Gallucio, E. Stortecky, J. Neal, M. Gregg, J. Lomonica, Coach Cooper; fifth: D. Waldeck, M. Kurey, J. Joseph, JP. Sala, M. Lorenz, B. Piarulli, M. Eberlien, J. Dewey, P. Gatto, S. Sprouse, S. Karandy; Back: K. Stafford, C. Wade, J. Wake, J. Tripp and J. Rocha.

Naomi Duncan, John Grigoli
To Wed April 17, 2010.

Professors Honored for Compassion:
Dr. Alison Black and Ms. Jane Miller of the Elementary Education and Reading Department at the SUNY College at Oneonta recently received the annual 2009 Ashok Kumar Malhotra Seva (Compassionate Service) Faculty Award. Black and Miller delivered the 2009 Malhotra Seva Lecture, an address entitled “Literacy Opening Doors to the Community and to the World,” on Thursday, Oct. 8, in the Craven Lounge of the Morris Conference Center.
In their presentation, the faculty members discussed two programs – Reach Out And Read (ROAR) and Heifer International – that they have used to take their students’ learning beyond the classroom in their Reading and Literacy course.
Alison Black, who holds a doctorate from Syracuse University, has been a member of the SUNY Oneonta faculty since 1995. She taught previously at Syracuse University.
Jane Miller holds a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Oneonta and a master’s from SUNY New Paltz. She has taught at SUNY Oneonta since 1996 and worked for many years as a reading teacher at Franklin Central school.

Governor Appoints Young To Council:
John Henry Young, Oneonta Job Corps Center director, has been appointed to the SUNY Oneonta College Council, Gov. David Paterson’s office announced.
His term will run through June 30, 2011.
Since 1976, Young has worked has directed jobs centers in Callicoon, Albany, Ga., McKinney, Texas, Pisgah Forest, N.C., Frenchburg, Kent., Brooklyn, and Puxico, Mo. Previously, he was a ranger with the National Park Service.
He is a graduate of Midwestern University in Texas, where he was an All-American basketball player and captain of the university’s basketball team.
He replaces Daniel Curran, who resigned from the council last year.

Labels: 10-16-09, Hometown People

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Mongillo Is Oneonta Italian-American Of ’09

By LAURA COX

And the award for Oneonta Italian American Citizen of the Year goes to…Antonio (Tony) Mongillo.
The Oneonta Italian-American Club honored the Oneonta mainstay at its annual Columbus Day Dinner-Dance Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Foothills Performing Arts Center.
“I am very pleased and privileged to get it,” said Mongillo, whose generosity with his drawings of Oneonta’s railroad heritage has made him many fast friends. “Never in my life did I think they’d pick me for it.” But Joe Pondolfino Jr., club vice president and longtime friend of Tony’s, said otherwise: “He is the epitome of Italian heritage. He had Italian parents and grew up in the Sixth Ward. He gives lot of himself to the community and is involved in a lot of things people don’t know about.”

A unique aspect of Mongillo’s character is his random expressions of caring. If he reads an article about a good deed anywhere in the country or sees such a report on TV, he will send the Good Samaritan a hand-drawn card, expressing his good wishes.

“About 50-60 percent of the people at the dinner had at one time received a hand painted card from Tony,” said Pondolfino, who asked audience members who had received one to raise their hands. Many hands shot up.
“If I see in the paper that someone had an anniversary or birthday I will make them a card and send it to them, sometimes to people I don’t even know,” said Mongillo.
Mongillo worked for much of his life on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, starting after he returned from the Navy in 1946. First, he loaded lumber on the railcars, and then worked as a clerk in the roadhouse and later in the field house doing the paperwork to organize the cars in the right order. He retired in 1985. He and wife Ann live in the Peaceful Flats community.
“Anytime anybody asks Tony to do something he’s first to do it, physical or not. He helped me put a garage on a shed. In Peaceful Flats almost everyone there has been helped by him, whether they are moving in or doing lawn work,” said Pondolfino, “He is a well rounded person who couldn’t be prouder of his Italian-American heritage.”
Past recipients of the honor have included Sam Bertuzzi, Sister Mary Angeline, Vince Foti Sr., Joe Pondolfino Jr., John Scarzafava, Eugene Bettiol, Joe Fodero, and Tony and Marcella Drago, to name a few.
The Italian-American Club has more than 150 members who meet monthly at the 6th Ward Athletic Club, as well as hosting many social events throughout the year. There’s open membership: $15 per couple per year or $10 for single.
You don’t even have to be Italian, said Pondolfino, just have an appreciation of the culture.

Labels: 10-16-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Fox Angel Of Mercy Responds To Crisis

By LAURA COX

In a medical emergency, we rely on 911 responders to stabilize the person in distress, who is then quickly transported to a hospital.
But what if the emergency happens at 30,000 feet in the air?
This was the case when a 44-year-old woman with a brain tumor suffered a seizure during a Southwest Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore Sunday, Oct. 11. Thankfully, Fox Hospital R.N. Beth Gutierrez was on board and rose to the occasion.
“I saw the stewardesses running down the aisle and I didn’t know what was going on,” said Gutierrez who was flying home with her husband, X-ray technician Andrew, from a conference in Florida.
“A few minutes later I heard one yell out, asking if there was a nurse or doctor on the plane. I raised my hand.”
The stewardess provided Gutierrez with the on-board medical kit. She checked the woman’s vital signs while the flight crew made contact with a physician on the ground. An oxygen mask was obtained.
Gutierrez was called to the front of the plane, briefed the pilot on the woman’s condition by intercom. He briefed a physician on the ground, who gave instructions to the pilot, who passed them back to the airborne R.N.
“I had an IV started, and I was instructed to give her IV Valium, but it is a controlled substance and they didn’t have any so I couldn’t do what the doctor asked. I was able to get the IV in to get her hydrated.”
Between seizures, the woman, who was traveling with two family members, was able to tell Gutierrez that she had not experienced seizures previously. Gutierrez speculated that the change in air pressure probably had something to do with the new symptom of her brain tumor.
The flight crew left it up to Gutierrez to make the call on whether or not they needed to make an emergency landing or if she would be able to wait the hour until they landed. At first she thought the flight could proceed, but when the patient began suffering seizures again, she called for an emergency landing.
An ambulance was waiting at Raleigh-Durham when the aircraft landed.
“I really wasn’t nervous,” Gutierrez said. “It was one of those situations where you just react. And being a nurse, I wanted to do what I could to help her. I knew my limitations of what I could do, but I wanted to at least try what I could.”
It was a group effort, she said: The attendants were very good at keeping people calm and had been trained to stay calm and do what they could and ask if a medical professional was on board.
When she was done treating the patient, the other passengers all applauded; she said she was embarrassed by the applause.
An article on the Southwest Airlines website states that nearly 200 in-flight medical emergencies occur industrywide every day throughout the world, many as a result of people boarding who are already seriously ill.
When contacted about Gutierrez’s medical response, Dr. Carlton Rule, Fox vice president for medical affairs, “We are extremely proud of her and how she stepped up to help somebody in need. That’s what our organization is all about, but such an extreme case as Beth taking it upon herself to help somebody out in a stressful situation and use her professional skills to help the public is fantastic.”
Dr. Rule reports that he knows of a few cases like this where Fox employees have responded and said, “It’s a great reflection on us and the type of employees and personnel we have. We’re thrilled.”
Gutierrez, her husband, and two children Alana, 23, and Ian, 17, live in Morris.

Labels: 10-16-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with: