News

First it was a Mustang drag car. This time it's a Ford roadster. Students at Morrisville State College are building a 1933 Ford hot rod from the bolts up. They won't get to keep this shiny set of wheels though. The vehicle will be given away during a raffle at the Syracuse Nationals in 2011.

Morrisville State College student Richard Roberts, of Morrisville, N.Y., was recently honored with a 2010 SUNY-wide Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. The prestigious award is based on outstanding academic achievement and service and leadership on campus and in the community.

Rebecca Potter, a student at the Norwich campus of Morrisville State College, is the recipient of the college's Rays of Light Award. The Rays of Light Award recognizes a student in sophomore class standing who has made significant contributions in his or her community through volunteering.

No matter what time of day or night, when he hears the sound of his ambulance pager going off, Jeremiah Piescik knows someone in the community needs his help. Piescik is a volunteer EMT with the Smithfield Eaton Volunteer Ambulance Corps (SEVAC). He's also a full-time student at Morrisville State College majoring in Information Technology: Network Administration.

Matthew Whalen, GTECH Corporation senior vice president of Global Technology Solutions, will address Morrisville State College students during the college's 99th commencement ceremony on May 15.

Morrisville State College will host Ag Day on April 29. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most events will be held in the academic quad (in front of Marshall Hall). Participants can learn more about agriculture, pet a calf, guess the weight of a horse, walk through a hay maze and sample Morrisville State College's homemade ice cream during the annual event.

It isn't the first time they've traded their laptops, calculators and books for matching shirts and yard tools. Students at Morrisville State College are no strangers to rolling up their sleeves to help out in the community. And they will be at it again on April 20 during a college-wide volunteer brigade, “Into the Streets.”

Nursing students at Morrisville State College are reaching beyond their regular textbook, classroom, clinical and laboratory lessons—participating in a community wide research project. They've partnered with the Madison County Health Department and Madison-Oneida BOCES to study childhood obesity in Madison County.

Joan Dannenhoffer, of Morrisville State College, has been awarded the 2010 St. Lawrence Section Outstanding Educator Award by the St. Lawrence Section of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The prestigious award recognizes excellence and commitment in teaching engineering, engineering technology or engineering science.

For nearly 20 years, Lewis “Spike” Holmes taught students in Morrisville State College's equine racing and management, western (stock seat) program, how to ride. His inspiriting voice was a constant at the western indoor riding arena where he devoted endless hours and energy sharing his affinity for horses, teaching and riding.

Interested in learning more about the future of food production? Morrisville State College will host a symposium covering different aspects of this topic during its fourth annual Science Technology and Society Symposium, Agricultural Acts: On the Futures of Farming and Food, April 22. The event begins at 11 a.m. at the Morrisville State College campus and ends with a panel discussion at 4:30 p.m. at the Colgate University campus.

Two Morrisville State College wood products technology students recently received awards from the New England Kiln Dryers Association (NEKDA). Receiving the J. Harry Rich Award ($500) was Carissa Oeser, of Fort Plain, N.Y. Oeser is the daughter of Deneen Strobel and Randy Oeser of Fort Plain, N.Y.

Auto enthusiasts are invited to Morrisville State College's Second Annual Bass Off and Auto Show Festival April10. Events, which will be held in the automotive technology parking lot and F-lot, include a dyno challenge, a bass off audio competition and auto show. The public is invited to participate in all events.

Morrisville State College's Renewable Energy Training Center (RETC) is hosting two basic energy sessions. Energy Conservation and Supply Options for Homes will be held April 12 from 6-10 p.m. at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica.

Learn about producing cheese, adding value to milk and how to market value-added products during a statewide cheese business seminar, Reinventing the Wheel: Cheese is the New “Whey,” at Morrisville State College on Friday, April 30. The event, which is open to the public, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Hamilton Hall. The seminar will offer industry leaders an opportunity to ask questions about forming a cheese-making business.

A ceremony naming the Morrisville State College indoor western riding arena after dedicated instructor, Lewis “Spike” Holmes, will be held April 3 at 1 p.m. at the Equine Complex on the corner of Swamp and Fearon roads. The arena will be named the Lewis “Spike” Holmes Western Riding Arena during the event which is open to the public.

Morrisville State College is hosting a statewide equine business seminar on Saturday, April 24. The event, which is open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Spader Greenhouse Complex on the Morrisville State College campus.

Morrisville State College's Teacher Education Transfer Program will host a presentation by Debra Calvino, 2010 New York State Teacher of the Year, on April 2, as part of its Professor Mary T. Brown Lecture Series. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Room 105 in Crawford Hall.

The squishy pastel candy confections associated with Easter, Peter Cottontail and spring are making their way into more than children's baskets and festive grocery store displays, and proving they aren't just for eating anymore. On the Norwich campus of Morrisville State College, the sparkly marshmallow treats are the subject of a creative competition in which participants are tasked to make a diorama (three-dimensional scene) using the famed “Peeps.”

Morrisville State College automotive faculty and students recently rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to help a team of Cornell University students ready its wheels for upcoming competition.

Morrisville State College student, Jennifer Shultz, 19, of Dillsburg, Pa., was recently awarded a scholarship from the Pennsylvania Farm Show Scholarship Foundation. The $3,500 scholarship is given to students based on their participation at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, academic achievement, financial need, and participation in 4-H or Future Farmers of America (FFA), and community service.

Morrisville State College is featuring an art exhibit, Agricultural Acts, in the Donald G. Butcher Library gallery through April 2. The display, which focuses on food and farming, includes a number of artists from the local area featuring work from a variety of genres. A reception for the artists will be held in the gallery on March 4 from 5-6:30 p.m.

Morrisville State College's Renewable Energy Training Center (RETC) is hosting two sessions of a four-part series of wind technician workshops to prepare workers for site assessment, installation, and maintenance of small wind turbines at the residential and farm scale.

Courtney Supa's diverse experiences at Morrisville State College have taken her many places. Through her agricultural business development major, she's traveled to farms to assist in appraisal processes, has visited local consumer markets and has roamed to destinations throughout the world via her laptop computer.

T-shirts emblazoned with words of hope and a bandage transcending through a red heart, are becoming a common sight on the Morrisville State College campus. The insignia, WeHeartHaiti, decorating posters on classroom walls, hallways and dining areas too, illustrates a campus-wide crusade to support Haiti relief efforts in the wake of the 7.0 earthquake that ravaged the impoverished Caribbean nation.