I am elated to have Dani Guitelman as my SG Challenge partner. Dani is a SoFA major who will graduate in May 2012. She is a very dynamic young lady who is the Editor of  Sportszone  and VP of Alumnae and Heritage for Alpha Sigma Alpha to name a few. We have had a fantastic time and I look forward to a long term friendship especially after she does a film on my amazing life. By the way, I was Jewish for a day which I will share along with all of the other fun stuff that we did at the SG Shadow Day meeting tomorrow.

The Bookworm Rocks!

Daniela Guitelman

The Very Finest Tour Guide.

On my very day of meeting Howard Ward, he took me on a tour of Global Village. We had planned to meet in his office but when I got there I was informed by his wonderfully helpful secretary Karen (seriously, this woman is a gem) that Howard was down in Global Village and would meet me in the plaza. Thankfully, this was that beautiful Tuesday we had last week so I wasn’t worried about wandering the plaza looking for Howard in the rain or snow. I walk on down to Global Village and start to look around. I had seen a picture of Howard online but I had never actually meet Howard in person so I was a little nervous I wouldn’t be able to find him. But, Karen had given me a tip. “Look for the big teddy bear. “ Which is actually kind of funny, because that is exactly how Phil described him to me too.

So I look around and I spot him talking to a family in. I didn’t know it yet, but this was my second lesson about Howard. He talks to everyone. He is the nicest, friendliest, sweetest guy ever and he will say hi to everyone he sees and introduce himself to anyone he can.

After managing to tear Howard away from the family he was giving a tour to, he took me on a tour of Global Village. I have obviously been in Global Village before, I love the chips and queso at Salsaritas, but I had never really been given a real tour of it. First, Howard took me through Shop 1². I had never really gone in but I knew the stuff inside was pretty and expensive. Here is what I learnt though. All he art in it, from the gift cards to the paintings on the wall, to the beautiful sculptures on the shelves are made by students! Shop 1² functions as a gallery for students, past and present to display and showcase their work. And even better, students’ get 70% of the profit when their pieces are sold! Howard and I examined some beautiful watches he is thinking of getting for his wife, and some really gorgeous glass blown pens.

Next on the tour was Sheer Global. Did I mention how friendly Howard is? Not only did he know the very nice lady behind the counter at Shop 1², he is also very good friends with the people who work at Sheer Global. I got to talk to them for a few minuets and they showed me their list of services (which were very extensive and way cheaper then I originally thought) and was put completely at ease with them. Hmm, maybe I will go in for that haircut next week…

We then walked through the lobby of one of the dorm buildings and Howard gave me the run down on the apartments vs. suites, who has a kitchen, how big the rooms are, a quick peek in the common area, and a pop into the main floor kitchen area. When I admired the beautiful picture son the wall I learnt something else that I didn’t know. Students made all the art in Global Village! All the pictures are from students and RIT bought the photos from them. They also have their names in the corner of their pictures so everyone can admire their work. Very cool.

Our last stop on the tour was the market, another place I had only been in once or twice. Boy, do I regret it. I wash I wasn’t graduating in 4 weeks because that market is amazing. The different variety of foods that are there, stuff you can’t find anywhere else on campus! We looked over the selection for a while and were looking at the ingredients on a package when another family walked by and of course Howard made a new friend. We talked about special dietary needs for a while and then they had to go.  Howard and I walked outside into the beautiful plaza and took a seat where we talked for over an hour.

You see, Howard and I were paired up because he is in charge of food and I’m kosher. For those of you who don’t know what that means, here is the basic definition I gave Howard. No milk and meat together, no pig (aka no pork or bacon, etc), no shrimp, lobster, shellfish, etc. and nothing I eat can have touched something not kosher. These are hard dietary restrictions to follow on a campus like ours. As Howard was about to find out.

Eating “Jewish”

The next day Howard and I had lunch at Gracie’s. I haven’t eaten at Gracie’s since my freshmen year but I remember the drill. But, the catch for today was that Howard had to eat kosher food, or as he kept saying “I’m being Jewish today”. We walk in and Howard headed right for Mongos. Now the ravioli itself was kosher. But the grill they cook it on isn’t. You see, even though they had a vegetable only section of the grill to cook the ravioli for vegetarians, I didn’t know what else had been cooked on the grill previously that was meat so we couldn’t eat anything off the grill. We walked around a little and I had to tell Howard that he couldn’t eat the pepperoni pizza or the burgers or the chicken wings, etc. But he could have some of the vegetable soup. At first, he made a face. “Too many vegetables” he said. Then he tried it. He liked it (thank god, I was getting nervous he was going to be mad at me for the lack of food) and we meandered over to the Just Veggies section where he added a little plain rice to it. While we were there, Kory Samuels, the general manager for Gracie’s wandered over and Howard explained to him what we were today. Guess what? Gracie’s had Hebrew National hotdogs, which they cook on a grill used only for kosher meat! I had no idea. Howard decided he was going to have 2 kosher hotdogs and his cup of soup, I got a grilled cheese (made on a grill that they only make grilled cheese on), and we sat at a table to wait for his hotdogs. 2 things. One, Howard likes the kosher hotdogs more then regular hotdogs now. Score one for Dani! Two, Kory is the best. Really, if you ever run into him at Gracie’s or need something special, or have any sort of question, go to Kory. He was the nicest person ever and answered all y questions that I had always been too nervous to ask when I was a freshman. I also learnt some pretty cool things that Howard and Kory are thinking of doing. Gracie’s/RIT might have a kosher vendor next year! They aren’t sure how big or where or even what kind of food yet, but it’s in the works. Which is really cool if, like me, you are craving a burger and have nowhere to get a kosher burger on campus. Howard, Kory, and I talked for about 20 more minutes; Howard had a waffle for dessert (with margarine, not butter) and then I had to go to class. Just so you know, I was very proud of Howard. He only complained a little.

What A Good Student

Howard had agreed to come to one of my classes with me as our third scenario. I picked American Film Since the Sixties taught by Professor Tina Lent (who is one of the best teachers I’ve had here). On the day Howard came to my class we were talking about the Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing, I film I teased Howard about probably seeing when he was younger “all those many years ago”. Now, I was worried Howard would just sit there and not talk, just observe. I wanted him to participate so I told him what the class was going to be talking about before hand and he did his homework, reading up on the film to refresh his memory. However I didn’t tell him we had a quiz on it and I almost made him believe I was going to make him take the test too. However, he just looked over my shoulder as I wrote out my answers and afterwards told me he was proud that I did well. I then introduced him to the class and he smiled and said hi and then sat back down. As our discussion on the film and the topics in the film got more animated and heated, Howard couldn’t contain himself anymore. He jumped right in to the discussion, sharing his views and arguing his points. Here was my turn to be proud. He also was able to answer a question Professor Lent didn’t know about before and shared a personal story with the class as it compared to the film. I definitely enjoyed class with Howard there. Professor Lent said he’s welcome anytime. Also, Howard befriended the two kids I sit next to in class. Of course he did.

Vroom-Vroom

After class we hopped on the bus to Province so that Howard could see what a bus ride was like. I will say that Howard grumbled a little about having to get on the bus when his car was right there, but the bus wasn’t so bad. The night shuttle round trip was only 22 minutes for Howard and after I had complained myself about the bus taking so long, Howard was relieved it wasn’t as long as my grumbling had made it seem. Howard also saw the route and now knows that it’s easier to get of the bus at Perkins and walk to Province when it’s nice out. Just in case, for next time. And it wasn’t a wasted trip. Howard made a new friend on the bus.

So, lessons I learned. RIT does a lot for its art students whenever it can. Global Village is a beautiful place to hang out and had a lot of cool things to see, eat, and buy there. And the people who work there are super friendly. Kosher food is available on campus if you know where to look and aren’t afraid to ask. Plans for the future include more kosher and special needs options with Kory working on a really great plan to help students know what they are eating. Howard is a super person to invite to your class and makes friends with everyone. And the bus is faster then we all think it is. Good things to know. I’m really glad I participated in the RIT Challenge and am very jealous of who ever gets paired up with Howard next year.

The week came and went very quickly as I spent my week with Ian Dominick, a fourth year Mechanical Engineering Major in the College of Engineering.  Ian and I had the opportunity to connect on the minimum of four occasions.  When we first met on Monday I was immediately impressed with Ian, he demonstrated an openness in discussing things with me – an administrator at RIT whom he has had minimal contact with in the past – and was willing to offer his time and effort with the hope of making things better for future generations at RIT.  So what did I learn from Ian and my experiences during the week, well… students lead really busy lives, at least Ian does, that’s for sure.  He not only has a full class load, but being on the RIT Lacrosse team he has practice obligations daily, including additional time for strength training and time in the Trainer’s room if necessary.  Ian showed up to a SAAC executive board meeting on Thursday night with ice packs on both knees, Dr. Cooper, who happened to be shadowing a student who was also on the SAAC executive committee was sitting next to me and asked Ian about the ice packs, he went into a medium lengthy explanation about knee surgeries on one of the knees and the other one was cracking more than usual – Dr. Cooper said  “ohh”, I leaned over and said “it’s just routine icing as a precaution”.  She got a bit of laugh out of my interpretation of what Ian had just said.  The SAAC executive board met in the lower level of the Campus Center in the lobby area near the fountain.  Not the best location to have a meeting and this was one of our required tasks for the week, see how students from a major student org. function without an office assigned to them.  Function they did, Chelsea (not sure if this is the correct spelling of her name?) was clearly the facilitator of the meeting and she was on cue all the way, never detracting from topic regardless of the repeated and frequent distractions from passer-bys and fun-filled rooms near us with laughter and loud talking coming from them.  The meeting was accomplished, but frankly if all of their meetings are subject to this kind of distraction, I would support some kind of way for them to have a better location to meet as regularly as they do.  We next headed to the full meeting of the SAAC, held in the Ritter Arena conference room.  Filled to capacity with other student athletes,  the air circulation equipment on the ceiling of the room was the loudest contributor to the sound in the room, but undeterred, the students accomplished their goals and moved forward as if there were no distractions present.  I was impressed by the attentiveness of all the students present at the meeting, they offer their time freely to promote athletics on campus and trying to get other students involved in coming to games and supporting our teams.  My tip my hat to their efforts and was humbled in their presence.

As the Parking Director at RIT, one of our tasks was to come to campus and park then arrive at a desired destination/building on campus in a timely manner.  We were able to do that on Tuesday morning, when Ian was “tabling for Tiger Den” in the SAU.  Ian picked me up at Grace Watson Hall and we drove to U Lot looking for a general space on the south end of the parking lot at about 9:35 AM.  I was very unsure we would find one but we got lucky, and yes, I do mean lucky because I never thought we would have found a general or “bagged” space at that time in the morning.  Ian explained that he would usually try U Lot and that’s why he arrives early, hoping to find a space but knowing he might have to look in alternative areas if nothing is available.  Arriving this early and finding a space in U Lot, nothing eventful happened to us at that time.

The purpose of this challenge was to see what it was like for students at RIT to do their routine daily things and what barriers, challenges, or obstacles might be present that could be modified or changed to help with anything that might be a problem.  Ian is doing what is necessary to be successful at RIT, however, the campus is not always as welcoming as he might like although he never complained.  I heard in his voice that he would like better access to his car during the day, but he does understand that RIT during business/schools days is pretty much a park and walk the rest of the day kind of place and that is a reality – the parking lots fill early in the day and unless you have a reserve pass a rather lengthy walk to your destination is the routine and don’t try driving somewhere else on campus until after 5 PM, when it gets much easier to park around here.  With his classes mid day, then practice from 4 PM – 6 PM and then strength training from 6 PM to 8 PM at times, then from the locker rooms, a walk to J Lot at the end of the night in the dark is tiring, I get it.

The week was enjoyable, I spent far too little time with Ian to really understand the depths of the student experience, but it was a reminder that these students are young adults working hard to get their education and live life.  I am always grateful for the opportunities I have to connect with students and to be reminded of who I am here to support and encourage as they mature and gain valuable experience and education on their journey to a career after RIT.

Ian Dominick

Blog 1:

Today I met with Randy for the first time.  I had actually met him before, but this was my first time talking with him 1-on-1.  Since he is the administrator in charge of parking services here, he is very aware with the parking issues that many of us face on a daily basis.  Just a few moment after talking to Randy, he told me where I should park every day of the week depending on the building and what time of day.  That was information that I had never heard before, and Randy was surprised by that.  So we thought it might be a good idea if there was some kind of pamphlet that you would receive when you register your car in addition to just the rules.

Another thing that Randy wanted to stress was the fact that they are just carrying out the rules approved by the school.  Also, that they really would like to put parking garages on campus, but they haven’t been approved by the school yet.  Basically because donors would rather have their name on a building than a parking garage.  If the money wasn’t donated, the cost would be reflected in our tuition.

Randy has a lot of good information on this keen subject on campus, and hopefully I can find some more to share about this week that can help the administration and the students better understand the entirety of this issue.

Blog 2:

I met with Randy today so he could watch me look for a parking spot to get to a meeting at 10.  I picked him up a little after 9:30 outside of Gracie’s.  Since I was going to the Campus Center and SAU I headed towards U lot.  When we got there, there were actually 4 open general parking spots.  Randy admitted that I got lucky, and had it been any later, I probably would have been wasting my time.  He also explained how the parking office decides how many reserved spots to hold open, because I know we have all tried to park and couldn’t while most of the lot looked empty.  The reserved spots are held open based on the amount of people that purchased them and arrive on campus during the peak hours of 10-4.  This changes every quarter because the amount of reserved passes changes every quarter.

Blog 3:

Randy came to our E-board meeting yesterday, and then came to the SAAC Large group meeting afterwards.  He thought that it was interesting that we meet in an open lounge on campus as an E-board.  Also, just as a person sitting in he mentioned how distracting it was, which is something that i never really thought of, but the fact is that it actually is really distracting.  With people walking around you and yelling to others it gets us off topic a lot.  After our E-board meeting, Randy came with us to the large group meeting.  That meeting ran smoothly and went quickly thanks to Chelsea, our president.  We discussed the upcoming Men’s Lacrosse and Baseball Tiger Den events as well as National Student Athlete Day.  Randy and I are planning to meet today at the Women’s Hockey Celebration at the Fireside lounge at 2 PM.

Blog 4:

Met with Randy yesterday at the women’s hockey celebration. Nothing to do with either of us really, but it was a nice to end the week. I had a good time participating in the challenge.

Hi everyone my name is Paul Darragh, or Tall Paul if it helps. I am the freshman senator and for this last week I have been working with Bill St. Jean for the Real RIT Challenge.  There are a few challenges that I helped set up to demonstrate issues that students face. The two challenges that Bill had to face every day was the issues of a meal plan and the use of technology. Bill received 5.50 in food debit, 1 meal option and 1 Gracie’s meal every day of the last week.  The other continuous challenge was one of only being able to use a computer. No smart phone, ipod, ipad, etc. These two first challenges are meant to show what kind of food students can buy with the 10 meal plan. I was on the 10 meal plan the last quarter and understand how hard it is to eat healthy and/or not spend more than what you have quickly. The no technology challenge is to show that even though this is a tech school and a lot of students and administration have smart phones and get emails instantly, there are others who only see email, facebook, etc alerts several hours after they have occurred. This challenge is not to make anyone’s life harder but to instead show how it is harder to keep up to date or to just look up information or to remember your schedule.

The first active challenge was a laundry room. Although I did not make Bill do my laundry I thought it would be interesting to go down and look at all of the laundry rooms. While we were down in the laundry one of the first interesting things that we noticed was there were a bunch of broken machines. To everyone who uses the sol and ellingston laundry rooms find this as no surprise, but it was very surprising how many laundry machines were broken. While noticing this me and bill had a conversation about finding a way to alert FMS or Housing that this particular laundry machine was broken. Well I learned that there are these huge posters down stairs in every laundry room that ask students to call about problems they have. To be honest I never really paid attention to them, then to make it better there was a sticker on most of the dryers with the same message of “if you find a broken machine call this number”. I think it’s a great idea but at the same time I think it could be simplified and improved. If it had a text option it would not only be easier to type out, sol laundry washer 2 is broken, but it would also help out the deaf community who does not call but instead texts. One of the other interesting things that was noticed during this was a correlation between how many students lived in one area with how many were broken. There was no broken machines in Residental Halls A,B and C, however in every other laundry room there was at least one broken machine. I think that this really speaks to the need for more laundry machines in those areas. Afterwards I met with housing to ask a few questions about this and they already have a system they are developing for next year to help with alerting them to a problem with any of the machines. As well as when discussing this we talked about new laundry machines and more laundry machines. Housing knows that this is a problem and currently they are working on trying to find money to look into replacing these machines. The problem that everyone has to remember is that housing has to save a lot of their money and budget it to future projects, such as carpeting rooms, replacing furniture, etc. So in the end of this first experience I would say that it was interesting walking out after talking to Bill who pointed out all of the signs trying to get students to call them and report the problems as well as having him direct me to housing to talk to them about several other questions that popped up during our conversations.

The second challenge was a bit easier and may or may not be an issue for all students. Personally there are some days where I never leave academic side from 8am until 5 or 6 pm if not later. You might be asking Paul what is the problem here. Well when a package arrives you have different times that you can go pick it up. Most notifications about the package do not come until 11 or 12 and by that time if you were not budgeting for that in your schedule you might not be able to pick up the package that day. So Bill and I met over at ctrl alt deli and decided to take a nice stroll over to nrh to pick up a package I had received. Ok it was a speed walk, and Bill can walk fast. That speed walk took about 30 minutes to get there and back. 30 minutes is a lot of time to spend just going to pick up a package and then going back to academic side to continue studying or go back to class. Although during the conversations we had there was a few ideas that sprang up that I saw as a possible solution or fix to this problem. The first was the idea of possibly being able to have the package delivered over to the mail room over in global village, this would allow you to pick it up and only spend 5 or 10 minutes going to get it and the getting back to what you were doing. The other idea that we discussed was the idea of possibly moving some hours around. It is really nice that the post office offers later evening pickups on Tuesdays and Thursdays but one idea that we being tossed around was that of having the hours shifted forward so that they would open at 7 allowing students to pick up packages before class. So in the end of this experience I would say it was interesting in discussing ideas on how to help students get their packages and showing Bill how long it takes to get from one side to the other side of campus and how it can be done but also takes up a lot of valuable time.

The last situation that Bill was presented with was one that RA’s may have to deal with. This was a situation where there would be to deaf residents having some disagreement and having it become heated. This was supposed to be similar to the behind closed doors. However Bill surprised us with how well he followed their conversation and this changed the rules of the game. He was able to resolve the issue by signing and settling everything down; however not all RA’s know enough sign to have a conversation never mind follow a quickly signed conversation. So first and foremost I have to applaud Bill and give credit where credit is due. Afterwards we asked Bill how he would have handled this situation if he was a hearing individual with no signing knowledge. This came back with a response that we thought of and one we had not. The first was to call public safety. I don’t know about you but most people I know are wary of public safety, not because they think they are out to get them but more of because they see that authority figure and are not sure how they should act around them. So we mentioned this and Bill came up with another interesting and possible solution. This was to call an RC. There is always an RC on duty and each RC has either learned ASL or is learning. The point that was trying to be made was that there should be another interpreter on call for people who need to help settle a dispute, yet I believe that the RC is a possible middle ground due to how knowledgeable they are with signing and how expensive it is to pay an interpreter to sit there all night waiting for a call. So in the end of this I believe that Bill understands why this situation was brought up but instead of just saying lets hire another interpreter he thought of another possible solution that some of the RAs did not even think about.

Allison Rodder and I had a GREAT lunch and conversation together in the SAU Café on Friday.  We spend a few hours together talking about everything from dining on campus with Celiac disease, res hall living, Greeks, majors…I don’t think we paused more that 30 seconds in the 2 hour we met.  I was amazed at how she managed her dietary issues with ease and maturity (and wish I could provide her with a larger selection of Gluten-free food on campus).

She was a joy to spend time with!  I am also working on how to assist her chapter in keeping their paddles/memorabilia from her sorority on campus since they do not have their own campus residence.

What a great experience!  I wish our schedules had been conducive to meeting more!

Allison Roder

In the new version of the RIT Challenge, time is a luxury I don’t have. Instead of blogging, I’ve tweeted (http://twitter.com/ – !/ColetteRIT) when I had spare minutes – often after traditional hours.

Today, though, I have a few minutes to attack one of the challenges issued by SG. “Make an appointment at the health center that fits with your student’s schedule.” Sounds simple enough, right? I went straight to RIT’s online director of departments and started to look. http://www.rit.edu/webtools/scripts/siteindex/

   First try: I scrolled to H for “Health Center.”

   Nope! Try again.

   2nd: Maybe its in the Cs, as in “Center for…”

   Not a chance.

   And so on: “August”…”medical”…”physician”…”Infirmary”…Hey! I found Health Information Services! Too bad it’s an academic department. (Do you know we have a department called “Special Services”? I’d like to tell you what it does but I was getting sicker and more frustrated with each scrolling failure.)

I finally resorted to scrolling from the top of the alphabetical list until -success!- I found the *Student* Health Center.

I realize it would have been quicker for me to just put my search terms into RIT Google, but should I have to? I don’t want RIT to spend money for new department names, letterhead, business cards, etc. but could we all just agree to be findable in the directory with obvious search terms? The health center is actually less guilty than many of our departments.

Why am I so cranky about something seemingly undeserving of concern? Maybe I’m fatigued from an early start to my work day yesterday capped off by a 6:00-10:00 p.m. class last night where I shadowed my student partner, Marissa LaTouche. Lesson? Marissa has to do this A LOT of days – and she’s not cranky! She’s balancing 20 credits, applying to grad schools, applying to co-ops and apologizing to me because she thinks she should be more involved in extracurriculars. She’s amazing.

I love the RIT Challenge and I love RIT. Institutions willing to look at themselves are better for the honesty. An extra jolt of caffeine this morning is a small price for the heaping dose of education I’m receiving.

Eat Hell/Live Swell

The 2012 Real RIT Challenge is over and I think I’m two pounds heavier. Last week was a good education about the challenges an active college student faces when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

My shadowed student, Marissa LaTouche, told me that she was making a concerted effort to eat more healthily this year but often found it challenging when food vendors’ hours didn’t match her eating hours. The night I followed her to class we sneaked mini pepperoni pizzas and M&Ms from Crossroads during the 10-minute 7:30 p.m. class break.

Yum! This is college life!

Three hours later, I had the mother of all stomach aches. Instant gratification wasn’t a good idea, but in retrospect I can see that there aren’t a lot of options that are convenient and healthy.

The following evening, I met Marissa at her apartment. I’ve heard from my first-year students every spring that they desperately want to live in University Commons and I finally had a chance to see why. They’re nice! Private rooms, dishwashers, laundry machines… It’s a sweet set-up. Marissa uses her kitchen to bake healthy meals that she can freeze and store until necessary. I admired her pre-planning but wondered where she could find the time between her many competing commitments. During a week when there wasn’t time to pre-cook, the vending machines seem like the most realistic choice.

RIT’s menu of majors can sometimes feel as rigid as the food options. Marissa changed academic programs after her first year so she now manages 20+ credits per quarter in an effort to graduate on time. She probably could have transferred to another university and lived with a more relaxed schedule, but she committed to RIT. RIT isn’t perfect, particularly in its social life and diversity, but Marissa has nothing but positive things to say about her academic experience – and she’s even applying to RIT as her #1 choice of graduate schools.

I’m thrilled to have been a part of each of the Real RIT Challenges. I’ve loved getting to know my roommates and shadowees and I feel like I’ve been educated in profound ways during each experience. Thank you, RIT, for challenging us to be honest and better. I have a number of colleagues from other universities who have expressed curiosity about our program, but none brave enough to follow through with their own version.

I met Sam Cohen for lunch on Tuesday, April 17^th and we had a chance to get to know each other.  He is from Farmington, Ct. and I am from a city called, Waterbury, in  center  of the state of Ct.  I have been to Farmington with my  nephew when his son  plays soccer.  Sam is a sled hockey player.

Sam wanted me to see some of the challenges he faces in the SAU and Campus Center on Tuesday.  He doesn’t chose to use the lifts in these buildings if he can help it as he finds them very slow.  He also remarked about the hidden SAU elevator and we went to use it to wind through food carts etc. working our way into the elevator. He was not aware of the elevator from the first floor of the SAU by the ATM machine.  I told him where the elevator ended up if it went to the A level which is why people only use it from the first level opt the mezzanine in the Academic Support area. So we left the SAU and came out the front door and into the Campus Center.  I am very impressed by how quickly he moves in his wheel chair.  He ate very little of his lunch and got a bag to hang off his wheel chair to take it back to his room to eat later.

Our extended time together on Thursday started with us  meeting at the lower level of ice rink. Same had been practicing in his sled on the ice.  He had hoped to simulate how tough it was to use his manual wheel chair over snow but his friend got sick and I arrived after the rink had closed.  We looked at some of the questions on the roommate selection form he received from Housing. He made some suggestions for improvement that I will send over to Carl DiLella.  We then left the ice rink and walked over near his residence hall, Peterson. Sam also carried his sled around his neck back to his residence hall room.  While he went into his room I indicated I would meet him at Ellie’s Place.  It had been dedicated the week before and I couldn’t make the dedication.  We met in the Commons Building and went over to LBJ.  Sam has a class in the LBJ building and has to get over to the Golisano Bldg for a class that immediately follows the class he has in the LBJ building.  As there is 10 minutes between classes the goal was to see if we could get from one class to the other in ten minutes.  It took us 5 minutes just to get out of the LBJ building.  Sam can really move across campus.  He would get ahead of me going down inclines and I would catch up with him as he was pushing to get up inclines.  I told him not to let me hold him back in his journey as I was smarting a sore foot and was limping a bit.

We got to the Golisano Bldg. in  about 15 minutes. We didn’t even try to go up to his class in Golisano.   I was out of breath and needed to sit on one of the outside benches.  Sam was doing just fine.  We rested and enjoyed the sunshine.  We then went over to Crossroads to see what I could purchase for about $34.50 in debit for a week.  I misunderstood the challenge at first. I thought I only got $34.50 to use for food for the whole week. However, when  I learned I got 5 meals and $34.50 it certainly put things in a new light.  Items in Crossroads were pretty expensive.  In fact, a few items I put back due to cost.  I knew for me it would be easy to get on a bus and go to Wegman’s and get food at a much more reasonable price. It would be challenging for him to get off campus and even more challenging to also have to worry about getting a bag of groceries  back to campus with you.

We had a great meeting and it was good to learn of his positive attitude and insights.  He was not an angry student and is very indepedent in how he goes about moving around campus.  He has never used the disability bus service.

Sam Cohen

Event #1:

The first event I picked was to show how the handicapped acceptability around campus was. It isn’t as bad as many school, however there are still large improvements that could be made. The first thing I showed was how hard it is to get to Ritz. There isn’t a direct elevator and the easiest one to access you need a key for (something that she showed me). The second thing I showed her was the sky-bridge. In the winter it is nice to use, however almost impossible to get to. The choices are going out into the cold, or doubling the distance just to find the elevator. The final one I showed was the elevator in Gosnell. Since the entire building only has one elevator (largely used to move lab equipment) it is always in use. Also it brakes often. I have been late for class more than once due to it, and even trapped on the 3^rd floor.

Event #2:

The plans for the second event fell through so I was unable to do what I wanted (show how the snow is hard to push in) so I had to make something up at the last minute. What I picked was the question asked by RIT to pick a roommate. I get alone with my roommate very well, but most people I know don’t. The questions asked on the website are mostly about music and basic lifestyle things, but nothing about hobbies or personality. I believe that by improving it and learning more about the hobbies and how the person asks, I think the roommate choices could be better.

Event #3:

For one of the staged one I did getting for LBJ to the other side of the campus in 10 minutes. This isn’t possible. Especially when using elevators and ramp there isn’t any ways to get there. I don’t think that if someone sprinted they could do it. I am current taking ASL I right after a class I have in Gosnell. If it wasn’t for the fact that I leave early there would be no way I could get to the other side on time.

Event #4

For the last event was planning food on a budget. This one was the one that I think needed the least improvements. I am on the 10 meal plan and I get enough food to last. I do think that it’s not always enough to have full meals, but if you budget correctly there is always food.

….Challenge 1:  a VP call to the Health Center‬

‪So, my new friend Maryam and I met to make an appointment using the videophone.  Many great things happened during the call!  The person on the other end seemed very familiar with a VP call!  The conversation was very natural in terms of a welcoming interaction.  There was no sense of discomfort with interacting via the VP relay system.  When there is discomfort in circumstances like these, I think it can easily lead to a feeling for some students that their needs have not been anticipated.  So, great job on that, and lesson to all, please make sure you are comfortable interacting with these technologies, as it sends a message about a department’s level of inclusiveness.‬

‪In general, the student was treated respectfully, and it was clear that the SHC employee was definitely working hard to be helpful.  Another job well done moment!‬

‪The one challenge both Maryam and I discussed was the length of time the entire call took - about 10 minutes just to make an appointment.  This was more a  factor for me about the approach to information exchanging, and really had nothing to do with whether the individual was deaf or hearing.  I think making some minor changes would have reduced the length of time of the call significantly – a win for the both the very busy Student Health Center and for its student clients. ‬

‪Call went like this:‬

‪Student: I would like to make an appointment.‬

‪SHC:  Okay, please hold…‬

‪(Hold was for about 3 mins at that point)‬

‪SHC:  Okay, we have an appointment time today at 2:45 pm.‬

‪Student:  Sorry I am not available at that time.‬

‪SHC:  Okay, can you let me know when you are available.‬

‪Student:  Tomorrow at noon?‬

‪SHC:  Please hold…I need to check when we have an interpreter scheduled.‬

‪(Hold was for about 4 more mins at that point)‬

‪SHC:  Okay, how about 1:45 pm tomorrow.‬

‪Student:  I was looking for closer to noon-ish.‬

‪(no “hold” at this point.  The employee stayed on the phone, but needed to look further in the appointment book)‬

‪SHC:  How about 11:45 am?‬

‪Student:  Yes, that’s fine.‬

‪Appointment was scheduled.‬

‪Total time:  approximately 10 minutes‪ ‬

‪I just wondered if it would have been a more efficient call if the SHC employee had simply shared with the student first thing the times an interpreter was scheduled and where available appointment times still remained.  Then, the student could have selected a time.  No holding, no re-checking, no back and forth.  I thought it might have been a quicker/more efficient way to approach the interaction.  I don’t know if that is possible, of course, as I don’t know all the reasons that the call went back and forth as it did.  If there was a way to reduce the time and number of holds, I would think, again, that it would be useful to the SHC employees – who I am sure are constantly multitasking at the front desk, and are busy – and also to the students. ‬

‪…Challenge 2:  Blisters by choice!!!‬‬

‪Maryam and I are now going to get from Tri Sigma’s floor to the Corner Store without going outside.  This was not just an “activity” for Maryam, as she uses a motorized wheelchair and if it is raining or snowing, it is difficult to navigate the walk outside.  So, off we went.  By the time we got to the Corner Store, I realized I could have assisted my friends in the Better Me Challenge, as the steps count I could have added would have certainly put them over the top!!  Now, don’t get me wrong, Maryam BOOKS in that wheelchair.  I had to jog at certain points to keep up with her.  And, yet, the “journey” we took down and up three elevators, through FMS offices, and into the residential tunnels which finally felt familiar to me took us 15 minutes. ‬

‪Those who know me  know I love heels, right?  I wore them on Wednesday with a different intentionality.  Because I was not taking this journey in a wheelchair like Maryam, I wanted to be sure I would remember every step of this walk.  So, I selected some of my highest (and most uncomfortable) shoes, and off I went!  Well, let me share – I had blisters at the end of the journey!  It was crazy.  However, as I was walking (and jogging) and chatting with Maryam, I found myself thinking that there was little I could do here…the tunnel system is the tunnel system, and cave excavation was not a specialty.  I wasn’t sure how to make more “tunnels” so I was not only blistered, but “sweating” because I was not a cave excavator, nor did I know one. ‬

‪Until…‬

‪It was time to go back to Tri Sigma, and Maryam went to head outside to go across the quad to Tri Sigma’s floor.  I thought maybe she was trying to take pity on me, though I thought I had hid the pain of the blisters quite admirably.  I explained to her that I was certainly able to finish this challenge properly, and would go back the LLLOOONNNGG way to do so.  (I had thought to bring some cash, and thankfully figured I could get some nutritional supplements at the Corner Store before making the journey back!!!)  However, Maryam indicated that there was no way to complete the challenge by going back the “indoor” way…I thought I misunderstood…  What? ‬

‪Maryam clarified, one of the elevators she had just used to bring her up the level she needs to transition from the tunnels under Grace Watson to then access the tunnels under the residence halls was not accessible to her for the way home.  To get back, that elevator would have to take her down one level…and to do that, the elevator requires her to have a code.   She explained that after multiple requests, she has been informed that she cannot have the code.  She does not know why. ‬ ‬

‪I thought she might be mistaken.  But, as we accessed the Sol Heuman elevator from the tunnels to the first floor, Maryam explained she had just gotten cardswipe access to Sol and NRH to at least allow her more convenient access to the tunnels from the Tri Sigma entrance.  What did “just” mean?  Maryam moved to the Tri Sigma floor for winter quarter.  According to Maryam, it required the entire winter quarter and the involvement of the Disabilities Services office for Maryam to be granted access to the two halls, providing her just a bit of extra convenience and ease to get to the two convenience stores and her post office box. ‬

‪I realize that every student would LOVE this extra convenience, but given that in two meetings with Maryam, I had identifed three accessibility doors that were supposed to be automated for which the buttons/doors had not worked (two in my own facility), she had shared with me news of a lift that was not working (also in one of my facilities), and indicated that one of the elevators which she depends on for navigating the tunnels had been broken 5 different times that she could remember this quarter.  My point is there are plenty of inconveniences and challenges Maryam – and other students with mobility challenges – are managing everyday.  I would like to believe we here at RIT are not doing anything extra to make their lives more inconvenient or challenging. ‬

‪So, in a snowstorm, Maryam could get to the Corner Store, but to get back would be dependent on whether the paths were plowed, and navigating outside was reasonably safe – because she can not have one code?  I really believe that by bringing this to light, all of us at RIT will be able to figure out a way to provide Maryam – and all students who are experiencing mobility challenges, and living in the “Greek” residence hall areas – a way to make sure they can get to and from the Corner Store without worry of the weather. ‬

‪My blisters have healed…and, it seems that none of us need to become cave excavators to make things better on this one.  I will be checking into the code for Maryam and others.  I also have asked for the doors and lift I discovered to be repaired.  I am also wondering if maybe we could provide a QR code and reporting information at each of the automated doors/buttons, and at each accessibilty lift.  Recognizing that keeping these in good repair requires a partnership between RIT and those regularly using these accessibility supports, I think we could learn of areas needing repairs more quickly by linking each location to a website reporting address, which could be activated by using a smartphone scan of a QR code or by using an email or text address if reporting from other devices.‬

‪I hope these kinds of changes help to eliminate the avoidable inconveniences for our students who are depending on us to do so every day!  Looking forward to my lunch with Maryam on Monday, so we can discuss other ideas she has about making things better around here!  Will see you all at the forum on Tuesday!‬

Maryam Hussein

April 17th- Karey Pine and I went to the Campus Center using the videophone to call the Health Center. The reason why we did that is because we both want to see how long or how hard it is to make appointment if I am sick. I call the the health center and been on hold for a few times because they are trying to find the time for me to be able to come for an appointment. but, they did not ask me for my available time in the first place so that would easier instead of having me on hold and too many conflict time to make appointment. It the first time I tried to call for an appointment and it was a little frustrating for me already.

April 19th- The next thing is how it is for me to go in the tunnel from my dorm to the corner if it rain with Karey. I was really excited to show Karey in the tunnel because I wanted her to see how it is for me. It was a little long from my tunnel to the elevator that is in Graces Waston then I show her another elevator to another tunnel that goes to the corner store. When we got the elevator, I explained to Karey how I cannot go back to my dorm because there is a need of code to go down to my tunnel. So, I always had to go outside no matter how bad it is outside. It took awhile to go the corner store but we did finally got there and we went in Sol dorm to use the elevator to get out and go straight to my dorm outside.

Tues:

I met Sandy at the Province bus stop this morning and we rode over to campus together.  Luckily, it was a fairly pleasant day – I’m not sure it would be fun standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus in January…..The bus was on time and we had a nice ride over to campus – I think Sandy and I were the only ones talking on the bus – but given it was 7:30am…..I think it was too early for most to socialize.  I was surprised by how full the bus was – I was impressed by all the students riding the bus that early!

We got to work at the Campus Welcome Center.  Sandy likes to get there early and get all her opening tasks done before she is “open for business” at 8am!  She seems to be a very conscientious worker!  She walked we through everything – although I think I would need some additional training to be able to master the job as Sandy has obviously been able to do!

At 5pm, I rode back over to the Province to get my car – and the bus was much livelier.  I managed to take the wrong bus – but walked over from the closest drop-off at Park Point….need to work on following the bus schedule better!

Looking forward to Psychology class tomorrow!

Wed: 

I went to class with Sandy on Wed – it was an upper-level psychology class.  I had trouble finding the room, since it was in a building that I do not know my way around very well.  I got there late, but luckily class was just starting.  It was a very interesting class.  There were less than 10 students in the class and was a free-form, discussion-based class focused on readings the students had done.  It was very different than the types of classes I am typically involved in, so it was interesting to see the different types of student-faculty interactions.

Friday:

I went to work with Sandy on Friday morning in the VP of Student Affairs office.  The working conditions there were difficult.  We hand-delivered “The Reporter” to each them – they wanted to make sure they were all well informed regarding the stories in this publication!  Ellen was very conscientious and had prepared alot of work for Sandy and I to complete.  I think Ellen thought that given there would be two “student workers”, we would be able to accomplish twice as much work - but in reality, given the training demands Sandy faced with me, I think we accomplished about half as much as what Sandy normally accomplishes!    In addition, the staff in the office is so  welcoming and friendly that I was easily distracted from doing my work!

As part of our paperwork tasks, we also needed to do some computer work and we used the “student worker computer” at the front desk……I have finally discovered the last place computers are cascaded down to on the RIT campus!  This computer was a “real clunker” – I think it may have had an old floopy drive slot!  Sandy had warned me that the computer was a little slow – but I had never imagined, or experienced, this slow.  This really impacted our work efficiency!  However, it is great to see that the Student Affairs Division is making full use of all of their resources…..to the bitter end.  We then had to go and make deliveries – it was a beautiful day!  I’m thinking it wouldn’t have been as fun walking from CIMS to NTID during a snow storm in January……

Friday afternoon Sandy and I met at the celebration/pep rally in recognition of the Women’s Hockey team winning the National Championship.  It was great to be part of the celebration – there was alot school spirit and pride in that room!  I got to meet some of Sandy’s friends and other students that are involved in different clubs and groups on campus.  We have so many great students at RIT!!

It enjoyed participating in the RIT Challenge.   I work closely with engineering students, but I do not get to meet many students from different majors or see them outside of their “academic life”.   It was great to get to know Sandy and be able to experience a small part of her week.  I was very impressed with her work ethic and everything that she juggles throughout a given day – classes, work, and all her extracurricular activities! We faced several challenges throughout our week, as I have described, but Sandy always faced them with grace and a smile.  Nothing seems to bother her!   She has taken advantage of so much at RIT – I have no doubt she will go to accomplish great things in her new life beyond RIT!  Thanks for the experience!

Sandy Francois

Challenge 1:

We took the bus together and it’s awesome that Jackie will catch the bus after work… Hopefully she remembers her bus schedule and that her car is at province

Challenge 2:

I always wanted an assistant, I mean partner when it came to putting up room cards at the welcome center, I think I’ve taught her well

Challenge 3:

Just bumped into Jackie on the way to class “and I thought I was late to class…” Jackie tells me on our way to the third floor of 7B gannet

Challenge 4:

Everyone at work is excited for Jackie to deliver packets!!! (-_-)

Stuffing packets took longer than expected #gotta love slow computers :/

Jackie lucked out in assisting me with delivering packets

Challenge 5:

Go Women’s Hockey! The ceremony was great way to end the SG Real Challenge with my shadower Jaqueline Mozrall. She’s awesome!

Blog Entry 1: 4/18/2012

I had the privilege of meeting Shawna Lusk. We decided to meet up at the CBET so she could accompany me to a meeting with my professor. We initially sat and exchanged information. She shared that she worked for orientation and was taking classes at the University of Rochester. I shared with her that I was a fourth year Biomedical Science student and had applied to Nursing programs. In fact I told her the meeting she was accompanying me was for a mock interview, to prepare me for a nursing interview at the University of Rochester. During the mock interview Shawna sat there and watched attentively as my teacher grilled me with interview questions. Even though, it seemed to be an awkward situation it wasn’t, I felt comfortable and relaxed. I was very surprised because Shawna even chimed in and gave me very valuable advice.  I really appreciated that because it’s always beneficial to get different perspectives from people.  After the mock interview we walked out together and went our separate ways. I was very impressed by our first meeting. Shawna allowed me to be myself and feel comfortable in my own skin. I didn’t feel judged and her true sense of compassion and caring shined through that brief interaction. We agreed our next meeting would consist of me giving her a tour of my Riverknoll apartment.

IT’S APRIL AT RIT!!  With all the end of year activities on top of the normal rigorous schedule, it’s “If-this-is-Tuesday-it-must-be-Paris” time on campus. This is true not only for me, but for my student partner as well. One of the biggest challenges of Real RIT 2012 was just finding time to meet. It looks like we’ll be meeting only 3 times instead of the suggested 4 – and the 3^rd time is actually officially post-Challenge (tomorrow, Monday the 23^rd).

But being Tigers, we knew how to make the most of our time together. Thanks to my partner, I learned tons about the challenges of transgender life at RIT.

I recently perused The Transgender Student’s Guide to RIT, http://campuslife.rit.edu/GLBT/brochures/trans-brochure.pdf, and I am very proud of RIT’s commitment to creating a campus culture that expects “civility, respect, decency and sensitivity” towards all, that values diversity, and that strives to learn from individual differences (from http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/studentconduct/rr_expectations.php).

At the same time, I am grateful to my student partner for teaching me about a number of ways in which campus life continues to challenge transgender people, as well as receiving some very helpful examples of how other institutions are successfully welcoming transgender members of their community.

I don’t have time to write details now, but will be exploring possibilities with others at RIT. Many thanks to my student partner for showing me how I can be a better advocate for transgender people, and thanks to SG for taking the time to better inform me and others about the student experience. And – like all good learning experiences – SG knows how to make it all fun. Congratulations on another successful Real RIT Challenge.