Thursday, August 19, 2010

Buffalo News, August 7, 2010, Saturday

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Buffalo News (New York)

August 7, 2010, Saturday

Cornell students spend summer helping to better life in the city

BYLINE: By Jay Rey - NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Buffalo has been getting some help this summer from Cornell University, whose students have gotten acquainted with the city from the ground up -- helping people find jobs, working with immigrants, bettering Buffalo.

Cornell University's Industrial Labor Relations School, which has an extension office on Main Street in Buffalo, brought 10 students to the area for the second summer of its fellowship program, "The High Road Runs Through the City."

The participants are paid $2,900 for eight weeks of service on a variety of projects with local not-for-profits.

"What they all have in common is this idea that there are very important things that can be done at the grass-roots level," said Lou Jean Fleron, emeritus professor at Cornell's extension site in Buffalo, who supervises the program with attorney and faculty adviser Sam Magavern.
"The idea is to really immerse them into Buffalo and all its challenges."

The program wrapped up Friday.

While the students spent the summer helping out at the agencies, the experience brought to life what they've been learning in the classroom.

Annie Finn, a Cornell junior, spent the past two months working with refugees at the International Institute of Buf-falo. Although the Nardin Academy graduate is from Buffalo, it gave her a whole new perspective on her hometown.

One of her duties was teaching English as a second language.

"I never taught before and didn't expect to, but it was one of the most amazing experiences," Finn said.

J.C. Tretter, a Cornell sophomore, spent his time with Hispanics United of Buffalo helping people find work and building a database of resumes. He was amazed at the amount of service
the agency provides to the community.

"I live in the suburbs and was never on the West Side," said Tretter from Akron. "To meet the people, to hear their problems, this gave me the opportunity to see it first hand."

And Thom Barnes, a Cornell junior, worked with the Coalition for Economic Justice, organizing a forum for local candidates for State Senate.

Coming to Buffalo from small-town Saranac Lake was an eye-opener for him, and reaffirmed his interest in be-coming a public defender.

"It certainly has been enlightening," Barnes said. "Coming here and seeing problems that people face on a daily ba-sis, and doing something to try to fix that, was really rewarding."

The other fellows were: Julia Burgdorf, who worked with the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York; Kwan Park, International Institute; Elaina Mule and Zach Smith, Partnership for the Public Good; Sam Bordia, People United for Sustainable Housing; Aaron Klein, Urban Roots Community Garden Center; and Mike Dolce, Western New York Apollo Alliance.
e-mail: jrey@buffnews.com

LOAD-DATE: August 7, 2010