Passionate Pursuits: Mark Oppenneer, Ethnos Project

Passionate Pursuits: Mark Oppenneer, Ethnos Project

By Mike Lesczinski, Excelsior Life News Staff—

Mark Oppenneer is not your average web content systems administrator. Through the Ethnos Project, a research portal and resource database he founded in 2008 that explores the cultural impacts of information and communication technologies when used by Indigenous peoples, Oppenneer is working to affect social change, sustain and stimulated rapidly disappearing traditions and improve the quality of life for indigenous peoples on their own terms.

Oppenneer sat down with Excelsior Life to discuss the initiative, reaction from the Indigenous communities, and what the future holds.

For additional information on the Ethnos Project:
EthnosProject.org Homepage
Ethnos Project Resources Database
Find Ethnos Project on Twitter
Ethnos Project on Facebook

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Passionate Pursuits: Ruth Olmsted “Celebrating 25 Years of Raising Sheep”

Passionate Pursuits: Ruth Olmsted “Celebrating 25 Years of Raising Sheep”

By Alicia Jacobs, Excelsior Life News Staff –

Ruth Olmsted, Excelsior College’s associate executive director of the center for educational measurement, has a diversified background of lifelong learning. She is an enthusiast of traditional dance and music. She is also an owner of Shepherd’s Hey Farm in Saratoga County (NY). Excelsior Life sat down with Olmsted to learn about her passion for farming and how she balances her life outside of work.

Excelsior Life: Where did your interest in farming begin?
Olmsted: As a child, I certainly was exposed to farming through visiting my mother's relatives in Ohio during the summer. I didn't really get into farming myself until my husband-to-be, purchased a portion of UAlbany's old Mohawk Campus recreation center in 1986. We began exploring what to raise there and decided on sheep. We acquired the first ones in 1988. Later that year, Larry's job took him to the Adirondacks for extended periods. I began living at the farm to provide daily care for the sheep. The rest is, as they say, history.

Excelsior Life: I understand you raise American Sheep and Toulouse Geese. How did you learn to take care of them?
Olmsted: Actually, the sheep aren't "American," they're mixed-breed (mutt) sheep combining several classic Old World breeds to get good mothering characteristics and colored wool for spinning, as well as good meat. We both attended training sessions provided by Cornell before bringing the first sheep to the farm. We continue to learn from our fellow shepherds and from the sheep themselves. In addition to the geese, we also have two rescued guard llamas and a flock of assorted chickens acquired from kindergarten teachers.

Excelsior Life: Your farm sells natural/chemical free meat, wool, yarn and preserves. What motivated you to make sure eggs and lamb have no added hormones or antibiotics, and are pasture raised?
Olmsted: I guess I'd say we're both hippies at heart, so we like to keep things natural, and our friends and customers appreciate that. We haven't gone to the extra effort and expense of being certified organic, but the grain our sheep eat is human grade -- primarily spent grain from the Albany Pump Station and Druthers microbreweries, and we use portable electric fence to allow them to graze on pasture and brush.

Excelsior Life: Where did the name Shepherd’s Hey Farm come from?
Olmsted: Larry and I met through the Pokingbrook Morris Team (English dance performing group). Shepherd's Hey is the name of one of the dances, and we thought it would be a clever name for the farm.

Excelsior Life: What responsibilities do you have as a farmer? Do you find it difficult to balance farming with your day job?
Olmsted: Every morning before I come in to work, I spend about an hour feeding the animals. Sometimes, if it's muddy or snowy or someone has an emergency, it takes longer, so my day at work starts later than most and extends into the evening to make up for any late arrival.

The responsibilities of a farmer include making several trips a week to the breweries with our truck to pick up the grain. Then there are the “Olympic” events in March and April. The lambs are born, an activity that requires someone to be checking the barn for new arrivals every couple of hours, lots of moving sheep around as they go through the stages of mothering, extra feeding, and sometimes obstetrical emergencies.

Shearing takes place in the spring. It is a one-day event where Larry and I have to lure all the sheep into a tight space and move them one by one to the shearing floor, where their wool is shaved off and bagged, and then they are released back to the herd.

We also haul hay-wagons from a local farm to fill the barn with about 600 bales of hay to last us the winter. During the grazing months, moving the fences can also take significant time. In September, we host hundreds of visitors during the open house event known as Clifton Park Farm Fest. All these activities except the feeding, I share with my husband, which helps to make it possible.

Click here for more information about Shepherd’s Hey Farm.

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Passionate Pursuits: Craig Maslowsky “Building Provides a Meditative Outlet with Hands-on Learning Through Generations”

Passionate Pursuits: Craig Maslowsky “Building Provides a Meditative Outlet with Hands-on Learning Through Generations”

By Alicia Jacobs, Excelsior Life Staff --

The purpose of Excelsior Life’s Passionate Pursuits is to help shine a light on faculty and staff successfully balancing work, home and family – just like our students.

Learning can occur anywhere. Hands-on learning can be passed down from one generation to the next. Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Excelsior College, Craig Maslowsky feels education is important in your career and personal life. Growing up, he spent time with his father using tools in his workshop. Years later, Maslowsky learned the do-it-yourself skills he inherited from his dad had the ability to turn into a furniture building hobby with creative and meditative benefits.

Excelsior Life: Are building skills a family trait?
Maslowsky: My grandfather loved to build and had all sorts of woodworking tools from the 40’s, some of which I still have in my workshop today. My father was always working on projects around the house as well. I think seeing the satisfaction that goes along with building something for the family to enjoy was carried through the generations.

 

Excelsior Life: I understand you have built a variety of wood furniture items. How did you get started in building?
Maslowsky: It all started with building a vegetable planter for my wife (pictured above). I loved the fact that I could make it exactly the way I envisioned it (well almost). I added wheels, a special compartment for gardening tools, and stained it. As I tried new projects after that, I always included a new feature or technique to keep each piece unique and interesting. I especially enjoyed the satisfaction of giving the furniture to the person I made it for. I always use my own designs and think about the person I am making it for as I build it. It has really become a creative outlet and meditative process for me.

Excelsior Life: What is the most unique item you have built?
Maslowsky: An Ash coffee table. The plan evolved as I built it and I ended up using two stains to create a contrast that I think worked well.

Excelsior Life: Do you have a favorite piece of furniture you built?
Maslowsky: Besides the Ash coffee table, last year I built an Adirondack rocking chair for the son of one of my closest friends. He was born prematurely and it was a difficult time for the family. I was able to express my love and support for him and the family through building of the chair. I personalized it by carving his initials into the wood. A project like that one takes dozens of hours and gives you time to process the situation and the emotions surrounding it. It gives a special meaning to the end product that cannot be duplicated.

Excelsior Life: If someone was looking to pursue this hobby, what would you recommend to get started?
Maslowsky: Get a table saw and a drill. As far as wood, I started with pine because it is a soft wood and less expensive than hard woods. If you mess up, you can always start over and it won’t break the bank. Start with easy designs and keep your expectations realistic. There are a ton of resources on YouTube if you want to learn the basics or build upon your skills.
Most important for me is accepting that the plans change as they go. The outcome isn’t always what you expected it to be, but that is what makes each piece unique. Just have fun and watch those fingers!

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Passionate Pursuits: Mark Oppenneer, Ethnos Project

Passionate Pursuits: Mark Oppenneer, Ethnos Project

By Mike Lesczinski, Excelsior Life News Staff—

Mark Oppenneer is not your average web content systems administrator. Through the Ethnos Project, a research portal and resource database he founded in 2008 that explores the cultural impacts of information and communication technologies when used by Indigenous peoples, Oppenneer is working to affect social change, sustain and stimulated rapidly disappearing traditions and improve the quality of life for indigenous peoples on their own terms.

Oppenneer sat down with Excelsior Life to discuss the initiative, reaction from the Indigenous communities, and what the future holds.

For additional information on the Ethnos Project:
EthnosProject.org Homepage
Ethnos Project Resources Database
Find Ethnos Project on Twitter
Ethnos Project on Facebook

View the original article here

Read More

Passionate Pursuits: Ruth Olmsted “Celebrating 25 Years of Raising Sheep”

Passionate Pursuits: Ruth Olmsted “Celebrating 25 Years of Raising Sheep”

By Alicia Jacobs, Excelsior Life News Staff –

Ruth Olmsted, Excelsior College’s associate executive director of the center for educational measurement, has a diversified background of lifelong learning. She is an enthusiast of traditional dance and music. She is also an owner of Shepherd’s Hey Farm in Saratoga County. Excelsior Life sat down with Olmsted to learn about her passion for farming and how she balances her life outside of work.

Excelsior Life: Where did your interest in farming begin?
Olmsted: As a child, I certainly was exposed to farming through visiting my mother's relatives in Ohio during the summer. I didn't really get into farming myself until my husband-to-be, purchased a portion of UAlbany's old Mohawk Campus recreation center in 1986. We began exploring what to raise there and decided on sheep. We acquired the first ones in 1988. Later that year, Larry's job took him to the Adirondacks for extended periods. I began living at the farm to provide daily care for the sheep. The rest is, as they say, history.

Excelsior Life: I understand you raise American Sheep and Toulouse Geese. How did you learn to take care of them?
Olmsted: Actually, the sheep aren't "American," they're mixed-breed (mutt) sheep combining several classic Old World breeds to get good mothering characteristics and colored wool for spinning, as well as good meat. We both attended training sessions provided by Cornell before bringing the first sheep to the farm. We continue to learn from our fellow shepherds and from the sheep themselves. In addition to the geese, we also have two rescued guard llamas and a flock of assorted chickens acquired from kindergarten teachers.

Excelsior Life: Your farm sells natural/chemical free meat, wool, yarn and preserves. What motivated you to make sure eggs and lamb have no added hormones or antibiotics, and are pasture raised?
Olmsted: I guess I'd say we're both hippies at heart, so we like to keep things natural, and our friends and customers appreciate that. We haven't gone to the extra effort and expense of being certified organic, but the grain our sheep eat is human grade -- primarily spent grain from the Albany Pump Station and Druthers microbreweries, and we use portable electric fence to allow them to graze on pasture and brush.

Excelsior Life: Where did the name Shepherd’s Hey Farm come from?
Olmsted: Larry and I met through the Pokingbrook Morris Team (English dance performing group). Shepherd's Hey is the name of one of the dances, and we thought it would be a clever name for the farm.

Excelsior Life: What responsibilities do you have as a farmer? Do you find it difficult to balance farming with your day job?
Olmsted: Every morning before I come in to work, I spend about an hour feeding the animals. Sometimes, if it's muddy or snowy or someone has an emergency, it takes longer, so my day at work starts later than most and extends into the evening to make up for any late arrival.

The responsibilities of a farmer include making several trips a week to the breweries with our truck to pick up the grain. Then there are the “Olympic” events in March and April. The lambs are born, an activity that requires someone to be checking the barn for new arrivals every couple of hours, lots of moving sheep around as they go through the stages of mothering, extra feeding, and sometimes obstetrical emergencies.

Shearing takes place in the spring. It is a one-day event where Larry and I have to lure all the sheep into a tight space and move them one by one to the shearing floor, where their wool is shaved off and bagged, and then they are released back to the herd.

We also haul hay-wagons from a local farm to fill the barn with about 600 bales of hay to last us the winter. During the grazing months, moving the fences can also take significant time. In September, we host hundreds of visitors during the open house event known as Clifton Park Farm Fest. All these activities except the feeding, I share with my husband, which helps to make it possible.

Click here for more information about Shepherd’s Hey Farm.

View the original article here

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Ink In Her Blood: The Passionate Pursuits of Susan Petrie

By Alicia Jacobs, Excelsior Life News Staff --

Susan Petrie’s passion for putting pen to print began at a young age. “I have ink in my blood,” she fondly said in a recent interview with Excelsior Life. Today Petrie uses her interest in books to help writers become published in traditional and new formats, using both old and new technology. Excelsior Life sat down with her to learn how she helps coach book authors for Hudson Whitman.

Excelsior Life: Where did your passion for books and publishing begin?

Petrie: My passion for books began around the age of four, at Christmas time. I remember I ran around the house reading Green Eggs & Ham to everyone. I could read! I had cracked the code! It was thrilling.

Family lineage may have also played a role in my passion. As I got older, my father who was a trained journeyman and printer used to bring metal type home from the Times Union letterpress printers for us. My grandfather also worked at the Times Union newspaper, in “ad alley.” Through genealogical research, my dad has brought the family name within two generations of Heinrich Petri, a Swiss printer who published works by Copernicus in the 1560s.

My passion for publishing started after graduating from college and working for my Uncle Joe (Girzone). He was a best-selling author and needed someone to answer phones, fill orders for his books, ship them, invoice, and keep track of inventory. When I worked for him, I became aware that publishing was more than just a passion for words. Over the next ten years I learned it was also relationships, sales, design, production, manufacturing, technology, and bringing dreams into reality.

Excelsior Life: How does your passion tie to your career?

Petrie: Learning to read is one of my best early memories, and growing up, I read all the time. I’d spend Saturday’s at the Troy Public Library (that’s where I had my first date, in 5th grade). I even majored in English because I loved to read. Today, my career is publishing at Hudson Whitman/Excelsior College Press. It brings my personal interests and professional skills together. It’s really the chance of a lifetime.

Excelsior Life: What advice would you give to someone interested in writing a book?

Petrie: First, do it. If the urge is there, you’ll always regret it if you don’t give in to it. Second, temper expectations. It’s often a labor of love.

Excelsior Life: What are an author’s responsibilities before publishing?

Petrie: Good writers are not necessarily good authors. If a writer wants to become a published author, he or she needs to be receptive to what a reader expects and needs. Empathy and honesty are important, too.

Writers take risks to become authors. Like a conductor, an author has to lead, engage and entertain, be in control of the subject. It’s a big responsibility that many writers don’t consider.

Excelsior Life: Who is your favorite book author and why?

Petrie: I don’t know that I have one favorite. They’re all like comforting companions. Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, Barbara Kingsolver for life’s persistent questions. Paulo Coelho, when I’m spiritual. The repressed scientist in me likes Natalie Angier and Ernst Mayr. Diane Ackerman writes prose like a poet. Oh, and Stacy Schiff because she is so stinking smart.

Excelsior Life: Where can someone find more information on Hudson Whitman Press?

Petrie: Visit hudsonwhitman.com or on Twitter @ExcelsiorPress.

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Passionate Pursuits: Andrew Wheeler, Blues Rhythm

The purpose of Excelsior Life’s Passionate Pursuits is to help shine a light on Faculty and Staff successfully balancing work, home and family – just like our students.

During the day, Andrew Wheeler is assistant dean for the School of Business & Technology at Excelsior College. Outside of work, his artistic talent shines as a lead guitarist and backup singer for Bent Rail, named #1 Blues Band in the New York Capital Region in 2011 (Metroland Fan Survey). Excelsior Life sat down with Wheeler to learn about his passion for making music, inspirations along the way, and a few musician traits that translate well to his day job.

Excelsior Life: At what age did you become interested in playing a guitar?

Wheeler: When I was around fourteen years old, my grandfather gave me an Eric Clapton tape and I was pretty much enthralled from day one. I also found an old Japanese-made Audition acoustic guitar sitting around at my parents house and I started to plunk around a little on it.

Excelsior Life: Did any family member encourage you? Did you ever take lessons?

Wheeler: My grandfather encouraged me. He suffered two strokes and yet found the drive to play guitar very often. Although he couldn’t move his left hand fingers independently, he had a great ear for music and could pick out melodies up and down the guitar neck with just one finger.

The racket I made on the acoustic must have been pretty bad because my parents sprang for lessons pretty quickly. I started taking lessons at a College of Saint Rose summer program at the age of fourteen and continued taking private lessons consistently until my thirties. During my undergraduate study in college, I took jazz and classical guitar lessons. I still take lessons as much as time will afford.

Excelsior Life: How did you get started in a band?

Wheeler: I started a band with friends in high school as soon as I could strum a few chords. I noticed playing music with other people was very different than practicing on my own.

I’ve found a band is as much, or more, about interpersonal communication, as it is about making music. My high school band played a local café quite frequently. Looking back now, it was pretty funny to play blues music as a 16 year old at a coffee house. Most of the artists we were covering were either dead or in their 70s and 80s!

The only time I have not played in a band was while I was pursuing my MA degree. I took a couple of years off to get the degree finished.

The ingredients for Bent Rail were formed a couple of years ago. We’ve played over 150 gigs to date, but who’s counting?

Excelsior Life: Where did your band name, Bent Rail, originate?

Wheeler: The bassist, Dennis, was searching for images and found some great pictures of a rail yard in Pennsylvania. The picture showed a train disappearing around a curve in the tracks. What’s more blues than that? The lore of rail travel and the prevalence of hopping a train from the Delta to Chicago (and all points beyond) is a huge theme in blues.

So, we went with “Bent Rail Blues” initially. However, we’ve dropped the word “blues” because we play a lot of genres.

Excelsior Life: Is there any correlation to your day job and the music industry?

Wheeler: Absolutely. Finding new ways to problem solve, staying innovative, and seeking out new opportunities are certainly transferrable skills! Being a “people person” is definitely the key to staying alive in both the education and music industry.

Loving to communicate, and especially listen, is a huge element in both roles. I love meeting new people at gigs, on band breaks, and after the music is over for the evening. Folks request songs or just want to make a connection with you – and you honor that privilege by always doing your best and putting your heart and soul into your work.

Finding out how Excelsior can assist someone achieve their educational dreams reminds me of feedback at gigs.

Excelsior Life: What was your greatest moment to date as a guitarist?

Wheeler: Meeting BB King. I only wish I was able to jam with him! But I consider myself lucky to have been able to sit and chat with him for a while. He truly is the “King of the Blues”.

Excelsior Life: Who is your favorite band?

Wheeler: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Jimi Hendrix & the Band of Gypsies. He was so diverse and innovative, yet paid such virtuosic homage to the blues players that helped shape him.

Excelsior Life: How can we learn more about your band or upcoming gigs?

Wheeler: We are undergoing a name change and rebranding right now. However, you can find us on Facebook, www.bentrailband.com and www.reverbnation.com/bentrailbluesband.

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