Monthly Archives: May 2007

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St. Joseph News-Press (Missouri)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
May 12, 2007 Saturday
First-generation college students face unique experience: Schools provide financial, academic support
BYLINE: Jimmy Myers, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

May 12–Students at two local universities have more in common with their presidents than they probably know.

Dr. Jim Scanlon, president of Missouri Western State University, and Dr. Dean Hubbard, president of Northwest Missouri State University, were first-generation college students, meaning their parents never attended college.

Dr. Scanlon, who said probably more than 50 percent of Western students are first-generation students, identifies with them.

“I commuted to school and worked about 24 hours a week outside of school to help put myself through school,” he said, noting that many Western students do the same. Dr. Scanlon attended Manhattan College near New York City. He lived with two siblings and his mother. His father passed away when Dr. Scanlon was 11 years old.

Dr. Hubbard comes from a farming family in Washington and earned a graduate degree in education at Stanford University.

Dr. Hubbard and Dr. Scanlon are obvious success stories. But the road for many first-generation students has more curves, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education.

First-generation students have lower grade-point averages and are more likely to drop out of college than students who come from families that have college degrees, according to the 2005 report.

“First-generation students were more likely than other students to withdraw from or repeat courses they attempted to study,” read the report.

Paul Klute, assistant to Dr. Hubbard, said data suggests that first-generation students are likely to need additional academic support during their college experience. Northwest created the American Dream Grant that pays for all but $1,500 of the students’ college expenses, in part to “help students pay for college and ease the transition into higher education.”

About 66 percent of ADG recipients are first-generation college students, compared with 45 percent of all Northwest students who are first generation.

Lindsay Bosch is graduating from Western today with a B average. Despite earning good grades, like a majority of first-generation students, Ms. Bosch said she didn’t feel academically prepared for college when she got out of high school.

“I didn’t take much college prep in high school,” she said. “I would stress to high school students to go to their teachers or counselors and find out how to get ahead for college.”

But unlike the Department of Education report, which said first-generation students don’t always find support from their parents where college is concerned, Ms. Bosch’s parents nudged their children toward higher education.

“He hasn’t always had jobs that are very stable,” Ms. Bosch said of her father, who was employed with Quaker Oats before it shut down. “He wants us to be confident when we get out of school to find jobs.”

Though parents of first-generation students may be supportive, they can’t always provide helpful advice. Brandi Derstler, a senior at Western whose parents are mechanics and truck drivers, couldn’t turn to them for questions about college like her non-first-generation counterparts could to their parents.

“I had to rely on asking questions a lot,” she said of arriving at Western. “My adviser helped me tremendously. That was very important to me.”

Judy Grimes, dean of student services, said Western students have several options in helping them adjust to college. Included is the Academic and Career Planning Center, where students with limited knowledge of higher education who are “often overwhelmed with trying to decide on a major,” can go for advice.

Though some students do require developmental classes when they first arrive at college, Dr. Scanlon is quick to point out that not all first-generations students have academic issues.

“Some of them have been able to overcome a variety of challenges in order to come to the university, stay in the university and persist toward graduation,” he said. “First-generations students are a pleasure to have here.”

LOAD-DATE: May 13, 2007

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/highschool/ny-skmass155213487may15,0,1643128.story?coll=ny-hsports-headlines

http://tinyurl.com/2ac78l

Nassau Conference AA-I
Syosset wins opener over Massapequa
Syosset tops rival in first of three games to decide league title
BY MITCH ABRAMSON
May 15, 2007

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Blowouts take on many forms, but rarely do they look like they did Monday, with such a compelling pitcher presiding over the action and a team scoring so many runs in one inning.

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“There’s a new sheriff in town,” pitcher Bryan Henrick said with a wink. The 6-3 lefthander struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings, and allowed two runs – one earned – to improve to 6-0. “They’re a good team, and they can always come back and win two from us, but we feel good about our effort right now.”

Maybe because his bloodlines are so strong, Henrick was allowed to speak with such flair. His grandfather was Bill Emmerich, a minor-league pitcher in the late 1940s who pitched under an assumed name so he could play for both Manhattan College and for the Jersey City Giants, an affiliate of the New York Giants.

Emmerich was a teammate of Bobby Thomson, yes that Bobby Thomson of the Giants, but he played for Manhattan under the surname of Hyrnkiewich, according to Randy Henrick, Bryan’s dad.

When Bryan was 8, his grandfather died, but not before he taught his grandson the rudiments of pitching.

“He’s the one who got me into pitching,” Bryan said. “He would tell me all of his stories about playing in the minor leagues, how it was his life. I wish he was still around to see me pitch today. I would get a big out and think about him. I do feel like he’s looking down on me.”

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{JR: A Jasper bending the rules. Unheard of! }

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