Onondaga’s Student Newspaper, The Overview, has a blog, which mentions the latest Phi Theta Kappa induction. I’d talk more about it but I’ll let the fine writers at OCC do the work:

Alpha Sigma Zeta, OCC’s local chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, inducted 85 new members on Oct 23, 2007. In a candlelight ceremony, members were honored for their academic achievements and service to their campus and community.

Kelly Insel, chapter secretary, had the honor of presenting checks to Elmwood Elementary School and Seymour Elementary School to purchase needed books and supplies.

*This money was earned through the Better World Books program in which members collected textbooks that were sent to Africa. For each book accepted into the program, the chapter was reimbursed money to be used in the local community.*

Debra Baehr, Elizabeth Bailey, Elaine Baker, Michael Balintfy, Andrew Borchik, Helene Brophy, Latoya Brown, Brittany Caprilozzi, Sarah Carlson, Karen Carnessali, Christa Carsten, Christina Catalfano, Melissa Ceresko, Jonah Cohen, Mert Coskan, Sean Cummings, David Currier, Amy Dederich, Caleb Defrees, Paul Dooley, Alexander Douglas, Emily Dwyer, Franciscalenae Egbuna, Christopher Ezomo, Justin Fabiny, Christine Finnemore, Megan Forman, Kimberly Germinio, Jacqueline Goletsas, Kevar Griffin, Shelby Hall-Lorenz, Peter Hawley, Machia Haynes, William Heuschneider, Lauren Jemola, Susan Johnson, Swaroop Joseph Varghese, Terea Killings, Jessica Kline, Melissa Krausnick, Craig Laduke, Katie Larock, Crystal Lauzau, Ashley LeClair, Debra Ledford-Prahl, Martha Lortie, Kimberly Lowe, Allison Masella, James McCampbell, Sarah McMichael, Jessica Milton, William Mitrus, Jason Myers, Timothy Olson, Kevin O’Toole, In Gi Park, Peter Paynter, Edward Perry, Nicholas Pikarsky, Kimmy Radell, Alison Randolph, Mike Robbins, Robert Rudeau, Dipendra Sah, Jacqueline Samora, Cadelyn Schmid, Alice Shaw, Denise Shuart, Josh Siddall, Deborah Silver, Thomas Sleeth, Staci Smith, Jill Stellmack, Sutida Sukkrasae, Andrew Swan, Margaret Swift, Timothy Szarek, Alexis Truskalo, Heather VanAlstine, Marina Vasquez, Lan Vo, Katharina Wesel, Janet Witter, David Youngentob, Jaime Zolfaghari

About Kiva:
Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Or for you visual people out there (I know you’re out there):

So go check it out already!  If you’re not interested in helping Suleyman sell animals in Azerbaijian or Nelson’s barber shop in Nakuru or Edey’s Grocery Store in Peru then what do you want exactly?  They provide for even the most discriminating (in the real sense of the word, not the negative kind!) philanthropists.

This is definitely the most impressive service for micro-lending that I have seen.  It’s only going to get bigger too with the incredible interconnectivity between cultures and continents.

The website suggests:
This award recognizes individuals whose long history of service to the campus, State University, local community or professional societies/organizations sets them apart as well as those who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in local or system-wide faculty governance.

You can read the full description of his excellent works, but you’ll notice that one reason he is receiving this award is of particular interest:

[Al] works with the Center for Learning and Teaching and the Institute for Student-Centered Learning. Vos, campus organizer and coordinator of the Books for Africa campaign, also contributes time and expertise to other community initiatives.

Congratulations, Al, you’ve always been a committed and excellent representative of Better World Books and Books for Africa, and this award is well deserved!

The SGA’s at the SUNY schools actually carry a surprising amount of weight in decisions that get made for the schools as a whole, so to be involved with this group is an honor and it reflects the diligence and commitment of the individuals. Because of this, many of the groups that weren’t involved with us came for information and wanted to get involved, many of them through the SGA and through another one of the many groups they were involved in.

It was great to be there because I had the chance to not only meet many of the reps that I work with, but also had a lot of time in lunches or dinners to network and spread the word to a number of new campuses as well, outside of the presentations which I gave. It was a fantastic opportunity for people to hear about our mission and give feedback and encouragement to us and the people who work with us. We work with over half of the SUNY schools currently and with more events like this, that number will keep growing.