By wpengine February 15, 2002
This spring semester, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), a division of Gannett Health Services, has expanded its roster of free weekly support and therapy groups from eight to seventeen. These support groups allow interaction between seven or eight students and a CAPS facilitator in a private setting and cover a wide range of topics including stress management, strengthening self-esteem, and motivation. Whereas individual visits with the CAPS staff are limited per person and carry a $10 fee, group participation is always free and unlimited. Interested students can participate by filling out a short form at CAPS, which is located on the first floor of Gannett, and meeting with the group facilitator for an initial screening. According to Mandy Bratton, an associate director of psychological services, the decision to widen the program was spurred by the popularity of group services in past semesters as well as by the appropriateness of group therapy for college students. “A lot of the problems that college students come to see us about are relational, and lend themselves to the group setting,” Bratton said. “It’s healing to discover that you’re not the only one that is struggling with certain issues.” Sigrid Frandsen-Pechenik, an associate director of psychological services, believes that group interaction has a normalizing effect on students in their relations with peers. Aside from being more cost effective and allowing for CAPS workers to meet with more than one student at a time, group work allows individuals to learn from each other and to provide mutual support. “The number of students who feel comfortable asking for support has grown,” Frandsen-Pechenik said. “By increasing the number of groups and the types of groups available, we can successfully deliver services to a wider population.” Among the new groups being offered this semester is Journeys from Asian Students to Professionals: Education and Reflection (JASPER), which held its first meeting yesterday in the Willard Straight Hall International Lounge. Wendy Lin, facilitator of JASPER, hopes to address issues relating to Asian and Asian American identity within the Cornell community as well as in the outside world of work. “We realized that there weren’t a lot of services on campus specifically for Asian and Asian American students,” Lin said. “The resource center in Rockefeller is really just a library. We need to reach out in innovative ways that are suitable to this population culturally.” JASPER goes beyond the traditional framework of group therapy to provide what Frandsen-Pechenik refers to as an “educational experience.” Working with the Office of the Dean of Students, Lin facilitates a casual forum for students of Asian descent to discuss issues ranging from family life to advancing in the professional world. “Other counseling groups are more about therapy, looking at deficits and problems,” Lin said. “When you are working with Asian and Asian American students, it is a matter of how they are existing within mainstream culture. We will look at what it means to be Asian or Asian American, and also address some of the biases and stereotypes that exist.” In addition to JASPER, students have also shown immediate interest in, “Connect and Explore,” which has already expanded from one weekly session to four. Rather than focusing on a specific issue, the group allows for general discussion with direction dictated by group participants. Frandsen-Pechenik believes that, “Connect and Explore” functions particularly well as a first group experience. According to Bratton, students have found group encounters to be enormously positive and most want to remain involved semester after semester. Initially however, the idea of sharing feelings and experiences in the company of strangers may seem disconcerting. “It’s perfectly normal to be apprehensive,” Bratton said. “If you’re going to a party with strangers you would be apprehensive too. You’re with your peers and it’s likely that they’re cooler and more in touch than we are. Their advice and support may be more valuable than ours.” In addition, there are no expectations or rules dictating what students reveal during sessions. Confidentiality is maintained within all of the groups, which are led by CAPS psychologists and social workers, and students who wish to contribute little or simply listen to the discussion are welcome. “We’re trying to make groups a safe, low pressure environment,” Lin said. “Group members are not there to criticize and judge each other.” Although much of the information regarding group services is spread by word-of-mouth, CAPS has embarked on an aggressive advertising campaign to inform a wider segment of the student population. Along with pamphlets and billboards around campus outlining the different groups that are offered, CAPS staff members are currently working with Gannett physicians, Resident Advisers and student offices to inform students of their options. Lin in particular has contacted Career Services in order to gain access to a larger segment of the Asian and Asian American population. “We talk to people who deal with the students on a daily basis so they can spread our voice,” Frandsen-Pechenik said. Archived article by Jason Leff
By wpengine February 15, 2002
A temporary architectural installation entitled “Abandoned Space” is drawing attention to the history of the unique urban environment of downtown Ithaca. Mirrors reflect the various architectural details and textures that fill the alleyway west of Ithaca City Hall on Green Street. The exhibit is the work of Deina Luberts grad and Alexandre Champagne grad, both landscape architecture, and consists of a series of large Plexiglass-shielded square mirrors which hang from the catwalk of a second story fire-escape. “We’re trying to facilitate the creation of meaningful spaces,” said Luberts, who had been planning this project with Champagne since the fall of 2000. “This is not a dead space. This is not something you can ignore. It’s warm and alive. You can reach out and touch it,” said Champagne. The two graduate students each received grants from the Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA), which provides funding for as many as 30 public projects annually, according to Prof. Paula Horrigan, landscape architecture, who advised designers involved in the project. “I had never entered into the alleyway or paid any attention to the space until Deina and Alex made an intervention,” said Horrigan. “They amplified the experience. There was a warmth to it, like a feeling of return, that was quite enjoyable. I felt like I was in Amsterdam again,” Horrigan added. The opening night welcomed more than 50 visitors into the space last Friday night. Unlike previous sculptural installations on the Commons, “Abandoned Space” places an emphasis on the location rather than the aesthetic object. “What we did has no value outside of this unique place,” said Champagne. “What do you discover in the morning when you look in a mirror? Your face. What we did was a reflection. It says to people, ‘Discover where you are, where you live,'” Champagne added. Since the Tompkins County Library opened last year, the area has become very active and there are more pedestrians and visitors around City Hall, according to Luberts. “It’s been a little-known space that people have come to enjoy and discover over the years. It’s nice to be able to participate in some of the history of the aesthetic and architectural features,” said Prof. Charlie Schlough, applied economics and management, who owns the building which forms the west wall of the alley. The original deed of the property declared in 1898 that access to the alleyway was preserved for teams of horses and wagons to make deliveries to a butcher shop and what was then The Jamieson and McKinney Company, which constructed heating systems for the University during the late nineteenth century, according to schlough. “There are a lot for different perspectives to consider,” said Schlough. “There used to openings under the sidewalk with iron-covered chutes for coal to be dumped into the basement [for heating] that were closed in the 1970s,” he added. Artists and film students from Ithaca College have been attracted to the location since Schlough acquired the place in the early 1980s. Its theatricality lies in the numerous levels of catwalks and grate bridges criss-crossing through the alleyway. “One of the significant components [of the installation] is that it shows the registration of change over time. As the city goes through the process of renovations and facelifts there is a tendency to want to keep it clean. Here, there is an accumulation of different objects and you see the weathering of doorways, the cracks forming in the sidewalks and the rusting of metal,” said Luberts. Graffiti appears and disappears, liquor bottles come and go, a sleeping bag is there one day, gone the next according to Champagne. “If you visit the space you see things move around the site. It is a place where inanimate objects become animate,” said Luberts. “We were so intrigued by this space and we wanted people to engage the city. I hope people just don’t look at the mirrors. When you look and spend time downtown you can find a lot of interesting places,” said Luberts. The installation will be lit in the evenings until Friday, Feb. 22, when it will be removed.Archived article by Dan Webb