by Ilyssa Weiner

OSWEGO, NY — Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent Excelsior Scholarship is the first program in the United States to offer free tuition to four year public colleges. The program, however, has its setbacks, critics say.

SUNY Oswego Financial Aid Director Mark Humbert says the hard part for students who receive the scholarship will be keeping it.

“You have to successfully complete 30 credit hours per year and most of our students don’t do that,” he said.

SUNY Oswego currently has a 48% acceptance rate. Humbert says the Excelsior Scholarship will cause the rate of all SUNY schools to decrease.

“It’s going to make SUNY more selective, which in some way goes against our mission which is affordability and access,” he said.

The initial cap for students who qualify will be an annual family income of $100,000. By 2019, the cap will rise to $125,000. Humbert says many students will still need loans despite the qualification.

”The cost of college is more than just tuition,” he said. “The same students that might be eligible for this still are going to need their loans to help pay for room and board.”

Students eligible for the program must stay in New York State for four years after they graduate. If they move out, the free tuition turns into a loan.

SUNY Oswego student Asha Bey is a broadcasting major and is concerned if she ends up with a job outside of New York.

“I know there’s plenty of job opportunities in other states other than New York,” Bey said.

While she is hopeful about the scholarship, Bey believes the kinks need to be worked out.

“I just want a group of people to just go through it so we can see what is there or what we can expect,” she said.

The Excelsior Scholarship program will take effect Fall 2017.

by Jamie Aranoff, WTOP-10 TV

German Virtual Reality Company, Crytek has announced a sponsorship with Oswego State providing virtual reality research opportunities and human-computer interaction graduate programs.

VR [Virtual Reality] First is an initiative to integrate virtual reality and create labs in higher education institutions nationwide.  The aim of VR First is to link schools to a global network of virtual knowledge and research.

The need for jobs in the virtual reality market is rapidly opening, said Dr. Jolanda Tromp, a visiting professor at Oswego State. “Experts are needed to help with improvements to the hardware and there are a multitude of application areas opening up, such as big data visualization, explorations of the microbiology world, medical training, health & safety training for hazardous environments, college education programs of all sorts, fashion, journalism, marketing, to name a few,” said Tromp.

Oswego has joined a partnership of schools including Purdue University, Oklahoma State University, University of Florida and many others spanning six countries.

The Academic initiative with Crytek has allowed for the creation of a virtual reality lab in the Shineman center, with five state of the art virtual reality headphones. In addition, all headsets will be complete with Crytek’s software development, CryEngine.  

Virtual reality is a computer-generated program that is viewed from specific headgear with a screen securely placed in front of users’ eyes. Virtual reality’s specific draw is that the program allows for users to feel as though they are in a three dimensional location, which is a dynamic shot allowing the image in front of a users eyes to move in sync with a user.  

“It’s becoming affordable, the technology is improving and the headsets are smaller and more comfortable to wear,” Tromp said in a press release.

Last Spring, students in Tromp’s graduate virtual reality course divulged into the myriad of opportunities that are presented with the technology.  It is applicable not only to the science and technology fields but medical, marketing, psychotherapy, space travel, journalism and more.

“There is a need for software development talent in this field,” said Tromp.

Many students of varying majors and studies are provoked by the new technologies, and their opportunities in the job field.  

“It’s becoming cheaper and more common to produce headsets and I really feel as though the ideology of being able to interact with interact with virtual technology paves a way to new technologies I can not even begin to fathom,” said Sophomore computer science student, Joseph McGee.

In addition to the practicalities among many different fields, one Oswego student has taken the technology and applied it to pain management.

Second-year graduate student, Ryan Kikta is using virtual reality to bring patients undergoing medical treatments to feel as though they were in a non-medical location.

“It’s a green technology, it saves resources and time. Its flexibility is incomparable” said Tromp on the ability to use the technologies in different settings.  

For students interested in the vast world of virtual reality technology, Tromp is teaching a graduate level virtual reality course again in the upcoming spring semester. The virtual reality lab is available for students to propose projects for, and to collaborate with companies off campus, some even providing opportunities for internships.

This past weekend both the women’s and men’s hockey teams got their first wins of the 2016-17 season.

The women’s team had their first road game of the year on Friday. The team traveled to New Hampshireto take on New England College. The Lakers would go on to win their first game of the season 6-1. Freshman twin sisters Jacquelin and Julieann White showed what they are capable of. Jacquelin had two goals while Julieann had a goal and a assist.

On Saturday, the women would make their way to Vermont to take on Castleton. At the end of the second period, the Lakers were up 3-0 put then the Castleon Cougars scored three goals in the third period to tie it up. Senior Kendall Applebaum would score the game-winning goal for the Lakers.

While the women’s team was away, the men’s team was home and played Elmira on both Friday and
Saturday.

On Friday, the Lakers dominated the Golden Eagles 7-1. The Lakers saw seven different goal scorers. Three of the goals were power play goals while the first goal of the game was a short-handed goal.

On Saturday, the men played Elmira again, but this time they played in Elmira. The Lakers would get their first road win of the year by winning the game 6-3. Senior Kenny Neil had a hat trick while fellow senior Shawn Hulshof assisted each of Neil’s goal.

Both the women’s and men’s team will be home next weekend. The women will play Chatham on Friday and Saturday while the men will travel to Brockport on Friday and come home Saturday and play Geneseo.