Friday, July 27, 2007

Beijing, here we come!

Hi everybody!

I just got off the phone with the folks at NBC Sports, who called to talked about the Olympic Internship program in Beijing in 2008.

The program has become increasingly competitive and Beijing is going to be more expensive than Turino was, so they've decided to reduce the number of campus partners they'll be working with this time around.

Thanks to the exceptional performance of the Parkies who worked in Turino, we made the cut (hurrah!).

Things will work a little differently this year. For starters, students in Turino were expected to make their own travel arrangements, cover their own costs, and figure out how they were going to stay on track for graduation even though they weren't going to be on campus for the first six weeks of the semester (and yes, we helped). Total costs were about $4,000 per student.

This time, NBC is going to be more helpful, and the timing couldn't be better. They're going to make all the travel arrangements, so the group of student interns will travel together to China, along with the NBC Sports professionals. They've also established a "flat rate" of only $2500 that will cover airfare, lodging, food and incidentals for student interns (and as we did last time, my office will provide financial support to those students who need it). And they'll cover the costs of a one-credit academic internship.

In addition, it's the SUMMER Olmpics in 2008, so interns will leave the United States early in August and return home in time to be here for the start of the fall semester. That means the experience will be transformative and extraordinary -- and it won't conflict with the other transformative, extraordinary learning experiences you'll be having here on campus.

I'll be holding an informational meeting in September to describe the details and distribute application forms. NBC Sports will be on campus in mid-October to interview applicants and make decisions.

To apply, you must be a senior or a junior in the Park School (majors only). (And just a head's up: seniors will need to be willing to delay the date of graduation on their diplomas in order to complete the one-credit internship in Beijing in August...it wouldn't affect graduation, your ability to walk with your class, etc., but you couldn't enroll for an academic credit if you are no longer a student at Ithaca College).

More details to follow.
開始包裝您的袋子; 這裡北京我們來!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Game Night. Enjoy.

This just in from Adam Berley, who just finished (and loved) his first year as a TVR major. He and some friends are working on a series of comedy sketches for YouTube. See what you think (and of course pass the word):


This sketch is entitled Game Night. Enjoy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9LOvy0CbdWM