Latino students in the Syracuse City School District practice vocabulary with flash cards. The language barriers between them and the teachers make it difficult for them to succeed.

Written and Produced By Stephanie Claytor

This fall, Latino community leaders from Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo met at the Upstate Latino Summit. The summit– held in downtown Syracuse–  gave Latinos from all over Upstate New York the opportunity to discuss issues in their community, such as education.

Nationwide, Latinos have the highest drop-out rate. And according the latest statistics revealed on the New York State Report card, Syracuse City School District is following that trend– a concern for some local leaders.

” We all know that, based on demographics, if we do not change that drop-out rate… this country is not going to survive,” said Syracuse Common Council President Bea Gonzalez.

During the education workshop, Margarita Reyes, a representative of the Rochester City School District showcased a survey she conducted at Monroe High School in Rochester. She asked the Latino students why their peers failed to finish school. Reyes said work, absence of parental guidance, pregnancies and lack of support from faculty were the main reasons why students said their peers quit school.

And some of the students in Syracuse shared similar sentiments.

“I didn’t like the class scheduling, I didn’t like some of the teachers, they were very rude, “said Keisha Encarnacion, a 21-year old Latina who quit attending Nottingham High school in the last semester of her senior  year. “When you did need help there, it was very hard because the classes were so large.”

“There’s a lot of percent of them that drop out because they get picked on,” said April Keller, a student at Fowler High school.

Social worker Donna Lucente has assisted students at Syracuse’s Fowler High School for more than a decade. She said a lack of vision is the reason students quit school.

“A lot of students don’t have a vision for their future that they could go to college or that college could be affordable for them,” Lucente said.

The Syracuse City School District has around 20,000 students enrolled in school this year. About 1200 of them are Latinos. Fowler High School has the largest percentage of Latinos out of all of the high schools.  There, Latinos make up about a quarter of the student body.  According to the New York State Report card, which gives statistics and evaluates the performances of schools in the state, only 32 percent of the Latino students at Fowler High School in the class of 2007 graduated by August of that year. That’s about 22 Latino students out of the 68 students in the class.

Principal James Palumbo said the school’s dropout rate is “unacceptable.” He states the school’s six-year Latino graduation rate is somewhere around 50 percent. And he said he is willing to bet that if he had more Spanish speaking teachers, the graduation rate for Latino students would rise.

But, year after year, Palumbo said there aren’t any Spanish speaking certified candidates applying.  Syracuse City School Superintendent Lowengard echoed Palumbo’s concern.

“We believe in bilingual education,” Lowengard said. “But, it’s an issue for us, finding teachers that are certified and that speak Spanish. ”

**If you want to learn more about how your child’s school scored on the New York State Report card, click here.

Dan and BrandiLee Schafran graduated from SU three years ago. Three days after walking across the stage to accept their diplomas, they walked down the aisle to exchange vows.

Written and Produced By: Marlei Martinez

For many college couples, falling in love sparks thoughts about marriage. But in a society where youthful marriages are declining, love isn’t the only factor college sweethearts are looking for when deciding to tie the knot.

Anthony Kershaw and Deana Cater are 22-years-old. Anthony is a fifth-year senior studying civil engineering at Syracuse University. His wife, Deana, graduated from SU last year. They met during their sophomore year of college.

“His shoes were really dirty so I just noticed him and I said, ‘Oh, I saw you on the bus today,’” Deana explained. “And he thought I was making fun of him so he Facebooked me and the rest is history.”

They dated for two years. During Deana’s senior year, they decided to marry due to “extenuating circumstance.”

“Pretty much the school took away my financial aid because there was a discrepancy in my FAFSA tax documents [and] my parents were unwilling to change their documents,” Anthony explained.

One way to keep his financial aid was to become independent. So, Anthony and Deana got married.

Finances are often a reason why college sweethearts decide to tie the knot. According to the Yale Daily Times, 15% of college couples get married and 7% of college couples marry while still in school.

Dr. Suzanne Haas-Cunningham, a marriage and family therapist, said money means different things for different couples.

“For some couples, finances would be really, really big,” Dr. Haas-Cunningham said. “But sometimes if there’s one person who has more financial responsibility and the other person is the caretaker, then it evens out.”

***

Dan and BrandiLee Schafran graduated from SU three years ago. Three days after walking across the stage to accept their diplomas, they walked down the aisle to exchange vows.

“It was the perfect day,” BrandiLee said.

The Schafrans met during their sophomore year of college when Dan joined the on-campus organization, Campus Crusade for Christ. They said faith is the foundation of their marriage and it was the cornerstone of Dan’s proposal in the Adirondacks.

“I got down and had her sit on the bank there,” Dan said. “And I read the passage in scripture where Jesus talks about washing each other’s feet and serving each other. So I kind of washed her feet there in the stream and told her I’d love her and serve her for the rest of her life.”

Dr. Haas-Cunningham said practicing the same faith does help the success of a marriage. However, she says it’s not a necessity.

”You could have two people who have two different beliefs that are really passionate and say, ‘I get you’re as passionate about your beliefs as I am, that’s cool, I can respect that,’” she said.

There are many reasons why college couples decide to get married either during school or right after. And while some may think love is enough, others consider a bit more.

Students play beer pong on Syracuse University campus. The traditional college drinking games has been linked to the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Beer Pong- Another Swine Flu Victim

By Rachel Silver

Syracuse, N.Y. – A longstanding college tradition may be a cause in the spread of swine flu.

Beer pong, a college drinking game, is popular with students on campuses across the country. In the game, players throw ping-pong balls into cups of beer to determine who drinks and continue playing until all of the cups are empty.

But while the game may seem relatively harmless, several schools have connected outbreaks of H1N1 on their campuses to the game.

At Rennsalaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, twenty-one students with confirmed cases of swine flu were said to contract the virus through beer pong, causing the university to send out a message warning students of the potential dangers of the game.

At Syracuse University, the administration took a proactive approach through an advisory sent to off-campus students regarding the health risks of beer pong.

“There is an obvious connection between people exchanging germs through contact with cups and sharing beverages,” said Carol Masiclat, associate director of communications for the Division of Student Affairs. “So obviously if you’re sharing cups and, you know, putting your mouth on common things, it’s possible you could increase you risk of getting sick.”

However, despite the university’s warnings, the majority of SU students, like Ian Chin, remain unconcerned.

“It’s part of the college culture, you know,” said Chin. “It’s fraternities and sororities like playing it, it’s a staple at college parties and, you know, college kids like to, you know, get intoxicated.”