Seneca College Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008 - (Page 27)

givingback Building on Seneca’s tradition of accomplishment and service to founding President Dr. William Newnham. In May, Seneca honoured Dr. Newnham with the inaugural Order of Seneca, one of the College’s most prestigious awards, recognizing those who have made outstanding service and philanthropic commitments to Seneca. Dr. Newnham was a pioneer of Ontario’s college system and set the standard for quality in post secondary education and career training that Seneca holds today. As the College continues to provide students the tools they will need to thrive in the global economy, it will look to visionaries like Dr. Newnham to help with their expertise, volunteerism and philanthropic contributions. So many of Seneca’s community and business partners have led the way with contributions to student bursaries and endowments and Leading Through Excellence: the Campaign for the Markham Campus. We are more than halfway towards securing the $10 million needed to fully equip this dynamic new Campus. But there is still more to be done, more trails to blaze and more students to help. Seneca is a leader in polytechnic education by providing students multiple paths for their education. Their accomplishments come when they have access to the best education in Canada and the support necessary to afford it. Your help makes it possible. Thank you for your continued support of Seneca’s students. Your generosity is helping to change the lives of today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders. Warm regards, Shirlene B. Courtis, CFRE Vice President, Resource Development alph Waldo Emerson once said “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.” Across Seneca’s campuses we see trails being blazed on a regular basis. Take, for example, Azra Rashid (JBC 2005) and Jessica Cullingham (BHR 2008), whose groundbreaking documentary “Dishonour Defied” won a Silver Remi Award for Women’s Issues at the 2008 Houston International Film Festival. This accomplishment not only highlights the brilliant work of two exceptional students, it also highlights a fantastic collaboration with Seneca professors Stacey Johnson and James Cullingham, and the College’s School of Communication Arts. Or there is Ashlynn Fisher and Colette Daley, who recently spent two weeks in Jamaica with 23 other Senecans volunteering on behalf of “Students Crossing Borders,” a work study program where students provide assistance in impoverished areas of Kingston. These accomplishments are just two examples of Seneca’s continued dedication to excellence and community service. This dedication was engrained at the College in its earliest days thanks 1 - 888 - ALUMNUS R Success through strength and support Seneca student overcomes a disability with the right tools and the right attitude lose your eyes, but not all the way. Keep them open just enough so some light sneaks through. Then try to focus on something in front of you. Not so easy, is it? This is the reality Seneca student Katie McDonald faces daily. She suffers from Stargardt’s disease, one of the more common forms of inherited juvenile macular degeneration. It causes a C progressive loss of central vision and can lead to legal blindness. Glasses or laser surgery cannot fix it. Progression can be rapid or slow and sight loss can get worse or stay the same. “It feels like everything is out of focus,” Katie explains, “like looking through a smoke-filled room.” Katie began to notice problems with her vision after her first semester in 27

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Seneca College Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008

Seneca College Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008
Contents
Team Makes a Difference on Campus
How Green is Your Workspace?
A New Approach to Environmentalism - the Revitalization Institute
Troy White Turns up the Heat with His Summer Job
Karen Eilersen Goes Beyond Recycling
Applied Research Solves Real Life Problems
Philip Sparks has it All Sewn Up
The Mehta Family Credits Seneca with Success
Diary of Desmond Duke’s Start Up
Support and Attitude Keep Visually-Impaired Student on Track
Honouring “the President”
New Grads Who Will Inspire You
What do the Argonauts and Mozilla have in Common?
Our Experts Show You How to Burn Calories and Shop While Going Green
Olympic Gold and Silver for Senecans
Boost Seneca’s Research Data Just by Saying “Yes”
Senecans Assessing on TV

Seneca College Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008

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