spr ing 2013 | st. Lawrence Universit y Magazine 3
On Ca mpus
Innovation
Grants,
Next Round
Innovation Grants are awarded to
proposals that reflect commitment to
improving the quality of life on campus
and of the University’s connection to the
regional community. Six projects won
grants for spring 2013:
Accommodative services iPad Pilot
Project
This project will purchase, for try-out
and evaluation, a set of Apple iPad tablet
devices that students requiring accom-
modative services can use during class to
capture lecture content, as an alternative
to volunteer classmate "note-takers."
Building hOUR Community
Introduction of North Country Hours, a
paper currency for Canton that is based on
one hour of labor.
f ace-Off with hunger
Sponsored by the men's hockey team,
the project’s goal is to raise awareness
on campus and beyond of hunger in the
North Country. Food drives were con-
ducted at four home men’s hockey games
in 2012-13.
Global Dialogue Center
The goal is to create a space that will
enable students of different disciplines,
life experiences and perspectives to
exchange thoughts and ideas on pressing
global issues.
hydration station in ODY
The Environmental Action Organi-
zation will install a Haws Hydration
Station in the library. Hydration stations
filter 99.99% of impurities to provide
safe, sustainable and better-tasting water,
and reduce the demand for bottled water.
Mapping human spaces
Several new campus facilities, including
the Johnson Hall of Science, will benefit
from evaluation with an eye toward small
design modifications. Environmental
Psychology and Creativity in Design
students will apply the principles of
behavior mapping, a technique for docu-
menting reactions to and use of
new spaces.
Laurentian Legislators
Four St. Lawrence University alumni
have been elected as members of Kenya’s
new National Assembly. Results were
verified by the Electoral Commission in
Kenya on March 9.
Kenneth Okoth ’01
and
Lati Lelelit
’04
both won their first elected post in the
Kenyan government. Okoth will represent
the Kibra constituency, an urban neigh-
borhood in Nairobi. Lelelit will represent
Samburu West, a rural constituency in
Northern Kenya that includes the site of
Naibor Keju, former home base for the
Samburu field component of St. Law-
rence’s Kenya Semester Program (KSP).
Francis “Chachu” Ganya ’96
and
Joseph Lekuton ’91
were re-elected and
will continue to represent the rural north-
ern Kenyan constituencies of North Horr
and Laisamis, respectively. Both were first
elected in 2007.
“
I owe a lot to St. Lawrence,” says Okoth
in reflecting on his victory. “There, I
acquired a sense of duty to make a dif-
ference; skills in overcoming challenges,
working together, communicating and
persevering; and the ability to think
broadly, see interconnections and solve
complex problems. For example, I learned
that economic problems are not just about
economics,” he says.
“
It was not only book knowledge that I
obtained at St. Lawrence,” Okoth contin-
ues. “I was exposed to different cultures,
religions and ethnicities, and learned to
listen and understand them.”
The election is the first since a new
constitution was passed via a national
referendum in 2010.
The new National Assembly and Senate
will replace Kenya’s Parliament to make
up the national legislative branch of the
Kenyan government, according to
Associate Professor of African Studies
Matt Carotenuto, who was a visiting
student on St. Lawrence’s KSP.
Two professors who have taught in
St. Lawrence’s KSP also won races. Ki-
vutha Kibwana, who taught the program’s
Politics and Governments of Kenya
course, was elected governor of Makueni
County, while long-standing MP and cur-
rent Minister for Medical Services Peter
Anyang’Nyong’o, who taught in the pro-
gram in the 1980s, won the senate race in
Kisumu County. —MSB
f our alumni elected to Kenyan National Assembly
Kenneth Okoth '01, one of four Laurentian winners of a seat in Kenya's new national assembly, receives the
certific te signifying his victory at the tallying center in nairobi.
For more on s t. Lawrence and
Kenya:
www.stlawu.edu/ciis/
program/kenya.
Japheth Ochieng'