Best of Florida Schools 2004
General Categories—Page 5

Best Police Equipment
Beam Me Up, UPD
Say “police car” and most people envision the hulking Crown Victorias or Caprices used by most law enforcement officers. It doesn’t necessarily seem like the best idea to flag down a police officer just to chat about his ride. But that’s what’s happening at the University of North Florida—and UPD officers don’t mind a bit.

Looking like they were built by Fisher-Price and Starfleet Academy, the two little blue cars scooting around campus hide the cutting edge under their rounded exteriors. They’re called GEM cars—Global Electric Motor cars for the uninitiated—and they pack a walloping 30 miles onto a single charge from any electrical outlet. Since the cars are more nimble and light than the average police cruiser, UNF officers have discovered a new freedom. “The GEM cars fit into UPD’s new community policing efforts since they allow officers to go where full-sized vehicles are not allowed,” says Dorreen Daly, executive assistant of student affairs.

But travel isn’t the only freedom the officers get by driving these GEMs—students also are communicating more freely with them. “It’s not unusual for someone to wave down an officer just to ask what type of vehicle they’re driving, but then additional conversation goes from there,” says Mark Foxworth, UPD chief. “Overall, the GEMs have eliminated the barrier that exists with the traditional police car.” —SRR

Contact Daly at ddaly@unf.edu.

Best Innovative Method
Order in the Course!
“All rise!” intones the bailiff. “The St. Johns River Community College Ethics Court is now in session with the Respectable Professor Jorge Milanes presiding.” The bailiff is student Terry Braggs, and “His Honor” has transformed this Contemporary Ethics classroom into a courtroom. Today on trial: capital punishment.

When SJRCC added the class to its curriculum, Milanes, a 26-year veteran teacher, handed down the judgment that the course needed a unique format. He says that debating the issues is the ideal method for students to learn about them. “Taking the debate method a step further, I felt the court system added a degree of structure easily recognized by the students,” he says.

The course explores meaningful ethical positions on contemporary issues like abortion, euthanasia, animal rights, environmental practices, and job discrimination. Students are called for duty to serve as jurors, defense or prosecuting attorneys, witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants. To fill their roles, they must research topics and plan a strategy to apply moral theory to the specific issues, building their argument and hopefully winning their case.

Milanes says that the structure of the class helps students develop confidence, improve their ability to both collaborate and compete, and increase their time management skills. “Students love the format and are extremely enthusiastic and conscientious in building their cases,” he says. —JP

Contact Milanes at milanes_j@firn.edu.

Best Grad School Orientation
Law and Order at NSU
Day 1: “What am I getting myself into?”
Day 2: “Was I supposed to know that?”
Day 3: “Mommy!”
Nova Southeastern University wastes no time in throwing first-year law students to the wolves, uh, getting them off to a quick start.

More than 360 incoming law students gave up the illusion of a warm, fuzzy getting-to-know-you introduction as NSU’s Shepard Board Law center hosted a 3-day Prep and Orientation Program in August 2003. Essentially, this group of “fresh meat” was put to the test the first day to show them what to expect.

The law students began with a 9 a.m. mock class exercise, where they learned the Socratic method of teaching and did writing exercises. “These new students came walking in thinking that it’s going to be precisely like undergraduate school,” says Mike Laderman, former associate director of public affairs. “What we do on the first day is dispel that notion with our most challenging class.”

The back door swung back and forth continuously, and by the end of the first course, those that were left breathed a sigh of relief. The professors and administration spent the rest of the day speaking with the students about law processes. In the four remaining classes of the day, instructors discussed legal analysis, critical reading and writing skills, role playing, and psychology.

By the second day, NSU loosened its grip and gave students the opportunity to sit with members of NSU’s law administration. The program included workshops such as “All You Ever Wanted to Know About the Florida Bar Exam But Were Afraid to Ask” and “Financial Aid Cents and Sensibility” to better acquaint the students with the necessities of law school. “They have the opportunity of taking these classes and meeting with NSU alumni to ask any further questions,” says Linda Lahey, director of developmental research and special events in the law center.

To add to the sweat dripping from their foreheads, students got their bathing suits and sunscreen for the third day. To work out their bodies and brains, students spent two afternoon hours at Dania’s John Lloyd Park as part of NSU’s Beach Clean Up.

“Instead of having a ‘sink-or-swim’ method to law school, our program is intended to help the students get comfortable with policies and procedures in the program,” says Steve Freidland, assistant. “It’s intended to be a learning tool so that students can see what’s important.” —OB

Contact Freedland at 954-262-6150 or Lahey at 954-262-6111.

Best Cultural Exposure
An Acquired Taste
You don’t have to be a millionaire to enjoy the finer things in life. However, having an appreciation and understanding for the finer things can be a strong career move—plus, it can just be fun. Beacon College’s Cultural Club members are learning to stop and smell the roses, pour the wine, and gaze at works of art.

Advisor Kristin Brunelle creates a club itinerary every semester that maximizes the students’ exposure to many facets of culture. “When I’m planning, it’s everything outside the box,” she says. “I want them to go to wineries, know how to pour wine or choose it, to go to galleries in South Beach or St. Petersburg, to see different cultures. There’s a multicultural element mixed in with a knowledge of fine art.”

The Cultural Club is Beacon’s longest-standing organization, having been around for six years. And in those six years, Brunelle says, “We’ve eaten everything!” From sushi to Indian food, the club has hit restaurants across the state. That exposure brings familiarity and familiarity brings ease. “My goal is for students not to be intimidated by anything,” Brunelle says. “When we eat at La Boheme, I don’t want them intimidated by a French menu. I want them to enjoy it.” But the club is more than a bunch of gourmet chowhounds, traveling together to the opera, independent film screenings, plays, and the symphony.

Although Beacon is the only college in the nation that specifically works with a learning-disabled population, the club’s mission statement applies to any student leaving the college environment looking for a job: “Students learn to adapt to different social settings and surroundings while either cultivating their core cultural knowledge or experiencing something new for the first time.” But Brunelle makes it sound a lot more fun. “I want them to be exposed to everything and have a great time,” she says. —SRR

Contact Brunelle at wykiki3@aol.com.

Safest Campus
Beating the Statistics
Statistics published in the Journal of College Student Development say that one in four women in the United States will be raped in their lifetime. Pensacola Junior College is taking steps to make sure that its students won’t become just another number by providing the campus community with Rape Risk Reduction Education.

In 2003, PJC received a 40-month grant from the Florida Department of Health to finance the RRRE office and its missions of increasing awareness of sexual violence and reducing its occurrence. PJC received the grant by being the only community college to demonstrate an interest to the FDH in implementing such a program.

“Now that we’ve gotten it though, it seems like other colleges are starting to get interested,” says Angel Hill, RRRE and training coordinator.

The program provides 50-minute educational sessions on topics such as rape, binge drinking, and club drugs as part of the regular student curriculum during freshman elective and medical classes. Participants learn about what actually constitutes rape, what date rape drugs are, and rape prevention.

Among the common myths that the program tries to dispel is that date- rape drugs are uncommon and hard to obtain. And students learn that, according to Florida law, sex under the influence of alcohol can be considered rape.

“Alcohol is the number one date rape drug in the country,” Hill says. “Students don’t realize that, and they come to learn that mixing alcohol, drugs, and sex is a dangerous combination.”

Since its inception, the program has provided education to more than 1,000 PJC students, and staff and faculty members. Because the educational sessions take place during regular classroom sessions, the program reaches as many men as women.

“By having a captive audience like that, it forces people to listen to things they wouldn’t normally listen to, and I had a very positive response from male students because of it,” Hill says.

RRRE works with PJC’s certified police department and the college’s health nurse to meet students’ needs. Free counseling and referral services are also available to PJC students experiencing crisis. —MDJ

Contact Hill at ahill@pjc.edu.

Copyright © 2006 Oxendine Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved