A List
12/17/01

GRANT FUNDS COLLABORATION BETWEEN SLU & AKWESASNE SCHOOL

CANTON - St. Lawrence University has been awarded the John Ben 
Snow Trust Public/Private Learning Collaboration Grant for 
2001-2002, through the Independent College Fund of New York, Inc., 
allowing faculty and students at the University to work with 
teachers and students at the Akwesasne Freedom School in 
Hogansburg on a science project.
	With assistance from the grant, for $10,000, science 
equipment and computer technology will enhance an on-going 
collaboration to identify and catalog various species of plants 
that have been used for medicinal purposes within the Mohawk 
culture.
	For several years, St. Lawrence Assistant Professor of 
Biology Carlos R. Ramirez-Sosa and Phil Preston, the science 
teacher at the Akwesasne Freedom School, have worked together 
on the project, along with their students. The grant funding 
will enable University students in Ramirez-Sosa's Ethnobotany 
course to teach sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade Mohawk students 
how to use a computer, microscope and digital video recorder to 
examine and study the cell structures of the plants, record their 
findings on digital video and post the results on a shared Web 
site the students will create together. 
	"I am very excited about the tremendous potential benefit 
and increased learning opportunities that will be gained by our 
undergraduates and the students of the Freedom School through 
this project," St. Lawrence University President Daniel F. Sullivan 
commented. "I extend the thanks of the entire University 
community to the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust Public/Private 
Learning Collaborations grant program and the Independent College 
Fund of New York for supporting this wonderful venture."
	The Independent College Fund of New York, Inc., was 
founded in 1952 by a council of college presidents and corporate 
executives with the expressed purposes of advancing and of 
strengthening independent colleges and universities in New York 
State. The Fund's 29 member colleges (including St. Lawrence), 
located in all regions of New York State, are accredited by The 
Middle States Association and each college is governed by an 
autonomous board of trustees and receives its income primarily 
from private sources.
	The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, established in 1975, based 
in Syracuse, grants funds for educational, scientific and humanitarian 
purposes. Since 1999, the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust has encouraged 
relationships between Independent College Fund of New York member 
colleges and public schools located in rural and inner city areas.

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