The following action commitments by University of Miami students were approved for development at the Clinton Global Initiative University in 2010. Representing schools and programs throughout the University, the students sought to make a difference by addressing a variety of important issues, such as education, health, and intercultural communication, in settings ranging from Miami Dade County to Kenya, from Egypt to the Dominican Republic.
Teddy Allen, Environmental Science
My Commitment to Action has a direct and immediate personal connection to my graduate research and will contribute to the larger field of applied climate studies. One reoccurring obstacle within the climate sciences that I intend to offset is the dissemination of meteorological station data from non-industrialized nations. My commitment is to assist in digitizing this data and to disseminate the digital format directly to the World Meteorological Organization so that it can be accessed and analyzed by climate scientists. This has many benefits, including model initialization, model verification, and the reduction of the risk of potentially deadly periodic environmental episodes.
Ivette Cardelli, Public Health, Miller School of Medicine
My Commitment to Action is to continue to raise funds and start to collect medical supplies from local hospitals. Last year my goal was to raise funds for the University of Tamaulipas and have its nursing school disperse those funds to the local clinics at which I worked during the summer of 2008. This year I plan on collecting small, yet necessary, medical supplies such as gloves, IV kits, and gauze to ship to the clinics for their important use. I also hope to recruit small clinics in Miami and South Florida to donate any expired equipment that may not be used here in the United States but can be used in places like Tampico, Mexico.
Cassandra Dehaney-Duffus, School of Nursing and Health Studies
During the past 50 years, the major cause of death and disability in Jamaica has changed from communicable and infectious diseases to chronic non-communicable conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. As a Jamaican and health care provider who received a formal education as a professional nurse in Jamaica, I am aware of the health care issues that exist there, especially for the poor and individuals residing in rural communities. Therefore, my commitment is to provide monitoring, education on disease management and diet, health screenings, and lifestyle changes for chronic conditions of hypertension and diabetes. The establishment of a clinic in one of Jamaica’s rural areas is a primary goal.
Scott Fuhrman, School of Law
I plan to raise funds in order to upgrade low-income housing across South Florida with energy-efficient fixtures and low-flow water appliances. I will use my extensive fundraising contacts from my time as a fundraiser in the Democratic Party to facilitate the fundraising process, and I will use my local contacts with Habitat for Humanity to locate low-income families for the project.
Guensie Grecy, School of Law
Domestic violence is much more culturally accepted among women who immigrate to the United States from other countries, especially those of Caribbean descent. Many immigrants don’t know their rights as far as domestic violence goes and allow themselves to be exploited out of fear that they will be deported if they report such incidents. My commitment is to have a series of classes, workshops, and support group meetings for immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence. These meetings will inform the women of their rights and encourage and empower them to stand up for themselves. I would like to create a pamphlet on domestic violence in Spanish, English, and Creole that will contain information such as resources, legal aid, battered women’s shelters, and legal rights.
Shana Schoem, School of Law
I am planning a legal service trip for a small group of law students at the University of Miami School of Law. The trip will take place during our spring break and the students will travel to Washington, DC to work closely with an organization focused on human rights issues as they relate to the law. Prior to the trip, the students will go through training to familiarize themselves with the legal and social issues they will be facing.
Alberto Caban-Martinez, Public Health, Miller School of Medicine
Focus on the initial efforts made in evaluation and assessment of the living conditions in rural areas of the Dominican Republic which was initiated last year when I traveled to four rural communities in the province of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic to provide medical care and public health efforts. During the visit, I learned of the tragic and impoverished conditions that some of the rural villages were kept which promulgated my current commitment to action in procuring 300 rubber maid garbage cans and thus, help these villages which are currently disposing of garbage on their own small humble properties.
Benjamin Lemelman, Public Health, Miller School of Medicine
314 million people suffer from a visual acuity of less than or equal to 20/60 and 49 percent of these 314 million people have visual impairment due to uncorrected refractive error which hinders learning and development in children, and limit jobs, tasks and quality of life of adults. 90 percent of those with uncorrected refractive error live in low or middle income countries. The goal of my project is to screen and treat refractive error in the central plateau of Haiti by training local health agents to use a new technique researched by Dr. Thomas Shane at Bascom Palmer Eye Hospital at the University of Miami.
Ng'ang'a Muchiri, College of Arts and Sciences
As of 2007, more than a quarter million Kenyan students finished high school and waited for tertiary education. For close to 40 percent of these students, the waiting can last anywhere from two months to four years, leaving such youths depressed and at a high risk for social deviance, including and not limited to drug abuse. On the other hand, NGOs and other social justice groups are grappling with decreased budgets, causing labor shortages for programs that are facing an all-time high demand. This initiative seeks to connect the large supply of potential volunteers from Kenya’s high schools with the social organizations that could benefit from dedicated and passionate youth activists.
Michelle Perez, School of Education
I’m the office manager at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department here at UM. I received my B.A. in 2008 from FIU after being a high school dropout and graduating through night school. I am currently pursuing a Master’s in Liberal Arts at UM and I would like to use my experience within an adult education program to reach out to students who are at risk of completely dropping out. I also want to reach out to those who would like to attend college but have no access to information and need help finding it.
Alejandra Salinas, School of Education
I seek to help change the perception of the teaching profession to one which people feel proud and privileged to be a part of. This will motivate more highly qualified people to become teachers. I plan to raise awareness of the struggles Miami-Dade County teachers face in the classroom, the qualifications necessary to become a highly qualified teacher, and of the impact good teachers can have on their students, community, and the future.
Abhay Sudhindra, College of Arts and Sciences
To introduce students in Miami-Dade public and private schools to the activities and ideals of different cultures throughout the world and the reason these points of view instigate conflicts. The goal is to inform a new, younger generation about different religions and cultures and to alleviate the preconceived prejudices that may be instilled by the various influences in their lives. By helping students to understand all of the sides of a conflict, it is my hope that they can then make their own informed judgments and be able to become the next generation of social leaders.
Alexander Suma, College of Engineering
To develop a design for electricity harvesting by wind energy in residential housing units. The system is a wind velocity accelerating funnel system, integrated in the roof structure of a building. My design will create self-sustaining houses that can provide more than enough electricity for the household use; if staying connected to the grid, users can sell their electricity to the commercial buildings and earn back the investment of the installation. This way communities can self-sustain and electricity does not have to be generated by polluting or inefficient systems.
Monica Aguirre, College of Arts and Sciences
Lack of communication and debate is the cause of many conflicts around the world, including the Israeli-Palestinian and Serbia-Kosovo conflicts, as well as in Cyprus. One region that appears to be at the forefront of international relations at the moment is Africa. Terrorism and other problems in Africa have been linked to poverty, lack of leadership, civil war, and other consequences. I propose a place where Ghanians, Kenyans, Ugandans, and all other citizens of African countries can express their opinions, ideas, and suggestions in order to address some of these difficult issues. As a result, my plan of action would be to create a Web site where citizens of these regions will be able to participate in dialogue and share their experiences from their home country.
Mariama Donzo, College of Arts and Sciences
My 2010 plan of action is to open a community center in Ganta, Nimba County, Liberia, preferably near Ganta United Methodist Hospital for future support from doctors, nurses and students in the nearby school. The starting goal of this project will be to provide education and a safe house for individuals affected by the war. The system will provide tutoring for students in school, programs for illiterate adults, and workshops to address important issues. Some of the issues the workshops will cover include women empowerment, family support, setting future goals, improving sanitation conditions, and ways to acquire clean water and widespread electricity.
Alejandra Ferris, College of Arts and Sciences
My plan is to implement a mandatory recycling program in high schools. The project will first target public high schools in Miami-Dade County, then expand to include private high schools. I will then try to expand this project into nearby counties, such as Broward County and Palm Beach County, with the hopes of eventually expanding into the entire state of Florida. One problem that I have seen around campus and elsewhere is a lack of recycling bins. If high schools had separate bins for bottles and other recyclable material in sight located near its trashcans, I believe more students would choose to recycle, rather than dump the bottles in a trash bin.
Joshua Lopez, College of Arts and Sciences
Empower Mexican students and work with them to become more literate in reading and writing. My plan to carry out this initiative is to travel to low-income rural areas of Mexico and work with students through teaching, mentoring, and tutoring. I will spend time during the summer to complete this plan of action.
Andrea Martinez, College of Arts and Sciences
Create an extensive food bank for refugees entering Miami-Dade County who have been denied governmental aid. I plan to do this by providing information about the struggles of refugees who are denied or cut off from governmental aid and are left unable to support their families. After raising awareness about this issue, I will set up open discussions in which refugees will be able to interact with college students and tell their stories and the challenges they have faced because of limited governmental support. This will lead to increased student participation and the setting up of food banks around the community in order to provide refugees with basic needs so they can work to better themselves and end the cycle of poverty.
Mariana Ortiz, College of Arts and Sciences
I was born in Mexico but moved to Canada at a very young age; every time I go back and visit, it breaks my heart to see all of these children with no shoes and clothes that no longer fit them. My 2010 Commitment to Action is to help clothe the homeless children in Mexico, specifically Mexico City and the surrounding areas. My plan is to hold a clothing drive at the University of Miami, the church I attend, the high school I attended, and any other places I can come up with. The more places where I hold a clothing drive, the greater the amount of clothing I will be able to collect. I will also be in contact with covenant house in Mexico City, which helps to get kids off the street and gives them a place to live, education, and counseling.
Lorne Wasserman, College of Arts and Sciences
My commitment to action is to introduce to the world's schools a community service club that gets kids involved. It would have a diverse group of service activities, as well as scholarships for the kids who have put in the most hours to better their communities. I plan to first figure out where there are issues I would need to address in the nature of the proposed setup of my club by going to the CGI U in April. I would then start a Web site and present my idea to local middle and high schools. Once several schools have created their own chapters, I would present my idea to another state, where the club could spread into more chapters.
Noha Abdel-Mottaleb, College of Arts and Sciences
Elderly Cancer and diabetic patients lack education on their respective illnesses. Also, the youth face increasing suicide rates, stress, and depression rates. I believe that if these two groups sat in a support session focusing on physical well being will not only educate the two groups but also inspire them to act upon what they learn. Furthermore the two groups can assist each other, for example, for the youth to feel better and get exercise, they could commit to doing it with an elderly that hasn't been leaving the house because they have no one to go out with.
Samantha Flanagan, School of Communication
Because of the urgent need to foster passionate leaders, I commit to change this society by targeting those most in need of hearing this message: high school students. Project DAVE will tackle this issue directly through a local leadership retreat for young leaders facilitated by college students, where high school juniors will apply to attend a spring retreat, which will include personal "witness talks" by facilitators, interactive projects, and presentations covering topics such as empowerment, integrity, determination, diversity, confidence building, living life to the fullest, being true to oneself, and changing the world.
Kristen Gibson, School of Business Administration
In times of economic crisis, people become painfully aware of their economic and financial illiteracy. My initiative for 2010 is to provide a means for financial and economic literacy to all those seeking, as well as having those who are not seeking understand the importance of such information. My plan is to begin a non-profit organization, which provides free events and seminars to students, as well as members of the Miami-Dade metro area to help them understand the economy and how to control their financial situations.
Cassie Glenn, School of Communications
To reach out to my community and make connections around similar goals. While our environment changes daily, we are not taking accurate means to curb the issues that are constantly arising. While many discuss recycling and other preventative means to bettering our habitat, very few actually take the necessary steps. I believe that it is important to start from the beginning, with children. My commitment focuses on recycling and the use of plastic bottles, bags, etc., that take an ample amount of time to decompose, and thus, threaten our environment.
Panagiotis Kourtesis, College of Arts and Sciences
To provide art supplies and set up an art curriculum for elementary school children in Haiti. I plan to distribute $2,000 of supplies to the Village of Hope in Port au Prince. This will not be an ordinary donation of art supplies. The children will draw and paint what they feel or see when various questions are asked about their views of the world. I will show others how they have organized the world in their heads or, in other worlds, their world paradigm. There will be enough supplies left at the school to set up an art curriculum, and art books, lesson plans, templates, posters, reading books, and storage containers will be supplied for three years.
Samantha Ku, School of Business Administration
I commit to have college students have an active role in the United Way Center for Excellence. We will utilize our research facilities to show patrons the necessity of early childhood education, and spend a positive and first-hand role with the children, parents, and teachers.
Robert Rankin, College of Arts and Sciences
To implement the practice of sustainable composting in the University of Miami community. Such a plan will help reduce landfill, reduce fertilizer usage, and promote a greater system of reuse. Before beginning the composting, advocacy is necessary – the entire university must be educated on what can and what cannot be composted: if a significant number of people dispose of non-compostable items in the compost bins, it could have catastrophic effects. Eventually compost bins will be placed on a few select floors within the residence halls as a test group.