Some people live in romantic ages. They tend to believe that genius is the product of a divine spark. They believe that there have been, throughout the ages, certain paragons of greatness — Dante, Mozart, Einstein — whose talents far exceeded normal comprehension, who had an other-worldly access to transcendent truth, and who are best approached with reverential awe.

We, of course, live in a scientific age, and modern research pierces hocus-pocus. In the view that is now dominant, even Mozart’s early abilities were not the product of some innate spiritual gift. His early compositions were nothing special. They were pastiches of other people’s work. Mozart was a good musician at an early age, but he would not stand out among today’s top child-performers.

What Mozart had, we now believe, was the same thing Tiger Woods had — the ability to focus for long periods of time and a father intent on improving his skills. Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age, so he got his 10,000 hours of practice in early and then he built from there.

The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.

The recent research has been conducted by people like K. Anders Ericsson, the late Benjamin Bloom and others. It’s been summarized in two enjoyable new books: “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle; and “Talent Is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin.

If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average verbal ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar biographical traits. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same ethnic background, or, shared the same birthday — anything to create a sense of affinity.

This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would, Coyle emphasizes, give her a glimpse of an enchanted circle she might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, infusing her with a profound sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success.

Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and literary biographies without end. This would give her a core knowledge of her field. She’d be able to chunk Victorian novelists into one group, Magical Realists in another group and Renaissance poets into another. This ability to place information into patterns, or chunks, vastly improves memory skills. She’d be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly perceive its inner workings.

Then she would practice writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. According to Colvin, Ben Franklin would take essays from The Spectator magazine and translate them into verse. Then he’d translate his verse back into prose and examine, sentence by sentence, where his essay was inferior to The Spectator’s original.

Coyle describes a tennis academy in Russia where they enact rallies without a ball. The aim is to focus meticulously on technique. (Try to slow down your golf swing so it takes 90 seconds to finish. See how many errors you detect.)

By practicing in this way, performers delay the automatizing process. The mind wants to turn deliberate, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. But the mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.

Then our young writer would find a mentor who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance from the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems — how do I get characters into a room — dozens and dozens of times. She is ingraining habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.

The primary trait she possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a deliberate, strenuous and boring practice routine.

Coyle and Colvin describe dozens of experiments fleshing out this process. This research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is smitten by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes place a leash on our capacities. But the brain is also phenomenally plastic. We construct ourselves through behavior. As Coyle observes, it’s not who you are, it’s what you do.

TROY — As an undergraduate, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute senior Mike
Morrow launched his own company. Now, he’s looking for a job, but with few
responses to his dozens of carefully targeted resumes, Morrow’s startup may
become his full-time vocation. With companies struggling and more than 6
million Americans receiving unemployment benefits, college graduates are
confronting the worst job market in years.

 Overall, hiring of college graduates this year is expected to be down 22 percent from the number
actually hired last year, according to a survey last month by the Bethlehem,
Pa.-based National Association of Colleges and Employers, which tracks
hiring trends on college campuses.
A separate NACE survey found that starting salaries for bachelor’s degree
candidates also have dipped, down 2.2 percent to $48,515 from $49,624 a year
ago.
At Siena College in Loudonville, Debra DelBelso, the career center director,
said the number of employer visits is unchanged from last year. But
“employers who had hired eight to 10 (students) are hiring two now,” she
said.
Thomas Tarantelli, who directs RPI’s Career Development Center, said fewer
recruiters visited campus this year than last, and students who would have
gone through rounds of interviews instead have turned to such social
networking sites as Facebook to post their resumes and search for jobs.
“It’s an entirely different job market this year in terms of how students
are looking for jobs,” Tarantelli said.
Many are deciding to put off the job search altogether.

“More of our students are considering graduate school,” said Robert Soules,
who directs Becker Career Center at Union College in Schenectady. DelBelso
said applications to graduate school by seniors at Siena also were up.
Adam Finkle, who will graduate from Siena with a bachelor’s degree in
biology, wants to take a year off, working in the fields of biology and
ecology to help him decide on a focus for the doctorate he plans to pursue.
So far, his job search has yielded mixed results. Some positions carry
modest stipends that won’t cover his living expenses.
“I’m going to have to live off my income,” he said. “I’m responsible for
health insurance and car insurance, and I do have student loans.”
Work experience, through internships or so-called co-op programs in which
students work for a year for a prospective employer before they graduate, is
becoming more critical in finding a job, students and career counselors say.

It’s a way of differentiating their resumes from those of other students.
It’s also a way of discovering opportunities that might not at first seem
obvious.

Mallory Mason, a senior at Union, spent the summer before her senior year as
an intern at Goldman Sachs, an investment banking firm in New York City.
“They didn’t tell me they had a hiring freeze,” she said. “We just kept
being told they didn’t know if they could hire.”
She also applied to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for an
internship, but that “didn’t work out for me.”
Now, as graduation approaches, PricewaterhouseCoopers has offered her a job
and she has accepted.
Mason expects that the auditing firm’s services will be in demand as banks
and other financial institutions face increased regulatory reporting
requirements, and that will make
her position “a more stable job.”

Some students are trying to distinguish themselves even before they reach
senior year.
“To me, a resume shouldn’t be something you’re trying to build. It should
reflect what you’ve done. Do things,” said Eric Allen, an RPI junior from
San Jose, Calif.
Allen was part of a recent two-session seminar on entrepreneurship conducted
by Robert Chernow, vice provost for entrepreneurship at RPI. The session,
titled “Planting Seeds for Success: Becoming More Marketable in a Tough
Economy,” was intended to encourage students to consider starting their own
companies, or at least to think like entrepreneurs.
“There’s a mindset that goes along with being an entrepreneur that no one
seems to grasp or talk about,” Chernow said. Entrepreneurs “are really good
at recognizing opportunities.”
Morrow, the 22-year-old RPI mechanical engineering major from Waldwick,
N.J., believes he has found an opportunity with his fledgling company.
He plans to produce small multi-tool devices for a niche market he has
identified. He already has presold 100 of the devices.
But he’s still interviewing for a full-time engineering position.
He says the job would provide a regular income and health benefits while he
builds his startup on the side.

In his area, entry-level salaries typically range from $45,000 to $60,000.
“Now, if you can find a job, it’s trending to the lower end of that,” Morrow
said. “Two years ago, I could have started at $55,000.”
Edwin Koc, director of strategic and foundation research for NACE, said the
job outlook is particularly tough in this part of the country, thanks in
part to its dependence on the financial sector.
“The Northeast and the Far West are probably the worst off,” he said.
Emily Tracy, a 23-year-old from Utica, will receive her MBA this spring from
the University at Albany. She posted her resume online, but said that really
wasn’t effective.
She also mailed the resume to more than 50 companies, and fewer than five
even acknowledged receiving it, Tracy said.
Then, in the middle of March, she received an offer from UAlbany’s
University Auxiliary Services, which provides dining, bookstore and other
operations on campus. She won’t even have to move, Tracy said.
College career counselors are contacting employers who visited in previous
years, but not this year, to see what jobs they may have.
“We’ve identified 75 openings so far,” RPI’s Tarantelli said.
RPI and Union also are working with the Albany-based Center for Economic
Growth to encourage Capital Region employers to recruit on campus.
Deirdre Sweeney, director of career services for UAlbany’s School of
Business, said a group of upstate business schools teamed up for their first
ever joint job fair recently in Syracuse that attracted 32 employers. But
not all were hiring for full-time candidates.
“Some were looking for interns,” she said. “Some were just getting their
presence out there.”
Some jobs remain in demand.
“Health care — nurses, doctors, pharmacists — these professions seem to be
in pretty good shape,” said Union’s Soules.
Accounting and engineering also are doing well, said Siena’s DelBelso.
And two-year colleges that offer programs in such fields as nursing and
dental hygiene report a boom in applications.
“I had close to 300 applicants for 45 spots in dental hygiene this year,”
sadi Mary Claire Bauer, director of admissions at Hudson Valley Community
College in Troy. “Nursing had over 800 applications for 145 positions.”
But while those fields are holding up, others aren’t.
Hudson Valley’s job fair last year attracted 160 employers. This year, just
70 employers attended, said Gayle Martel, director of the school’s Center
for Careers and Employment.

Engineering salaries rose 2.3 percent to $58,438. Chemical engineering
graduates did particularly well, with a 2.8 percent increase to $65,403.

Graduating seniors aren’t the only ones turning to college career centers
for assistance.
Wes Dedrick, a 2000 Hudson Valley graduate who had been in auto sales,
contacted Sim Covington, assistant director of the school’s career center,
after that business began to struggle.
With Covington’s help, the 29-year-old Dedrick found a position with
telecommunications provider Time Warner Business Class, a job he called “a
really good fit.”

Danzis

“I don’t live like a normal student, but at the same time, I still go through the same things every other student faces”, said Michael Danzis, as he stares his tired-blue eyes into space. Danzis (who goes by the stage name Scanz) is a 21 year old Junior in Drexel University’s Music Industry program, and is also a full-time recording artist. He signed a record deal at 18 to New York based Hip-Hop label Rawkus Records, the summer before starting his freshman semester at school. Now he holds the responsibility of staying in school and striving to start a career in music. Drexel agreed to pay half of Danzis’ tuition as part of an academic scholarship he earned, as long as he maintains a 3.4 GPA. “I need to maintain my GPA so I can keep my scholarship” says Danzis,” So it’s no joke, and I really gotta weigh my options sometimes as to which is more important; a potential career move or making sure I’m on point with due dates and school work.”

So how has school benefitted Danzis? Well one thing is that he met his present roommate and video director/producer Matt Koza. Koza has directed three of Danzis’ music videos, as well as become a good friend to him. “Mike’s work ethic is amazing. We both go through the same things as far as pursuing careers and attending school, and I can honestly say I don’t know how he works so hard.” Although it may be hard, Danzis does not deny how much school helps him. “Even though a lot of required courses can seem like a waste of time for me, going to school allows me to take the 4 years of college as a head start in the industry.” Drexel University allows students access to professional music studios, endless networking opportunities, and music seminars which has surely helped improve him as an artist.

Still, Danzis knows that going to school definitely has its setbacks . He recalls, “I remember there was a show in Brooklyn, and I drove up there from Philly, performed at the show, drove back that night, and took my final exam at 8am in Philly. I didn’t get to study like I should have, but I just didn’t sleep that night, and made sure I knew enough to get by successfully. It was really draining and stressful.” Friends of Danzis also notice the negative effects that attending a University has had on Danzis. Alex Zebede, friend/personal assistant to Danzis knows first-hand. “Being a full-time student has set him back career-wise. There are opportunities that he has to miss because he has class. It’s frustrating at times.”

Most 21 year olds are partying and living the college lifestyle, but not Danzis. His 60-80 hour work weeks between class and making music has greatly affected what activities he can partake in. “I don’t really party like a college student, I would rather be in the studio in my free time. I’ve been 21 for 3 months now, but I’ve only been to the bar 3 or 4 times. I feel like a lot of people in college are out exploring the things they were scared of in high school. I’ve already did all that.” He surely would rather be in the studio then partying. Danzis says he spends 30-40 hours a week on average in his basement studio located in his house, on top of going to class.

This music prodigy has a bright career ahead of him. His work has been featured in magazines, international press outlets, and distributed throughout the world. Danzis has worked with artists on major labels and performed among some of his child-hood heroes. At the young age of 21, he has accomplished all of this while maintaining his scholarship at a prestigious University. As he is turning on the electrical outlets for his equipment and he gets ready for a recording session, Danzis utters these final words “For me, being a student is like an occupation, but having a career as an artist and a musician is a lifestyle…really, it has to be.” It sure is.

Dan Savage took the stage of UAlbany’s Campus Ballroom on Tuesday night to a packed out auditorium filled with students and professors. After going through a bunch of anonymous question cards, the young openly homosexual sex columnist read, “Does a vagina get loose?” The audience echoed with laughter.

This set the tone for Dan Savage’s sex seminar, which went over well with attendees of all ages. Stephen Cella, a 20 year old Junior at UAlbany said, “I had to go to see Dan for class, so I wasn’t too excited about it. Within the first five minutes he really caught my attention.”

Savage is better known for writing Savage Love, which is a humurous and often controversial commentary on sexuality. Savage, an open homosexual, describes growing up in a ”loud, argumentative, very catholic family.”  The journalist has appeared on The Colbert Report,  HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, and is now the Editorial Director of “The Stranger” –a Seattle based weekly newspaper.

Savage came to headline UAlbany’s Sexuality Week, which provides students with educational activities that bring up many topics of interest correlating to sex. According to UAlbany’s website, the issues brought up include “gender issues, HIV/AIDS, relationships, identity, and reproductive health.” Other events going on this week include “European Approaches to Sex Education, presented by Carol Strenger” and “Danger Zones: Locating Gender in Hot Spots of Race and Sexuality.” Sexuality week is coordinated by The Middle Earth Peer Assistance program.

me and fellow student Brianna at the seminar.

Savage was very open to the audience, but kept his personal life out of it. “I don’t talk about my sexuality, at all. If you do you take away the value of it.”

His lengthy speech lasted more then an hour, and was concluded with a book signing/meet and greet. J.D. Nedvin, a 21 year old Senior at UAlbany was pleased and suprised. “Had a great time. Totally didn’t expect that.”

Savage, however, assured the audience in concluding his speech that sex isn’t all he is about. “I don’t have friends that talk about sex all the time…it gets boring.” Well Dan, according to your audience, you are not boring.

More information about Savage, click here .

More information on UAlbany’s Sexuality Week, click here.

Dan Savage, a renowned sexuality specialist is speaking at the UAlbany Campus Center Ballroom on Tuesday, February 10th at 8PM. He is better known for writing Savage Love, which is a humurous and often controversial commentary on sexuality. Savage, an open homosexual, describes growing up in a ”loud, argumentative, very catholic family.”  The journalist has appeared on The Colbert Report,  HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, and is now the Editorial Director of “The Stranger” –a Seattle based weekly newspaper.

This event will headline UAlbany’s Sexuality Week,  which provides students with educational activities that bring up many topics of interest correlating to sex. According to UAlbany’s website, the issues brought up include “gender issues, HIV/AIDS, relationships, identity, and reproductive health.” Other events going on this week include “European Approaches to Sex Education, presented by Carol Strenger” and “Danger Zones: Locating Gender in Hot Spots of Race and Sexuality.” Sexuality week is coordinated by The Middle Earth Peer Assistance program.

More information about Savage, click here .

More information on UAlbany’s Sexuality Week, click here.

Katie talks in the article about how the audience is becoming part of the news – being able to blog, or more recently “tweet” at the touch of a button, having their voices heard by the masses instantly. I agree with Katie when she speaks about us not knowing how to actual use this digital communication as efficiently as we should. It is a new phenomenon that people and companies are learning as they play along how to use these tools. I know myself, as well as family and friends all use phones and social networking sites to keep in touch and receive news. It will be interesting to see what will evolve from this. She also brought up the debate of where or not normal people with blogs should compete with “trained” journalists–saying that journalists are properly educated and go by the code of ethics in their field. I feel that regular people is a good addition for opinions and coverage because it gives another perspective.

Digital Natives: Following Their Lead on a Path to a New Journalism, By Ronald A. Yaros

In this article, the author speaks about journalists needing to adapt to technology–and the phases of adaptation these journalists go through. The author explains that the goal stays the same, except journalists now have to grab the audience with “effective headlines, photos, and video formats.” Ronald explains that journalists have always faced new challenges, and that these are no different. He showed a great model, called PIC (Personalization, Involvement, and Contiguity). Personalization is how readers get what they want. Involvement is for users to “input choices and/or content.” Contiguity is how these new elements communicate the message. Kick outs is not too much information and overwhelming the read. I think this model is a great one for journalists to go by.

Accepting the Challenge: Using the Web to Help Newspapers Survive, by Luke Morries

This article examines the layoffs between various print newspapers and other media outlets do to new technology. The author talks about how the stuff in print needs to be incorporated into the internet, specifically all of the social networking sites. I agree with this. For these “traditional” journalists, all they need to do to keep up with the times is to add online media content to what they are doing.

Journalism and Citizenship: Making the Connection, by David T.Z. Mindich

David starts out the article with a strong point, saying “More people watched the 2003 finale of ‘American Idol’ then the second Bush vs. Gore presidential debate.” He then goes on to factor more points on how Americans under 40 are responsible for the low percentage of interest in the news. Although I agree with some of the points he is making, I also think that because of new technology–people follow the news they are most interested in. I can care less about politics so I probably wouldn’t have watched that debate either, but if I enjoy entertainment –I will be up to date on all the entertainment news I can handle.

The End of Journalism as Usual, by Mark Briggs

In this article, Mark is talking about the business side of Journalism, and how the business model is getting destroyed. He questions whether marketing and public relations can save it or not. He also explains that journalists should be taught business as well as all the new media in college, so they are familiar with the new business model and are able to adapt to the change. I agree with this. Just like any industry—journalism is going through a change due to innovation and technology. Journalists need to adapt to that.

1. www.thecelebritycafe.com

The Celebrity Cafe is an online magazine that deals with entertainment news, reviews, and featured articles. Updated daily, it provides readers with all they need to know in entertainment without being in Hollywood. The advantage to this site over some of the major media outlets is that it provides readers with a sense of being apart of a small community. There is a message board, where they can interact with each other about the content on the site. The Celebrity Cafe also provides contests, as well as contact information for readers to get in touch with the writers directly. Overall, the magazine is a great source of news, as well as provides readers with some extras that some of the more major magazines and websites lack.

2. www.perceptivetravel.com

Perceptive Travel is an online magazine that deals with travel. Writers review hotels, travel destinations, and more through a daily blog and featured articles. I like this site mainly because of the authors — as they cover good details that travelers would find useful before they go somewhere on vacation. The daily blog always includes various travel deals that will help readers save some extra cash on their trip. The featured articles and the blog include pictures and specific information that makes this site a good source for travel information.

3. www.geek.com

Geek.com is an online magazine that includes everything that is relevant to the newest technology. It has news and reviews on products from differently companies organized through categories. This site is great because it has tons of content updated daily, covering every type of product. The only downside is that there is almost too much information given (even daily) that may make the reader a bit overwhelmed.

4. www.athlonsports.com

Athlon Sports is an online magazine that provides updated Sports content daily. I particularly like this site because it develops it’s writers where their readers know about them personally and interact with them. Writers provide daily news as well as their own opinions, predictions, and analysis. They sway away from major media outlets by covering less popular stories that are still interesting.

5. www.hypebeast.com

Hypebeast is the premiere online magazine for urban fashion. This website sets trends. Hypebeast is a great source of information for people interested in the latest fashion, and works with top clothing designers and artists. Updated daily and providing images, hypebeast is the best source.