GDF SUEZ makes donation to SEP, Center of Excellence

GDF SUEZ Energy Resources presented checks worth $15,000 and $10,000, respectively, to two collaborative organizations of which the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is a member: the Sustainable Enterprise Partnership and the Syracuse Center of Excellence, according to a Nov. 3 ESF News Release.The donations were given at the Syracuse CoE Symposium 2011, according to the release.The SEP involves faculty and researchers from ESF, Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management and L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science and the CoE, according to the release. The partnership provides education and research on sustainable enterprise by blending the region’s academic and public and private sector resources to discuss sustainability issues for organizations and businesses, according to the release.ESF is a charter member of the CoE, which focuses on energy challenges, indoor environmental quality and water resources, according to the release.SU partnered with GDF SUEZ to provide electric commodities through the 2014 fiscal year. The contract will supply the university with electricity rate savings during the next three years, according to the release. GDF SUEZ also decided to support SU programs related to energy and sustainability, like those in the SEP and Syracuse CoE, according to the release.The donation to the SEP will provide scholarship funding to aid students who have begun the certificate of advanced study in sustainable enterprise, according to the release. GDF SUEZ Energy Resources North America is one of the largest nonresidential retail energy suppliers in the United States, according to the release.

Soccer teams win Barkeater Cup

The men’s and women’s Mighty Oaks soccer teams completed their seasons Oct. 28 with victories against Paul Smith’s College in the inaugural Barkeater Cup competition, according to a Nov. 1 ESF News Release.Both teams played an away game at the Paul Smith’s campus in the Adirondacks. The women’s team won 5-0, and the men’s team won in double overtime with penalty kicks, according to the release.The trophies, made by Syracuse sculptor Ron DeRutte and Saranac Lake artist Dan Burke, were presented to the teams by Paul Smith’s College President John Mills, according to the release. ESF will house the trophies for the time being, according to the release.The women’s team began the competition with a strong first half, retaining possession of the ball for the majority of the time. Junior Kelsey Taylor scored a goal, assisted by junior Brooke Harris, and junior Drew Gamils also scored before the end of the first half, according to the release. The team picked up momentum in the second half, with goals scored by senior Kaley Donovan and freshman Bridget Cuddihy, according to the release.The Mighty Oaks women ended their season with an 8-4 record, according to the release.The men’s game was a neck-and-neck physical battle, according to the release. The Bobcats led the game with an early second-half goal, and it wasn’t until the last two minutes of regulation play that ESF tied the game with a set-piece strike by sophomore Ryan Graig, according to the release.Neither team scored during double overtime, so it went to penalty kicks. Senior goalkeeper Eamon Case completed his soccer career by stopping Paul Smith’s first two penalty kicks, according to the release. ESF sophomores Ryan Graig and Pat Alcott and freshman Dillon Buchberg scored penalty kick goals to win the game as Paul Smith’s missed its third attempt, according to the release.The men finished their season with a record of 6-2-2, according to the release.Both ESF teams completed their trip by staying at ESF’s Adirondack Ecological Center, according to the release. The players assisted in some service projects the following day.

—Compiled by Liz Sawyer, asst. news editor, egsawyer@syr.edu