The Fast Forward competition came to a close Friday afternoon as winners pitched their ideas to Chancellor Kent Syverud and hundreds of other attendees in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium – all held in celebration of Syverud’s  inauguration as Syracuse University’s 12th chancellor.

Sixty-six entries were submitted to Fast Forward, a competition in which students submit video entries for potential projects that could change the community. Of those, 13 were chosen as winners to pitch their ideas Friday. Each of the winning entries will receive up to $1,500 to pursue their projects.

Aside from Syverud, students, family members of the winning participants, members of the Board of Trustees and former Chancellor Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw also attended the event. Kim Brown, assistant director of career services, served as emcee.

Before students pitched their ideas, Brown said working for career services has allowed her the privilege of speaking to SU alumni who have entrepreneurial spirit.

“I know that these students, the ones that you’re about to hear from, will be able to continue that trait, which is so much a part of Syracuse’s DNA,” she said.

Many of the entries had an SU focus. Madelyn Minicozzi said her project, Mural on the Mount, would fix up and beautify the steps leading to Mount Olympus. Currently, if people walk up the stairs, they see broken panels and nails scattered on the ground and smell garbage, she said.

“I like to change all of this, and transform the negative perspective of the Mount,” said Minicozzi, a freshman in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Her project involved a two-part plan: the first would be a general cleanup of the stairs, while the second part would be painting a mural stretching along the Mount stairs. Teams of students would submit ideas for the mural, and Minicozzi and two faculty members would review those submissions, she said.

“These stairs foreshadow the possibilities that the university holds, and create a community on the Mount that can be united for a long time,” Minicozzi said.

Other entries focused on broader issues – Rachel Samples, a senior television, radio and film major, and Jacquie Greco, a graduate student in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, realized that people tend to spend more time on their phones rather than interacting with people face-to-face.

“I don’t know if anyone in here is aware, but there is a cultural and behavioral epidemic happening all around this campus,” Samples, who represented her team, said. “It’s happening in Faegan’s, it’s happening at Chuck’s, in Whitman, Newhouse, even in this auditorium – it’s called phone addiction.”

Her project, TOCK, is an anti-social mobile application to solve this “phone addiction.” Samples said the app would allow users to encourage others to not use their phones in order to earn redeemable points.

Students also submitted entries with ideas to bridge the gap between SU students and the city to solve problems.

Brian Cheung pitched his entry titled “Swipes for Syracuse.” Cheung said he remembers how during his freshman year he had a 19-meal plan but didn’t use three of his swipes a week. Many of his friends also didn’t use all of their swipes in their plans, he added.

Cheung said he noticed an inequality between SU students who didn’t use all of their meal swipes and many Syracuse residents who struggled with hunger. Swipes for Syracuse would allow students with a meal plan to donate one meal – a swipe – to the local community, providing local food pantries with canned foods and other necessities, he said.

At the end, Brown invited Minicozzi, Samples, Cheung and other winners onto the stage. Once the winners were on the stage, Brown looked at Syverud and smiled.

“And we may need to leave a little room, because I hear that there is a chancellor among us,” she said.

Other winning entries:

• Arland Whitfield: Skyworks Project
• Melissa Anne Bassett and Lisa Kranz: Update Live Streaming Technology in Setnor Auditorium
• Nicholas Ferreiro: Cuse Comedy Collective
• Allie Curtis and Adrianna Kam: Leading Ladies
• Jerry Gomez and Sierra Pizzola: P.I.N (Power in Numbers)
• Ruo Piao Chen, Jonathan Anthony, Tiffany Pau and Armand Damari: Westminster Church Ramp
• Timi Komonibo: Style Lottery
• Ryan Pierson and Sally Zheng: Park Bar on the Quad
• Andrew Lunetta: Tiny Homes, Big Hearts
• Amanda Canavatchel, Phillip Groden and Yan Mei Jiang: Community Ambassadors Bench Project

Published on April 11, 2014 at 6:38 pm

Contact Ellen: ekmeyers@syr.edu | @ellenkmeyers