Friday, December 12, 2008

Standing Up for Stripping Down

Marlei Martinez and Naresh Vissa



The New York Giants versus Arizona Cardinals game blared on the television screen as John Tidd put out his cigarette in the ashtray next to his computer keyboard. Scattered piles of paperwork, plastic kids' meal toys and hot pink high heels littered the area around his desk. An eye patch covered his right eye because he recently suffered an eye stroke. But even that did not prevent the burly businessman from finding his Marlboro pack in his breast pocket and lighting up another cigarette.

Tidd, 56, says he had three goals in life – to have a successful career, raise a family, and travel. He says he proudly worked alongside his father in construction from the time he was 15-years-old, starting out as a waterboy and moving up the ranks to help move houses.

"I think my father was a great man," Tidd said. "He instilled a lot of values in me and that's what I'm trying to do with my workers and kids."

Tidd spent 25 years in construction, but when his father died, lost his taste for it. Today, 19 years later, he runs a different type of business, where his youngest son Peter, 29, shadows him.

Tidd co-owns Lookers Showclub, a strip club on the North Side of Syracuse.

The club’s flashing neon lights and the picture of a mysterious woman’s face on a sign set the scene for a typical night. Inside, multi-colored strobe lights dart across the smoke-filled room. The bar is located near the entrance to the club and serves a variety of nonalcoholic beverages. Both men and women can be seen chatting at the bar with their favorite Lookers strippers.

A petite brunette in black fishnets struts towards the bubble-filled pole at the center of the club. She dances as she takes off her clothes to the beat of her signature song, Baby Bash’s “Cyclone.”

Up the stairs and past the dancers’ dressing room is the office of a man who preaches women’s empowerment and good family values.

"I'm proud of the fact that I do this," Tidd said as he turned down the TV's volume. "But my Aunt and Uncle think I'm the Anti-Christ.”

Syracuse has 13 strip clubs. Tidd says although many come and go because managing a club is difficult, Lookers has been successfully operating for more than 15 years. The Syracuse New Times named Lookers “Best Adult Entertainment Club” in all of Syracuse for 2008.

Its success has not come easily though. Tidd says he and his partner, Bob O’Malley, have struggled to keep their club alive despite public outrage.

"From the day we opened up, we've been having trouble with the Common Council," Tidd said. "We've been accused of being the drudge of the community."

Local government has tried to shut down the club several times. Former Councilor Rick Guy came very close to doing that before it even opened in 1993. But Lookers has survived.

"We always get harassed more than any other business," Tidd said as he smashed his second cigarette in the ashtray. "There's always a microscope on us."

Tidd says Lookers is following all the rules. Syracuse zoning ordinances require adult entertainment centers to be located more than 1,000 feet from all family institutions such as schools, churches and playgrounds. Ordinances such as these, as well as state-mandated tax increases on strip clubs, keep Lookers in check. Tidd says the city government's treatment of strip clubs is unfair because his club actually improves security in the area.

"We do a community service here," Tidd said, gesturing towards his TV surveillance screen. "There's lots of gang violence and prostitution outside, so we help the cops by calling if we see anything get out of hand."

Unlike a majority of the bars in Syracuse that close at two in the morning, Lookers is open until four. Tidd explained that his club is non-alcoholic, so people who spend the night drinking can come to the club later and sober up instead of roaming the streets and causing trouble.

The sole officer at the nearby police community center, however, said he does not know how much Lookers actually does help with security.

"I'm the only officer that works at this police department and he [Tidd] hasn't reported any of that to me," the Northside Community Police Center officer said. He also said he was not allowed to give out his name because he would need approval from the police department.

The officer said prostitution is the most prevalent form of crime in the area around Lookers, but he could not comment on whether it has decreased. He said the owners of Lookers would frequently drop by to assist the police center with activities for the kids when the club first opened. Tidd says he has not been able to do much over the past couple of years because his partner has frequently been out of town.

In addition to security, Tidd says strip clubs stimulate the city's economy and provide people with jobs.

"We've put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the hands of our employees and we give over half of our profits back to the community in taxes, licensing fees and inspection costs," Tidd said. "We give away every fifth check we make."

Lookers has about 30 employees. Tidd asks the strippers not to reveal their real names for safety measures and prohibits pictures from being taken of anyone in the club, including himself. The club’s strippers and manager say strip clubs are where the money is.

"Times are hard," said Ivy, 28, an eight-year Lookers veteran stripper. “Honestly, the reason I do this is just because I need to and there's money here.”

However, due to the current economic situations, fears have risen within the strip club business. Tidd expects customers will not have as much money to spend on entertainment.

“Strip clubs will have to make business decisions in response to the economy,” said Dr. Craig Watters, Syracuse University Whitman School of Management Professor of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises. “Maybe they’ll shorten their hours, or they’ll have to downsize their staff. But the desire customers feel will never go away, even with the ups and downs of the economy, so that should help sustain business.”

Even with the crisis, Ivy comes to work every day to do what she says she enjoys doing best. She says she is a wife and mother of three, working five nightshifts a week to support her family and pay her way through Onondaga Community College (OCC). She says her goal is to earn an Associate's Degree and become a preschool teacher.

Despite being married seven years, her husband – a carpenter – is supportive but not happy with her current profession. The couple tells their children she is a bartender.

"I enjoy being naked," Ivy said. "I am proud of what I have."

Not all strippers are as confident.

Unlike Ivy, Autumn, 21, is new to the lighted runway and bubble-filled pole. When she first came to Lookers four years ago, she worked as a bartender and doorgirl. She says she hopes to study at OCC this winter, so she is saving money to do so.

Autumn's mother thinks she still bartends. She babysits Autumn's six-month-old baby boy while Autumn strips at night.

"Nobody knows about this except for my sister-in-law and the godmother of my baby," Autumn said as she readjusted her bra strap after performing her first ever set. "My mom begged me never to dance and I told her I wouldn't."

Syracuse University child and family studies professor Joseph Fanelli teaches a course titled Human Sexuality. He also runs a private practice in family psychotherapy. His studies have found that oftentimes, girls resort to stripping because they grew up in dysfunctional families and were financially deprived and abused during childhood.

Fanelli said what makes this form of entertainment so personable is the one-on-one interaction between the viewer and entertainer. Club regulars generally know who will be dancing on particular nights. Fanelli said they are sucked into a false sense of warmth that makes them feel like they are in an artificial relationship.

“I had a patient who had to stop going to strip clubs because his wife found out," Fanelli said. "He became very worried his favorite lap dancer would miss him.”

Tidd says he has heard many complaints that adult entertainment degrades women. He says he thinks strippers should love their jobs and walk with confidence because they get paid well, get lots of vacation time and have the entire day for leisure.

"Being a stripper is one of the most empowering positions a woman can have," Tidd said. "After working here and saving up for ten years, you can have the nicest house in Aruba and never work again. How is that degrading?"

Tidd says there is stiff competition among prospective strippers. A majority of them apply for positions “fresh out of high school.” Every Monday night at Lookers is “Amateur Night,” and 90 percent of the strippers hired come from this “farm system.”

Apart from the hot pink heels in one of the dark corners of the room, Tidd's family pictures and grandchildren's toys describe him as a family man. He says he has a wife, three sons and four grandchildren.

"I try to spend as much time with the family as possible while running a business," Tidd said.

He encourages his employees to be involved with their families as well. Every summer, Tidd and his partner host the company's family picnic at Sylvan Beach on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake.

“This is a life decision,” Tidd said. “All women have to do is take off their clothes and men will put hundred dollar bills in their garter. If I had a vote when I was being born, I’d vote to be a woman," he said without cracking a smile or blinking an eye.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Should the Next SU Football Coach be Black?


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

By: Kevin Ware, Vanessa Longshaw and Sierra Rodriguez

On a Saturday afternoon in September of 1970, Rick Wright drove north on Interstate 81 toward Syracuse. He had never been to Syracuse University. Every school he attended from elementary school to college was predominately black. And now, he was going to a "white institution" to get his doctorate.

As he drove through Scranton, Pennsylvania, he turned on the radio. Nine black football players at Syracuse University were on strike, demanding equal treatment and a black football coach. "Oh my God," Wright said as he listened to the newscast. "There are problems at Syracuse."

More than 30 years later, Wright, a professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and an unofficial recruiter for the football program since 1975, says the nine football players planted the seeds for the recognition of black athletes and coaches but Syracuse still has not made the final push. There have been black assistant coaches at SU but never a black head coach. However, Syracuse is far from alone.

The 2008 season started with six black head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division-1. Now, after the firings of Ty Willingham at the University of Washington and Ron Prince at Kansas State and the resignation of Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State, there are only three black coaches out of 119 FBS teams, the fewest since 1993. The all-time high of eight was in 1997. With jobs open, including Syracuse University's after the firing of Greg Robinson last month, that number could rise before next season. However, the issue remains a topic of debate in the sport.

"It's not just disgraceful, it's inexcusable," said Floyd Keith, the executive director of the Black Coaches' Association and former-head football coach at the University of Rhode Island. "There really is a significant issue here. And it's been a disparity for a long time and it continues to be."

The lack of black head coaches at the college level is nothing new. The first college football game was played in 1869; the first black coach at a predominantly white college didn't arrive until 1971, Don Hudson at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.

When Frank Maloney was fired as the head coach at Syracuse in 1980, there was a strong call for legendary SU running back Floyd Little, a black man, to replace him, Wright said. However, Dick MacPherson ended up being hired.

"The university just did not have the guts at the time, nor the leadership, nor the fortitude to do what they should have done and that was to hire a black coach," Wright said.

In 1991, MacPherson was succeeded by Paul Pasqualoni who was replaced by Robinson in 2005 which now leads some inside the program to believe it's time for a change not only in coaching style but race as well.

"Yeah, I'd like a black coach just to get some more diversity," said Syracuse sophomore wide receiver Da'Mon Merkerson. "… [Race] definitely plays a factor. It is hard to say race doesn't play a factor because everyone has these assumptions on race.” Merkerson said he would not be against having another white coach, though.

“[With] Greg Robinson, we didn’t do things that physical,” said freshman defensive end Romale Tucker. “We played it safe but sometimes I feel like you need to break out of that safe shell. Black coaches would mix it up a bit; they make it a bit unpredictable … A black coach would put a little bit of flavor into his play.”

The search for a new coach is underway, and so far athletic director Dr. Daryl Gross has interviewed multiple candidates (the exact number is not known), two of whom are black: Mike Locksley, the offensive coordinator at the University of Illinois and University of Buffalo head coach Turner Gill. However, sources report Locksley has agreed to become the next head coach at New Mexico, which would raise the number of black coaches to four. Gill is still in play to become the next Syracuse coach, but he is also being strongly considered for the opening at Auburn University, widely considered a better job than Syracuse’s right now.

"Is the university ready [for a black coach]?" asked Jeff Mangram, a safety under MacPherson from 1985-to-1988 and now an assistant professor in the Syracuse University's School of

Education. "I think so. With resources and the time, I think it would be. Is that person in the pipeline? I don't know. Is the pipeline again clogged in such a way to prevent men of color from being coaches, head coaches?"

There are 31 black coordinators in the FBS out of a possible 238 (13 percent). Blacks are being interviewed for head positions, but they aren't getting the jobs.

"At the end of the day, I still believe, interviewing is not hiring," Floyd Keith of the Black Coaches Association said.

The discrepancy of the percentages of black head coaches is evident from the college to the professional ranks. Just 2.5 percent of FBS head coaches are black, while in the NFL that number is 21.8 percent (7 out of 32).

Keith says a large part of the reason why the NFL has made progress is because of the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for coaching spots. "On the college ranks, it's the A.D., the president, the board of trustees, now there's a search group and it's employed by a lot of the high profile searches," he said. "Then there's the significant others, meaning political or financial influence."

In the NFL, there are only two people of major power, the owner and the general manager.

"So you have more voices in the crowd [in college] and one of the difficult things is the voices, usually a majority of the time, aren't diverse or don't reflect diversity," Keith said. "So consequentially, you have the inherent problem."

While there is bigger money to be made in the NFL, the profit colleges make from football is vital to their athletic departments as football is typically its biggest moneymaker.

"I'll tell you what, we've got no choice," said Rick Wright when asked if the next head football coach should be black. "If we don't do this, we've just got to go out of business."

Not everybody agrees that race is the most important factor in the upcoming hire.

"No, I don't think [he needs to be black] necessarily," said former-SU coach Frank Maloney, who is now the director of ticket sales for the Chicago Cubs. "I think you want to hire the best one that you think after through your scrutiny and search that you can get to take the job. I think the ideal thing is to establish a criteria (sic) of what you are looking for in a head coach, and I don't think race should be one of them either way. I think blacks should have just as equal of opportunity as whites."

Gross eventually will need Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor to approve his choice. But for the meantime, the university is keeping the search under wraps.

"You want to get the right person," said Kevin Quinn, vice president of public affairs at Syracuse University, speaking on behalf of Cantor. "Race doesn't play a factor. I know that there are very strong African American candidates out there and I have absolute confidence that Daryl is considering them."

The coach who is hired will inherit a program with serious on-field problems. The Orange hasn't been to a bowl game since 2004, the final year of Pasqualoni's tenure. Under Robinson, SU went 10-47, including a 3-25 record in the Big East. And the immediate future doesn't look bright either. The Orange has only four recruits committed for next season.

While some people think hiring a black coach is the only solution, others are afraid hiring a black coach for the sake of hiring a black coach could ultimately do more harm than good.

"What would happen if you [hired an unqualified African American] and they weren't successful?" asked former Syracuse University Chancellor Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw. "You're making it hard for the next African American who's highly qualified."

Advocates for a black head coach might say because Gross is black he should hire a black coach. Gross declined to comment for this article. Even though Keith is calling for more black coaches, not all universities are as open to the possibility of a black head coach.

"Would it be good to have a black coach?" said Jake Crouthamel, the Syracuse A.D. from 1978-to-2005. "Sure. Would it be the greatest thing in the world? As long as that coach fits the criteria and fits the program. I don't think right now in the situation they're in color has anything to do with it. It’s coaching football."

Since 1982, there have been 466 head coaching vacancies in the FBS, according to the BCA 2008 Football Hiring Report Card. Blacks have been selected for 21 of those jobs, with all but one being hired after 1990. There have been 26 black head coaches in the history of college football.

"We talk about diversity but we don't really mean it," Mangram said. "Talk is a bunch of crap. It's about money and business and power. They aren't going to let it happen. That's why you have three out of 119. They don't think black people are smart enough. I'll go there. They don't think they have the brain capacity or the discipline. Nobody will say it, but three out of 119 does."

"It would be cool if we had a black coach," Merkerson said, "but I don't think it's going to happen. But that would be cool."

Balancing Business and Books

December 4, 2008
By Kelly Sullan, Zack Waldman, Danielle Waugh
Say the words "student-run business" in Syracuse and an image of Hollywood Hookah probably comes to mind. After Hollywood Hookah's highly publicized opening, fire, and NCAA violation, that makes sense.
Photo:Mackenzie Reiss/The Daily Orange
But this is just one of thousands of student businesses across the country, Program
Director Greg Hill of Global Student Entrepreneur Awards says.

What's not always talked about are the student businesses that run better and are more successful.

Hill says there are more than 1,000 student businesses that have generated revenue for at least six months and are registered with national entrepreneur organizations. And he says these registered businesses represent only a small percentage of all student businesses nationwide.


"There's no better laboratory than being a college student," Whitman Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship Michael Haynie said about the benefits of taking business risks while still in college. "There's a very safe environment in terms of the tolerance for failure."

One of those students is Robert Sherman, a senior at Syracuse University, triple majoring in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises and Information Technology. Sherman started Charles River Web Connections, a web design and development company at the age of sixteen.

"It was either I go and work a grocery store or something like that or I start my own business," he said. "I got flexible hours, I got to be my own boss."

Four years later, with the help of fellow SU students Trace Cohen and Pete Kistler he launched another business, Brand-Yourself.com. This online reputation management company removes the "digital dirt" such as pictures and blog comments on clients that can be dug up through search engines.

After classes end, Sherman typically spends four to five hours a day working with his business partners managing their company. Their record: working 36 hours in two days.

"People ask me: 'How do you do it?' I just think of myself as a regular student with really good time management skills," Sherman said.

Next semester, Sherman will need to make use of those time management skills. He will be balancing his businesses and a 27-credit course load to graduate on time.

One reason he can spend so much time on his business is because he has so many resources at his fingertips. The Whitman School connects him to professors and other professionals when he needs advice.

"You can pull the student card and say, Hey I'm a student, are you willing to help? People are much more willing to help students than if I were 35 trying to do this. They wouldn't give me any time," he said.

Even with all the resources they have, only ten percent of college students continue their businesses after they gradate, Whitman graduate student Justin Carlucci said.

Sherman says this is because students are afraid to take chances.

"Risk and failure, you just have to dismiss those ideas," he said. "You can't worry about that. There's some statistic like 95 percent of businesses fail. Just accept that that's the majority, and go with it."

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Assistant Professor Craig Watters thinks the isolated environment of a college campus can be a safe haven for new businesses to blossom.

"I think college provides a great soft landing for you to start something," he said. "If your business doesn't work: Okay, but I'm still a student. I can graduate and get a job."

One of those "soft landings" can be found in the Whitman School of Management's Couri Hatchery.

The Hatchery is called an "incubator" because student entrepreneurs have access to professional resources and workspace so their businesses can grow and "hatch" like the chicks of its namesake.

"The most useful resource is the interaction with the faculty and staff," Justin Carlucci, manager of the Couri Hatchery said.

Sherman began Brand-Yourself.com in the hatchery and said it was helpful to bounce ideas off other students and professors.

"You're able to take a look at your problems from an outside perspective," he said.

Carlucci said there are currently five student businesses taking advantage of the hatchery. They have bi-weekly meetings to consult professors such as Watters and Hainey.

When Adam Gold and Kyle Corea were upperclassmen in 2005, they worked out of the hatchery to develop what is now Funk 'n Waffles, a laid-back restaurant and music lounge close to campus on South Crouse Avenue.

The idea for their business started when they were juniors in college. Gold's band, Sophistafunk, entertained SU partygoers on the weekends as Corea sold waffles on the side. After placing fifth in a Whitman business competition, they began to think they could turn this hobby into a profitable establishment.

"After we won we thought we could make a living selling waffles," Gold said. "So sweet."

Gold said Funk 'n Waffles stayed close to home for a reason.

"We could have opened a Funk 'n Waffles anywhere, but we did it here," he said. "It's my town. Everyone knows me here. Everyone knew my band."

Professor Haynie agrees. He's a Colorado native who chose to teach entrepreneurship at the Whitman School because of the university's attitude towards business.

"When I was trying to decide where to become a professor of entrepreneurship one of the things that drew me here was the fact that everywhere I looked and everyone I talked to was embracing entrepreneurship," he said.

Haynie said the college community is receptive and can be a nurturing place for student initiatives - initiatives such as Naresh Rammohan's franchise of Campus Destinations, based in North Carolina.

Campus Destinations hires student vendors to sell the "Black Card," a student discount card that offers special savings on participating businesses targeted to students. Rammohan is the Managing Director of Syracuse Operations. He works with a student team that promotes and sells the "Black Card" to other students.

"We have already been the most successful campus out of the Campus Destinations network as far as the number of vendors and affiliates we have signed," he said. Rammohan's Syracuse Operations has 29 participating businesses.

"The hardest part of starting a business is starting it and overcoming initial fears," he said.

For entrepreneurs such as Rammohan, it hasn't been easy to balance the books and the business.

"Everything is a lot tougher though as a student. Taking our business to the next level requires a lot of time and energy," he said.

On a typical day, Rammohan says he sends and receives 50 business e-mails and spends hours tending to Campus Destinations.

As a result, Rammohan says he has watched his business grow but has seen his free time and social life move to the back burner.

"That's the nature of the business," he said.

Sherman says because of Brand-Yourself.com he has had to adjust his social life as well.

"Instead of going to the bar five times a week I maybe go twice a week. You balance it out," he said.

SU football players Mikhail Marinovich and Niko Rechul had an even tougher balancing act to tackle. On top of academics and athletics, they opened Hollywood Hookah in November of this year.

This Middle Eastern style smoking lounge on Marshall Street close to campus provides a peaceful environment for students to smoke flavored tobacco.

One week after it opened, the co-owners ran into one problem after another. Fire investigators said improper coal disposal started a contained fire on November 20th that caused damage to the building.

On top of that, Marinovich and Rechul violated a NCAA bylaw that prohibits student athletes from indirectly attaching their names to a business promotion says Sue Edson, Director of Athletic Communications.

Edson says the SU Athletic Department told them if they continued to talk to the press they would suspend their athletic eligibility.

The athlete entrepreneurs handed over their management positions to Marinovich's girlfriend, Courtney Burton, until the football season finished.

Employees at the neighboring tattoo parlor said Hollywood Hookah is not operating its normal business hours.

Some student entrepreneurs have decided to leave school altogether to focus their time on business.

Bill Fishel was one semester away from graduating president of his class at Yale University when he dropped out to continue First Class Laundry, a company he and a friend from Depauw University in Indiana created as juniors in 2007.

"I was faced with opportunity where we could expand with the buzz that was generated," he said.

Fishel says he picked business over school because of Yale's demanding academics. Now that First Class Laundry has established several functioning branches at colleges across the country, Fishel plans to finish his degree at Yale in the upcoming spring semester.

"You can have moderate success but if you want to take it to the next level…something's got to give," he said.

After watching students become entrepreneurs, Whitman School Professor Watters agrees.

"To be honest, we found that many students struggled to keep their academic requirements met or the business would suffer. It's hard for anybody," he said.

"The students I've seen succeed are all driven. They're driven in a way that makes them sort of unnatural. They are focused, driven, overworked, hard working-there's no stop," Watters said.

With all the obstacles, pressures and demands that college life can throw at students, Sherman says he has the one thing it takes student entrepreneurs to be successful.
"All you need is passion," he said. "I think the only reason more people don't do it is because they haven't found something that they're passionate about. The second that you get passionate about a topic, suddenly you will find ways to do it."

Cow Project Helps Lost Boy Find Home


By Venise Toussiant, Paige Westin and Shannon Lins

When he came to Syracuse, Dominic Mathiang never thought he would have trouble with the weather.

"It was very difficult for me," Mathiang said. "That was my first time experiencing snow, I've never seen it before." Considering what he’d been through to get to the Syracuse snow, however, you could bet he would handle it.

An Arab militia kidnapped him in 1988 from Sudan when he was eight years old. He escaped but had to survive on his own in Ethiopia. Four years later, he found his way to a refugee camp in Kenya, more than 1000 miles away from home. In 2004, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, sent 3,400 Lost Boys to the United States.

Mathiang was one of them.

The “Lost Boys of Sudan” are a group of refugees who escaped from the civil war in Sudan. They are referred to as “lost” because these young men had to flee without their families.

In a new and unfamiliar place, Mathiang reconnected with his childhood in Sudan through The Sudanese Lost Boys of Syracuse Cow Project.

"The first benefit and the vision of the project was to bring us together as Lost Boys," Mathiang, now 28, said. "…we used to be together at the refugee camps, we used to play together, make stories together, dance together but when we came to the U.S everything depends on you alone."

(Photo courtesy of syracuse.com/to watch a syracuse.com video about the Lost Boys Cow Project Click Here)

David Turkon, assistant professor of Anthropology at Ithaca College, started the Cow Project five years ago in Phoenix, Ariz. While working at the AZ Lost Boys Center, he brought clay for the Lost Boys to sculpt. He said he was amazed to see one quickly create a beautiful miniature cow.

"The whole idea behind it is you know when these guys come here they are children. They grew up in a culture that revered livestock raising and would emulate adults by molding clay cows," Turkon said.

To Mathiang, cows are a powerful image from his past.

"Cows mean a lot in my culture. Cows are just like a form of money, it is more than life," he said. "...if you are born in the society as male, the first lesson you get when you are able to learn is to take care of cows."

Turkon began to market the sculptures at the AZ Lost Boys Center. The money was used for the boys' education in the United States. In the first year, the center raised $30 thousand. When he took a job at Ithaca College in 2005, he wanted to start a similar program in Central New York to bring the Lost Boys together.

"The [Sudanese] community here wasn't very strong and there were some problems with it. They were not seeing themselves as a community," he said.

Turkon said the main problem in the Syracuse area is the assumption that all Lost Boys have the same background.

"There is some factionalism within the community. People think of the Lost Boys as one and the same but there are different ethnic groupings."

In Syracuse there are many tribes, some being the Dinka and DaDinga tibes, McMahon said.

Mathiang is Dinka, the majority tribe in Southern Sudan.

Turkon joined the Central New York Lost Boys Foundation, where he is currently a Senior Advisor. He introduced the Cow Project to fellow advisor Dr. Felicia "Faye" McMahon, a professor of Anthropology at Syracuse University and an expert on Sudanese refugees.

She supported the Cow Project and received a grant through Syracuse University to purchase clay, brushes, and glazes.

Feats of Clay also donated materials for the Cow Project, said Maria Dawson, the owner of the pottery studio in Manlius. The studio invited the Lost Boys of Syracuse to use its kiln and materials to make the cows.

"For a while we were selling the cows here. We were able to get them the glazes and things," Dawson said.

The group had the materials but was looking for a more permanent home for the program.

A fellow advisor, Carl Oropallo had a solution. In addition to his job as a lawyer, Oropallo is the Director of Ministry Services at St. Vincent de Paul Church on Syracuse's North Side. The Warehouse at Syracuse University donated a small kiln, which Oropallo installed at the church, McMahon said.

Since its first meeting last January, the Cow Project has grown to an organization of about 15 members, Turkon said.

The Lost Boys meet Saturday mornings at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Syracuse.

The Cow Project itself means more than the money to the Lost Boys, Turkon said. Cows are part of their culture and past. They mold the cows from clay, fire them in a kiln and paint them with colorful designs. The cows stand only a few inches high and are created with many different colors, patterns and designs.

The cows do not have a set price. Instead, they are given as a "thank-you" for donations.
"People would donate 20 dollars and they would get a little cow," Dawson said.

The Syracuse Cow Project does make money but it does not compare to the $30 thousand in Arizona, Turkon said.

Unlike many organizations such as the John Dau Sudan Foundation, which sends money to people in Sudan, the money raised through the Cow Project must contribute to the Lost Boys' education in the Syracuse area.

"100 percent goes right back to them," McMahon said. "We started this and said no, the money doesn't get sent back home. We put a limitation on it as education only."

She says it is a great thing to send money back home, but these men are living in extreme poverty and barely have enough to support themselves. "Dau can afford to send this money back but these other guys cannot, that's why we did the Cow Project," McMahon said.

"These are people who are struggling," Turkon agreed.

Despite the success of the Cow Project, McMahon says support for the Lost Boys has dwindled since their arrival in 2002. "Interest is great, but that's as far as it goes," she said.

Even though McMahon is discouraged by the lack of contribution to the Central New York Lost Boys Foundation, she praises the success the Cow Project has brought to members such as Mathiang.

"It's wonderful, the money they are raising," she said. "We hope to expand the program and help even more Lost Boys."

No one involved in the organization would comment on the amount of money the Cow Project has raised.

Dominic Mathiang now lives in an apartment in the City of Syracuse. His one bedroom apartment on the North Side is a reflection of the man who lives in it. It is simple but neat, the sign of someone who takes little value in material possessions. Christmas lights add festive charm, but there is little else beyond the bare essentials. He keeps his home in order and tries to do the same with his life.

Mathiang takes classes at Onondaga Community College, where he plans to major in Psychology. He applies his education towards his job at St. Joseph's Hospital, where he works with mentally handicapped patients.

The Cow Project is essential in funding his education at OCC. He said without the project he would not be able to go to college.

"The money that comes from the Cow Project helps me for example, with the loan from OCC when they denied me for financial aid, so I had to borrow from the bank,” Mathiang said. “Right now, I am paying money from the Cow Project going to that loan."

Because the money from the Cow Project helps him pay for school, Mathiang was able to save his money to pay for a trip to Sudan this January.

Mathiang said he is going to visit his parents whom he hasn't seen in 20 years. He did not know if his parents were alive until three years ago.

How he found out was a matter of fate. A priest and friend from the Syracuse area took a trip to Sudan to preach at a church, Mathiang said. When speaking about his experience in the United States, the priest mentioned the name 'Dominic Mathiang'. Mathiang's parents were there and immediately recognized it.

"...My last name is well known to my relatives, Mathiang, is a name that is sacred," he said. "When he mentioned that name they were surprised… then they came and asked him more about the name that he mentioned, and he was also surprised because I have the resemblance of my mother."

Mathiang smiled as he spoke about the moment he found out about his parents were alive. "I'm excited," he said. "When he came back he told me the story and I thank God for that."

Although planning to visit Sudan, Dominic Mathiang says he has found his place in Central New York, a home where he can remember where he came from and work towards a better future.

During his time in Syracuse, Mathiang learned how to deal with his biggest challenge.

The snow no longer bothers him and he plans to stay right here.

"I don't want to go anywhere,” he said with a smile. “Nope, I like New York.”

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Standing Up for Stripping Down

Marlei Martinez and Naresh Rammohan


Taken by Marlei Martinez

The New York Giants versus Arizona Cardinals game blared on the television screen as John Tidd put out his cigarette in the ashtray next to his computer keyboard. Scattered piles of paperwork, plastic kids' meal toys and hot pink high heels littered the area around his desk. An eye patch covered his right eye because he recently suffered an eye stroke. But even that did not prevent the burly businessman from finding his Marlboro pack in his breast pocket and lighting up another cigarette.

Tidd, 56, says he had three goals in life – to work a career in construction, raise a family and travel. He says he proudly worked alongside his father in construction from the time he was 15-years-old, starting out as a waterboy and moving up the ranks to help move houses.

"I think my father is a great man," Tidd said. "He instilled a lot of values in me and that's what I'm trying to do with my workers and kids."

Tidd spent 25 years in construction, but when his father died, he lost his taste for it. Today, 19 years later, he runs a different type of business, where his youngest son Peter, 29, shadows him.

Tidd co-owns Lookers Showclub, a strip club on the North Side of Syracuse.

The club’s flashing neon lights and the picture of a mysterious woman’s face on a sign set the scene for a typical night. Inside, multi-colored strobe lights dart across the smoke-filled room. The bar is located near the entrance to the club and serves a variety of non-alcoholic beverages. Both men and women can be seen chatting at the bar with their favorite Lookers strippers.

A petite brunette in black fishnets struts towards the bubble-filled pole at the center of the club. She dances as she takes off her clothes to the beat of her signature song, Baby Bash’s "Cyclone.”

Up the stairs and passed the dancers’ dressing room is the office of a man who preaches women’s empowerment and good family values.

"I'm proud of the fact that I do this," Tidd said as he turned down the TV's volume. "But my Aunt and Uncle think I'm the Anti-Christ.”

Syracuse has 13 strip clubs. Tidd says although many come and go because managing a club is difficult, Lookers has been successfully operating for more than 15 years. The Syracuse New Times named Lookers “Best Adult Entertainment Club” in all of Syracuse for 2008.

Its success has not come easily though. Tidd says he and his partner, Bob O’Malley, have struggled to keep their club alive despite public outrage.

"From the day we opened up, we've been having trouble with the Common Council," Tidd said. "We've been accused of being the drudge of the community."

Local government has tried to shut down the club several times. Former Councilor Rick Guy came very close to doing that before it even opened in 1993. But Lookers has survived.

"We always get harassed more than any other business," Tidd said as he smashed his second cigarette in the ashtray. "There's always a microscope on us."

Tidd says Lookers is following all the rules. Syracuse zoning ordinances require adult entertainment centers to be located more than 1,000 feet from all family institutions such as schools, churches and playgrounds. Ordinances such as these, as well as state-mandated tax increases on strip clubs, keep Lookers in check. Tidd says the city government's treatment of strip clubs is unfair because his club actually improves security in the area.

"We do a community service here," Tidd said, gesturing towards his TV surveillance screen. "There's lots of gang violence and prostitution outside, so we help the cops by calling if we see anything get out of hand."

Unlike a majority of the bars in Syracuse that close at two in the morning, Lookers is open until four. Tidd explained that his club is non-alcoholic, so people who spend the night drinking can come to the club later and sober up instead of roaming the streets and causing trouble.

The sole officer at the nearby police community center, however, said he does not know how much Lookers actually does help with security.

"I'm the only officer that works at this police department and he [Tidd] hasn't reported any of that to me," the Northside Community Police Center officer said. He also said he was not allowed to give out his name because he would need approval from the police department.

The officer said prostitution is the most prevalent form of crime in the area around Lookers, but he could not comment on whether it has decreased. He said the owners of Lookers would frequently drop by to assist the police center with activities for the kids when the club first opened. Tidd says he has not been able to do much over the past couple of years because his partner has frequently been out of town.

In addition to security, Tidd says strip clubs stimulate the city's economy and provide people with jobs.

"We've put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the hands of our employees and we give over half of our profits back to the community in taxes, licensing fees and inspection costs," Tidd said. "We give away every fifth check we make."

Lookers has about 30 employees. Tidd asks the strippers not to reveal their real names for safety measures and prohibits pictures from being taken of anyone in the club, including himself. The club’s strippers and manager say strip clubs are where the money is.

"Times are hard," said Ivy, 28, an eight-year Lookers veteran stripper. “Honestly, the reason I do this is just because I need to and there's money here.”

However, due to the current economic situations, fears have risen within the strip club business. Tidd expects customers will not have as much money to spend on entertainment.

“Strip clubs will have to make business decisions in response to the economy,” said Dr. Craig Watters, Syracuse University Whitman School of Management Professor of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises. “Maybe they’ll shorten their hours, or they’ll have to downsize their staff. But the desire customers feel will never go away, even with the ups and downs of the economy, so that should help sustain business.”

Even with the crisis, Ivy comes to work every day to do what she says she enjoys doing best. She says she is a wife and mother of three, working five nightshifts a week to support her family and pay her way through Onondaga Community College (OCC). She says her goal is to earn an Associate's Degree and become a preschool teacher.

Despite being married seven years, her husband – a carpenter – is supportive but not happy with her current profession. The couple tells their children she is a bartender.

"I enjoy being naked," Ivy said. "I am proud of what I have."

Not all strippers are as confident.

Unlike Ivy, Autumn, 21, is new to the lighted runway and bubble-filled pole. When she first came to Lookers four years ago, she worked as a bartender and doorgirl. She says she hopes to study at OCC this winter, so she is saving money to do so.

Autumn's mother thinks she still bartends. She babysits Autumn's six-month-old baby boy while Autumn strips at night.

"Nobody knows about this except for my sister-in-law and the godmother of my baby," Autumn said as she readjusted her bra strap after performing her first ever set. "My mom begged me never to dance and I told her I wouldn't."

Syracuse University child and family studies professor Joseph Fanelli teaches a course titled Human Sexuality. He also runs a private practice in family psychotherapy. His studies have found that oftentimes girls resort to stripping because they grew up in dysfunctional families and were financially deprived and abused during childhood.

Fanelli said what makes this form of entertainment so personable is the one-on-one interaction between the viewer and entertainer. Club regulars generally know who will be dancing on particular nights. Fanelli said they are sucked into a false sense of warmth that makes them feel like they are in an artificial relationship.

“I had a patient who had to stop going to strip clubs because his wife found out. He became very worried his favorite lap dancer would miss him.”

Tidd says he has heard many complaints that adult entertainment degrades women. He says he thinks strippers should love their jobs and walk with confidence because they get paid well, get lots of vacation time and have the entire day for leisure.

"Being a stripper is one of the most empowering positions a woman can have," Tidd said. "After working here and saving up for ten years, you can have the nicest house in Aruba and never work again. How is that degrading?"

Tidd says there is stiff competition among prospective strippers. A majority of strippers apply for positions “fresh out of high school.” Every Monday night at Lookers is “Amateur Night,” and 90 percent of the strippers hired come from this “farm system.”

Apart from the hot pink heels in one of the dark corners of the room, Tidd's family pictures and grandchildren's toys describe him as a family man. He says he has a wife, three sons and four grandchildren.

"I try to spend as much time with the family as possible while running a business," Tidd said.

He encourages his employees to be involved with their families as well. Every summer, Tidd and his partner host the company's family picnic at Sylvan Beach on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake.

“This is a life decision,” Tidd said. “All women have to do is take off their clothes and men will put hundred dollar bills in their garter. If I had a vote when I was being born, I’d vote to be a woman," he said without cracking a smile or blinking an eye.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Syracuse School Renovation Side Bar

Click the image below for more information on how the Syracuse and Buffalo School Renovations compare. 


Syracuse School Renovation Phase I Finally Moves Forward

Michael Lefko and Jennifer Brennan

It took more than two years of discussion but only 40 minutes to approve a plan which will begin renovations on Syracuse City Schools. Thursday morning in City Hall, some people were forced to listen from outside the SyraStat room as it could not hold the crowd on hand when the Joint Schools Construction Board voted unanimously for a Phase I plan that includes upgrades for six schools.


“What we need to do now is put shovels in the ground and make this a feel good story,” Education Commissioner Calvin Corriders said, pictured below with Board of Education President Laurie Menkin.



The JSCB began in 2006 to oversee citywide renovations of the Syracuse School District. The board consists of Mayor Matthew Driscoll, Syracuse Superintendent Daniel Lowengard, Board of Education President Laurie Menkin, President of the Common Council Bea Gonzalez, two commissioners from the School Board and two councilors. 


The original proposal for renovations was defeated November 20th. The superintendent, along with all of the Board of Education members on the JSCB voted not to begin Phase I because they were not happy that the mayor failed to provide a definite plan for Blodgett School. 


“The school district looks more at the education part when we look at the schools and where they are and the families they serve,” Menkin said. “We have that education component that’s more important than cost.”


Thursday morning the JSCB presented a revised proposal that included a written agreement for Blodgett setting aside $2.5 million from Phase I which will be used to plan for renovation or replacement of the school. “The Blodgett Planning Agreement is written in stone,” Lowengard said. “It was a major change in understanding between the school district and the board.”


With the knowledge that Blodgett would be accounted for, the members of the school board felt comfortable enough to change their votes.


“I am excited about this opportunity to have a different planning process for Blodgett,” Menkin said. “I am pleased to vote yes.”


Mayor Driscoll was frustrated when his original proposal was voted down but after the meeting he admitted the extra time was beneficial.


“The two weeks were definitely worth it,” Driscoll said. “I am very pleased and grateful to all the people that took the time to sit down and discuss our plan. We are moving forward and not looking in the rearview mirror.”


Blodgett supporters have been vocal in their efforts to save the school. At the November 12th meeting of the board of education so many people spoke on behalf of the school that the actual board agenda was not discussed for an hour and a half. 


“We need to be a voice loud and reckoned with,” Paul Nojaim, member of the West Side Initiative said. 

The following Tuesday, Superintendent Lowengard met with Blodgett parents and students. An hour before he arrived, more than 500 people turned up for a rally outside the school.


The $46 million cost to renovate the school made it impractical to put in Phase I but people feared that if Blodgett were not renovated in this phase, it would be forgotten. The 

proposal approved Thursday, with funds set aside for Blodgett, appeased those fighting to save the school.


“I’m grateful for you that have listened to us and put Blodgett back on the screen publicly,” Anne Messenger of the Near West Side Initiative Board told the JSCB.


Blodgett is accounted for, but still no definite plans have been set for the school in terms of renovations.


“I’m more happy than I was…guardedly happy,” Messenger said.


Others still feel the JSCB did not do enough for Blodgett. Even people with no affiliation to the school are concerned about the lack of a concrete plan.


“If I were a Blodgett parent I would be P.Oed,” Zeke Ronnow, an East Side parent said. “It’s appalling to me that they [children] are in those schools.”


Ronnow, pictured at left, is concerned about the children that attend Blodgett but he has two children of his own who attend H.W. Smith, just east of Syracuse University. The failure to reach a decision by the JSCB on Blodgett prevented work from starting on any other schools. H.W Smith has had to incorporate all possible space to keep its already overcrowded school functioning.


“We just got a part time resource teacher,” Principal Sharon Birnkrant said. “She’s working in the Hopper Room where the custodians keep their mops.”


The JSCB voted to give H.W. Smith only baseline renovations but even that is a much needed start.


“Here’s the unbelievable thing; our building is not even handicap accessible,” Birnkrant said. “We don’t have an elevator. If a kid breaks their leg they can’t come to school.” 


“When it rains all the windows leak,” Birnkrant said. “I’m just hoping for a roof, windows and that they fix the bathrooms and give us a few more. We have two bathrooms for all of the women in the building.”


Ironically, a Syracuse Education Commissioner also has to suffer because there is no handicap accessibility. 


“One of our board members [Nancy McCarty] walks with a walker,” Birnkrant said. “She comes in here to tutor kids and literally has to lift her body up the stairs every week.”


The proposal for Phase I renovations is finished but work will not begin on the schools right away. 


“The bureaucracy in this matter has been overwhelming,” Lowengard said. “We have already been at this for two-and-a-half years and the now the architects have to design the plans.”


Mayor Driscoll agreed that it will be a long process.


“The board has made a decision, but our work does not end here by any means,” Driscoll said.


More than half a dozen reporters interviewed members of the JSCB out in the hall after the meeting had concluded. After he was done being interviewed, Mayor Driscoll stepped off to the side and waited until the reporters had finished with Anne Messenger, of the Near West Side Initiative. He then took her arm and as they walked down the hall he said,


 “We are going to need your help on this one.”


A long process had come to an end but work has only just begun.