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♪ [Theme Music] ♪
TINABETH PINA: Welcome to Study With The Best,
the magazine show about CUNY. I'm Tinabeth Pina.
On today's episode we'll feature retired
Secretary of State, General Colin L. Powell,
listen to how a deaf student functions in
a hearing world at Hunter College,
and take a ride into a skateboard shop in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
This past May the Colin L. Powell
School for Civic and Global Leadership was
inaugurated at City College.
General Powell was actually there for the
ceremony and set aside a few minutes to talk to our
very own Andrew Falzon.
ANDREW FALZON: Since graduating from the
City College of New York in 1958 Colin Powell has
become one of the most prominent military and
diplomatic leaders of our time.
Powell has maintained close ties with the CUNY
community and recently returned to City College
to inaugurate the Colin L. Powell
School for Civic and Global Leadership.
For Powell it was a homecoming of sorts
returning to the place that put him on a path to
become the only person in our nation's history to
serve as its highest ranking diplomatic officer
and highest ranking military official.
GEN. COLIN POWELL: In the Army, they teach you no matter how
cold everybody may be, you're the leader you're never cold.
Troops may be hungry. You're never hungry.
You're the leader.
They may be tired. You're never tired. And—
ANDREW FALZON : You're that even-keeled...
GEN. COLIN POWELL: You got to be optimistic that
things will get better.
And I think our youngsters don't get enough of that.
ANDREW FALZON: And that may be why retired
General Colin Powell has maintained such close ties
with City College as a kid growing up in the Bronx,
Powell was unsure of the direction his life would
take but that all changed in 1954.
That's when Powell began working on his geology
degree at City College of New York and stumbled upon
what became his life's calling.
You said that when you came here to City College
ROTC was something that you connected with for the
first time in your life.
You really found yourself.
What was it about ROTC that you did connect with?
GEN. COLIN POWELL: Well I was a little over 17 years old,
when I tripped over ROTC in the Summer of 1954.
And it was a structure. It was a discipline.
It was the guys. When you're 17 or so,
and you're leaving home really for the first time,
you're kind of adrift. I found a new home.
I found a new family with my fellow students
here in the ROTC.
ANDREW FALZON: After graduating from
City Collge in 1958 Powell served two tours in Vietnam.
Upon his return he was chosen to serve as a
White House Fellow with the Nixon Administration.
In 1987, he would become National Security Advisor
to President Reagan and in 1989,
he became a four star general under
President George H. W. Bush
and later that year was nominated to be
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
At 52 years old ,he became the youngest Joint Chiefs Chair.
He was also the first Chairman to come out of ROTC.
In 2001 Powell was again called to serve his
country but this time the General would leave his
military uniform at home and serve as
Secretary of State to George W. Bush.
As a soldier transitioning into diplomacy was it
harder for you to not be the Army General,
the orders get done?
GEN. COLIN POWELL: No.
Not particularly because I had been National Security Advisor
for two years to President Reagan,
so I kind of understood the civilian side of
government and when I walked into the
State Department somebody said,
"Well, what do we call you?
General or Mr. Secretary?"
I said, "Mr. Secretary. I'm Secretary of State."
ANDREW FALZON: In 1989 PARADE magazine had
published your 13 Rules of Leadership.
For CUNY students and alumni,
what guidelines would you give them today?
GEN. COLIN POWELL: The reporter who wrote that article
asked me to look at some little sayings I had under
my desk glass he heard about,
and just read off some of them and I read off the first 13.
Number one says "It isn't as bad as you think.
It will be better in the morning."
And the 13th rule is a derivative of a military
saying and that is that "Always think things are
going to get better no matter how bad things may
seem at the moment."
And I think that's an attitude for young people.
They face difficulties of school.
They face other difficulties in life.
And it starts to get them down.
And so, "No man, never be down."
Always be up.
ANDREW FALZON: While Powell's military career
influenced his tenure as Secretary of State,
he already had experience with international
relations as a kid growing up in the South Bronx.
When you were a young man growing up in the city,
my understanding is you worked in a baby furniture
store and you picked up some Yiddish sayings.
Did any of those translate?
Did you get any wisdom or guidance from those sayings?
GEN. COLIN POWELL: Yeah, when I was kind of annoyed with
some of the other guys I would say [YIDDISH].
I'll hit you on the side of your head with a
blessing and depending on how you say it it's either
a blessing or a slap in the side of the head.
I preferred it as a slap in the side of the head.
The biggest lesson I got from my experience in the
toy store, was from the Russian immigrant Jew who
owned it, Jay Sixer.
And after I worked there for a few summers and few
Christmas seasons he pulled me aside and he
said to me, "Colin, you're a good worker.
I love having you in the store. You're part of the family
but listen you can't ever stay here.
You have to get your education.
You got good family and you're smart.
Go get your education and make sure you move on."
And so I never had any intention of staying in
that toy store but I was so touched that he thought
enough of me to tell me that I had the potential
to do other things in life and don't think that
I should stay there.
ANDREW FALZON: Through the years, Powell has
remained committed to his collegiate alma mater.
In 1997, he founded
The Colin Powell Center for Leadership and Service.
His center is being transformed into the
Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership,
a degree granting school that encompasses
City College's Social Science Departments.
Professor Vincent Boudreau is the centers director
and assisting as it transitions into a full-fledged school.
DR. VINCENT BOUDREAU: We worked with him to develop
programs that do for City College students today
what City College did for him,
when he was a student here.
It's never been a question.
He's always said make the school,
make the center a program that emphasizes leadership
and success in our students.
ANDREW FALZON: Powell became known for his hands
on approach while running the State Department.
He plans on bringing that same approach to City College.
GEN. COLIN POWELL: I'll be spending
a lot of time up here at City.
Used to have just a center to worry about,
now we have a much larger school to worry about and
five academic departments I want to get to know and
visit and so I'll be spending a lot more time at City.
DR. VINCENT BOUDREAU: We're able to bring in
people like James Baker, Barbara Walters,
Jamie Diamond to come and speak to the students
because General Powell wherever he goes and
whoever he meets says you've got to get up to City College.
You've got to meet these students.
You've got to talk to these students.
ANDREW FALZON: One of those big names drawn to
City College is Tom Brokaw who was a member of the
Board of Directors for the Powell Center.
Brokaw spent 22 years as anchor and managing editor
of the NBC Nightly News.
He now hosts a mini-series on the Military Channel
called The Brokaw Files.
TOM BROKAW: Everybody that we knew in our age group
had probably served in the war in some capacity.
There are coaches and teachers and the business
men up and down Main Street and so on.
And he really then becomes a continuation of the
greatest generation than somebody who is one of the
most highly regarded Americans of our time.
ANDREW FALZON: You're as much a historian
as you are a journalist.
What will history say about Colin Powell?
TOM BROKAW: Well, history would say that Colin Powell
was in the front ranks of the first full
opportunity that African Americans had to serve in
any capacity in this country.
We now have had an African American President.
What we had not had an African American
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs or a Secretary of the State.
Those were huge breakthroughs.
ANDREW FALZON: Powell has also been granted a
distinguished professorship at City College
as the Colin Powell School prepares for
its inaugural semester it will incorporate some of
the same lessons that Colin Powell himself
learned as a young New Yorker 50 years ago.
GEN. COLIN POWELL: What I learned in New York,
in the multi-ethnic neighborhood I grew up in,
everybody was from somewhere else.
Everybody had about the same level of income in the family.
So we were all kind of equals and we had to get along.
And we had diverse backgrounds.
And I think I learned from that how to sort of
respect what diversity is and respect others.
♪ [Music] ♪
BARRY MITCHELL: Wow, look at him go.
He must be heading to Brooklyn's KCDC.
AMY GUNTHER: Hi.
My name is Amy Gunther, and I own KCDC Skate Shop
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The skateboard demographic is different everywhere
but for KCDC like our demographic is mainly
males in their late teens to late 20s.
Let's take a look at the skateboards.
We tend to be very heavy on local brands.
We like to support local companies as much as possible.
This graphic has been around for a long time but
it's really popular because it's pretty awesome.
She's on a skateboard.
BARRY MITCHELL: Born and raised on Long Island,
Amy's life changing moment came when she was 14,
skateboarding in New York City.
AMY GUNTHER: One fateful day,
I was in Washington Square Park and I was scouted by
a modeling agency.
I started modeling when I was 14 years old.
I would go to Europe.
Even in Paris I was able to meet other
skateboarders that kind of like took me in and now
I'm a spokesperson for WESC.
It's a Swedish clothing brand.
BARRY MITCHELL: And as if modeling in all the
fashion capitals of the world weren't enough,
in 2001 Amy opened KCDC.
What else could she possibly squeeze into her schedule?
AMY GUNTHER: I attend Brooklyn College.
I'm in the undergrad program.
My majors are business management and finance and
I double in marketing.
I think even a couple days into my first semester
there I was already my like mind was thinking
about how I could apply what I was learning to my business.
It just motivated me to figure it out.
Skate Night was something that was a concept we came up with.
It's a little difficult to skateboard during the
winter months and we wanted to kind of create a
community atmosphere so that people could come and
just like be with their friends and skateboard inside
and just kind of stay motivated throughout the winter.
BARRY MITCHELL: And there's also a charitable
component to Skate Night.
AMY GUNTHER: We did art shows through each event.
Some of them the art was auctioned for a certain
like non-profit organizations.
Like the prints that were sold,
all the proceeds went to the Andy Kessler Foundation,
a foundation that was put together by
myself and some people when a friend of ours
passed away who is like very pivotal in the skate community.
So it just kind of supports youth that are
interested in skateboarding and surfing
and art and stuff like that.
My role in the community is definitely larger
than being a merchant.
Sometimes my heart is bigger than my brain and
we do a lot of things that not, don't necessarily make us money.
We're still alive and kicking after 12 years so
we must be doing something right.
BARRY MITCHELL: Barry Mitchell,
Study With The Best.
TINABETH PINA: What's the relationship between a
deaf person and her interpreters?
Well, we visit a student at Hunter College to find out.
MALE 1: ...he wrote a lot and we're just going to summarize
a couple of the sort of main ideas that he talked about.
The median is the message thing is a really important
part of what he's talking about, right?
So this idea is that the actual structure of the media...
KAREN ROMANO: When I was 16 months old
my mother found out that I was deaf
and so they pretty much believe that I was born deaf.
I identify as nothing other than a deaf person,
and it doesn't bother me.
I'm actually very proud to be deaf.
And, you know, God gave this to me
so that I could experience this way of life.
My name is Karen,
and in ASL that's how you sign my name, Karen.
When I was three I learned something called SEE,
which is Signed Exact English,
which is basically spoken English on the hands.
And then when I was around 15 or 16 is when I learned ASL.
I got more exposure to deaf people.
I had a lot of deaf friends and so I really
picked up ASL quickly.
And ASL it's just more succinct.
There's a lot more.
There's facial expressions.
It's just a better, more fluid language.
When I'm in school and the teacher says something or
a student says something then the interpreter will
interpret that so that I can understand what
everybody else is talking about and I can also voice
for myself but, you know, sometimes people can't
understand so the interpreter will voice what I'm saying.
MALE 1: ...the unfolding of global events...
KAREN ROMANO: Also I noticed that in the past in the
way that we would get our news from newspapers it
would come maybe once per day or once per week
depending upon what kind of newspaper but now we
can get it instantly on our mobile devices.
The news is constantly refreshing itself.
MALE 1: Right and we also get our news,
like I know people who...
JASPER THACKER-BOWELL: I think interpreters,
we have a very interesting place in the deaf community
because we truly have to straddle
both the hearing and the deaf worlds.
We're an essential part of the community but it's
important for us not believe that we're the
most important part of the community.
There's some of us who are very,
very involved in the community and there's some
interpreters where interpreting is just their job
and that's where they draw the line with the deaf community.
I'm just there to facilitate communication.
I'm not there to make decisions for anybody.
I'm there to kind of meld two cultures together.
KAREN ROMANO: The interpreters seem to be
able to understand me as a deaf person,
and I can understand the interpreters as well so
we're really, you know, using the same language.
A lot of people in the deaf community are very
close with each other because we share the same
language, which is ASL.
We share a lot of the same culture.
Deaf people, we get together for events like the ASL Slam.
I've been to a lot of different deaf events but
this is my first time going to the Slam.
I'm really looking forward to it because I'm always
interested to see how other people do the poetry
and also to meet new people and to make connections.
ASL, it just it fits my culture and my language better.
My parents have always taught me to be proud of
who I am, no matter what, and to always go for what
I want in my life.
And now, you know, I'm trying to show the world
that yes, I'm deaf, but I can do whatever I want and
there's no need for people to judge me and,
you know, I can do anything that I want.
You know, I work hard.
Being deaf is not a factor.
I work hard to accomplish what I want and to
continue on with my life and I'll be who and what
it is I want to be.
TINABETH PINA: Welcome back to Study with the Best.
Now small businesses are the engine
that drive our nation's economy.
But what happens when a small business gets stuck in neutral?
Well, business owners are shifting gears and getting
free advice at LaGuardia Community College.
JANE SCHULMAN: So the Goldman Sachs
10,000 Small Businesses Program is a program for
businesses -- small businesses -- that have
been in business for at least two years.
They have to have between $150,000
and $4 million in revenue and they have to
have at least two employees.
TINABETH PINA: Two lucky employees.
Since Goldman Sachs LaGuardia based program
offers outstanding business guidance from
Harvard and Wharton Business School professors and it's free.
DANIEL LEVY: My name is Daniel Levy.
I'm the Founder and CEO of manhattanhomedesign.com.
We're a modern classic furniture company.
Like any other business owner,
you have an idea and you put it at work and you
test it and you try to take it to the best places possible.
I think there's a point you get stuck and that's
why people call it taking it to the next level and I
think that was in some point a start and that's
when in some point the Goldman Sachs 10,000
Small Businesses at LaGuardia was able to give
me the information, the network and show me some
of the opportunities I could take advantage of.
TINABETH PINA: It's been almost three years since
Daniel joined the 90 hour program and it totally
upended his professional life.
DANIEL LEVY: I actually was fortunate to have two
mentors from Goldman Sachs who actually gave me
advice in business strategy, accounting,
maybe other approaches I could give to my business.
In the finance part of the program,
where I was able to get a loan from Citco that will
make a big difference for us.
TINABETH PINA: For Daniel, it was a dream that
seriously boosted his bottom line.
DANIEL LEVY: I think understanding what are
your strengths, what could be your weaknesses and
taking a step back to be more strategic about your
business to try to have a vision in maybe long term,
maybe the next year, next couple years.
I think that makes a big difference and I think
that was one of the reasons that we were able
to double sales, to grow, to create jobs.
TINABETH PINA: Daniel is just one of many who've
entered the prestigious program.
Now while acceptance into the program is not
guaranteed, some entrepreneurs refuse to
take no for an answer.
DAVID RAMPULLA: I actually enrolled in the program twice.
The first time I was turned down but I knew
that after hearing about the program this is
absolutely something I wanted to do.
When I did my first interview I talked about
all the things that were right with my businesses.
When I did my second interview,
I talked about the challenges I was facing,
how to hire people, how to track expenses.
It's taught me how to take the limited resources that
I have as a small business and apply them where
they're going to do the most good.
Now that's something that I know is just going to
make my business more profitable down the road
and make me more efficient and make me more
successful business.
TINABETH PINA: Along with all the priceless expert
advice the entrepreneurs create something else,
camaraderie and friendships that endure.
DANIEL LEVY: You are actually in a group of
other business owners that they have -- they share the
same challenges which actually it became a huge
asset for me not only because I could learn from
the professors but also from my peers that
sometimes actually, I could relate and
give them a quick call.
I couldn't call a Harvard professor but I could call
my colleague sitting next to me and in fact,
I still after two years finishing the program,
I still rely on a lot of their advice and
information and I actually even become friends.
TINABETH PINA: The program uses some unusual and fun
exercises to promote teamwork and strategy
which has helped to expand thousands of small businesses.
MARIO CESARIO: Since I've been involved in the
program we've added new services to our school and
actually we went and focused on growing the
character aspect to our martial arts program.
So, we don't just worry about and work with the
physical side to teaching our students,
but we also worry now and deal with the mental
aspect of dealing with our students.
TINABETH PINA: So for all these ambitious entrepreneurs
the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program
at LaGuardia Community College is a win/win situation.
And for Daniel Levy, who has since won an award
from the U.S. Small Business Administration for his
success, graduation day was just the beginning.
DANIEL LEVY: I was able to receive my certificate for
completion of the classes from Warren Buffet and next
was actually Lloyd Bankfein, the CEO Goldman Sachs,
Valerie Jarrett, the Senior Advisor of President Obama.
I think for any business owner if you are thinking
big and you are like what would be your wildest
dream, actually that was for me becoming true.
TINABETH PINA: Could you tell your life story in a musical?
Well, four CUNY students did just that by teaming
up at the Performing Arts non-profit to write,
produce and perform their stories in
a musical called Off the Record.
ALEXIS LAMB: I go to Hunter College,
and I'm studying fine arts.
ASHLEE ALEXANDER: I got to CUNY York.
I'm a theatre major.
DEMITRI BRATTON: BMCC.
My major is education.
PEACE ONYIUKE: I go to Baruch College.
Our show is Off the Record.
PAUL GRIFFIN: The Possibility Project is a
non-profit organization and we bring together
groups of teenagers to transform the negative
forces in their lives and in their communities in
the positive action.
So we have a yearlong creative process where
groups of young people from all different
backgrounds and all five boroughs,
different ages, come together and they learn
through the creative process how to build
relationships across cultures,
how to resolve the conflicts they face in
their lives, how to engage in making a difference in
their community and also to lead.
And the way in which they do that is by working
together to write and then perform an original
musical from the stories of their lives focused on
the most serious conflicts they face and their ideas
for change around those conflicts.
The name Off the Record comes from the idea that
part of the reasons things keep happening is because
people won't go on the record with what's going on with them.
PEACE ONYIUKE: In my scene I play an abusive mother.
"I told you 10 minutes ago dinner was gonna to be
ready in 30 minutes.
Why do I always have to repeat myself?"
FEMALE: "I'm sorry. I didn't even hear you."
PEACE ONYIUKE: "That's because you don't listen."
FEMALE: "I'm sorry."
PEACE ONYIUKE: "Yeah, you're sorry and I'm sorry too.
I'm sorry I ever had you."
MALE: "Mom!"
PEACE ONYIUKE: "Ain't nobody talking to you,
shut up, you want to be next?"
When you're playing your character,
it's somebody else in the cast's story.
So you have to take it seriously.
"Nobody abused you.
You just can't take discipline because you're weak."
ALEXIS LAMB: One of the stories really hit home
for me because it applied ot my life and the way
that it was told brought tears to my eyes and it
made me realize a few things and how to change
it and I wanted to share more.
"No, no, I think she's okay to find her way around.
I mean she's had like, what, three abortions?
She's one cheeseburger away from being obese."
ASHLEE ALEXANDER: I was falling in love with what
we were doing and things we were trying to change
and it was different from other acting programs out
there because we could relate.
Even if it's not directly, in some way we could
relate to each character that is being played out.
ALEXIS LAMB: It feels better knowing that other
people know what you're going through and
they can connect in that way.
This is in a way sort of like therapy.
PAUL GRIFFIN: The other thing they do besides
doing performances is they do community action
projects twice a year where they choose an issue
in the community that they care about and they design
a project to make a difference on that issue.
We're not a "go to college program".
It's really about our young people's development.
But the net result of all of that is that they start
to believe in the future a little differently and see
the value of going on to school.
ASHLEE ALEXANDER: They helped me realize that I
have feelings and I have to deal with it to improve myself.
DEMITRI BRATTON: It opened up a door for me.
I thought that I couldn't trust nobody.
And everybody was out to get me.
ALEXIS LAMB: It's really helped me to go up to
people, to say hi first, to start conversations and
put myself ahead of the game.
PEACE ONYIUKE: I just want people to come and see it
and walk away with something.
TINABETH PINA: Thanks for watching Study With The Best.
For all things CUNY log into our website at
CUNY.EDU or you can Facebook and Tweet us at CUNY TV.
See you next time. Bye.
GEN. COLIN POWELL: What I've always said is that I
would like to see diplomacy and political
action solved international conflicts.
But at the end of the day a great nation has to have
a great military force that if called upon in the
failure of diplomacy to execute battle to go after
the nation's enemies.
We have to be ready for that and we should do it
in a way that is, as I've often said, decisive.
I was once asked by an archbishop of Canterbury
why don't you believe more in soft power?
I said I do believe in soft power but it wasn't
soft power that defeated Hitler.
It was hard power because soft power didn't work.
And so you want to encourage diplomacy,
encourage soft power but at the end of the day hard
power is not an option at the end of that,
soft power may not be as effective as might be.