By Renee Cummstaff writer

Plattsburgh State stu-dents stood and clapped with a thunderous roar for PSUC Associate Professor of Biology Chris Martine, as he stepped on the stage to receive the Charles Ed-win Bessey Teaching Award from the Botanical Society of America (BSA) in August, biology student Elizabeth Lavoie said.

Martine was one of only two professors worldwide to receive such an honor.

“When I received the call that I had won, I was shocked,” Martine said.

Martine wasn’t the only one recognized by the BSA, however. His students Lavoie, Sasha Dow-Kitson and Alex Scharf were also recognized by the organiza-tion, as the three students were awarded the BSA re-search award of the sum-mer.

Only three other students nationwide received such an award.

In addition, Lavoie and fellow student Jillian Post were two out of a possible 25 people to be named Young Botanists of the Year.

The nomination process for these awards is highly competitive, Martine said. The students had to put a great deal of time in writing their proposals.

Their botanical research had to be extremely valid in order to even be accepted, he said.

Since he began teaching at PSUC, Martine had been a major force behind the students’ success.

“I worked really hard, along-side Martine,” Dow-Kitson said. “He was there every step of the way with my proposal.”

Martine has been teach-ing biology at PSUC for five

years. Throughout this time, his students have won the Young Botanist award three years in a row. They have also created the first Botany Club in the nation. The chapter allows stu-dents to connect with other researchers and scientists, Martine said.

“(The club is) not just for students with a 4.0 (GPA),” Dow-Kitson, who is also the clubs treasurer said. “You can get various experi-ences,” by being part of the club.

Lavoie said she joined the Botany Club on a whim, and soon found herself wanting to make Martine proud of her.

“He wanted me to win,” she said. “He would go the extra mile to make sure that I succeeded.”

Lavoie said she would have been upset if Martine hadn’t won the teaching award.

In fact, it was in part due to Martine’s help that Lavoie was commended for her botany research.

For 22 days, she, Martine and PSUC Professor of Bio-logical Sciences Daniel Vogt, lived “out in the bush” in the Australian Northern terri-tory, where they discovered a potentially new breed of eggplant solanum during a research expedition, Mar-tine said.

This potential new breed was discovered after Lavoie performed genetic tests on the plant and realized its unusual reproduction pro-cess.

The plant is a “model” for the evolution and repro-

duction strategies of this (Solanum) plant. It has re-defined the way a plant can reproduce, Vogt said.

One particular species of the plant called “Solanum Sejunctum” is located only on a mossy rock in Austra-lia and is now in the PSUC green house, Martine said.

Another particular spe-cies called “Litchfield” is most likely a new breed, but is still undergoing research.

This research project was just one of several hands-on projects that Martine and his students have been working on. Martine hasn’t been teaching at PSUC long, but his students have con-tinued to excel in their bo-tanical and scientific capa-bilities due to his teachings.

“You can thank (Martine) for that,” Vogt said.

By James Milanoassociate news editor

Combat missions in Iraq officially ended on August 31, but this withdrawal is un-likely to affect the 25 ROTC students here at Plattsburgh State.

“Really, it’s not going to change the way we do any-thing,” head of the reserve of-ficer training corps (ROTC), Lieutenant Colonel Doug-las Goodfellow said. “We’re teaching them to be leaders who are adaptive and that can operate in any given en-vironment or situation”

Even though combat mis-sions have ended, about 50,000 troops remain in Iraq as consultants, or “non-com-bat troops.”

And while the deadline set for the complete withdrawal of troops, which was estab-lished by Bush administra-tion, is 2011, according to the American Free Press (AFP), U.S. military experts expect troop presence to exceed that date.

Goodfellow agrees with this prediction, citing ac-tive military bases that date back to the Korean War and WWII. Due to this, he said he assumes that there will be a military presence in Iraq for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’d bet a week’s pay on it,” Goodfellow said.

And although combat mis-sions have ended in Iraq, there will still be a need for troops to occupy the military bases in the country, Goodfel-low said. He said he reminds his cadets there is still a war in Afghanistan, and there is a possibility that they could deploy there, as well as to Iraq.

However, until the cadets complete the ROTC program they cannot be deployed, With that said, for those that

have graduated from the program, there is a chance that they could go into com-bat in their future, Goodfel-low said.

The most recent U.S. casu-alties in Iraq were not caused by insurgents but by an Iraqi army regular after a brawl erupted inside an Iraqi com-pound.

The altercation left two GI’s dead and nine wound-ed. Despite these latest com-bat deaths student senator Samuel Dorsey believes the withdrawal was the right choice.

“I think that if we stayed there more and more there would be no push and shove to tell the Iraqi government to get its act together,” Dorsey said.

Another attack occurred at the Iraqi army 11th division headquarters in which U.S. GI’s opened fire.

This incident has led some to question whether the soldiers’ role in Iraq is going to change over from military operations to one of peacekeeping, even with the Army’s history of complet-ing humanitarian missions, which include missions in Haiti.

“I do not think this is a po-litical ploy,” Dorsey said. “Will they eventually be engaged in some combat operations? Most definitely yes.”

And while their role has supposedly changed from one of combat to one of peacekeeping consultants, Goodfellow said the soldiers in Iraq are still soldiers and that they know how to com-plete the mission at hand.

“They call themselves sol-diers. You can call them na-tion builders, you can call them consultants, what-ever term you want to use. They’re going to do their job, whatever the mission is,” Goodfellow said.

CP News A3news editor bryan bergeron ▪friday, sept. 17, 2010 ▪ news@cardinalpointsonline.com

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Graphic design by Tim Cook/Cardinal PointsTroops in Iraq have officially ended combat missions, but this is unlikely to affect the ROTC program at PSUC.

Valentino Cinotti/Cardinal PointsBiology professor Christoper Martine recieved worldwide teaching honors this summer, while three of his students were given nationwide awards for research.

Students, professor receive national, worldwide honors

Withdrawal not affecting ROTC

From Page One

with selling alcohol without a license. Gutierrez declined comment.

Griffith, Beckles and Van Wert were all also charged with selling alcohol without a license.

Foote was charged with resisting arrest. Charges were also filed against a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old for possession of alcohol under 21. They were unable to be reached for com-ment by press time.

The youth offenders’ cases are sealed because of their age and the lower level of severity of the crimes they are being charged for.

Those accused of illegal sale or possession of alcohol were charged for not complying with the alcoholic

beverage control laws, which requires those who sell alcohol to obtain licens-es for the sale of any alcoholic product.

PREVENTION While some students are able to

drink in moderation, it is a choice some incoming students cannot han-dle, Lt. Patrick Rascoe said.

Even though there have not been deaths associated with drinking re-cently, Rascoe said the police need to stay vigilant. Students create many dangerous situations when hosting parties by blocking exit doors, board-ing up windows with plywood and overcrowding apartments, he said.

Rascoe cited incidents in the past where people died as a result of al-cohol consumption. The chances of rape also increase due to the over-consumption of alcohol.

Both Racicot and Rascoe declined to comment on the chance of more raids occurring.

“We do investigations 365 days a year,” Racicot said. “And these were obviously dangerous situations that we investigated.”

ARRESTS: Situations dangerous“We do investigations365 days a year, andthese were obviouslydangerous situationsthat we investigated.”

Desmond Racicot Plattsburgh City Police Chief