state-ofthe-art

local groups would like more studies than the Center has the time and resources to conduct. The Center keeps its
invoicing low thanks to a Car-Freshner Corporation endowment and support from the College, and maintains a
steady flow of studies thanks to surveys it repeats on an annual basis.
“We’re in really good shape,” he reported; otherwise, he said, he wouldn’t think about stepping down to concentrate
on professional and personal goals, which include both academic and creative writing projects (he is a member of
the SUNY Distinguished Professor Academy, and is the author of two published novels). Meanwhile, he will conduct
one more Center survey this fall, for the North Country Prenatal/Perinatal Council.
The community studies themselves yield information (via survey instruments) on topics such as local gambling behaviors,
downtown Watertown retail space, recycling, airport usage, and resident viewpoints on local quality of life.
Dr. Petersen cites the gambling-behaviors study as one example of a surprising outcome. Survey results showed
that Jefferson County residents spent $50 million a year on gambling-related activities. “You can’t help think,” he
notes, “what could we do with $50 million a year? How many jobs could you create?”
Additionally, a CCS study for Hospice of Jefferson County established the need for the new Gotham St. Hospice facility;
a study for Alexandria Bay’s E.J. Noble Hospital helped to transform it into today’s River Hospital, when it might
have shut down or had its services radically curtailed. Annually, the Development Authority of the North Country is
a major sponsor of three surveys the Center now conducts for Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties.
“If you compare our survey response rate to any other professionals in the field,” said Dr. Petersen, “we’d be the envy
of them. Our response rate is great and that’s a tribute to the students who help with the surveys, and to how they
conduct them.“
Students make between 350-400 telephone calls over the course of three to four days when conducting
research for the Center. When the community participates, their opinions help to shape North Country policy and
decision-making.
Applied Learning for Jefferson Students
For 17 years—since 1999—JCC math professor Joel LaLone has been the Center for Community Study’s secret
weapon, the mastermind behind the data that emerges from its projects. His Mathematics Department colleague,
Assistant Professor Larry Danforth, is stepping into the new position of Research Coordinator, though he has been
involved in the work of the Center since 2011. Mr. LaLone and Mr. Danforth design, guide, and finalize the studies,
but at the heart of their analysis is an applied-learning process whereby JCC statistics students are involved in every
step of the survey projects.
Technological advances have made mathematics “explode,” said Mr. LaLone, “with big data and all of that. Thirty
years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do some of this.”
From development of the research questions to population identification, to definition of variables; to sample
methodology, to data collection and data cleansing; to data analysis, data interpretation, and public presentation,
JCC statistics students help with the work of the Center.
If they man the phones, they are paid for their work; if they don’t, they will still process some of the collected information
in their coursework. “It’s the same mathematics formulas as the canned problems in my book,” Mr. LaLone
pointed out, “but I can imagine it’s more meaningful to work on things that really impact their community.”
Per semester, between 150 and 200 students are involved with the Center’s data analysis. Frequently, the Math
Department hears back from them once they go out into the work world, where they find themselves at an advantage
due to their CCS activities. Mr. LaLone cites examples of students who received MBAs, but credit JCC ahead of
their graduate institutions for where they are today—for example, Matt Biedekapp, described by K S & R Corp. of
Syracuse as one of its “rising-star” employees.
Mr. Danforth added, “We give information to the community that other communities don’t get. I come from Corning
Community College, and Corning has to contract out for something like that.”
A favorite statistical challenge is coming up with the methodologies for data collection. “You can’t just figure out
how to do an economic analysis on Tug Hill by googling it,” said Mr. LaLone. “That’s been professionally gratifying,
to have to keep learning and expanding.” Students, too, suggest improvements in designs or survey instruments,
and they do on-the-job problem-solving, like the student who called Wal-Mart in Lowville to learn Lewis County
cell-phone prefixes. When students find unique angles in the research, that data sometimes ends up in Center
reports.
“These are great young minds,” Mr. LaLone said of his student assistants.
He is pleased that his teaching methods give them opportunities to get involved. He added about the work of the
Center, “I feel very fortunate that we (JCC) created this.”
Jefferson Insider - Volume 13 • 11