Concordia Professor Brings Stats to Every Day Life

by Patrice Athanasidy

Students taking statistics with Dr. John F. Loase at Concordia College in Bronxville, N.Y. find themselves reading Viktor Frankl’s Mans’ Search for Meaning as part of their course requirements. The Pleasantville resident said he works hard to make his statistics class vital for his students. “It is the first time they have ever seen a math course that actually applies to their life,” said Loase, a professor of mathematics and chair of the department. “By deleting 10 topics you really can go slower and focus on the meaningful topics.” Loase brings this same practical approach to high school students in Harlem, Mount Vernon and Yonkers.

“We go where it doesn’t seem too many people want to go,” he said. He and math partner, Prof. Melvin Butts, teach College Success Seminars to students at risk of failing. They emphasize the need to take hard courses in high school in order to be successful in college. Using statistics to support his argument, Loase said, “Otherwise, they may be among the 81% failure rate of college remedial students.” Loase puts a great deal of trust in this next generation, even coining the word “sigfluence” to describe them. On his website,The Sigfluence Generation, Loase writes, “I defined sigfluence in 1984 as significant, long-term, positive influence.” The author of 10 books, including The Sigfluence Generation: Our Young People's Potential to Transform America, Loase said he first talked about sigfluence 27 years ago at Harvard University. “This is a mission driven college,” he said. “There is something about the mission that is very important—to reach students who would fail at other colleges.”

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REDEFINING THE MEANING OF A "GOOD JOB"

By Jason Rutherford

John F. Loase's The Sigfluence Generation offers a number of thought-provoking insights into our society; among many other assertions, Loase helps readers to redefine the meaning of a "good job." In a society that is poised for significant realignment in the market after the economic failures of the past few years, he addresses the kind of work that Americans will find meaningful as the new generation enters the workforce. The 18-25 year-olds who most need "Sigfluence," which is significant long-term positive influence, both from mentors and the potential to be sigfluential in their own jobs, were inculcated into the Reagan era obsession with status, money, "me," and workaholic-ism; "You probably think 'good job' means a job with high status, a huge salary and a lot of power." As needs and values shift, this new generation, "The Sigfluence Generation" must "transform the definition of 'good job' to that of a sigfluential profession."

For many Americans, a feeling that "my job is not important" pervades their worries; however, "modest jobs have magic opportunities to affect sigfluence." The author uses the example of Jimmy Stewart's character in It's a Wonderful Life, who felt that his life was insignificant and was contemplating suicide, when an angel showed him the sigfluence that he has had over the years; "The theme of the film was that we do make a difference. Our lives, both at work and with our friends and family, make a profound difference on others". Loase shows readers that while ". holders of esteemed jobs may not act in ways that would optimize their Potential for Sigfluence," professions that are considered "humble" have "moments of profound influence that belie society's superficial awarding of status." Although the profession of telephone operator was traditionally viewed as a "low status" job, Loase relates the story of the potential for sigfluence in this humble position, sharing the anecdote of how one telephone operator saved a woman's life when she had slit her wrists and called the operator for help; the operator traced the open line and sent a repairman, whose job is also traditionally regarded as humble, to rescue her. Loase's work is inspirational, reminding readers that no job is without potential for sigfluence, and that while they might not have high status jobs, they may have opportunities to have profound impacts on others.

The Sigfluence Generation expresses the concerns of a generation and provides readers with self-reflection, prompting them to assess their potential for sigfluence, how important it is in their life, and what kind of job will provide them with the maximum potential.

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The Sigfluence Generation: Our Young People's Potential to Transform America

A Brief Book Review by Ramu Nakliba

The Sigfluence Generation is a refreshingly wonderful book by someone who holds the distinction of being the only person who completed a doctorate in mathematics and psychology awarded by Columbia University Teachers College. Most readers will probably conclude that 'sigfluence', a word coined by the author, means 'significant influence.' That is true. Expanded, it is defined by Loase as 'significant, long-term, positive influence.' Loase wrote this book based on two decades of research on sigfluence, as well as data obtained from a three-year-long study of 18-25-year-old college students Loase has found that young adults, especially in the age range of those individuals he has been studying over the years, have a fundamental need for sigfluence, that many older people are unaware of and do not address properly.

He writes that, based on his many years of observation, conversations, research and formal study, young people, besides wanting to achieve their monetary and material goals, want to find meaning in their own lives by influencing others to make a difference in their communities. He says: 'Sigfluence is a key concept to positively transform America. I was amazed at the potential and need for Sigfluence that I found among the 542 college students we surveyed over three years.' Loase has been writing for about a quarter century. This is his eighth book. He is a lifelong resident of Westchester County in the state of New York. He is a professor of mathematics at Concordia College in New York.

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Dr. John F. Loase, author of The Sigfluence Generation talks about Education and its Future

Posted by Richard J Garfunkel

On Wednesday, January 13, 2010, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show, The Advocates on WVOX- 1460 AM, and you can also listen to the program’s worldwide, live streaming at http://www.wvox.com/. My guest is John Loase and our subject is his book, The Sigfluence Generation, about our youth and the transforming their potential to save America and his views on education and what we have to do s a society to save this system.

Dr. John Loase, a life-long native of Westchester County, is a Professor of Math at Concordia College and served formerly as Professor of Math at SUNY-Westchester Community College. He has had a long career in academics that has spanned decades in both the public and private secondary schools and colleges of Westchester and New York. He has authored over thirty publications including eight interdisciplinary books, the last being the recently published, The Sigfluence Generation. He has been an active lecturer and has been involved in numerous workshops on Advanced Statistics, Mathematical Modeling, among other disciplines.

Dr. Loase received a unique Joint Doctorate in Math and Psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College, after being awarded three Masters Degrees in Math, Counseling, and Psychmetrics from Manhattan College and Columbia University, followed by a sixty credit program that led to permanent certification as School Psychologist from the College of New Rochelle. He has been a member of the following professional organizations: -American Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, Past President, New York State- Thought – Consultant Editor (Fordham University) Chair – Task Force on Poverty in New York State (Commissioned by NYSSCA – branch of American Association for Counseling and Development). Past Vice President New York State Counselor’s Association American Statistical Association New York Academy of Sciences, Mathematical Association of America, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics, and the American Psychological Association –Divisions: Measurement and Humanistic Psychology.

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Teaching Vital Lessons

Posted on January 6, 2012 by concordia enews

Students taking statistics with Dr. John F. Loase at Concordia find themselves reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning as part of their course requirements. The Pleasantville resident said he works hard to make his statistics class vital for his students. “It is the first time they have ever seen a math course that actually applies to their life,” said Loase, a professor of mathematics and chair of the department. “By deleting 10 topics you really can go slower and focus on the meaningful topics.” Loase brings this same practical approach to high school students in Harlem, Mount Vernon and Yonkers. “We go where it doesn’t seem too many people want to go,” he said. He and math partner, Prof. Melvin Butts, teach College Success Seminars to students at risk of failing. They emphasize the need to take hard courses in high school in order to be successful in college. Using statistics to support his argument, Loase said, “Otherwise, they may be among the 81% failure rate of college remedial students.”

Loase puts a great deal of trust in this next generation, even coining the word “sigfluence” to describe them. On his website,The Sigfluence Generation, Loase writes, “I defined sigfluence in 1984 as significant, long-term, positive influence.” The author of 10 books, including The Sigfluence Generation: Our Young People’s Potential to Transform America, Loase said he first talked about sigfluence 27 years ago at Harvard University. “This is a mission driven college,” he said. “There is something about the mission that is very important—to reach students who would fail at other colleges.”