Daniel Schudroff graduated from Eastchester High School in Eastchester, NY in 2001. Having graduated from ILR with honors in 2005, he will going to Brooklyn Law School in New York City to study Public Interest Law and Labor Employment Law. He aspires to become a labor attorney with a small firm and an arbitrator.

Q. What leads you in that direction?
A. The Collective Bargaining Department has excellent professors who have advised me on the way to that kind of goal in my life.

Q. What's the best class you have taken?
A. The best class I have taken at ILR has to be Collective Bargaining 602, Arbitration, taught by Professor Jim Gross. That was a very interesting class, very difficult, very challenging and the most rewarding — but well worth it. It's one of the few classes taught at Cornell that I believe, requires practical applications — a field where we are taught how to write opinions and post hearing briefs—things that we are going to have to do if we become an arbitrator or a person involved in the arbitration process. Professor Gross also teaches CB 607, which is Values in Economics and Justice.

Q. Why is he the best?
A. He is the master of the field. I've never heard of any other kind of person who has such a grasp of the material, who knows everything about the arbitration field. He is really one of my role models. He has really provided the guidance that is necessary for me to do what I want to do in life.

Q. In your four years at ILR and Cornell, have you changed in any way?
A. Absolutely. I think everyone changes when they go to college. In the freshman year, you are thrown together with a whole new group of people who have their own set of experiences. I hope that I have become more mature. I know that people who will always be there for me — whether it will be someone across the court room — someone who will be doing a community event with me.

Q. Tell me about your fellow students-the people at ILR you will be graduating with.
A. I think we are all, pretty much, go getters. We're pretty motivated-that's the best word that I can use there. We're all going to be moving along. We're people who want to succeed in life. We're really focused on what we want to do. A lot of us will be going to law school, working in human resource jobs.

We're social with each other -which I think is really cool. I think when you go across the university, you'll find that the people who are at the centers of discussion —the centers of all kinds of social groups — are the ILR students because they know how to interact with everybody. It's a very inclusive group of people because when you think about it—it's about 200 kids in the class who will be graduating. We all know each other. We look out for one another and that is something that I think we all share in common—that we all care for one another—which is pretty cool.

Q. ILR Students are really involved?
A. As a kid, I always wanted to be involved in something. The thing that ILR students share is they want to get involved with what's going on so that they can meet other people. We are involved — whether its working in a community service project -giving campus tours or touring prospective students around ILR — we're always doing something. It's cool.

Q. Did ILR meet up with your expectations when you decided to come here?
A. I think it absolutely exceeded those expectations. It was awesome. I'm so sad that its over and I hope that one day, I can come back as a professor in collective bargaining—back up to the school or even in the Extension Division down in New York City. It's been a hell of a four years. It's been a lot of fun. A lot of learning. A lot of things that I have picked up—that I have mastered. And not just academic skills — social skills, street smarts —real life stuff that I know that I will be using forever.

Q. What will you miss about ILR?
A. Pretty much everything. I'll miss the Office of Student Services. I'll miss all of the professors in the Collective Bargaining Department. I'll miss my fellow students.  It's a comfort feeling — when you go into a classroom and you pretty much know everybody. I'll miss that. It's something that I will remember. The students that I know here will be successful in life —- and I know that I'll see them again.

Q. You won the Teaching Advisory Committee Award for Exemplary Undergraduate Teaching. Did you enjoy being a TA?
A. I was very surprised that I received the award. It's one of the greatest honors that I have ever received.  Being a TA is my favorite activity at ILR and Cornell. I was a TA for Statistics 211 — I have that section every Thursday with about 35 Sophomores. It's a lot of fun — teaching them Stats. And because I do want to go into teaching eventually, that is a great experience for me to have. I was very honored to receive that award from those students who nominated me and who sent confirming letters to the Teaching And Advisory Board. That was cool.

Q. You wrote a paper—"Take Me Out To The Ball Game: The Economic Impact of Minor League Baseball on Upstate New York Communities" — Tell me about that.
A. It's an economic paper — an assessment of the costs and benefits of minor league baseball in upstate New York communities.  I took a look at Auburn and Batavia — two communities with Single A, New York - Penn League franchises.

What I tried to assess is — in the early 90s, major league baseball implemented Attachment 58, which forced cities or owners of stadiums to upgrade the facilities. For instance, in Auburn, the center field was actually below the level it should be —and these things need to be addressed. The question is — is it economically beneficial for the city to undertake these kinds of renovations — in lieu of spending money on other needs in the community.

I got to meet a lot of people — reporters from Auburn, Batavia, Syracuse. I got to meet a number of public officials who were very gracious and helpful by providing me with all kinds of data. I worked with Professor Bob Smith — he was my primary advisor and Professor Jim Gross was my second reader. And both of them, I believe, had conducted previous research on the New York Penn League.

Q. Sounds like it was a tremendous learning experience.
A. Yes, I had never really done research before. This was a lot of fun. It was an Honor's Thesis. I had a chance to hang out — got to learn a lot about baseball — the business side of baseball. I'm a big baseball fan.

Q. You're going to miss this place.
A. It's going to be tough. But, I can always come back for a visit. I will miss it.

- Interview by Robert Julian