Campus Champion

Throughout his 23-year tenure with the College, Doug DeRancy ’75 has been working without fanfare to establish relationships with alumni that benefit SUNY Cortland. His years of visits and the friendship he established with John Fantauzzi ’58 developed into a $5.1 million gift that will provide scholarships for deserving students wanting to attend SUNY Cortland for years to come. Doug’s consistent, concerned, friendly and honest approach with Cortland alumni define “friend-raising” at its best and why we honor the assistant to the vice president of institutional advancement as a campus champion.

Retired biology teacher Michael J. O’Reilly ’58, of Chaumont, N.Y., has made a bequest of $1.24 million — the second largest individual gift in the College’s history — to his alma mater, SUNY Cortland, for the creation of a science education scholarship.

“I loved my time in Cortland and my career as a science teacher,” said O’Reilly, who taught for 33 years, the last 28 of them in Spring Valley, N.Y., as part of the East Ramapo Central School District. “Education still excites me. I want to help talented SUNY Cortland students become junior high and senior high school science teachers. My hope is that they will inspire our nation’s children to pursue science as a field of study and a career.”

His bequest, which establishes the Michael J. O’Reilly ’58 Scholarship in Science Teacher Education, targets talented undergraduate and graduate students with financial need to enter a junior high or senior high school teaching career.

“Michael's scholarship, together with our multimillion-dollar renovations that will provide first rate science facilities on our campus, will greatly help SUNY Cortland attract support and educate the science teachers of tomorrow,” said Raymond Franco, vice president for institutional advancement at SUNY Cortland.

A native of Watertown, N.Y., O’Reilly grew up the third of five children in a family of modest income but strong education and work ethic values. His siblings, including his older brother, Lawrence, a SUNY Cortland graduate and later a Health Department faculty member in the 1960s, went on to distinguished teaching careers, too.

O’Reilly worked for two years after high school and pondered an engineering career like his father, who designed state highways.

“I didn’t have a scholarship so I decided to take my first two years at a SUNY school,” explained O’Reilly, attending Cortland when it was tuition-free. “Once I was there, I decided to stay and complete my specialization in science education. My primary area was elementary education.”

Reilly cited a number of Cortland faculty who made an indelible impression on his academic and professional life. He fondly recalled the kindly scholarship of Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English Van Burd and how Professor Emerita Margaret T. Halligan brought history to life with her lessons. O’Reilly would later emulate Professor Emeritus of Science R. Dean Schick, who created hallway science models to engage the interest of his students. Another science faculty member, Walter Thurber, made the vital contacts that led O’Reilly to his first job as a junior high science teacher in the Fayetteville-Manlius School District outside Syracuse, N.Y.

“Those were people who had an influence on me,” he said. “They gave me courage. I had some very understanding people at Cortland. I was starting late as a college student. I had been on the honor roll in high school but had never been a standout. I made the Dean’s List that first semester at Cortland and from that point on all the way through college.

O’Reilly credits his Cortland education with giving him a solid foundation for his teaching career, at the same time expanding his horizons with a new-found appreciation for classical music and reinforcing his ability to address large audiences as a columnist for the student newspaper.

His lessons were not limited to the campus. O’Reilly worked 35 hours a week at Sarvay Shoes, a time-honored downtown Cortland business, to pay for his college education.

“The entire Sarvay family was wonderful,” recalled O’Reilly. “Mr. Sarvay, the elder, was a special person. Vagrants with worn-out shoes would periodically come into the store throughout the year. When one did, he would motion to me and we would go downstairs and try to find a pair of shoes for the person. He always found something the guy could wear and the person didn’t have to ask for anything. Mr. Sarvay just jumped on the situation. Of course, there was no charge.”

O’Reilly earned both his bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1958 as well as his master’s degree in education in 1963 from SUNY Cortland. He later received a fellowship to attend the University of Pennsylvania for a master’s degree in education.

“I taught a lot of different areas of biology — ecology, life science, general science,” recounted O’Reilly of his 33-year career. “I started off teaching honors. Then some of other staff wanted to try honors, so I would move to the other levels. I went to the regents and, for the last 15 years, I had non-regents.”

Teaching that particular group, explained O’Reilly, did not excite the staff members who viewed it as a “kind of duty you had to take care of every few years.” O’Reilly changed that perception.

“I stayed with the program and kind of built it up,” he admitted. “I had a good time with that. Those kids really are, in some ways, the salt of the earth because they wear everything on their sleeves. You knew right where you stood with them every minute.”

O’Reilly also taught English as a second language for immigrant children for a couple of years.

“A lot of them were minority students who were in special housing arrangements,” he said. “They attended and lived in Lakeside Home outside Spring Valley. They were from broken homes in New York and had come looking for a nicer atmosphere in which to learn. Of our approximately 1,000 students, we had 280 who were from homes of this nature.”

O’Reilly, recalling his own experiences as a Cortland undergraduate and his decades as a Spring Valley teacher, never forgot what it meant to be a good student.

“Going to school is a hard job,” he concluded. “If you’re working on papers and spending hours in the library, if you’re a serious student, it’s hard work.”

His scholarship will make a college education a reality for many hard-working, future science teachers pursuing their bachelor’s degrees at SUNY Cortland in the years ahead.

Caroline Kaltefleiter, an associate professor of communication studies at SUNY Cortland, will give a talk on “Riot Grrrl,” a girl-centered social movement that started in Olympia, Wash., in the 1990s and has expanded globally, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the College.

The lecture, titled “Revolution Girl Style Now: The Riot Grrrl Network and the Coalesce of Girls’ Studies,” begins at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2127, and is free and open to the public. A reception to welcome her starts at 4 p.m. in the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum, located in Moffett Center, Room 2126.

Her talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series at SUNY Cortland for the 2009-10 academic year, encompassing the theme of “Women’s Worlds.”

The movement’s intentional misspelling of the word girl as “grrrl” signifies an angry growl, arguing for a powerful state of being and empowerment for young women, Kaltefleiter said.

“Riot Grrrl continues to intrigue scholars and activists for its past and current campaigns promoting girl empowerment,” observed Kaltefleiter, who is working on a book titled, Revolution Girl Style Now: The Evolution of the Music, Media, Culture and Identity Politics of the Riot Grrrl Movement. “Prior studies remain confined to an outside/in perspective. In contrast, my book confronts scholars who acknowledge the discord between ‘speaking about’ Riot Grrrls and ‘speaking for them.’”

Members of the movement produce fanzines (zines), which are small, independently published magazines, handwritten or computer generated, Kaltefleiter explained. Zines are crafted with paper, scissors, tape, glue and staples. They are intended to be physically handled and to be passed from person to person. Kaltefleiter’s talk underscores the significance of zines.

 “In fact, most zines were produced as collage projects to be exchanged like pen pal letters, not for mass distribution or financial profit,” Kaltefleiter said. “Experiencing zines — turning pages to reveal intimate secrets, graphics and poetry — is imperative to my analysis. I will focus on zines that address gender crossing and international grrrl/girl activism.

“Aesthetically, zines are part of an alternative print youth culture,” she noted. “Studying the print and material nature of zines as opposed to digital surrogates is essential. Zines not only document but also illuminate the activism that permeated out of the Riot Grrrl movement.

“In the early 1990s, young women were confronted daily with media coverage of the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill hearings, the O.J. trial and a barrage of heroin-chic, thin Kate Moss fashion advertisements. Riot Grrrls responded to such mainstream depictions of girls/women in society by interrogating class structures and traditional sex roles through alternative publications, reclaimed vintage fashion, music production and gender-crossing demonstrations.

“My work represents the culmination of nearly two decades of scholarly research and personal involvement, as the movement was getting under way. As a member of the Riot Grrrl D.C. chapter, I witnessed firsthand the revolution of a girl-centered subculture that motivated so many girls, 12 to 25, to find a voice — speaking out about personal tragedies, local inequalities and international atrocities.”

This social movement among young women was the focus of Kaltefleiter’s doctoral thesis, which she obtained in journalism and mass communication from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, in 1996. She has a graduate certificate in gender and women’s studies from Ohio University and a master’s degree in mass communication from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she was a graduate fellow in the Center for Cultural Studies. She received her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Georgia.

Kaltefleiter, who joined SUNY Cortland in 2001, has coordinated the Women’s Studies Program since 2004. She chaired the Communication Studies Department from 2001-04. Kaltefleiter is a producer of radio programming on NPR affiliate station WSUC-FM at SUNY Cortland. Her program, “The Digital Divide,” explores issues of new technology and youth culture, and she frequently discusses girls and technology on the program.

Before joining the College, she served as chair and associate professor of mass communication at Morningside College in Iowa.

The lecture series honors the late Rozanne M. Brooks, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and SUNY Cortland professor emerita of sociology/anthropology. A SUNY Cortland faculty member for 36 years, Brooks died in 1997.

The series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC). For more information, contact organizer Sharon R. Steadman, SUNY Cortland associate professor of sociology and anthropology and coordinator of the International Studies Program, at (607) 753-2726.

An exhibition of imagery from social networking sites showing Cortland area residents, titled “Townie!,” will run through Thursday, March 11, at Main Street SUNY Cortland’s Beard Building Gallery, 9 Main St.

The Beard Building Gallery is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exhibit, which opened on Feb. 4 with a gallery reception, is free and open to the public.

The gallery’s first Spring 2010 semester exhibition, “Townie!” was curated by Cortland native Colin Albro, who in 2007 graduated with honors from SUNY Cortland with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History.

Albro’s exhibition is the first show at this gallery to be curated by an alumnus of the College as well as the first solo-curated exhibition there, observed Kathryn Kramer, associate professor of art and art history.

“This will be an important showcase of what is known as ‘vernacular photography,’ which is a genre of amateur photography that focuses on the everyday,” Kramer said.

“Townie!” explores the experience of Albro and his friends as natives of Cortland through their photographs of each other and their activities. He has selected visual biographies that celebrate the playful, creative human spirit.

“Deriving primarily from social networking sites such as Facebook, the exhibition’s photographs truly represent the most current kind of vernacular imagery, which is that of the very private made very public,” Albro said. “Such images represent a relatively new, rather dramatic format by which to question ideas about the boundaries of the human self. I encourage the public, while viewing these portraits and self-portraits, to discover the intimacy of the lives of Cortland’s young adults: their fun, their flaws, their vulnerabilities, their truths, their beauty.”

Albro aspires to become a successful art museum curator. As the collections management and resident caretaker at the 1890 House Museum in Cortland from 2006-08, he developed, researched, designed and installed exhibits and oversaw many other aspects of the local historical site.

As assistant curator with the College’s Dowd Gallery from 2006-07, he participated in the initial exhibit design, catalog and installation of the gallery’s popular exhibit, “A Passion for Porcelain: The Crocker Collection of Decorative Arts.” He installed two other exhibits, “Beneath the Surface: Ralf-Jean Baptiste” and the “Studio Art Faculty Biennial.”

A President’s List and Dean’s List student at SUNY Cortland, Albro received the College’s J. Catherine Gibian Award for Excellence in Art History, its Department of Art and Art History Award for Excellence in Art History and its Part-Time Student Award for Academic Achievement.

Outside the classroom, Albro served as secretary of the SUNY Cortland Art Exhibition Association and participated in many community volunteer activities.

Presently an accounting clerk with Intertek Testing Services in Cortland, he also has an associate’s degree in chemical dependency studies counseling from Tompkins Cortland Community College.

A grant from the College’s Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) supported the exhibition. The gallery is a collaboration between SUNY Cortland, the Cultural Council of Cortland County and the Cortland Downtown Partnership.

For information, contact Kramer at (607) 423-4475 or kathryn.kramer@cortland.edu or Albro at (607) 591-1358 or colinalbro@yahoo.com.

CAPTION: This “Townie!” exhibition image is titled “Children of the Corn.”

Integrative medical researcher and consultant Dawn Stranges will share her ideas about “energy medicine” during two lectures of SUNY Cortland’s Spring 2010 “Wellness Wednesday" series, on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17.

Stranges, who has a doctorate in trans-cultural studies: energy medicine from Akamai University in Hilo, Hawaii, will begin both talks at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The presentations are free and open to the public.

On Feb. 10, Stranges will discuss “Meditation and Visualization” and will lead participants as they strive to experience several forms of meditation and visualization that can be used to reverse stress, increase performance and gain insight. On Feb. 17, she will discuss “Mind-Body Medicine” and demonstrate to participants how to harness the power of the mind to heal one’s life and body.

Stranges, who has researched and offered wellness consulting and training since 1988, currently practices in Cortland, N.Y. She has traveled the world collecting self-healing techniques to help heal the “Stressed West.” She is a strong proponent of various forms of “energy medicine.”

“Research has shown these to be helpful in reducing stress, addictive behavior, pain, symptoms of neurological malfunction, anxiety, depression, symptoms of cancer and its treatment and post-traumatic stress syndrome,” she said. “Resolution of such symptoms reestablishes wellness and enhances satisfaction with life.”

Stranges has learned many healing methods, including therapeutic touch, Reiki, Shamanism, Tai Chi Chih and Eastern models of healing such as Tibetan, Thai, Indian and Chinese methods. She is certified and trained in several types of novel biofeedback healing tools. A meditation and imagery instructor, she trained in Thai Buddhist meditation in residence in Thailand. Stranges has designed several integrative medicine hospital transition programs and presented wellness classes and workshops in New York state and Virginia, Oklahoma, England and Canada.

She has presented conference papers and is the author of two published motivational and healing books, Friendly Advice from the Universe and The Five Loves.

A past integrative health department board member of the Clifton Springs (N.Y.) Hospital, she helped guide the integration of “The Springs of Clifton” Natural Health Center into the hospital.

Stranges aided a professor in presenting trauma theory and expressive therapies to counselors in a war setting. She has presented European models of trauma-illness diagnostics and therapies and lectured to health care professionals on how trauma is translated to mental, emotion and physical illness with a focus on reversing many maladies.

Stranges earned a Master of Science in Consciousness and Bioelectric Healing Therapies from Greenwich University in the U.K., and a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology from Cornell University.

The “Wellness Wednesday” series this spring focuses on speakers, exhibits, self-help workshops and other programs intended to encourage campus and community members to try something new for their health. Sponsored by the Health Promotion Office and the Student Development Center, the series takes place each Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge, unless otherwise noted. The events are free and open to the public.

For more information on Stranges’ lectures, contact her at (585) 465-1460 or chocolatedoctor@gmail.com. For more information about the series or accommodation to attend an event, contact Catherine Smith, the College’s health educator, in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-1, or at (607) 753-2066.

Diane Gooding, a national speaker and author on the topic of schizophrenia, will discuss the relationship between race, ethnicity and this mental disorder on Thursday, Feb. 18, at SUNY Cortland.

Gooding, a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison and a visiting professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, will present “Identifying Individuals at Risk for Schizophrenia: Is Race a Factor?” at a Black History Month Sandwich Seminar at noon in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. The talk is free and open to the public.

Also on Feb. 18, Gooding will speak at a dinner hosted by the Black Student Union (BSU) planned from 6-8 p.m. She will discuss her successes and struggles in higher education in a talk titled “Success and Challenges: A Black Woman’s Story in Higher Education.” The dinner program is free and open to the campus community. Reservations are requested by contacting BSU President Bari Smith.

Gooding, a consulting editor with the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, is the author of numerous articles on risk factors and precursors of schizophrenia. Her research and publications on the topic extend more than 15 years.

Schizophrenia, one of the most severe forms of psychopathology, is an important public health concern, according to Gooding. A chronic disorder, the disease is associated with considerable mental illness, lifetime disability and lower subjective quality of life. 

“While some have asserted that racial/ethnic minority status serves as a risk factor for schizophrenia, a review of the research suggests that the relationship between race, ethnicity and schizophrenia is more nuanced,” said Gooding. “After describing the ways in which schizophrenia is diagnosed, I will review what we currently know about the relationship between race and schizophrenia. Then I will identify the factors that are associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia.”

Gooding received a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota, where she minored in psychophysiology. She completed her clinical psychology predoctoral internship at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn. and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and social relations from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges at Harvard University.

SUNY Cortland will celebrate Black History Month throughout February with a series of events, including lectures, Sandwich Seminars, films, musical performances and the annual reception in celebration of diversity.  

For more information about Black History Month, contact Seth Asumah, Africana Studies Department, at (607) 753-2064.

Children’s educational programs on making Chinese paper lanterns, creating sock puppets and skits, exploring rockets and sampling the fine arts will be highlighted during the Spring 2010 Children’s Museum season starting on Saturday, Feb. 6.

The Children’s Museum offers interactive, hands-on educational experiences in an environment where Cortland community parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, college students, youth and young children can be inspired to play and learn together.

Presented by faculty and students in SUNY Cortland’s Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, the programs run on selected Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., unless otherwise noted, and are open to community families and their children. With the exception of the Kidsville Fair event, all programs will take place at the Children’s Museum, located on the ground floor of O’Heron Newman Hall at 8 Calvert St. in Cortland. Admission is free but donations are gladly accepted.

Haiying Wang, a lecturer in SUNY Cortland’s International Communications and Culture Department, and Shufang Shi and Lin Lin, assistant professors in childhood/early childhood education, will present “Happy Chinese New Year” on Feb. 6. The children will learn how to say “Happy New Year” in Mandarin Chinese, will make and eat Chinese dumplings, will color and decorate paper lanterns and red money packages, and will be able to share Web sites and stories about the Chinese Lunar New Year with friends when they leave.

Assistant Professor Kim Rombach will help children of all ages create sock puppets during a “Community Puppet Theatre” on Feb. 20. Afterward, participants will work in small groups with college students to collaboratively plan a puppet show. As the day’s finale, the youngsters will watch the puppet shows they created.

Professor Cynthia Benton and students from her Fine Arts and Early Learning class will offer a “Fine Art for Early Learners” program on Feb. 27. The future educators and Benton will lead the children in creative art projects, singing, movement and listening activities for many types of learning.

Assistant Professor Susan Stratton will continue her “Nature Nook Series” on March 6 with a program that will engage children and families in exploring how feathers, fur and blubber help animals stay warm in cold weather. The series is funded through a grant from the Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC).

Assistant Professor Orvil White will present “Blasting off!” on March 27. Participants will construct different types of rockets and “space” planes that are safe for indoor flight.

The April 17 Children’s Museum program will be held at the Kidsville Fair, an annual event sponsored by the Cortland Area Child Care Council in the County Office Building gymnasium. The youngsters will experience a fair on this year’s theme of “Circus” as the council celebrates the “Week of the Young Child” from April 12-17.

Assistant Professor Heather Bridge will offer “Wonderful Water” on April 24. Children and their families will investigate how water moves and how everyday household materials change when water is added to them.

On May 1, a special program in the “Nature Nook Series,” led by Stratton, will engage children and families in examining spring plants and starting vegetable seedlings to take home.

To reach the museum entrance, follow O’Heron Newman Hall’s driveway. Parking is not permitted in the driveway but is available in the parking lot of the Dowd Fine Arts Center on the corner of Prospect Terrace and Graham Avenue.

For more information, contact Emilie Kudela, associate professor of childhood/early childhood education, at (607) 753-5525 or Stratton at (607) 753-2467, by e-mail at childrensmuseum@cortland.edu or visit the Web site at http://www2.cortland.edu/community/childrens-museum.

Nutrition therapist, author and speaker Evelyn Tribole will share her ideas on “Intuitive Eating” on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at SUNY Cortland.

The co-author with Elyse Resch of the Bestseller book Intuitive Eating, Tribole will discuss “Intuitive Eating: How to Create a Healthy Relationship with Food, Mind and Body” at 7:30 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room.

Part of the College’s Spring 2010 “Wellness Wednesday Series,” the talk is free and open to the public. Tribole’s talk fittingly takes place during national Body Appreciation Week.

“Intuitive eating teaches individuals how to create a healthy relationship with their food, mind and body, where they ultimately become the expert of their own body,” said Tribole, a registered dietician who operates a nutrition counseling practice in Newport Beach, Calif., and has received the American Dietetic Association’s Award for Excellence in Private Practice. She served as a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association for six years.

As a speaker, Tribole has been called “passionate, wonderfully wise and funny.”

Tribole’s seven books include a second bestseller, Healthy Homestyle Cooking. Her newest book is the Ultimate Omega-3 Diet. A contributing editor for Shape magazine, her monthly column, “Recipe Makeovers,” appeared for 11 years.

A former nutrition expert for “Good Morning America,” she is often sought by the media for her nutritional expertise and has appeared on CNN, “The Today Show,” MSNBC and Fox News and in USA Today, The Wall St. Journal and People magazine. Many national magazines, including Self, Harper’s Bazaar and Redbook, have rated Tribole as one of the best nutritionists in the country.

She qualified for the Olympic Trials in the first-ever women’s marathon in 1984. Now a recreational runner, Tribole enjoys skiing, hiking, surfing, kayaking and white-water rafting.

The “Wellness Wednesday” series this spring focuses on speakers, exhibits, self-help workshops and other programs intended to encourage campus and community members to try something new for their health. Sponsored by the Health Promotion Office and the Student Development Center, the series takes place each Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge, unless otherwise noted. The events are free and open to the public.

For more information or accommodation to attend an event, contact Catherine Smith, the College’s health educator, in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-1, or at (607) 753-2066.

The Gulf Coast musical quartet, Mithril, will bring its progressive, Celtic world sound to SUNY Cortland on Saturday, March 6.

Presented by the College’s Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS), the band, which is fast becoming one of the most sought after Celtic/world music groups on the concert series scene across the U.S., will begin at 7 p.m. in the Old Main Brown Auditorium.

Admission is $3 for SUNY Cortland students and $5 general admission. Children 10 and under are admitted free. Tickets may be obtained through the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office, Corey Union, Room 406, or at the door one hour prior to the performance. For more information, call (607) 753-5574.

Mithril nudges the musical envelope with lively and complex arrangements that deftly interlace multiple tunes and keep audiences engaged in the entire concert experience. The band’s progressive style has its roots in traditional Celtic music but moves far beyond that, weaving such diverse influences as American folk, classical and Middle Eastern melodies into its full tapestry of sound.

The four Gulf Coast-based musicians — Andra Bohnet, Tom Morley, Ben Harper and David Hughes — perform their all-instrumental shows on a wide array of traditional instruments including Irish flute, whistle, fife, Celtic harp, fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, bodhran (Irish frame drum), and harmonium. The performers play with the precision of their classical training and the enthusiasm that springs from their love of the music.

Band members have traveled from Nova Scotia to Ireland to play and research Celtic music. Collectively and individually, they have studied with and performed alongside some of the most well-respected musicians in the Celtic music world.

Mithril has been featured on arts and concert series and festivals throughout the Southeast and beyond. As guest artists with Mobile (Ala.) Symphony, Mithril set an all-time attendance record for a symphony pops series. They have been guest artists with symphonies across the U.S.

Mithril has five CDs on Flying Frog Music including their newest release, “Tangled Up.” Their music has received airplay on the nationally syndicated “Celtic Connections” radio show and on Internet radio sites including AOL World Radio, XM Satellite Radio, Ren Radio and Celtic Moon.

The group’s “Live In Concert” CD “gives great insight into four musicians on top of their game,” commented Compass/Green Linnet recording artist Manus McGuire. “The Quartet played with verve and seemed to be in constant motion; clearly they were having fun,” wrote a reviewer for The Register in Mobile, Ala. For more information about Mithril, visit the band’s Web site at www.mithril.us.

The event is supported by the student activity fee, the SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services Corporation and the Cortland College Foundation. For information about CALS events, visit the CALS 2009-10 Web site at www2.cortland.edu/events/cals.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Mithril members, from the left, are: David Hughes, Andra Bohnet, Ben Harper and Tom Morley.

A panel of five talented women will share how their individual paths led them to SUNY Cortland during the second annual Women’s Paths to Success presentation on Wednesday, March 3, at SUNY Cortland.

Sponsored by the campus group Women’s Initiatives during Women’s History Month, the discussion will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall, Jacobus Lounge.

“No two career paths looks exactly alike,” said the event organizer for Women’s Initiatives, Karen Seibert, assistant director of the Center for Educational Exchange. “Each person’s experience is based on personal passions, talents, interests, needs, priorities and maybe a bit of luck. Come celebrate Women’s History Month by learning how several talented women at SUNY Cortland have charted their unique and successful career courses.”

Jena Curtis, an associate professor of health and coordinator of human services, will moderate the panel discussion.

Panelists include Dianne Bays, supervising janitor, custodial services; Amy Berg, associate provost, information resources; Kimberly Potter Ireland ’97, senior government relations representative for National Grid and a SUNY Cortland College Council member; Sharon Steadman, associate professor of sociology/anthropology and coordinator of the International Studies Program; and Rita Wright, director of the YWCA’s Aid to Victims of Violence and a SUNY Cortland lecturer in health.

Event co-sponsors include: Women’s Initiatives, the Affirmative Action Committee, the Committee on the Status and Education of Women, the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, the Gender Implementation Team, the President’s Office, Women’s Studies and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Committee.

For more information on Women’s Initiatives, visit the Web site www.cortland.edu/women. For more information about the panel discussion, contact Karen Seibert at (607) 753-5660.

The Judicial Affairs Office is seeking faculty, staff and students to serve as Judicial Review Board or College Hearing Panel members in judicial cases pertaining to violations of the College’s Code of Student Conduct for the 2010-11 academic year. 

Applications are due no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, March 8. Interviews will be scheduled following Spring Break. Nomination, application and recommendation forms are available on the judicial affairs Web site and select the leadership opportunities link or in the Judicial Affairs Office, Corey Union, Room 409-B.

The campus judicial system depends on the dedication and volunteer service of its justices.

As justices, members of the panel listen to respondent and witness testimony, review evidence provided to the hearing board and ultimately decide whether or not a student is in violation of school policy. Justices hear cases dealing with all aspects of the Code of Student Conduct, from alcohol and drug policy to physical assault. If a student is found in violation, the justices decide what educational sanctions will be imposed to ensure the safety of the campus community.

A typical commitment includes initial training in the fall and serving on three-to-four hearings per semester. Students are required to attend monthly training sessions and they may earn one credit per semester. Faculty and staff members who wish to nominate colleagues or students are encouraged to do so. 

For more information, contact Michael Pitaro by e-mail or at (607) 753-4725.

Self-nominations from eligible faculty and professional staff are due by Friday, March 5, for the 2010 Outstanding Achievement in Research Award.

Nominations are due in the Research and Sponsored Programs Office (RSPO) no later than 4:30 p.m. The College Research Committee will evaluate all nominee materials on the basis of research contributions and credentials and target recommendations to the provost by Wednesday, April 7.

This competitive award will be given to a faculty or professional staff member whose career record of research achievements is deemed outstanding among others on this campus. The awardee will be selected based on at least five years of research related activities at SUNY Cortland. The awardee will receive a $1,000 award and recognition at a reception on April 30.

Eligible candidates will be drawn from full-time, tenure-track faculty including library faculty and professional staff members. 

Self-nominations must include one letter of support attesting to the research contributions of the nominee from either a department chair or school dean, for faculty, or from either a director or division head, for librarians and professional staff.  Department chairs, school deans, directors and division heads should strongly encourage their best researchers to apply.

For full details of the nomination process and to access the self-nomination form, visit the Web site or contact the RSPO at (607) 753-2511 for more information.

The Performing Arts Department will present a faculty recital titled “Music for Two Pianos, Four Hands” at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

The concert will be held in Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre and is free and open to the public.

Three Performing Arts Department faculty members will perform: Donna Anderson, professor emerita, and Marina Gorelaya, on piano; and Lois Pfister on the violin.

They will perform two pieces from French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Rondo Capriccioso” (Opus 28) as well as Anton Arensky’s “Fantasia on Russian Folksongs” (Opus 48) and Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Romance” (Suite No 2.).

The Information Resources Office has announced that it will restructure operations in order to increase efficiency and more effectively serve the SUNY Cortland community.

After reviewing operations following the vacancy of two positions, the Information Resources Office will not fill the director of classroom media services position and direct a portion of this salary savings to elevate the assistant director of administrative computing position, explained Amy Berg, associate provost for information resources.

A search for the new director of networking and telecommunications will begin in the near future. This director will continue the work started by Scott Thomas, assistant director of administrative computing, who left the campus in November to pursue other interests. The director will re-engineer and upgrade the campus data network to achieve a faster, more reliable network for future technologies.  

George Verdow, director of classroom media services, retired in December.

In January Lisa Kahle, director of academic computing, began managing both Academic Computing Services and Classroom Media Services. Her office has moved to Sperry Center, Room 322. Sue Smith, secretary 1, will move to that office on Feb. 8. Kate Hudson, secretary 1, will move to Administrative Computing Services in Winchell Hall, Room 202.  Laurie Klotz, database developer/support technologist, and Mike Yonta, database developer, will continue in their present positions. However, they are now part of the Administrative Computing Services team.

As part of this transition to provide convenient technology support to campus users, the Information Resources Office will open a Technology Help Center in the Library Learning Commons during Summer 2010. As part of the Learning Commons, the Technology Help Center will provide faculty, staff and students with a single point of contact for technology questions.

Nominations are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19, to recognize a faculty member for the Student Affairs Faculty Connection Award. Any full-time faculty member who establishes and maintains significant connections with students outside the classroom is eligible.

Applications can be self nominations or submitted by students, supervisors, co-workers or other College community members. Applications are available by visiting the Student Life Online tab in myRedDragon or on the Facebook site.

Completed applications can be submitted either electronically or in hard copy to Cheryl Hines, Advisement and Transition, Memorial Library, Room A-111, or to Cheryl Hines e-mail.

Worthy candidates should provide a positive impact on students outside the classroom, establish and/or maintain opportunities for student involvement outside of the classroom and demonstrate that they have gone the extra mile in order to serve students.

Marley S. Barduhn, who has served SUNY Cortland as interim assistant provost for teacher education since August, was permanently appointed to the newly created position following a national search, effective Feb. 1.

A SUNY Cortland alumna who has served the College for 30 years in many different capacities, most recently as associate dean and acting dean of the School of Education, Barduhn reports to Mark Prus, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Barduhn of Tully, N.Y., is responsible for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) process and all services that support campus-wide teacher education programs.

She chairs the Teacher Education Council and oversees the Field Placement Office, the Center for Educational Exchange and the Professional Development School. She also oversees the several grant-supported education programs on campus, including Access to College Education, Center for the 4th and 5th Rs, Cortland Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.), Liberty Partnerships Program, and Migrant Education Outreach Program (MEOP).

Barduhn, who received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service in 2006, began her long relationship with SUNY Cortland as a student. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Education in 1976 and a Master of Science in Education in Health Education (K-12) in 1979. She received her Ph.D. in human development, specializing in child and family studies, from Syracuse University in 1985. She holds a certificate in gerontology.

She joined the SUNY Cortland faculty in 1979 as an instructor in the Health Department and achieved the rank of associate professor in 1990. Barduhn was awarded a post-doctoral research fellowship in applied gerontology in 1988 from the Gerontological Society of America. She conducted research at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. She used a 1991 University Foundation of the State of New York grant to study the role of mothers of the church in African-American churches.

She served as the Health Department’s interim chair in 1995 and, the following year, was assistant to the dean of the School of Professional Studies. In 1996, Barduhn was named interim associate dean of professional studies and served until 1999, when she was named permanent associate dean of professional studies.

In 2002-03, Barduhn was a catalyst in the development of a campus-wide automated external defibrillator program, assisting in identifying key areas and developing policy for usage. She led in the development of Emergency Squad/EMT program policy and management.

As director of MEOP, with its extensive outreach services, her efforts have resulted in enhanced visibility for MEOP via statewide presentations and a steady increase in grant funding, which is currently in excess of $1 million.

As associate dean of professional studies, Barduhn played a major role in the New York State Education Department (NYSED)’s re-registry of all 71 teacher education programs in 2000 and 2001. She provided leadership in the development of both the Child Abuse Reporting (CAR) workshop and the Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) workshops, which are mandated by NYSED for state certification.

Barduhn served as a member of the NCATE Executive Board, undertaking a rigorous national review that required three full years of campus-wide preparation, and was a member of numerous key committees.

In 2003, Barduhn helped the College develop a School of Education, a task involving extensive planning to separate the School of Professional Studies into two schools. Subsequently, she was named associate dean of the School of Education.

Barduhn served as interim director of international programs overseeing 33 study abroad programs in 13 countries and supervised the international student advisement process and study abroad orientation sessions. In 1999, she became a member of the Clark Center for International Education, traveling on behalf of the College to Belize, Venezuela and England to review existing international initiatives and foster new ones. Several years ago, she launched the College’s Australian Teaching Fellow program, the result of a collaborative effort among the College, Education Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast. To date the fellowship has been offered to three SUNY Cortland alumni who are teaching or who have a provisional or initial teaching certification in New York state as an opportunity for them to teach for one year in an Australian school.

She is the author of book chapters and articles on topics ranging from gerontology to extra credit, oral health surveys, blood pressure, and the role of the health educator in fire/burn prevention. She has made more than 40 statewide, national and international presentations on migrant education, pediatric crisis management, critical incident work, academic advisement accountability, death education, aging and hospice issues, rural mass disasters and emergency medical services.

Barduhn has served as a consultant to several agencies, including U.S. Behavioral Health, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cortland County Area Agency for Aging and the New York State Education Department.

A member of the Phi Kappa Phi national interdisciplinary honorary, she was inducted into the Sigma Phi Omega national gerontologists’ honorary, the Sigma Phi Alpha national dental hygiene honorary, and elected to the New York State Emergency Medical Services Faculty.

A Rural Metro Medical Services clinical director since 1990, she has provided counseling services for crisis intervention and helped develop its Critical Incident Stress Management Team policies, procedures and protocol. A founder and member of the Board of Directors of Caring Community Hospice of Cortland, she was a consultant to the Syracuse Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau, co-developing an award-winning fire prevention video series titled, “Firestation 7.” Barduhn is a long-time member of the Central New York Regional Continuous Quality Improvement Committee of the Central New York Hospital Association.