Campus Champion

Associate Professor of Health Jena Nicols Curtis is a self-described "health zealot" whose passion for her subject surfaces in every conversation. "Our most successful students enter the program enthused about helping people lead better, healthier lives," she maintains. Besides her courses in mental health counseling, HIV/AIDS, sexual health education and methods of teaching, she is active as the faculty advisor for the AIDS Prevention and Awareness Club. The coordinator of the Human Services Program, she supports the SUNY Cortland Emergency Squad and the College's Relay for Life. 

SUNY Cortland will celebrate the completion of major renovations on one of its residential facilities, Fitzgerald Hall, with a grand reopening ceremony and open house on Thursday, Oct. 15.

The event begins at 2 p.m. in the building lobby and will feature guest speakers for the ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by a reception and building tours. Director of Residence Life and Housing Ralph Carrasquillo will offer a welcome and serve as master of ceremonies. The guest speakers will include Erik J. Bitterbaum, the College president; C. Gregory Sharer, vice president for student affairs; and Robert Carr, associate facilities program manager.

The event is free and open to the public.

Located off Neubig Road on the campus, the renovated Fitzgerald Hall opened its doors with 167 rooms for students this fall, marking the first major overhaul for this four-story brick residential facility since it was built 46 years ago. The project to revamp Fitzgerald cost $5.6 million.

“Fitzgerald Hall was originally built with its entrance facing the Cortland Waterworks,” said Sarah Gingrich, the College’s assistant director for operations in residence life and housing. “So the architects for the renovation project, King & King Architects and Argus Engineers, both of Syracuse, N.Y., were asked to make the back of the building look like the front with an entrance addition.”

Fitzgerald’s new entryway features a “green roof” planted with turf to reduce the facility’s carbon footprint, Gingrich noted. 

The upgraded facility is the first low-rise residence hall to receive campus heating system improvements that feature the latest in efficient building systems and controls to reduce both energy usage as well as the carbon footprint.

As with the two other student residences renovated since 2005, Fitzgerald meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver building standards from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), according to College facilities planning, design and construction officials. The building contains LEED standard features for energy efficiency, site enhancements and innovative program initiatives, along with numerous sustainable construction and design elements. The reconstruction project used wood from sustainable forests, low volatile organic chemical (VOC) products and recycled construction debris.

Andrew Mancini Contractors of Endicott, N.Y., was general contractor for the project. Finished on time, the completed project features a service elevator upgraded to be more student-friendly and restrooms on the second and third floor that are accessible to residents and guests with disabilities. More rooms are now accessible to visitors in compliance with federal regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Following asbestos abatements, the renovations included: new bathrooms with extra showers; a laundry lounge with state-of-the-art washers; a new accessible elevator; and digital connections to Internet and cable in each room as well as wireless lounges. Rooms include closets that feature organizers and furniture to maximize storage. Changes to the common areas, including a new entrance to the street and hospitality-like amenities, provide a more inviting feel to the renovated building.

The residence hall was dedicated in November 1967 in honor of 19th century Irish immigrant Lawrence J. Fitzgerald, who grew up in Skaneateles and moved to Cortland as a young man. He established a national reputation for his successful wagon-making business. For 30 years, he served as vice president of the Cortland National Bank and was a director for both the Madison Square and Columbia Banks of New York City. He took a prominent part in State Agricultural Society activities for many years. Fitzgerald, who was an important figure in the local Democratic Party, was named in 1885 by New York State Gov. David B. Hill as the state treasurer and was elected to a second term. Fitzgerald died in Auburn in 1918.

With Fitzgerald Hall’s completion, the architect has designed the next complete residence hall improvement project to begin at the end of the fall semester. Randall Hall, a 171-bed low-rise located on the same side at the lower end of Neubig Road, will reopen to students in Fall 2010. Additionally, a partial renovation to the twin campus high-rises, Casey and Smith towers, will begin in November. When completed next fall, the two lower levels of these attached buildings will house approximately 60 additional students. The basement level was recently vacated by the SUNY Cortland Child Care Center, which moved into the lower floor of the newly opened Education Building.

For more information on the reopening ceremony, contact Sarah Gingrich, assistant director for operations in the Residence Life and Housing Office at (607) 753-2094.

Nancy L. Zimpher, who became the State University of New York’s 12th chancellor on June 1, will give an address during an Oct. 24 reception in her honor at SUNY Cortland’s “Succeeding as Women in Higher Education” conference.

Presented by the College’s Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS) and the Women's Studies Program, the conference takes place Oct. 23-25 in various locations on campus.

Registration to attend the conference is $140. The full schedule and registration form are available on the conference Web site at www.cortland.edu/swhe. For more information, contact the conference at gender@cortland.edu or the CGIS at (607) 753-5784.

Zimpher, who previously served as president of the University of Cincinnati since 2003, will be welcomed at a reception from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

Other conference highlights include:

• Conference keynote speaker Sarah Fenstermaker, a professor in the Sociology Department at University of California, Santa Barbara, and author on gender inequality, who will speak on “Ivory Towers, Playing Fields and Glass Ceilings: Beyond Metaphor to Best Practices.”

• Featured speaker Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo, a professor of geography at SUNY Cortland, who will present on “Never a Dull Moment: Charting Transformational Spaces of Service, Teaching and Research in an Academic Career.”

• Guest speaker Lori Quigley, a Wolf Clan member in the Seneca Nation and associate dean in the School of Education at Buffalo State College, who will lecture on “Bridging Two Worlds: A Native Woman’s Perspective.”

• Plenary speakers Dolores Battle, a senior advisor to the president for Equity and Campus Diversity at Buffalo State College; Patricia Francis, associate provost for institutional assessment and effectiveness at SUNY Oneonta; Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of Wells College; and Deborah L. Sydow, president of Onondaga Community College.

• Grammy Award-winning artist Joanne Shenandoah, who will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Conference speakers will explore, through presentations, workshops, and artistic presentations, essential questions concerning the reasons women are not in leadership positions in higher education in general. They will discuss: the institutional practices that exist to support, enhance, and cultivate gender equity in higher education; the values that impede or promote women in leadership positions; and the attributes or credentials that are required for women in leadership positions.

Philosophy Professor Mechthild Nagel, who chairs the SUNY Cortland Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS), organized the conference.

More than 800 prospective college students are expected to spend a day visiting academic departments, touring the campus and talking to faculty and students during the SUNY Cortland Fall Open House on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 12.

The College will show off its campus to interested individuals on a regular day of classes, said Admissions Director Mark Yacavone. Faculty, staff and students from academic departments and student service offices will be available to meet with visitors throughout the program. Additionally, guests may tour the campus and eat in the dining facilities.

The open houses allow visitors the opportunity to experience the campus by interacting directly with students, faculty and staff. The visitors have made prior reservations with the Admissions Office to be on campus that day.

The program will formally begin at 10 a.m. in the Park Center. An Academic Fair and Student Services Fair featuring department faculty and student services will take place in Park Center Corey Gymnasium from 10 a.m.-noon. At 12:30 p.m., students are encouraged to proceed to their chosen academic department offices for more information and a tour.

Guided tours of the campus and residence halls will run from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Participants will meet in the Corey Union Function Room.

Honors Program Coordinator Arnold Talentino will offer an overview of the Honors Program at 11:45 a.m. in Corey Union, Room 209. Special sessions on admissions, financial advisement, athletics, dining services and residential services will also be offered that day. For details, visit the Web site at cortland.edu/admissions.

Parking for the Open House visitors will be provided at Studio West and the Route 281 parking lot, which features a shuttle bus service to Park Center.

Yacavone noted that the fall format is much different from the Spring Open House, where the majority of the visitors have already been admitted and are in the process of deciding to attend SUNY Cortland. By contrast, at the Fall Open House, the visitors get to see the campus while the students are in class.

A second Fall Open House for those who are unable to attend the first one is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Professional Studies Building will be held at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, on the Studio West lawn.

President Erik J. Bitterbaum will preside over the event, which includes remarks by Sen. James Seward, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, School of Professional Studies Interim Dean John Cottone, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Nasrin Parvizi, Communications Disorders and Sciences Department Chair Regina Grantham, and Rachel Flynn, a speech and hearing science major from Pearl River, N.Y.

A reception will be held immediately following in the Studio West lobby, with architectural drawings of the building available for viewing. 

Construction of the 20,000 sq. ft., two-story Professional Studies Building, an addition to Studio West, will begin in mid-November, said Joe Westbrook, associate facilities coordinator at the College and the project manager. The new building will occupy the existing parking area and part of the lawn on the east side of Studio West.

"We will have staggered start dates on the new building and on the rehab work to Studio West, but they will have a common finish date of January 2011," said Westbrook of the $11 million construction project.

The Professional Studies Building first floor will feature the 8,000 sq. ft. clinic for the Communication Disorders and Science Department - formerly Speech Pathology and Audiology - that is currently housed in the McDonald Building on Tompkins Street. The clinic houses an audiology chamber, observation and therapy rooms, a library and a resource area.

The Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department will be moving to the new facility from its current location in the Park Center. The department will have an outdoor education laboratory, a play teaching area and academic equipment staging and storage areas on the first floor.

The second floor, which occupies 7,000 sq. ft., houses 23 offices and the two department offices for Communication Disorders and Sciences as well as Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies.

"The front of the building will face toward Lankler Drive," said Westbrook, "The exterior will be a combination of red brick face and layered metal panel overlays."

A 30-foot by 80-foot lobby and connecting hallway will link the Professional Studies Building to Studio West and will be flanked on the exterior by two separate courtyards with gathering spaces.

Renovation work on the 43,000 sq. ft. Studio West building will begin in March 2010, said Westbrook, adding that the façade will continue the brick-and-metal look of the Professional Studies Building. While the Studio West foundation footprint remains the same, the interior changes are significant.

The Facilities Planning, Design and Construction Office will relocate elsewhere on campus to allow for the consolidation of all the School of Professional Studies academic departments, with the exception of the Health Department which elected to remain in the Moffett Center.

The School of Professional Studies dean's suite, which offers three offices, a conference room and a reception area, will move to the area now occupied by the facilities staff. The Sport Management Department will relocate in the building to the space formerly occupied by the dean's office. The walls will be removed and reconfigured for 21 offices and a special events room. The existing state-of-the-art sports technology labs will undergo minor alterations.

The Center for Obesity Research and Education, with its laboratory, testing room, library and resource area, will be situated in a 2,000 sq. ft area in the middle of Studio West. A new motor behavior testing laboratory and computer lab will replace the ones in the Park Center and will be adjacent to the existing biomechanics lab which will undergo a minor facelift.

The Kinesiology Department, located near the west end of Studio West, will have 18 offices, including the department chair's space.

A lawn will replace the parking spaces closest to Studio West on the west side. Some 400 feet below the surface, 40 geothermal wells have been dug to allow for heating and cooling the facility.

"We will release heat into the earth in the summer to cool the building and extract heat from the ground in the winter to warm it," said Westbrook. "By doing so, we are reducing our carbon footprint."

KSS Architects, LLP, of Philadelphia, Pa., provided the architectural designs for the construction and renovation, while M/E Engineering, P.C., of Syracuse, N.Y. are the project engineers.

The campus steering committee included Westbrook, Parvizi, Cottone, Director of Facilities Planning Jeff Lallas, Director of Recreational Sports Julian Wright and Dan Donlon, capitol program manager with the State University Construction Fund.

SUNY Cortland kicks off its 2009-10 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign on Tuesday, Oct. 13, with an 11:30 a.m. luncheon for volunteers in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The campaign, which relies on state employee volunteers to canvas co-workers for donations, will continue until Monday, Nov. 2.

The only authorized fund-raising campaign among state workers, SEFA is directed by United Way of Cortland County and unites fund-raising efforts for a group of agencies under a common umbrella.

This year’s campaign theme is “Together We Can! Make a pledge. Make a difference.”

“Last year the campus raised $52,201 from 371 donors,” said Amy Twiss, safety specialist with the College’s Environmental Health and Safety, who with Mark Taylor, supervising janitor with Custodial Services, will be co-chairing this year’s SEFA campaign on campus. “That was an increase from the $47,191 and 353 donors in last year’s campaign.

“We hope this year, despite the economic downturn that we can meet and exceed last year’s donations. The gifts last year assisted 30,000 residents, or 62 percent of Cortland County, through more than 30 health and human services programs provided by the 13 local United Way agencies.”

The total marks a 10.6 percent increase from the 2008-09 campaign.

The College will offer incentives for employees who donate to the 2009-10 campaign. At the campaign’s end, a drawing for six prizes will be conducted. First prize is a reserved campus parking space located in the lot closest to the winner’s building. To be eligible, an employee must pledge at least $104. Everyone who donates a minimum of $25 will be eligible to win one of two $25 Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) gift certificates or one of two recreational sports fitness center passes good for the Spring 2010 semester. Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) members who donate $25 will be eligible for a $50 gift certificate to Hairy Tony’s Restaurant.

SEFA campaigns also are being conducted at the State Department of Labor, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Transportation, the Office of Court Administration and the State Police. Decisions are made locally on which agencies are included and how funds are distributed. The community-based SEFA committee is composed of representatives from state agencies and managers of human service agencies. Pledging takes place just once a year.

Participants can choose to have their gifts shared among different organizations within Cortland County, used in another county of their choice, or designated for individual local, state, independent or international organizations. Examples of local agencies include the United Way for Cortland County, Madison-Cortland New York State ARC (formerly Alternatives Resources and Choices for Developmentally Disabled Persons), American Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Catholic Charities, Cortland Area Child Care Council, Cortland County Child Development Center, Family Counseling Services, Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture, Mental Health Association, Salvation Army, Franziska Racker Centers (special children’s center), United Service Organization, YMCA and YWCA.

Local members of the Cortland County SEFA Committee also include: Teri Arnold, New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Public Employees Federation (PEF) retirees; Kathleen Burke, SUNY Cortland United University Professions (UUP) employees; Cynthia Eberhart, federated campaign coordinator for the United Way for Cortland County; Gary Evans, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees; Laurie Klotz, SUNY Cortland UUP employees; Steven Lundberg, SUNY Cortland PEF employees; Lois Marshall, NYSDOT, CSEA employees; Teresa Phelps, NYSDOT, CSEA employees; Antoinette Tiburzi, SUNY Cortland emerita, Cortland County SEFA chair; and Melinda VanEtten, SUNY Cortland CSEA employees.

For more information about SEFA in New York state, visit the Web site www.sefanys.org.

An eight-member panel of SUNY Cortland alumni will discuss "B.A. in English ... Now What? Career Options for English Majors" from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Lynn Parks '68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House on 29 Tompkins St., Cortland.

Free and open to the public, the event will be preceded by a 5:30-6 p.m. discussion of  "Job Search/Grad School — Are You Ready?" that will be moderated by John Shirley, career services.

The SUNY Cortland Alumni Association, Career Services Office and the English Club are sponsoring the event.

Participating on the panel are: Investigative Counsel Charles Eric Gordon, Esq. '74; Thoma Development Consultants Project Manager Ann Devery Hotchkin '75; Cortland Assistant District Attorney Veronica Margrave Krause '02; Transitional Living Services Employment Specialist Jessica C. Murphy '07; Homer Central School Librarian Diane Wood Nachtrieb '79; Syracuse University law student Erin L. Sanger '08; Chemung Canal Trust Company Assistant Vice President and Finance Officer Joan Bernas Smith '82; and Mental Health Association of Tompkins County Community Educator Catherine B. Wedge '97.

For more information, contact Career Services at (607) 753-4715.

Barbara Sutton, a scholar in women's studies at the University at Albany, will explore the connection between discourses and practices of gender violence and state terrorism in Argentina on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at SUNY Cortland.

Her talk, titled "'It Was Torture': Traveling Discourses and Practices of Gender Violence and State Terrorism in Argentina," begins at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125, and is free and open to the public. A reception to welcome Sutton starts at 4 p.m. in the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum's new location, Moffett Center, Room 2126.

The lecture continues the 2009-10 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series at SUNY Cortland, which this year will encompass the theme of "Women's Worlds."

"Feminist scholars and activists have taught us a great deal about how militarization and gender-based/sexualized forms of violence are connected — both during wartime and in peace, in combat zones and in the home front," said Sutton, an assistant professor in the Department of Women's Studies at the University at Albany since 2006 who is also an affiliate in the university's Sociology Department and Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies Department.

From 1976 to 1983, Sutton relates, a military dictatorship implemented a regime of terror, torture and disappearance in Argentina.

"The wounds that this experience left in the general population and the political fabric of the country are still open," she said.

Drawing on narratives from women in Argentina, interviewed for a project centered on the politics of women's bodies, this presentation examines traveling discourses and practices of gender violence and state terror, which have marked the bodies and consciousness of many women in Argentina.

"From women murdered during democracy using techniques similar to those applied to the people 'disappeared' by the dictatorship, to women who speak of domestic violence in ways that evoke the experience of state terrorism, we can see the fluidity of gendered violence deployed across seemingly unrelated sites," Sutton said.

Her talk encompasses the subject of her book that is forthcoming next year from New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, titled Bodies in Crisis: Culture, Violence and Women's Resistance in Neoliberal Argentina. Sutton is co-editor with Sandra Morgen and Julie Novkov of the 2008 text, Security Disarmed: Critical Perspectives on Gender, Race, and Militarization.

Sutton holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Oregon, where her dissertation was on "Body Politics and Women's Consciousness in Argentina." She also earned bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in sociology from University of Oregon and has a law degree from National University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sutton has a Certificate from the International Women's University in Germany.

The lecture series honors the late Rozanne Marie Brooks, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and SUNY Cortland professor emerita of sociology and 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, sociology/anthropology and coordinator of the International Studies Program, at (607) 753-2308.

One hundred twenty education majors, all of whom have completed the first of two student teaching experiences, will participate in the biannual Educators in Training (EIT) Conference on Friday, Oct. 23, in Corey Union.

Sponsored by the Center for Educational Exchange (CEE) with support from Auxiliary Services Corporation, the conference runs from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

There is no fee to attend EIT. SUNY faculty are welcome to attend. Faculty planning to attend are asked to R.S.V.P. to the CEE at (607) 753-4214.

President Erik J. Bitterbaum will open the program by welcoming the student teachers to the teaching profession. 

Students will then be offered a choice of two interactive workshops during two consecutive sessions presented by College faculty and professionals, and local educators. The workshops are "Integrated Literacy Stations," "Nuts and Bolts of Teaching," "Opening Doors with Blogging", "Job Search Strategies" and "Effective Parent-Teacher Relationships."

They will subsequently attend the keynote presentation, "Landing A Job and Surviving Your First Year of Teaching."

Students will also meet with their student teaching supervisors in focus groups to discuss their past quarter of student teaching.

SUNY Cortland professionals and faculty making presentations include: Louis Larson and John Shirley, career services and David Franke, English and professional writing.

Area educators who will present include: Eric Comtois and Judi Haskins, Cortland City School District; Larry King (retired) and Tom Turck, Homer Central School District; Cindy Christopher, Tully Central School District; George Lohmann, Tioga County Teacher Center; and Dona McIntyre (retired), LaFayette Central School District.

SUNY Cortland’s Seven Valleys Writing Project (SVWP) will offer “Four Cups of Coffee,” a walking and writing workshop to be held on Saturday, Oct. 24, on the Commons in downtown Ithaca, N.Y. The event, from 9-11:30 a.m., is free and open to the public.

The program is intended to inspire thoughts about writing creativity among the area’s school teachers and administrators, said David Franke, SVWP co-director and a SUNY Cortland associate professor of English and professional writing. “Four Cups of Coffee” is the first of many planned workshops around the region.

“Aspiring and accomplished writers will lead participants in a caffeine binge and writer’s walk among four stellar coffeehouses in the downtown Ithaca Commons area,” Franke said.

The workshop starts at the large pavilion on the Ithaca Commons, where those attending the workshop will receive a map to the city’s local coffee bars.

“Participants are encouraged to bring only weather-appropriate gear, writing materials and a willingness to risk spontaneous inspiration as we write new material and get a chance to read it at an 11:30 a.m. open mic at the large pavilion on the Commons,” added workshop organizer Eric Pritz, a social studies teacher at Lansing (N.Y.) Middle School.

Since 2008, SUNY Cortland has operated the project as a local branch of the National Writing Project, funded through the federal Department of Education, as a means of helping outstanding teachers across Central New York improve their practice through writing and research.

For more information about the event, contact Pritz at epritz@gmail.com. For more information about the SVWP, visit the Web site at www.cortland.edu/svwp or contact Franke at (607) 753-5945.

Sharon Matola, director of the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center and an internationally renowned conservation biologist, will discuss her work with the zoo and her fight to save endangered habitats and species on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at SUNY Cortland.

Matola’s talk, titled “One Woman’s Fight To Save the Most Beautiful Bird in the World: The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw,” begins at 7 p.m. in the Sperry Center, Room 204.

Sponsored primarily by the Belize Zoo and coordinated by the Belize Zoo Project at SUNY Cortland, her talk is free and open to the public. 

Matola, who has been called the “Jane Goodall of the jaguar,” will discuss recent developments in the overall struggle for preserving endangered habitats during her public lecture.

She has been invited to spend a week on campus as a visitor-in-residence from Oct. 25-30.

On Oct. 28, she will be the guest of honor at “Cortland the Margay’s First Birthday Party” during the Wellness Wednesday Series Coffeehouse in the College’s Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. At 7 p.m., SUNY Cortland's Rock 'N Blues Ensemble, under the direction of Steven Barnes, will open for the local favorite Tribal Revival. The event will last until 11 p.m., during which refreshments and a birthday cake for the Belize Zoo wildcat named Cortland will be served. Donations to benefit the Belize Zoo will be accepted.

Matola will visit several SUNY Cortland classrooms to share her knowledge, expertise and passion in areas relevant to students in education, biology and zoology, Latin American studies, public policy, ecotourism and anthropology. She will also meet with students interesting in volunteering with the zoo and will visit area public schools.

“Since all our students in many fields cannot travel to Belize and the Belize Zoo, we hope to bring something of the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center to SUNY Cortland,” said SUNY Cortland Professor of Political Science Thomas Pasquarello, who serves as the campus Belize Zoo Project liaison.

The zoo, which greets 15,000 school children a year, is one of the premier conservationist organizations operating in Belize. The zoo receives no government funding.

Over the past two decades, Matola and the zoo have become world famous for their focus on the restoration of the Harpy eagle species, the Central American macaw and jaguar habitat restoration. Her efforts to stop a large-scale dam project are documented in the book by Bruce Barcott, Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird. Matola has visited SUNY Cortland before to give the keynote lecture at the College’s International Education Week.

Created under the auspices of the existing Cortland-Belize Partnership, the Belize Zoo Project was founded on the SUNY Cortland campus to help further develop the zoo. Supported by students, faculty and friends in the community, the project provides SUNY Cortland students and community members with opportunities to complete internships and do other kinds of meaningful volunteer work at the zoo.

“Ms. Matola visited briefly several years ago and not surprisingly was received enthusiastically by the College community,” Pasquarello said. “Given the growing interest in environmental matters and in the kind of volunteerism that students are demonstrating towards the zoo, this is an appropriate and timely visit.”

For information about the Belize Zoo Project at SUNY Cortland, visit Pasquarello’s zoo blog at tbzblog.blogspot.com. For details about the lecture or benefit concert, contact Thomas Pasquarello at (607) 753-5772. To learn more about the zoo, visit the Web site at www.belizezoo.org/zoo/zoo.html.

Eight new members will be inducted into the SUNY Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame during its 41st annual banquet and ceremonies on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Corey Union.

The 2009 honorees are Donald J. Hartley '58, Kay Shanks Barton '66, Francine Kalafer '73, Joanne "Jodi" Schmeelk '73, Perry Nizzi '77, Richard "Rick" Suddaby '79, and honorary inductees Katherine "Tyke" Ley (posthumous) and Beulah "Buff" Wang.

Established in 1969, the C-Club Hall of Fame recognizes Cortland alumni who competed as athletes at the College and who have since distinguished themselves in their professions and within their communities. Honorary members are recognized for their long and significant contributions to SUNY Cortland athletics.

New C-Club members have been added annually, and this year's ceremony will bring the Hall of Fame roster to 208 alumni and 23 honorary members.

For complete biographies of the 2009 inductees, visit www.cortlandreddragons.com/2009halloffame.

Twenty years ago this fall, SUNY Cortland captured the first of what would be seven NCAA Division III women's cross country national championships in a remarkable nine-year span. The Red Dragon dynasty was chosen as the sport's finest during the NCAA's silver anniversary celebration of women's athletics. On Oct. 30, the Cortland squads and their internationally renowned head coach, Jack Daniels, return to campus for a C-Club Classic Teams Reunion.

The seven talented Red Dragon cross country teams, that included 31 All-Americans and a trio of NCAA individual national champions, will reunite with their former coach as part of the C-Club Hall of Fame Weekend on Oct. 30-31.

For several years now, the C-Club has hosted a Classic Team Reunion to launch its weekend celebration. Previous honorees included: national championship teams in soccer, lacrosse and gymnastics; the teams and players under legendary Cortland coaches Pete Corey '43, Bob Wallace '53 and Sally Yeager Wallace '53; and the women who competed in athletics prior to Title IX.

This year's honorees set the bar higher than any Cortland program before or since — an astonishing seven national titles in nine years. It's a feat that may never be equaled again by any NCAA Division III women's cross country program.

"I was so very fortunate to have the dedicated and talented runners who were members of our teams from the end of the 1980s to the end of the 1990s," Daniels commented a few years ago, when the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected SUNY Cortland as the top NCAA Division III women's cross country program of the last 25 years.

"During the time that these runners were achieving all that they did, I always felt that they expected to be the best. I know I certainly expected them to perform well every year and they certainly never let me down. Objectively speaking, I guess these great SUNY Cortland runners truly deserve the honor of being selected as the best of this era of collegiate sport for women. I loved being a part of their success and I salute them for what they achieved."

For more information on the 2009 C-Club Classic Teams Reunion, contact the Alumni Affairs Office at (607) 753-2516.

SUNY Cortland will offer a conference on “Discussions About the Teaching of English (D.A.T.E.)” on Friday, Oct. 30, at the College.

The conference’s two keynote speakers are Deborah Appleman, a professor of educational studies at Carleton College, and Keith Gilyard, a distinguished professor of English at Pennsylvania State University.

The day-long program takes place from 8:30 a.m.-3:15 p.m. in the College’s Corey Union.

The conference is geared for middle school and high school English language arts educators including teachers of special education, literacy, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), librarians and college faculty and students.

The deadline to register is Monday, Oct. 19. The general registration fee is $50, which includes morning refreshments, lunch and materials. For registration information, contact the Center for Educational Exchange, Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-232, at cee@cortland.edu or (607) 753-4214.

Keynote speaker Appleman will discuss “What We Teach and Why: Reading and Resisting Ideology with Literary Theory.” She is the author of Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literacy Theory to Adolescents (2nd edition) and Reading Themselves: How to Transform Adolescents into Lifelong Readers Through Out-of-Class Book Clubs.

Keynote presenter Gilyard will focus on “Writing for Life: Writing in the Curriculum and Beyond.” He wrote Let’s Flip the Script: An African American Discourse on Language, Literature, and Learning (African American Life) and Voices of the Self: A Study of Language Competency.

Featured speakers include:

• Marlene Carvell, author of Who Will Tell My Brother?, Sweetgrass Basket and Caught Between the Pages;
• Bruce Coville, author of Armageddon Summer, Fortune’s Journey and Space Station Ice-3;
• Tamora Pierce, author of The Song of the Lioness quartet, The Immortals quartet, The Circle of Magic quartet, The Protector of the Small quartet and The Circle Opens quartet; and,
• Ned Vizzini, author of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Be More Chill, and Teen Angst? Naaah...

Workshop sessions will include the following topics:

• “Human Rights: Integrating Distance Learning Technology with Human Rights Curriculum Focusing on Local and Global Service”;
• “Writing for, with and by Students: Balancing Choice and Structure in a Middle School ELA Program”;
• “So What Do We Do After The Outsiders: New Trends in Young Adult Titles for Generation Z!”;
• “Why Literacy Really Matters: Using Fiction and Nonfiction to Explore Human Rights, Social Justice and the Global Community”;
• “Lit Circle Folders: Enhancing Middle School Readers’ Conversations”; and,
• “Differentiated Instruction in Action in the High School Classroom.”

The event is sponsored by the College’s English Department, and the Center for Educational Exchange; the Central New York Teaching Center, Cortland County Teacher Center, Dryden Teacher Center and Lansing-Groton Teacher Center; Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES); Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES; and the Campus Artist and Lecture Series.

Karen Stearns, assistant professor of English, is conference co-chair with Virginia Marty, director of the CEE. For more information about the conference, contact Stearns at (607) 753-2072.

Broadway's diabolical musical thriller, "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," will be presented by the Performing Arts Department for six shows at the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre beginning Oct 23. This acclaimed musical, with book by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, won all the major awards in 1979 and has been revived on Broadway twice since then.

"Sweeney Todd" has been produced by both theatre and opera companies around the world and was turned into a powerful film by director Tim Burton in 2008 starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.

Performances are at 8 p.m. on Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31 with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1. Tickets are on sale at Jodi's Hallmark Shop on Main Street, Cortland, and at the door before each performance.

Prices are $16 for general public, $14 for senior citizens and SUNY faculty and staff and $7 for all students. Because of the subject matter and the graphic violence involved in the tale of Sweeney Todd, the musical is recommended for mature audiences only.

This production is partially funded by The Cortland Fund and the Cortland College Foundation. More information about the musical and this season's other events can be found at www.cortland.edu/performingarts.

Victorian London is in the shadow of the Industrial Revolution as the barber Todd (Doug Robbins) sets out to get revenge for the wrongs done to him by the corrupt Judge Turpin (Skylar Winter). In the process, Todd loses his reason and goes on a killing spree, the victims turned into meat pies for public sale by the crafty Mrs. Lovett (Rebecca Rozzoni). Among the other characters involved in the thriller are the judge's innocent ward Johanna (Kara Howard), the sailor Anthony (Anthony Festa) who loves her, the villainous henchman called the Beadle (John McAvaney), the greedy Italian barber Pirelli (Tim Fuchs), his abused assistant Toby (Ryan McDonald), and the prophetic old Beggar Woman (Kimberly Moore).

The Cortland production is directed and choreographed by Kevin Halpin with musical direction by Richard Montgomery, sets by Howard Lindh, lighting by Joel Pape, costumes by Mark Reynolds and technical direction by Preston Marye.

Two speakers will discuss service-learning and address the methods best modeled when students work with their service communities at a lecture on Monday, Oct. 26. Jason Clark '05 M.A., principal of Lake Street Elementary School in the Chittenango Central School District, and J.W. Gladstone, lecturer and writer, will present "Addressing Inequalities through Service-Learning: Developing Best Practices" from 6:30-8 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.

Clark served as intern administrator of student teachers during his graduate program. Gladstone has taught for the Maryland-based "Common Ground on the Hill" for several summers on subjects of empathy and service, and for community colleges in speech/communications. Gladstone, who has presented numerous times to SUNY Cortland audiences, brings another dimension of his thought and talent to Cortland students and the community.

The speakers will address how to develop empathy with adult and child populations whose economic, social, cultural and educational backgrounds and realities are so different from our own. By encouraging reflection and sharing best practices, they will provide the tools to increase the success and satisfaction of student volunteers and interns and bridge the gap between populations.

For more information, contact Linda Rosekrans, English, at (607) 753-4886.

An information session titled "Introduction to Internal Grants: Funding Your Scholarly Work" will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

The College Research Committee will provide an overview of two internal research grant opportunities — the Faculty Research Program and the Research and Travel Grant Program. Committee members will share their perspectives and strategies for preparing a successful application. They will also discuss the internal grants peer review process and be available to answer questions on how to increase the likelihood of success for applicants.

For more information, contact Glen Clarke in the Research and Sponsored Programs Office at (607) 753-2511.

The Faculty Senate has filled two important vacancies on its executive committee. In a special election held a week earlier, Senator Teri Vigars, Academic Support and Achievement Program, received 141 of 147 votes to become the Faculty Senate secretary. Meanwhile, senators voted unanimously at their Oct. 6 meeting in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge to name Donna Videto, health, as the Faculty Senate treasurer.

The annual Goofs and Goblets career dinner program will be presented from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26 at the Lynne Parks '68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House. Advanced reservations are required by Monday, Oct. 19.

During Goofs and Goblets, students learn to navigate a formal meal while talking about careers with representatives from a variety of fields. All majors and class years are welcome.

Participants will attend a reception and be served several courses hosted by SUNY Cortland alumnus Mark Westfield '78, the general manager at the Hempstead (N.Y.) Golf and Country Club. Westfield has taught at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. The program will incorporate career networking and dining etiquette in a fun and humorous way.

Faculty or staff members who would like to sponsor one or more students are cordially invited to attend the program as guests of the Alumni Association. Participation is on a space-available basis for faculty and staff. The suggested sponsorship per student is $15.

Students may register in the Career Services Office in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-5. The subsidized cost to students is $5, payable via cash or check. A limited number of scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Faculty or staff members interested in either sponsoring students or making a reservation to attend, or both, should contact Mickey Gibbons, career services, at (607) 753-2224 Sponsors must confirm student attendance and register students with the Career Services Office.

The event is sponsored by the Alumni Association and the Career Services Office.