Campus Champion

More than 95 percent of SUNY Cortland's incoming students report that they did not share a bedroom at home. Associate Director Jean Brown and the Residence Life and Housing Office staff members accomplish the important job of assigning these students to their "home away from home" on campus with great attention to detail. Jean spends countless hours listening to the concerns of students and their anxious family members. In doing so, she and her staff provide the students with the best possible care while they live on campus.

Catherine Porter, president of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA), an international organization serving English and foreign language teachers, will deliver the keynote address during SUNY Cortland’s first International Education Month, which runs from Tuesday, Oct. 27-Thursday, Nov. 19.

Porter, a professor emerita of French at SUNY Cortland, will present “English is Not Enough” at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

Porter’s talk is free and open to the public, as are all events of International Education Month, unless otherwise noted. These include lectures on many different topics from a global perspective, information on study abroad opportunities, musical performances of the world, a student performance of the musical “Sweeney Todd,” a tai chi demonstration, a dual-gender indoor soccer “futsal” match and meals featuring the cuisine of different countries prepared by students and College dining services staff.

For the complete schedule of International Education Month, visit the Web site www.cortland.edu/studyabroad. For more information, visit the James M. Clark Center for International Education, Miller Building, Room 16, or call (607) 753-2209 or send an e-mail to studyabroad@cortland.edu.

“SUNY Cortland has the challenge and obligation to educate a generation of citizens who are competent across cultures and who possess the knowledge and skills that are needed to be successful in the 21st century,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “I welcome everyone to join us on our campus during this exciting month.”

“This year, for the first time — uniquely in the SUNY system and far beyond — Cortland will celebrate an International Education Month,” explained Stephen Burwood, who directs the College’s James M. Clark Center for International Education, which presents the month’s activities. “A team of faculty, staff and students has been meeting on a regular basis to plan for this phenomenon throughout the past spring semester and summer.”

Presented for the past eight years as International Education Week, International Education Month at SUNY Cortland is part of an initiative originally sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Education.

“We believe there is so much of significance occurring and contemplated in the field of internationalization on our campus that one week is no longer sufficient,” Burwood said.

“In an increasingly borderless world, the ideal of self-sufficiency is giving way to the reality of interdependence,” noted Porter about her planned keynote speech. “To meet such challenges as a threatened environment, a faltering economy, a potential pandemic or the possibility of nuclear terrorism, cooperation on a world-wide scale is required as never before. But cooperation implies mutual respect and understanding. It implies a willingness to negotiate on an equal footing. These conditions can be met only by people able to shift perspectives, take cultural differences into account and communicate in the language of their counterparts. English is not enough.”

Porter has served the MLA in the past as first vice president, second vice president and chair of its Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Rights and Responsibilities. She served on MLA’s Delegate Assembly and the Delegate Assembly Organizing Committee and was an elected member of the Executive Council from 1996-2000.

An internationally recognized translator of scholarly works, Porter has translated 35 books. Over the years, she has been a reviewer of texts and translations for several university presses and reviewed translation grant proposals for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In 1996, the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research named her Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques, a title bestowed upon scholars who have contributed significantly to the advancement of French language and culture.

Other highlights of International Education Month include:

An “International Education Expo: a Showcase of International Education Endeavors,” will provide an opportunity to meet the SUNY Cortland faculty members, visiting faculty and students who are engaged in impressive, cross-cultural international education research and teaching, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. At each of the two expos, visitors may view the presenters’ projects, learn about their international education endeavors, and network with SUNY Cortland’s truly devoted proponents of global education and scholarship.

The first begins at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, when Orvil White, assistant professor of childhood/early childhood education, discusses “Education in Thailand.” At 6 p.m., Margaret Zeegers, a visiting professor of literacy from Australia, showcases “Education in Australia.” Finally, Ji-Ryun Kim, assistant professor of foundations and social advocacy, addresses “Education in Korea” at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, the “International Education Expo” begins at 3 p.m. with a presentation on “Education in China” by Lin Lin and Shufang Shi, SUNY Cortland assistant professors of childhood/early childhood education. At 4:30 p.m., Janet Duncan, associate professor of foundations and social advocacy, focuses on “Education for People with Disabilities in Ukraine.” Gail Tooker, assistant professor of childhood/early childhood education, talks about “Education in Belize” at 6 p.m. The expo concludes at 7 p.m. with a lecture on “The Foundation Stage: Early Childhood Education in England” by Heather Bridge, assistant professor of childhood/early childhood education.

International Education Month ends with a presentation on “Global Workshop Skills: How to Succeed in the Global Economy” at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

Lynne Rosansky, provost of the Levin Institute, a free standing, system-wide institute within SUNY that aims to address key aspects and issues of globalization, and William Skipper, SUNY Cortland assistant professor and chair of sociology/anthropology, will serve as speakers.

“Globalization presents tremendous challenges as well as exciting opportunities for college graduates and the institutions attempting to prepare them for success in the global economy,” Rosansky noted.

Her program with Skipper will focus on what new global skills are required and what various efforts are being made in this area within the SUNY system, including the Levin Institute’s Global Talent Research Project, The Global Talent Index and “The SUNY Global Workforce Project,” a new, three-year collaborative project funded by the U.S. Department of Education that is being carried out by the institute, SUNY Brockport and SUNY Cortland.

The SUNY Cortland College Council will present its 2009 College-Community Appreciation Award to Martin J. Mack during a special invitation-only banquet on Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Corey Union Function Room.

Mack becomes the 28th recipient of the annual award established in 1985 to formally recognize and thank local residents who have significantly assisted SUNY Cortland.

Since August 2009, Mack has been New York Gov. David Paterson's appointments secretary, having been named six months earlier by the governor as his deputy secretary for intergovernmental relations. Mack had held the latter position under former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Prior to his service in the governor's office, Mack was deputy attorney general under Attorney General Spitzer for eight years.
 
A Cortland native, Mack practiced law while working as a public servant in a variety of capacities from 1980-98. He was Cortland County assistant district attorney from 1980-1983 and Cortland County attorney from 1984-1987. From 1987-91, Mack served as mayor of Cortland and was instrumental in helping to maintain close ties between the community and the College.

As deputy attorney general and working with the SUNY Cortland administration in 1999, Mack initiated the proceeding to end the tumultuous Clayton Avenue block parties. He also partnered with SUNY Cortland to provide student interns with valuable experiences. He taught business law as an adjunct lecturer at SUNY Cortland.
  
Mack acquired a fondness for the College at an early age. His father, the late Joseph Mack, was a SUNY Cortland education professor for 26 years, a two-time Cortland mayor, and one of the catalysts behind the 1967 construction of the Newman Center on Calvert Street as a permanent house of worship for SUNY Cortland's Roman Catholic students. The younger Mack served on the Newman Foundation Board for many years and chaired the organization. Mack was a pallbearer at the 1999 funeral of Rev. Edward O'Heron, now the center's namesake.
 
In 1986, Mack was appointed to the College Council and later served as its chair. During his five-year term, he oversaw the council's participation in SUNY Cortland's yearlong 125th Anniversary celebration in 1993-94, as well as its role in the naming of the William J. Tomik '51 Fitness Facility and the John L. Sciera '52 Training Room. Mack chaired the presidential search committee that selected Judson H. Taylor as SUNY Cortland president in 1995.
 
He ran for Congress in New York's 25th Congressional District in 1996 and chaired the New York State Democratic Party in 1998.

Mack presently serves as Gov. Paterson's representative on the Cornell University Board of Trustees. He received his B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A.T. in Secondary Social Studies from SUNY Cortland and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina.
 
He has been president of the Cortland County Catholic Charities Board of Directors and was a member of the Cortland Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, the Economic Development Committee, the Chamber of Commerce and the Cortland Council of Arts.
 
In 2004, during the centennial anniversary of Cortland native Alton B. Parker winning the Democratic Party presidential nomination to run against Theodore Roosevelt, Mack, the nation's foremost expert on Parker, and then-Attorney General Spitzer came to Old Main Brown Auditorium and discussed the two candidates.
 
More recently, Mack has been instrumental in securing key support both for the College's $51 million student life center and for the relocation of the New York Jets' summer training camp to SUNY Cortland.
 
He and his wife, Lee Scott Mack '01, a former assistant registrar at the College, have two children, Sarah and Brennan.

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.

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.

A screening of the suspense thriller produced by the noted Native American filmmaker Chris Eyre, “Imprint,” will launch SUNY Cortland’s Native American Film Series on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Presented by the College’s Native American Studies Program, the cinema series is free and open to the public. All films will be shown at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. Every screening except the first will take place in Sperry Center, Room 204. “Imprint” will be shown in Sperry Center, Room 205.

“Imprint,” directed by Michael Linn, redefines what audiences expect of a film depicting Native America and women in Native America. The film tells the story of Shala Stonefeather, a Native American attorney who returns home to the reservation to make peace with her dying father. There, she starts seeing visions and hearing unexplained sounds. Stonefeather starts questioning the mystery surrounding her brother, who went missing years ago, and re-examining her traditional beliefs.

“Four Sheets to the Wind,” a coming-of-age drama set within the rhythms and landscapes of Oklahoma, will be shown Nov. 3. The film depicts a young man’s search for identity on the reservation and beyond. When Cufe Smallhill, portrayed by Cody Lightning, finds his father dead beside a bottle of pills, he fulfills his promise to sink the body in the family pond. His mission leads Smallhill to the big city of Tulsa with his sister, Miri, played by Tamara Podemski.

The award-winning film “Frozen River,” a story about illegal immigrant smuggling, will be shown Nov. 10. Produced by Heather Ray and written and directed by Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River” tells the story of Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom. Eddy is lured into the world of human trafficking when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide trailer, Eddy reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler. The two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Eddy’s car.

The film has earned much recognition, including the New York Film Critics Circle “Best First Film” and the Independent Spirit Awards’ “Best Female Lead” and “Piaget Producer Award.” The American Film Institute rated “Frozen River” as “one of the 10 best films of 2008” and Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert called it “one of the 20 best films of 2008.”

Concluding the series, the Canadian drama “Tkaronto” will be screened on Nov. 17. Ray Morin, a Métis writer, is in Tkaronto — the original Mohawk word for “Toronto” — to pitch his television series, “Indian Jones.” He must balance his ambition with a growing disdain for greedy executives who exploit aboriginal projects. Meanwhile, Jolene Peltier, an Anishinabe painter, is in the city conducting interviews for a series of portraits on prominent aboriginal people. When an elder gives her an eagle feather and sweetgrass, it confirms her deep-seated feeling that she should walk a spiritual path. For Morin and Peltier, both married, their chance meeting raises the difficult question of whether their questions of identity would be answered if they were together.

The series is sponsored by Native American Studies, the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies and the Auxiliary Services Corporation.

For more information, contact Native American Studies Program representative Dawn Van Hall at (607) 753-4890.

Fran P. Mainella, who was the first female superintendant to lead the National Park Service, will deliver the prestigious Metcalf Endowment Lecture at this year’s 59th annual SUNY Cortland Recreation Conference from Nov. 5-6 at the College.

Mainella, currently a visiting scholar at Clemson University’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management Department, will discuss “National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, in the Corey Union Function Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.

“Re-GREEN-ation” is the theme of the two-day gathering, the nation’s oldest continuous collegiate-sponsored recreation education conference. Sponsored by the College’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies, the conference receives additional support for its Metcalf Lecture from the Metcalf Endowment.

“The concept we are trying to convey is a ‘go green’ premise, where we are doing our best to promote, as well as practice this notion,” said conference advisor Edward Hill, assistant professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies. “We are delighted to say that we have been able to cut costs without cutting corners. The conference committee and I have developed a functional Website containing the brochure, schedules and printable registration forms. In addition, we have used our valuable resources to create our own brochure, rather than outsourcing. We have taken these ‘eco’-nomically friendly measures in hopes that it will be a great stepping stone for future conference planners.”

Registration begins at 7 a.m. on Thursday and 7 a.m. on Friday at Corey Union. The fee is $100 for professionals and $45 for students to attend both days; and $70 for professionals to attend Thursday or Friday only. The additional cost to receive Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits is $8. The registration fee includes meals and entertainment. Additional information may be obtained by calling (607) 753-4939, by e-mailing recconf@cortland.edu or online at www.cortland.edu/rec, where the brochure and registration form may be viewed or printed.

Approximately 300 recreation professionals and college recreation majors are expected to participate in the conference, which will offer more than 30 educational sessions and practical workshops on recreation management, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and leisure and society. New to the conference this year is a research symposium and a few pre- and post-conference workshops.

Cortland alumni presenting at this year’s conference include Thomas Goodale ’61, Richard Fabend ’65, John Silsby ’69, Katharine Pawelko ’74, Fred Von Mechow ’77, Todd Miner ’82, Janet Barry Connolly ’84, Eddie Hill ’86, John La Rue ’89, Rickie McClure ’90, David Peppel ’97, Corey Ryon ’99, Scott Catucci ’00 and Brandy Boden ’07.

The event is planned and directed by SUNY Cortland recreation and leisure studies majors in the Special Events Planning class taught by Hill. The students and the committees they chair include:

• Kelly Stahl of Cortland, N.Y., conference co-chair and program coordinator;
• Lindsey Brown of Manopac, N.Y., conference co-chair, registration and tracking, treasurer, program coordinator and support, and office manager;
• Jenny Rutledge of Cattaraugus, N.Y., marketing, public relations and volunteer coordinator;
• Kristine Gauthier of Syracuse, N.Y., social services and internal services;
• Kyle Peterson of Montrose, N.Y., internship fair coordinator;
• Erik Svensson of South Salem, N.Y., graphic design artist;
• Greg Kroohs of Putnam Valley, N.Y., special speakers; and,
• Allison Reyes of Guildford, N.Y., alumni newsletter.

Mainella completed nearly six years as the 16th director and the first woman to lead the National Park Service. Previously, she served 12 years as director of Florida’s state parks, which earned the Gold Medal Award as the country’s best state park system. Mainella also was executive director of the Florida Recreation and Park Association and president of both the National Recreation and Park Association and the National Association of State Park Directors.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree and honorary doctorate from Central Connecticut State College.

Currently a member of Newsweek magazine’s Environmental Advisory Board, Mainella is a board member of the National Society for Park Resources (NSPR), a fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, a member of the Advisory Board for the Children and Nature Network, and a national speaker on parks and recreation.

Clemson University presented Mainella with its Walter T. Cox Award and also named an award in her honor that encourages women to pursue conservation careers. The American Recreation Coalition presented her with its Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award. She received the 2007 Pugsley Award, the highest award given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. In 2006, she was awarded the William Penn Mott Jr. Award for Excellence by the NSPR.

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.

A Dowd Gallery exhibit of recent prints and photography by Evan Summer, an internationally known printmaker and 1970 SUNY Cortland graduate, will cotinue through Feb. 18.

Summer, the recipient of many national and international awards for his artwork including the National Academy of Design’s 1999 Leo Meissner Prize for printmaking, opened the exhibit on Oct. 30 when he gave a walking tour of the exhibition, titled “Evan Summer: Prints, Drawings and Collages.”

The exhibition is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until Jan. 22; from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday from Jan. 23-Feb. 18; and by appointment.

As a SUNY Cortland alumnus in residence from Oct. 30-Nov. 3, Summer discussed his work in a lecture called “Prints, Drawings and Influences” and offered an artist’s collagraph workshop.

Selected as a SUNY Cortland Distinguished Alumnus in 2000, Summer is a professor of art on the faculty at Kutztown University in central Pennsylvania, where he has taught printmaking since 1984.

He also has instructed at the Tyler School of Art and the Pratt Graphics Center. He was admitted to the National Academy of Design in New York City in 1993 and the International Print Triennial Society in Krakow, Poland, in 1995.

The artist, who is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Art, has made a name for himself creating both intaglio etchings in black ink and collages of his print images tinted in pastels and acrylics. Intaglio involves an indented printmaking process that results in lines of ink as opposed to relief printmaking, such as woodblock, in which large areas of ink form the artist’s pattern. Metal plate etching, another process he uses, dates back to the 16th century.

Summer’s consummate craftsmanship transcends the ages, but his contemporary artistic message has been exhibited in more than 100 national and international exhibitions including the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice in 2007. His work appears in distinguished, permanent collections across the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Museum of American Art.

In 1999-2000, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., prominently displayed 37 of his prints and collages in his largest and most noteworthy solo exhibition. His other solo exhibitions include the following venues: Franz Bader Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the Comus Gallery in Portland, Ore.; the Philadelphia College of Art; and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y.

He was honored with a Silver Medal in the 10th Norwegian International Print Triennial, the Tai-he Masterpiece Award at the 2003 International Print Biennial in Beijing, the Henry Legrand Cannon Prize at the National Academy of Design and the Boston Printmakers Award at the 1985 North American Print Biennial.

A native of Williamsville, N.Y., Summer graduated from Amherst High School and was a chemistry major at SUNY Cortland. Strongly influenced by Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Peter Jeffers, his elective courses included art classes taught by Associate Professor Emeritus of Art George Atcheson and the late Professor of Art Gerald DiGiusto. He has an M.F.A. in printmaking from Yale University.

PHOTO
Photograph by Evan Summer, “Salvazano Imperialis,” made in 2004.

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.

Five guest choirs will raise their voices in praise with the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir during the 24th African American Gospel Music Festival on Sunday, Nov. 1, at the College.

Presented by the College’s Africana Studies Department, the festival begins at 4 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $2 for students, $4 for faculty, staff and senior citizens and $5 for general admission. Proceeds support the Gospel Choir Scholarship, the Programming Fund and the 2010 Northeastern Spring Tour.

Noelle Paley, SUNY Cortland interim director of the Multicultural Life Office, will extend the welcome on behalf of the College. Pastor Rita Wright will present the invocation.

Guest choirs this year are Binghamton University Gospel Choir, directed by Denise Livermore, Cherick Skinner and Nickecia Alder; Ithaca College’s Amani Gospel Singers, directed by Leah Young and David Cruz; the SUNY Oneonta Gospel Choir; the SUNY Oswego Gospel Choir with Hamal Strayhorn directing; and Syracuse University’s Black Celestial Choral Ensemble, directed by Byron F. Canada.

The SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir will open the event. Each choir has been asked to present two songs, one gospel and one a cappella. A mass choir, featuring all the choirs together, will serve as the finale.

SUNY Cortland’s opening selections will include “How Much We Can Bear,” by Hezekiah Walker; “Bless His Holy Name,” by Lawrence Matthews, and “This Is Who I Am.” Accompanying the choir will be Yazmin McZorn-Hines as soloist, Jamie Yaman on saxophone and Robert Brown on trombone.

Selections for SUNY Cortland during the second half of the festival will be “I’m Covered,” by John P. Kee, “Make Me Over,” by Tonex, with soloist Dasheen Ellis and instrumental selection, “Hosanna,” with Jamie Yaman, saxophone, Robert Brown, trombone, Andy Rudy, keyboard, Reggie Seigler, bass guitar, and Benjamin Terry on percussion.

The mass choir selections are “Faithful Is Our God” by Hezekiah Walker and “Oh Happy Day” by the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

Directing Cortland’s Gospel Choir will be Robert Brown, a SUNY Cortland adjunct instructor in Africana studies. Brown is also a music teacher at Blodgett Elementary School in Syracuse, N.Y., and serves as music director of the New Life Community Church in Syracuse. Choir musicians, from Syracuse, are: Andy Rudy on keyboard, Benjamin Terry on percussion and Reginald Siegler on bass guitar; and, from Cortland, Jamie Yaman on alto saxophone.

Officers for the 2009-10 school year are: Leah Horning, president, a junior health science major from Clifton Park, N.Y.; Cassandra Crisitella, vice president, a junior early childhood and childhood education major from Vestal, N.Y.; Dasheen Ellis, co-treasurer, a freshman English major from Tomkins Cove, N.Y.; Paula Gooding, co-treasurer, a senior biomedical sciences major from Queens Village, N.Y.; Khalia Brown, secretary, a freshman pre-major from Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Alaina Latella, tour manager, a senior childhood and early childhood education and mathematics dual major from Burlington Flats, N.Y. Dot Thomas ’77 of Cortland, N.Y., continues to serve as alumni officer.

The SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir, which is comprised of college, high school and community members, has been recognized for its outstanding performances at the National Collegiate Gospel Competition in New York City. This past April, the Gospel Choir toured Germany, giving concerts in Aachen, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. The choir spent four nights in the Netherlands and also visited Belgium. Previously, the choir toured internationally in England in 2007 and Canada in 2008. In addition to a diverse group of students from SUNY Cortland including international students, the choir also includes members of the community, alumni and SUNY Cortland faculty.

SUNY Cortland’s African American Gospel Music Festival began in 1985 with the Cortland County Council of Churches, the Interfaith Center and the SUNY Cortland Black Student Union as sponsors. Over the years, students from England, Africa, South America, Germany, Austria and Japan have participated. This year, the choir has members from Japan, Haiti and Jamaica.

Part of the College’s Africana Studies Department, the choir is supported by the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, the Alumni Affairs Office, the Cortland College Foundation, the Division of Student Affairs, the Offices of the President, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the student activity fee.

For more information, contact Distinguished Service Professor Samuel L. Kelley at (607) 753-4104 or Distinguished Teaching Professor Seth Asumah at (607) 753-2064.

A pair of scientists from SUNY Cortland and Cornell University will give a presentation on how mushrooms, mold and other fungi impact the lives of humans on Thursday, Nov. 5, at SUNY Cortland. 

The Community Roundtable, titled “Fungus Among Us: Mushrooms and Molds in Our Lives,” takes place from 8-9 a.m. in SUNY Cortland’s Park Center Hall of Fame Room. Refreshments will be served at 7:45 a.m. Sponsored by the President’s Office and the College’s Center for Educational Exchange (CEE), the community roundtable is free and open to the public.

Fungi are interesting, diverse and, with a few exceptions such as athlete’s foot, yeasts and blue cheese, are not well known. Timothy Baroni, SUNY Cortland distinguished professor of biological sciences, and Kathie T. Hodge, associate professor of plant pathology and plant-microbe biology at Cornell University, will discuss the effects of fungi on people and the planet. Their topics will range from fungi that cause human disease, molds in houses, mushrooms and mushroom poisoning to the key roles of fungi in global ecosystems.

All Community Roundtables are recorded and subsequently available as webcasts on SUNY Cortland’s central webcasting page at www.cortland.edu/webcast. For more information, contact the CEE at (607) 753-4214 or visit www.cortland.edu/cee.

The Taikoza drum group will offer the thunderous rhythms of ancestral Japanese Taiko drums and the magical sounds of bamboo flutes during a concert on Thursday, Nov. 12, at SUNY Cortland.

Presented by the College’s Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS), the internationally acclaimed performers will begin at 7 p.m. in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre.

Admission is $3 for SUNY Cortland students and $5 general admission. Children 10 and under will be 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.

Founded in 1995 by Marco Lienhard, a native of Switzerland who was a professional taiko player in Japan, this professional Japanese traditional music and dance group has dazzled audiences worldwide with its electrifying performances.

“Taikoza has created an original and high-energy sound that transcends national boundaries,” noted a reviewer from Arts for Learning, an organization that promotes the arts for best practices in education.

Featuring performances on a six-foot-long ancestral Taiko drum, the program artfully blends its bold and vibrant sound with colorful dances and soulful melodies played on bamboo flutes. Traditional costumes and dynamic motion are geared to entertain audiences of all ages. The group has appeared on television programs including the History Channel’s “History vs. Hollywood” and ESPN’s “The Battle of the Giants.”

Taikoza participates in community Asian Festivals throughout the East Coast. Past events have included Cherry Blossom Festivals at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C., as well as the Beale Street Festival in Memphis, Tenn. The group has performed at corporate events, colleges, high schools and grammar schools in the U.S. Members conduct educational and participatory workshops for schools in the New York area for various cultural organizations such as Young Audiences, Arts Connection, Lincoln Center Institute and Symphony Space. Taikoza has toured in Europe, Japan, Canada and Mexico.

Taikoza appears by arrangement with MCM Arts & Entertainment. The event is supported by the student activity fee, Auxiliary Services Corporation and the Cortland College Foundation. For more information about Taikoza, visit the band’s Web site at www.taikoza.com. For information about this or other CALS events, visit the CALS 2009-10 Web site at www2.cortland.edu/events/cals.

The Faculty Senate voted unanimously at its Oct. 20 meeting to endorse an Educational Policy Committee (EPC) recommendation to add a definition of capstone courses and experiences to the undergraduate catalog.

Senators, meeting in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge, offered some debate before agreeing to the suggested definition, which also will appear in the Curriculum Change Guide.

"I am very concerned that there's not a need for this," said Senator William Buxton, foundations and social advocacy. "We are creating a definition for something that doesn't exist. That seems odd."

Faculty Senate Chair Kathleen Lawrence, communication studies, explained that the EPC felt there was a need, while Senator Mary McGuire, political science, added that outside reviewers reiterated that viewpoint. President Erik J. Bitterbaum, citing his decade of earlier experience as a provost, said that service-learning as a concept was nearly non-existent and now it is prevalent in higher education.

"With capstone courses, I think we are just catching up with what's happening across America," he noted, pointing out that the concept varies within different academic disciplines.

"Geography has had a capstone course, a seminar, since the 1980s but we don't call it a capstone course," said Senator David Miller, geography.

Senator Richard Kendrick, sociology/anthropology, said the EPC discussions a year ago leading up to the final wording focused on general language to give the departments some latitude, at the same time providing the curriculum committee some guidance as they address the issue.

The approved definition of capstone courses and capstone experiences reads as follows: "Programs may create and offer capstone courses and experiences. These courses and experiences serve to integrate a student's learning in a program of study. Generally, capstone courses or experiences should comprise one or more 400-level courses taken in the final semesters of a student's program of study. Programs may allow more than one course to fulfill a capstone requirement, and they may allow capstone courses or experiences to fulfill other requirements in the program of study."

Student Government Association President Jesse Campanaro raised a question about the availability of required courses to seniors. He objected to capstone courses if students faced the possibility of being closed out of a course and not graduating on time.

Senate Chair Lawrence assured the students that, as part of any course approval process, departments must demonstrate they have adequate faculty to deliver the proposed courses.

In other action:

President Bitterbaum told senators that he would be issuing a campus update that addresses the governor's recent announcement of a $90 million budget reduction for SUNY and the impact for Cortland.

Tim Slack, physical plant, spoke to senators about getting them more actively involved in the discussion of sustainability on campus.

Student Senator Campanaro said Cortland students would hold a rally against the proposed $90 million budget reduction to SUNY. The event will take place at 12:55 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, on the Corey Union steps. SGA is reaching out to a larger audience, including parents, and hopes to have special shirts printed for the occasion. The rally will be one of many taking place across the state on sister campuses, said Campanaro.

The SUNY Cortland 2009-2010 Faculty and Staff Directory, which was distributed on campus the week of Oct. 19, will be the College's last printed directory.

As a cost-savings measure that also helps reduce the campus' carbon footprint, the College will move to a completely Web-based directory in 2010-11. The electronic format ensures greater accuracy and allows faculty and staff information to be updated immediately. An online employee directory is currently on the Web at www.cortland.edu/search/email.asp.
Next year, campus office listings, fax numbers and meeting rooms will be available as a pdf file on the Web. Notification on how to access this document will be provided during the Fall 2010 semester.

Directories for emeritus faculty and staff who have requested a copy are in the mail. Plans are in the works to create a Web-based directory featuring emeritus employees. Further details will be announced as this project moves forward.

To obtain additional copies of the directory or to learn more about next year's directory, contact the Publications and Electronic Media Office at (607) 753-2519.

Faculty and Staff Directory Change Announced
Please add to page 24 of the 2009-2010 Faculty and Staff Directory:
Jesse Adams
Manager, Sport Facilities
Davis Building, 753-4229
jesse.adams@cortland.edu

The SUNY Cortland Education Club, which has created a time capsule filled with topical and historical materials related to the College and its educational heritage, will hold a brief ceremony at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, before burying the capsule within the new building's walls.

The event will be held in the Education Building lobby at the Prospect Terrace entrance. Education Club officers and School of Education faculty will offer some remarks, including a description of the interesting items that will be entombed in the time capsule scheduled to be opened in 25 years.

Among its contents will be letters from the past three SUNY Cortland presidents — James M. Clark, Judson H. Taylor and Erik J. Bitterbaum — as well as some personal items of Cortland Normal School Principal Francis J. Cheney, who directed the school from 1891-1912 — and for whom Cheney Hall is named, that are being donated by his granddaughter Louise Conley, a Cortland College Foundation board member.

The Education Club will be placing a plaque on the wall to commemorate the burying of the time capsule and to denote that the capsule will be opened in 2034. Karen Seibert, assistant director for the Center for Educational Exchange, conceived the time capsule idea as a way to mark the construction of Education Building and Child Care Center. Seibert shared it with Education Club advisor Karen Hempson, who in turn found the club members very enthusiastic about making the concept a reality.

For more information, contact Education Club member Cari Scoppa at (585) 752-9981.

SUNY Cortland's Undergraduate Research Council (URC) has announced funding opportunities for students during the 2009-10 academic year, including Small Grants Program, Summer Research Fellowships and Travel Grants, on the URC Web site. The URC provides grants and fellowships for SUNY Cortland undergraduate students for their independent research and creative projects and for travel to present their project findings at conferences.

Information about these funding programs, specific eligibility requirements and downloadable application forms, are available. For more information, contact the URC Chair Christopher McRoberts by phone at (607) 753-2925, or visit his office in Bowers Hall, Room 348.

The Human Resources Office announced the recipients of its Annual Accrual Achievement Awards for Classified Service. These employees have used one day or less of sick leave accruals during the 2008-09  fiscal year.

The employees will receive a letter from President Erik J. Bitterbaum, a certificate of recognition and a $25 gift certificate to the Cortland Downtown Partnership.

The program was created to recognize classified employees who use minimal amounts of sick leave and to encourage other employees to build up sick leave balances. The awards will be distributed on Friday, Oct. 30. Those employees who will receive the award are: