Campus Champion

As the secretary for the largest undergraduate physical education department in the U.S., Sherry Snell has devoted the last 31 years to advising distraught students, creating course schedules, and making faculty members’ jobs easier through her meticulous attention to detail and uncompromising standard of excellence. SUNY Cortland loses much more than Sherry’s encyclopedic knowledge of the Park Center when she retires on Sept. 29 after 37 years at the College. She unselfishly made everyone in the Physical Education Department feel like family and, in doing so, has been a campus champion for decades.

SUNY Cortland will honor alumna Dorothea “Dottie” Kreig Allen Fowler ’52 M ’74 in two separate campus ceremonies on Friday, Oct. 1.

At 5 p.m., the College will dedicate the Old Main Grand Entrance Hall in her name for her generous philanthropy to her alma mater. The event is open the public. Then, at 6:15 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room, Fowler will be recognized by the SUNY Cortland College Council as the recipient of its 2010 College-Community Appreciation Award at an invitation-only ceremony.

President Erik J. Bitterbaum will preside over the event in Old Main, where speakers include Professor Emeritus of Anglo-Irish Literature Robert Rhodes ’53, Cortland College Foundation Chair Brian Murphy ’83, College Council Chair Tom Gallagher and Fowler.

At the College-Community Appreciation Award banquet, Gallagher, Bitterbaum, Fowler and SUNY Board of Trustees member Stephen Hunt ’72 will speak. The College-Community Appreciation Award honors individuals who have assisted the College in a significant manner.

Fowler has always celebrated her ties with her alma mater and has worked to increase opportunities for students to attend SUNY Cortland. She created the Anne and Walter Kreig Scholarship, funded scholarships for Raquette Lake, donated to the Clark Center for International Education and financially supported the Tri Sigma/Agonian Scholarship while also serving on its selection committee.

Over the years, Fowler has made connections and contributions to both SUNY Cortland and the greater Cortland area that have been widespread and significant. Her volunteerism, generosity and civic engagement have positively impacted the life of the College and the community.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., native, Fowler grew up in Valley Stream, N.Y., and earned her bachelor’s degree in 1952 and her master’s degree in 1974 from SUNY Cortland. After graduation, she made her home here. She taught for 21 years in the Cortland and Homer schools before retiring in 1985. She was the owner and CEO of R.H. Fowler from 1983 until she sold the business in 1994.

When asked by SUNY Cortland to take an active role on its important volunteer boards, Fowler responded enthusiastically. She served on the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors from 1998-2002, during which she was a member of its finance and nominating committees.

In 1996, Gov. George Pataki appointed her to the SUNY Cortland College Council. During the next 14 years, she distinguished herself with her extensive service on the council. She was a member of the Executive Committee, the SUNY Cortland Coalition, the Facilities Naming Committee, the College-Community Appreciation Award Committee and the Presidential Search Committee that hired President Bitterbaum. She was the College Council’s ACT representative. She served as College Council vice chair from 1997-2001 and as chair from 2006-2010.

For 12 years, Fowler was the emcee for the College-Community Appreciation Award banquets. She defined the position with her meticulous preparation, including meeting the honorees beforehand for insights and material she would use to enhance the evening’s festivities. In doing so, Fowler elevated the stature of the College Council’s most visible event, while bringing prestige to the College at the same time.

Within the community, she has been a member of the Cortland Repertory Theatre Board of Directors since 1988 and is a past president. Her current memberships include the Cortland Breakfast Rotary, the Syracuse Symphony Board of Directors, the Salvation Army Advisory Board, which she chaired, the American Association of University Women, for which she is the community service chair and, since 1978, the Cortland County Republican Committee.

Fowler has served on the TC3 Business Advisory Committee, the JTPA Community Council, the Cortland County Community Services Board MR/DD Committee, the 1890 House Guild, SPCA special projects, the YWCA Board of Directors as vice president of the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce, and with the Women’s Republican Club, including two separate terms as president. In 1995, the Cortland Breakfast Rotary named her as its Paul Harris Fellow recipient.

She has two children, Kimberly Allen ’77 and Michael Allen.

SUNY Cortland officially dedicated two facilities within its Child Care Center in a ceremony on Friday, Sept. 24.

The naming of the Patricia A. Clark Atrium honors the wife of President Emeritus James A. Clark and the catalyst for the creation of the Child Care Center on campus in the 1990s. The posthumous naming of the Ruth Hart Blanchard ’23 Gross Motor Skills Room is a lasting tribute to the Class of 1923 president and an advocate for early childhood education in Central New York for a half-century.

“Pat Clark has had a profound impact on the campus and the community for over 30 years,” said Vice President for Institutional Advancement Raymond D. Franco.

“I don’t think it is an overstatement to say that we might not have had a child care center on campus if it wasn’t for Pat. The atrium is a child-friendly area that provides a transition from indoor space to the beauty and charm of the outdoor playground. The College is honored to be able to recognize Pat’s service, dedication and leadership by naming this area for her.

“Ruth Hart Blanchard ’23 was a student leader when she was on campus and became a strong advocate for young children and an outstanding educator in this area for many years,” added Franco.

“Ruth’s legacy continues to be felt on the campus today as we award the Ruth Hart Blanchard ’23 scholarship to deserving freshmen majoring in early childhood education every year. In keeping with her spirit of leadership and service, Ruth’s son, Paul Blanchard, currently serves on the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors and has honored his mother with his service and his generosity to her alma mater.”

SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum presided over the ceremony which took place outside the Child Care Center entrance. Speakers included: Johanna Sweeney Hartnett ’76, the director of the Child Care Center; Brian Murphy ’83, chair of the Cortland College Foundation; and Bruce Tytler M ’88, a member of the SUNY Cortland College Council. Patricia A. Clark and Paul Blanchard offered remarks as well.

Ruth Hart Blanchard

As the Cortland Class of 1923 president, the late Ruth Hart Blanchard ’23 earned a place in the College’s history as the first student to receive a diploma in the newly opened Old Main building. What she did with her degree, though, earned her a place in the hearts and minds of two generations of Central New York pre-school children.

“I was always interested in young children and families,” said Blanchard a few years before her death in 2001. “You’ve got to have a love for children. You’ve got to be interested in their development. You hope you can serve the whole child and that includes family. Especially as young children enter school, the work you do with families is so important.”

She began her impressive 49-year teaching career at Cortland’s Schermerhorn Street School before joining the Ithaca School District. During the Depression, she worked for the Emergency School Program, operated by Cornell University and created as part of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. From the early 1940s until her retirement in 1972, Blanchard directed the Henry St. John Nursery School, Head Start and was a supervisor of pre-kindergarten. She began the first Head Start program in Tompkins County.

Part of the continuum of Cortland teaching excellence, Blanchard learned her lessons from tough but gifted teachers such as Minnie Alger and Ella VanHoesen, whose legendary names are now forever linked to campus facilities.

Blanchard’s career personifies the highest ideals of a Cortland education. She provides a link between the Cortland Normal School pioneers, who were her instructors, and the elementary education majors of today, for whom she created a scholarship in 2000, along with the students and young children who will use the Blanchard Motor Skills Lab in the Child Care Center for decades to come.

Patricia A. Clark

The first lady of SUNY Cortland from 1979-1993, Patricia A. Clark was an active and engaging figure both on the campus and in the community. The former Orono, Maine, mayor shared her passion for an educated local electorate and desire to help families in Cortland, where her leadership strengthened town-gown relations.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a catalyst for the creation of the much-needed SUNY Cortland Child Care Center. Through her relentless dedication and commitment, Clark helped to locate a campus site for the center. In recognition of her leadership and her longtime service on the Child Care Center Board of Directors, the organization named the Child Care Center playground in her honor on April 28, 1997. The Patricia A. Clark Playground was in use until Fall 2009, when the center moved into the Education Building.

In 1994, she received the College-Community Appreciation Award from the College Council for her many contributions to the campus community, including her pivotal efforts with the Child Care Center as well as her work on the Nu Sigma Chi Board of Directors. Her hands-on approach helped the sorority regain its sound financial base and improve the sorority house’s physical appearance.

Clark was active with the United Way for Cortland County and project chair for its highly acclaimed Community Needs Assessment Study, the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.

She and her husband, President Emeritus James M. Clark, reside in the Cortland area.

Ellen Gruenbaum, who has conducted research in Sudan and Sierra Leone on the practice of female genital cutting and the social movements against “harmful traditional practices,” will discuss her work on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

A professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at Purdue University, she will begin her lecture on “Secrets, Fear, Honor and Outrage: Challenges to Abolishing Female Genital Cutting” at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125.

Presented as part of the 2010-11 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series themed, “Women’s Worlds Redux,” the event is free and open to the public. A reception to welcome Gruenbaum starts at 4 p.m. at the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum in Moffett Center, Room 2126.

A medical anthropologist drawing on more than five years of fieldwork in Sudan, where the most severe forms of genital surgery are common, Gruenbaum shows that the practices of female circumcision are deeply embedded in Sudanese cultural traditions — in religious, moral, and aesthetic values, and in ideas about class, ethnicity, and gender.

“I will examine the validity of Western arguments against female circumcision,” said Gruenbaum, the author of The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective. “In doing so, I will explore both outsider and insider perspectives on the custom, concentrating on the complex attitudes of the individuals and groups who practice it and on indigenous efforts to end it.”

In her book, The Female Circumcision Controversy, Gruenbaum points out that Western outrage and Western efforts to stop genital mutilation often provoke a strong backlash from people in the countries where the practice is common.

“The criticisms of outsiders are frequently simplistic and fail to appreciate the diversity of cultural contexts, the complex meanings and the conflicting responses to change,” she observed.

Gruenbaum’s research strives to illuminate both the resistance to and the acceptance of change, which occurs as the result of economic and social developments, the influences of Islamic activists, the work of Sudanese health educators, and the efforts of educated African women.

“That does not mean that there is no role for outsiders,” asserts Gruenbaum, who will offer suggestions for those who wish to help facilitate change.

By presenting specific cultural contexts and human experiences with a deep knowledge of the tremendous variation of the practice and meaning of female circumcision, Gruenbaum seeks to provide an insightful analysis of the process of changing this complex, highly debated practice.

Gruenbaum earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Stanford University and master’s and doctoral degrees from University of Connecticut. She previously served as professor of anthropology and dean of the College of Social Sciences at California State University at Fresno. Gruenbaum has held teaching positions at California State University at San Bernardino, University of Wisconsin College in Manitowoc and the University of Khartoum in Sudan.

A former research consultant to UNICEF, her interest in the controversies among cultural self-determination, international human rights and women’s rights led to her past service on the Committee for Human Rights of the American Anthropological Association and the Association for Feminist Anthropology.

She currently serves as the secretary of the Society for Medical Anthropology. Gruenbaum also is the author of numerous articles and chapters and serves on the editorial advisory board of The Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies.

The Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) and the Cortland College Foundation. For more information, contact organizer Brooks Museum Director Sharon R. Steadman at (607) 753-2308.

SUNY Cortland will continue a series of lectures, geared to pique curiosity about chemistry relating to health, the environment, energy and other hot-button topics, with a talk on Monday, Oct. 4, by Eileen Jaffe, a senior research scientist with the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

Jaffe, shown left, will discuss “Protein Dancing and Drug Discovery” at 3 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 106, as part of the series titled, “Current Research in the Chemical Sciences: Stars to Cells to Green Catalysis.”

Sponsored by the Chemistry Department, the Chemistry Club and the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, all lectures and discussions are free and open to the public.

The talks by Jaffe and the two remaining speakers in this series will feature a pre-lecture light reception at 2:40 p.m. in the first floor lobby of Sperry Center outside Room 106. The lectures all begin at 3 p.m. and take place in Sperry Center, Room 106. All conclude with an hour-long post-lecture discussion at 4 p.m. in the Bowers Hall first floor lounge.

“Whether one is interested in the specifics of our speakers’ research projects, the broader fields and applications that contextualize their research, or the opportunities for undergraduates to be involved in current, up-to-the-minute scientific research in varied facilities, we have engineered a program to suit that interest,” said series organizer Karen Downey, a SUNY Cortland assistant professor of chemistry. “We have designed our seminar series to show SUNY Cortland students what is going on around them at comparable institutions, paths that their peer alumni have successfully trodden, and the vast scope of work to which undergraduate researchers can contribute.”

For more information, contact Downey at (607) 753-5732.

Eileen Jaffe '75

Jaffe joined Fox Chase in 2003 and has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from SUNY Cortland and a doctorate in biochemistry from University of Pennsylvania. She will share breakthroughs in her research.

“Although it is apparent that protein function requires molecular motions, it is generally understood that a protein carries out its function in one specific three-dimensional shape,” observed Jaffe, who completed a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and has served at Haverford College, Jefferson Medical College and University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

“We have recently discovered that this paradigm does not hold true for all proteins,” she said. “In some cases a protein can dissociate, change shape and reassemble into a structurally and functionally distinct assembly. We call such ‘dancing’ proteins morpheeins. These morpheeins have substantial implications for the development of new antimicrobial therapies and for the understanding of drug side effects in humans.” 

On Monday, Oct. 25, Chad Rezsnyak, an inorganic chemist in the University at Buffalo’s Department of Chemistry, will address “Green Alchemy: a Gold-based Approach to Generating Ethanol.”

“In the search for alternative energies, ethanol has attracted attention as a possible supplement to fossil fuels,” Rezsnyak noted.

In general, ethanol can be produced by fermentation or by chemical methods, he said. Fermentation is unsuitable for large-scale production of ethanol, since it is fermented from valuable food commodities. The chemical methods established thus far are also inadequate: they require high temperatures and pressures, and the syntheses are usually conducted under acidic conditions.

“The current research aims to develop a catalyst for producing fuel ethanol from a non-food-based starting material, all in the ‘greenest’ possible non-toxic solvent: water,” he said.

A 2007 SUNY Cortland graduate, Rezsnyak is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University at Buffalo with the goal of becoming a professor of chemistry.

On Monday, Nov. 15, Margaret Logan, an associate professor of chemistry at the College at Brockport, will focus her talk on “Synthetic and Mechanistic Aspects of Palladium-Catalyzed Aryl Chloride Reactions.”

“Palladium-catalyzed reactions of aryl chlorides include hydrodehalogenation, and carbon-carbon, carbon-nitrogen, and carbon-oxygen bond-forming reactions,” said Logan, who joined the College at Brockport in 2000 and is conducting research on this area of chemistry.

The work she will describe explores synthetic and mechanistic aspects of the hydrodehalogenation reactions of aryl chlorides using palladium catalysts with biphenyl ligands developed by the Buchwald group.

“In this context, studies of both the hydrodehalogenation and amination reactions were performed to provide evidence for the nature of the active catalyst: that is, whether it is homogeneous or exists as nanoparticles,” Logan noted. “These studies were performed in both traditional solvents and in phosphonium salt-derived ionic liquids.”

Since 2000, in collaboration with summer research students and students doing independent research projects, Logan has studied the synthesis and evaluation of novel diaryl telluride antioxidants and the development of homogeneous catalytic systems for application to remediation of aryl chlorides such as PCBs.

Logan has a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Rochester and received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University. She previously taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, University at Buffalo and the University of Rochester.

SUNY Cortland Athletics will host a fall Youth Day for children between the ages of seven and 12 from 10 a.m.-2:15 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2.

The event is free and open to the public.

“Our athletic teams have put together a day of great activities and other fun games around the SUNY Cortland athletic facilities,” said program organizer Mike Discenza, the SUNY Cortland women’s golf coach. “There will be several opportunities to watch different Cortland teams participate in their sporting events.”

Parents will be invited to attend the athletic events for free.

Parents are encouraged to pre-register to ensure space for their children to participate. They can stop by the Athletic Department Office in Park Center, E-302, or e-mail Discenza for a form. Registration also will be offered at 10 a.m. on the day of the event in the Park Center main lobby. Afterward parents should pick up their child at the site of their activity.

After 15 years as a neo-Nazi white supremacist activist and recruiter, Tom “T.J.” Leyden experienced a profound change of heart, turned away from hate and began teaching tolerance. He will share his experience on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at SUNY Cortland.

Leyden will discuss “Turning Away from Hate” at 7:30 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.                  

Presented by the College’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Committee, the talk is free and open to the public.

During his talk, Leyden will describe how a man can leave behind a life of intolerance that has defined him for so long. He will share what others can learn from his experiences that can help to combat hatred within a community.

Tom "T.J." Leyden

A neo-Nazi skinhead by the age of 15, Leyden spent the next 15 years as a promoter, organizer and recruiter for the white supremacist movement. At one point, he had more than 29 tattoos of swastikas and other Nazi symbols covering his body. Leyden spent holidays and family vacations at white supremacist events and committed violent acts against Jews, Blacks, Latinos, homosexuals and other minority groups on a regular basis. He even hung a Nazi flag over the crib of his newborn son.

A life-changing moment turned him away from hate. Since then, he has abandoned the movement.

Now Leyden is one of the nation’s most powerful voices for tolerance. He spoke at a White House conference on hate crimes at the invitation of President Barak Obama. He served on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Anti-hate Task Force in Los Angeles for more than five years. Leyden has been featured in Time Magazine, an episode of CBS’s “48 Hours” and several episodes of the “Gangland” series on the History Channel.

For more information, contact Vicki Wilkins, professor, Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department.

Robert Spitzer, a distinguished service professor and chair of the Political Science Department at SUNY Cortland, will predict the results of the upcoming U.S. elections in light of President Barack Obama’s declining popularity, on Thursday, Oct. 7, at SUNY Cortland.

Spitzer, a frequent political commentator and author of books on American politics, will discuss “The 2010 Elections and the Future of the Obama Presidency” from 8-9 a.m. in SUNY Cortland’s Park Center Hall of Fame Room. Refreshments will be served at 7:45 a.m. A question-and-answer period will follow Spitzer’s presentation.

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.

“Only two years after President Obama’s sweeping election, the political signs in this election year point to a Republican resurgence in the upcoming midterm elections,” Spitzer noted. “I will examine the reasons for this change. Is it personal or structural? Is it Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement? The economy? Health care? And what will the next two years look like?”

Spitzer will share his ideas on the political, social and economic forces impacting the midterm election.

The Community Roundtable series provides programs on diverse intellectual, regional and cultural topics of interest to College faculty and staff and community members. Each roundtable is held on the first Thursday of the month. Open parking is provided to attendees.

For more information, contact the CEE at (607) 753-4214 or visit www2.cortland.edu/centers/cee/community-roundtables/.

Southern singer and songwriter Deidre McCalla will headline SUNY Cortland’s Family Weekend at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, in the Corey Union Function Room.

Other Family Weekend events, from Oct. 8-10, include informational talks, athletic events, a planetarium show, a trip to Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill, an Alumni Parents’ Reception for alumni who are parents of current students, and educational and recreational activities for the entire family.

Participants who sign up and bring a towel and I.D. will have access to the Tomik Fitness Center from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday.

On Friday, the men’s soccer team plays Fredonia at the Stadium Complex; the women’s volleyball squad faces Stevens Institute in Park Center Corey Gymnasium; and a Family Shabbat Dinner will be held at Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge and the Temple Brith Sholom.

McCalla, a single parent residing in Georgia with her son, will discuss “Outside the Lines: Reflections on Race, Gender, Sexuality, Art, Parenting and Politics” at 4 p.m. in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The lecture, presented by the Campus Artists and Lecture Series (CALS) and the Multicultural Life Office, is free and open to the public.

The Alumni Parents Reception at 6 p.m. will provide alumni an opportunity to socialize with their children and siblings at the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House at 29 Tompkins St. Light hors d’oeuvres, non-alcoholic beverages and pizza will be served. Representatives from the Alumni Association will be available to talk about the house, the association and about their own experiences with their children attending Cortland.

On Saturday, College administrators and staff will present “Help Your Student Be Successful” at 10 a.m. in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The vice president for student affairs and representatives from Residence Life and Housing, Dining Services, Academic Affairs, the Multicultural Life Office, and Counseling Center will be available to answer questions and discuss student life over coffee and tea.

Other Saturday events include the annual President’s Brunch, hosted by SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum; morning and afternoon volleyball games against Geneseo and Hunter in the Park Center Corey Gymnasium; a football game with Brockport at the Stadium Complex; men’s soccer vs. Buffalo State at the Stadium Complex; a planetarium show in the Bowers Hall Planetarium; a bus trip from Corey Union to Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill; and Glow in the Dark Ice Skating at the Park Center Alumni Arena.

The weekend culminates that evening with Deidre McCalla as SUNY Cortland continues its tradition of bringing up-and-coming, vibrant performing artists to Family Weekend. Presented by the Campus Artists and Lecture Series, the event will feature an ongoing dessert reception.

On Sunday, Oct. 10, a Family Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. at O’Heron Newman Catholic Chapel at 8 Calvert St.

A fee is charged for Family Weekend sporting events, the Family Shabbat Dinner, the Presidents’ Brunch, the Deidre McCalla concert and the Glow in the Dark Ice Skating events. Tickets may be purchased during registration in the Corey Union lobby from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, and at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9. Deidre McCalla 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 a registration form or more information about Family Weekend, stop by Corey Union, Room 406, visit the Family Weekend website at www2.cortland.edu/parents-families/family-weekend.

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. 11.

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.-11:30 a.m. 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.

Special sessions on admissions, financial aid, athletics, dining services, residence life and housing also will be offered that day. For details, visit the website at cortland.edu/admissions.

Parking for Open House visitors will be provided at the Route 281 parking lot, which features 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 Friday, Nov. 12.

Holocaust survivor and author Marion Blumenthal Lazan will share the unforgettable story of her family’s escape from Nazi-controlled Germany on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at SUNY Cortland.

Beginning at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room, Blumenthal Lazan will offer her story of horror and hardship but also of courage, hope and the will to survive. A reception will follow.

Presented by the Campus Artists and Lecture Series (CALS), admission is free for all students of college age and children 10 and under. General admission is $5. Copies of her book, with her inscription, will be available for purchase.

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 on tickets, call (607) 753-5574.

Blumenthal Lazan’s memoir, Four Perfect Pebbles, A Holocaust Story, co-authored with Lila Perl, relates how, following Adolph Hitler’s rise to power, she and her parents and brother were trapped in Nazi Germany. They eventually made their way to Holland, but soon the Nazis occupied the country. For the next six-and-a-half years, the Blumenthals were forced to live in refugee, transit and prison camps that included Westerbork in Holland and the notorious Bergen-Belsen in Germany.

Marion Blumenthal Lazan, shown above left as a child, will speak on Oct. 19 about her escape from Nazi Germany.

It took three more years of struggle and waiting before the Blumenthal Lazan family obtained the necessary papers and boarded ship for the U.S. More information about Blumenthal Lazan is available at her website, www.fourperfectpebbles.com.

SUNY Cortland Professor Emeritus of History Sanford Gutman, Interim Director of Multicultural Life Noelle Paley and Distinguished Service Professor and Professor of Political Science Henry Steck helped develop the presentation.

Children’s educational programs on kite flying, insects and nature will be highlighted during the Fall 2010 Children’s Museum season, which continues on Saturday, Oct. 23.

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. and are open to community families and their children. 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. 

On Oct. 23, Alexis Abramo, grant project manager and former science museum educator, will show children and families how to “Go Fly a Kite.” Participants will learn about air and air pressure, view demonstrations and make a real kite using simple household materials.

The 19th annual Education Club Halloween Party will be celebrated on Oct. 30. The event is open to community children ages 1 to 10. Activities will include face painting, storytelling, invisible writing, games and craft making. Donuts and other treats will be served and prizes awarded for games.

Susan Stratton, assistant professor, will lead two sessions of the “Nature Nook Series” on Nov. 6 and Nov. 20.

On Nov. 6, a special program in the “Nature Nook Series” called “Insect Circus” will be featured. Cornell Naturalist Outreach students will bring displays and presentations to the Children’s Museum for participant exploration.

On Nov. 20, children can take part in nature study activities with the assistance of graduate and undergraduate childhood and early childhood teacher candidates. Supported by a grant through Cortland’s Auxiliary Services Corporation, the series will provide inquiry-based, hands-on activities for young children on nature-oriented topics. Participants will sample local fruits and vegetables and make easy to prepare dishes for all to share.

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 Early Childhood Coordinator Emilie Kudela at (607) 753-5525 or Stratton at (607) 753-2467, by e-mail at childrensmuseum@cortland.edu or visit their website.

SUNY Cortland’s Communication Disorders and Sciences Department is looking for adults, ranging in age from 18 to 70 years, who stutter to participate in a research study.

The study will be conducted by Irena Vincent, Communication Disorders and Sciences Department, and senior Michaela Granato of Auburn, N.Y. Granato received funding from the Undergraduate Research Council for a summer fellowship research project.

The research findings will enhance the present understanding of the nature of stuttering and help direct further investigation of the relationship between language processes and stuttering.

“The fellowship has provided me the opportunity for hands-on experience doing research in a field that I hope to pursue after graduation,” said Granato. “Getting the word out to the community that we are looking for adults who stutter is key to this project’s success.”

Participation requires about two hours and will take place at the department’s office located at 60 Tompkins St., Cortland.

Subjects will complete a questionnaire, have their stuttering assessed, and will perform three experimental tasks which involve viewing various pictures and pushing a button in response to the pictures.

Individuals who meet the inclusion criteria and complete the study will receive compensation for their time and participation.

This study has been approved by SUNY Cortland’s Institutional Review Board and it expires on April 25, 2011. It is supported by the Research and Sponsored Programs Office.

To participate or for more information, contact Vincent at (607) 753-2536.

The Performing Arts Department at SUNY Cortland has announced the cast for its October production of the Cole Porter Broadway musical comedy “Kiss Me, Kate.”

The play will be performed Friday-Sunday, Oct. 22-24, and Oct. 29-31, in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, Oct. 1, at Jodi’s Hallmark Shop on Main Street.

Musical theatre majors Derek Mellor and Katie Quigley will play Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, the quarreling acting couple performing in a musical version of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”

The secondary couple of hoofer Bill Calhoun and ingenue Lois Lane will be played by Tim Fuchs and Amy Lamberti, and the two gangsters who get involved with the performance will be portrayed by Skylar Winter and Joey Gugliemelli.

The cast also includes Paul Smith, Rasheem Ford, Annali Fuchs, Doug Robbins, Ricky Wenthen and Tom Fuchs, Physical Education Department. Completing the cast are Jacqui Fisher, Carly Merrill, Chrissy Jackson, Charles O’Connor, Lisa Reid, Sara Laursen, Alexa DeFina, Grace McGeoch, Mallary Walton, Samantha Rey, Natalie Luzzi, Nicole Herlihy, and community member Barbara Jo Williams.

“Kiss Me, Kate” is directed and choreographed by Kevin Halpin, associate professor of performing arts.

More information about the musical and this season’s other events can be found on the Performing Arts Department website. 

International gospel recording artist and SUNY Cortland alumna J. Christine Johnson Sinclair ’89 will return to campus on Sunday, Oct. 24, for the 25th Anniversary Gospel Concert.

The concert begins at 4 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An offering to support the Student Scholarship Fund will be collected during intermission.

Directing Cortland’s Gospel Choir will be Robert Brown, Africana Studies and Communication Studies Departments.

The concert will introduce Cortland A Cappella.

Sinclair has performed across the United States, Europe, South Africa, Malawi Africa, the Caribbean and Canada. She has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including BBC, 3ABN, the Hope Channel and The Bobby Jones Gospel Show on The Word Network. In January 2010, she sang for the My9 TV Hope for Haiti Telethon broadcast live from the Fox 5 Studios in New York City. In August 2010, her one-hour episode of the 3ABN Today Show debuted worldwide on the Three Angels Broadcasting Network. The program was an in-depth look into the life and music of Sinclair. In 2008, a similar program titled “My Story, My Song” was broadcast worldwide on The Hope Channel, and has been re-broadcast several times.

Sinclair, one of the original members of the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir, graduated 1989 from SUNY Cortland with a B.A. in music (Vocal Performance), and a minor in German. She completed her music/German studies in Heidelberg, Germany, as part of the SUNY Cortland Study Abroad Program.

Born and raised in Cortland, she is the daughter of Joan R. Johnson and the late Ellis A. Johnson, professor of history emeritus. She attended elementary school on the SUNY Cortland campus when the college sponsored the Campus School, and graduated from Cortland High School.

Sinclair has four CD recordings, all of which will be available on sale outside of the auditorium. For more information, visit her website at www.sinclairmusic.com.

“The opportunity to proclaim the gospel to the world through song is truly a privilege,” said Sinclair.

Christine resides in Stamford, Conn., with her husband Robin Sinclair, daughter, Jaslyn, and son, Noah.

For more information, contact Sam Kelley, a faculty member in the Communication Studies and Africana Studies Departments, by e-mail or phone at (607) 753-4104.

David G. Bauer ’66, a nationally recognized author on grant seeking and fundraising, will return to campus on Friday, Oct. 1, to present two half-day seminars for faculty and staff who are interested in improving their success at obtaining outside support for their research.

The seminars, which are free and open to SUNY Cortland faculty and staff, are sponsored by the Research and Sponsored Programs Office; the deans of the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Education and Professional Studies; the College Research Committee; and the Faculty Development Center. Pre-registration is greatly appreciated for planning purposes. 

Bauer will conduct the two seminars in Corey Union Fireplace Lounge. The first, from 8:30 a.m.-noon, will address “How to Successfully Obtain Federal Funding.”

A light, networking lunch will be provided for participants from noon-1 p.m. To participate in the seminar and lunch, R.S.V.P. to Pam Schroeder at (607) 753-2511.

The second seminar, on “How to Lead a Quality Circle: Peer Review To Improve Proposals,” takes place from 1-4 p.m. To attend the afternoon session, R.S.V.P. to Schroeder.

In the first session, the best-selling author and SUNY Cortland alumnus will share his expertise as one of higher education’s most highly sought presenters on grant development. Bauer is the author of several books on grant seeking and fundraising, including the American Council of Education’s bestseller, The “How To” Grants Manual, and The Fund-Raising Primer. Bauer will provide a dynamic and lively half-day seminar on how to tap into federal funding and how to successfully prepare a competitive grant application that prompts constructive merit review and results in an award.

The second seminar imitates as closely as possible the makeup, timing and schedule of an actual grant proposal review by a granting agency such as National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation or National Institutes of Health. The participants will pose as quality circle reviewers to evaluate a SUNY Cortland interdisciplinary grant proposal and offer feedback on how to improve the proposal for resubmission. The seminar promises to be rigorous but friendly, and to develop the expertise for each participant so that he or she may lead and facilitate quality circles.

The Publications and Electronic Media Office has updated the campus information pages of the Faculty and Staff Directory. A PDF that can be downloaded and printed is available at the Directory link on the Faculty/Staff home page.

All SUNY Cortland employees are asked to review and update their information in the online campus directory. This directory lists name, title, department, phone number, office location and e-mail address for each College employee.

Please note that the phone number you choose for your directory listing will be accessible by the public on www.cortland.edu. Home addresses and/or telephone numbers are not listed in the online directory.

State employees should check and update their information as follows:

1. Log in to myRedDragon
2. Select the Faculty/Staff tab
3. In the Important Links box, select My Directory Information
4. Review and update, if needed, the information shown

Anyone who is unable to access their directory information or myRedDragon should contact The Help Center by e-mail or at (607) 753-2500.

Research Foundation employees should submit changes to Brent Danega in the Human Resources Office by sending an e-mail or by phone at (607) 753-2414.

ASC employees should submit directory changes to ASC Human Resources Specialist Sue Michales via e-mail or by
phone at (607) 753-4751.

The 2010 Annual Service Awards Ceremony recognizing classified staff will be held on Friday, Dec. 3, in the Corey Union Function Room.

The following employees are slated to receive awards. To note a correction or addition to the list, contact the Human Resources Office at (607) 753-2302.

10 Years

Gregory Bliss, University Police Department

Connal Carr, Service Group

Wayne Carroll, Service Group

Eric Collins, University Police Department

John Coye, Custodial Services

Janice Eaton, Foundations and Social Advocacy

Donald Gardner, Heating Plant

Bradley Holl, Mail Services/Central Warehouse/Commissary/Central Receiving

Nancy Kuklis, Graduate Studies Office

Kathy McCracken, Custodial Services

Richard Metcalf, Service Group

Phillip Miller, Service Group

Kerry Mincher, Business Office

Anthony Petrella, Custodial Services

Michael Polk, Heating Plant

Joel Rice, Service Group

Russell Scott, Duplicating Center

Shirley Shepard, Custodial Services

Nadia Snell, Student Accounts Office

JoAnna Tobias, Geography and Philosophy Departments

Debra Whitney, Center for Educational Exchange

Lynn Wiers, Memorial Library

Richard Zurell, Service Group

15 Years

Dawn Bulmer, Payroll Office

Vicki Clark, Custodial Services

Oscar Davis, Custodial Services

Diana McGee, Student Support Services

20 Years

Walter Anderson, Service Group

Susan Bush, Memorial Library

Judah Currie, Service Group

Carol Kanellis, Academic Support and Achievement Program

Mary Murphy, University Police Department

Mary Taylor, Custodial Services

Michael Zhe, Service Group

25 Years

Gary Lawrence, Service Group

John Young, Service Group

30 Years

Julie Crandall, University Police Department

Michael Partigianoni, Equipment Room

Laurie Pepper, Memorial Library

Denise Riley, Economics Department

Kevin Russell, Service Group

International partner representatives from the United Kingdom, Belize, Costa Rica and Egypt, as well as representatives from other SUNY campuses, will showcase their international programs at a Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

Sponsored by the College’s James M. Clark Center for International Education, it will be held from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Corey Union lower level, Dragon Court Hallway. The fair is free and open to the campus community. Funding and scholarship information will be available.

Study abroad allows students to explore the world for a summer, winter session, semester, or a year while earning credit. Students may choose from more than 500 SUNY programs, virtually anywhere in the world, in a range of disciplines. Students may attend a college or university, participate in an internship, student teach, or join a short-term specialized program.

Students who study abroad describe their experiences as life changing. Surveys that have explored the long-term impact on a student’s personal, professional, and academic life show that the experience positively influences their career paths, world-view and self-confidence.

For more information, contact the James M. Clark Center for International Education by e-mail or by phone at (607) 753-2209.

Two tickets to Super Bowl XLV will be raffled by SUNY Cortland to benefit the Cortland College Foundation. One winner will be chosen to receive a Super Bowl package to attend the game on Feb. 6, 2011, in Arlington, Texas.

Five hundred tickets will be sold at a cost of $100 each. The drawing will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 8.

One winner will be chosen to receive a deluxe Super Bowl package valued at $3,742 and including the following:

• Two tickets to the game at Cowboys Stadium ($2,000 minimum value)
• Three nights at the Holiday Inn Select North Dallas ($742 value)
• $1,000 in cash for transportation and other expenses

“Last year, the Foundation received nearly $30,000 from this raffle and was able to support campus programs and student scholarships with the proceeds,” said Ray Franco, vice president, Institutional Advancement. “Attending the Super Bowl is one of those things that many people dream about and this raffle will enable someone connected with SUNY Cortland to do just that. Our goal is to sell all available tickets which will allow the Foundation to give the campus nearly $50,000 for programs and scholarships.”

Participants must be at least 18 years of age. To purchase a ticket, send payment of $100 for each ticket with name, home address, phone number and e-mail to Melony Warwick, SUNY Cortland, P.O. Box 2000, Cortland, NY 13045. Make checks payable to Cortland College Foundation, Inc.

For more information, contact Warwick by e-mail or phone at (607) 753-2518.

Winter Session contracts were distributed to faculty by campus mail on Sept. 20. One signed copy of the contract should be returned to Mary Cervoni, Miller Building, Room 223, within 10 days of the contract date.

Timely return of the contract assists the office with preparation of the Winter Session payroll so individuals may be paid on time. In addition, courses will be listed on the Web in October based on the receipt of a signed contract.

Those with questions about their contract, or those not receiving a contract but expecting one, should contact Mary Cervoni at (607) 753-4207.

Andrea Forward, a senior political science major from Bouckville, N.Y., was the winner of one of six Washington Intern Scholarships awarded by Pi Sigma Alpha to support her internship this semester in Washington, D.C.

Forward was inducted into the Cortland chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honors society, in 2009.

The scholarship program is a nationwide competition that chooses winners based on academic merit and service. Each winner receives $2,000 from Pi Sigma Alpha.

The other five student winners come from Hofstra University, Vanderbilt University, Rutgers University, Ohio Northern University, and SUNY Oneonta.

Forward’s internship is coordinated through the SUNY Washington Semester Program, in which Cortland participates. She is interning this fall in the office of New York Senator Charles Schumer and will earn a full semester’s worth of academic credits for her internship.