Campus Champion

Auxiliary Services Corporation’s (ASC) dining efforts have a special ingredient and its name is Bill McNamara. The director of dining services oversees all food operations on campus and a team of roughly 140 employees. With more than 6,500 meals served daily in 11 dining facilities, it’s no easy task. But Bill and his team excel at what they do. The most recent National Association of College and University Food Services customer satisfaction survey indicates ASC’s dining services provide better food, service and cleanliness than most colleges offer.

Brian G. Murphy ’83, the chair of the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors and a highly successful venture capitalist in the health care field, will receive the first-ever SUNY Cortland Presidential Champion of Excellence Award during the College’s Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 12.

Murphy, a vital contributor in launching and steering the College’s current $25 million capital campaign, will receive a medallion from SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum to commemorate the honor.

The SUNY Cortland Presidential Champion of Excellence Award recognizes an individual or individuals for significant contributions to the pursuit of excellence at SUNY Cortland. It expresses the College’s admiration and appreciation for extraordinary service and leadership. The award is given at the sole discretion of SUNY Cortland’s president. Potential nominees for the award may be brought to the president’s attention by any variety of groups or individuals.

“It’s no coincidence that Brian will become the first person to receive this award,” President Bitterbaum said. “When it comes to establishing a vision and supporting meaningful student experiences, his leadership has been invaluable. Quite simply, he embodies the champion spirit of SUNY Cortland.”

Murphy’s behind-the-scenes work related to launching the “Educating Champions: the Campaign for Cortland” was critical, organizers noted. The campaign, which was announced publically in September, is built around SUNY Cortland’s four institutional priorities: cultivating academic excellence; providing transformational learning experiences; promoting physical, emotional and community well being; and maximizing College resources to create a foundation for sustainable operation and growth.

“When we first started developing the campaign, the first consultant we engaged suggested to us that if we could raise $16 million, it would be not only extremely successful but very optimistic,” said Murphy, who knew Cortland could do better. “Now, it looks like we’re going to exceed $25 million. To me, far and away, that speaks volumes of our leadership. It speaks volumes of our alumni and it speaks volumes of the people serving on our Foundation Board.

“To have been a part of that is easily the most gratifying accomplishment in my time as chair.”

Despite serving as board chair during one of the toughest economic times since the Great Depression, Murphy helped guide a transformative era in terms of fundraising for SUNY Cortland. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, for instance, SUNY Cortland shattered its giving records when alumni and friends contributed $6.2 million to the College. That same year, Murphy, along with immediate past Foundation Board chair Victor Rumore ’84 and the President’s Council, pledged to match new and increased College employee gifts with up to $203,000 over five years.

By the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year, the endowment of the Cortland College Foundation stood at an all-time high of $21.6 million.

Murphy, who will finish his term as board chair in August, credited two sources for the unprecedented success during his tenure.

“Number one, certainly, it’s the character of Cortland alumni, their natural compassion and their giving nature,” said the former health education major. “And it’s also about the maturation of the role of private capital alongside of our public institutions.”

Private dollars invested in public institutions are vital, he said.

“It’s the future of institutions like ours,” he said. “The really good public institutions are going to be public-private partnerships and it’s so important to get that message out and get those fundamentals in place.”

Professionally, Murphy claims more than 25 years of experience related to private equity, corporate management and development, focused primarily in health care services. He is a founding general partner of NewSpring Capital, a private equity family of funds, and he is responsible for NewSpring Health Capital, the health care investing vehicle of the firm. NewSpring has approximatiely $1 billion under management with four offices in the mid-Atlantic region.

Besides serving on the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors since 2005 and as its chair since 2008, Murphy also is a member of the College’s Lofty Elm Society and a charter patron of the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House. In September, he and his wife, Patricia Rhubottom, were presented with a Philanthropy Medal from President Bitterbaum for giving more than $100,000 to SUNY Cortland.

The couple, living in Berwyn, Pa., has established two scholarships at the College, one for each of their parents. The Thomas and Martha Rhubottom Scholarship helps an individual who has served in the United States Armed Forces. It was created with Rhubottom’s father, a career military man, in mind. The George and Phyllis Murphy Scholarship benefits a student with a disability who also pursues a career in education. Murphy’s father is mostly deaf and his mother is a music educator.

“It was great for us to be able to create scholarships that intersected both of our lives,” he said.

Although his term as board chair ends in August, Murphy will continue to serve as an active board member.

“I’ve been lucky to strike up so many wonderful personal and professional relationships while serving on the board,” he said.

Steven Broyles, a professor of biological sciences at SUNY Cortland, has been named the College’s ninth recipient of the Rozanne M. Brooks Dedicated Teacher Award. He will be recognized formally on Thursday, May 3, during the College’s annual Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service Reception.

The Brooks Award honors a faculty member who devotes a significant amount of time both to teaching and to working with students outside of class. The award includes a $5,000 honorarium to enhance the recipient’s teaching initiatives.

Broyles said he will use the Brooks Award stipend to buy specialized photographic equipment to capture images of miniscule objects as well as equipment with sensors that will be used in the field to monitor the activity of animals and insects that have been tagged with dabs of paint.

The Brooks Award was endowed through the generosity of the late Rozanne Marie Brooks, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and SUNY Cortland professor emerita of sociology and anthropology, and her former students, friends and colleagues. A SUNY Cortland faculty member for 36 years, Brooks died in 1997. The first award was presented in spring 1998.

Broyles’ teaching record made him an excellent candidate.

“His enthusiastic teaching style in front of his classes and his devotion to offering students a wide array of learning experiences outside of the classroom epitomize the intent of Dr. Brooks’s concept of an award to recognize faculty ‘who are outstanding teachers in the classroom, who spend considerable time with students and (who) are very student oriented,’” said Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences Timothy Baroni, a former Brooks Award recipient who was speaking on behalf of the Selection Committee. “His infectious excitement for exploring the living world around us allows him to fully engage his students in an indoor classroom or in an outdoor laboratory.”

Other committee members include two other former Brooks Award recipients, Professor Emerita of Foundations and Social Advocacy Mary Lee Martens and Professor of English Victoria Boynton.

Broyles’ teaching philosophy is that “science is exciting and should be taught enthusiastically.”

“There is no single prescription of success that ties together all the classes that I teach,” Broyles commented. “Students in my Biological Sciences I class require a scientifically rigorous course that prepares them for more challenging biology classes, thinking like a scientist and understanding basic principles that tie together all the biological courses. In contrast, students in Field Natural History come from the disciplines of childhood education and programs in recreation, parks and leisure studies. This population deserves experiences in the outdoors that are authentic and hands on. They need the hands-on field experiences and information that permits them to overcome fears and explore nature with a scientific background.”

Nevertheless, all students must be engaged and mentally active in the classroom, he asserted.

“This is encouraged by active participation in lectures, occasional demonstrations and small group discussions.”

Colleagues and former students offered their insights on Broyles as a teacher.

“He is devoted particularly to working with students outside the typical classroom setting,” said R. Lawrence Klotz, a distinguished teaching professor of biological sciences who nominated Broyles for the recognition.

For approximately 18 years, Broyles has put aside his personal and professional aspirations to conduct the Field Biology course in August at the College’s Environmental and Outdoor Educational Center at Raquette Lake, according to Klotz. Even in his early years on the faculty, Broyles declined to take regular semester release time to which he was entitled as compensation for the summer commitment.

“The energy and enthusiasm required for a faculty member to teach the (Field Biology course), especially for three weeks as Dr. Broyles did for many years, is extraordinary,” said Klotz. Once, a student fell gravely ill while at Raquette Lake and Broyles drove the young woman home to her family in Cortland before returning to teach class early the next morning. The student, meanwhile, underwent emergency surgery.

“Teaching and being responsible for 20 students in the wilds of the Adirondacks is a major commitment,” Klotz noted.

Klotz credits Broyles’ ability to perceive each student as a unique individual.

“Once he has this connection with each student showing his commitment, he can then challenge them to excel in the class,” Klotz said.

Over the years, Broyles also has taken his students on Neotropical Biology field trips to Costa Rica and Belize and on other special field trips. Currently his students are engaged in a service learning experience that involves studying the number, location and health of trees in Cortland and Homer, N.Y. He has advised the Biology Club for many years and organized the annual reception for graduating seniors after Commencement and served on the City of Cortland Water Board.

Several students wrote letters supporting the nomination. One student, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Science at SUNY Cortland and also is finishing a Master of Arts in Teaching for Biology at her alma mater, praised her academic adviser for exhibiting “not only an extensive knowledge of biological sciences but a great passion as well.”

“I was able to learn from his expertise and present at SUNY Cortland’s Scholars’ Day two years in a row,” wrote the student, Sarah Smith of Chittenango, N.Y. “I was complimented on my knowledge and presentation skills and I give Dr. Broyles 100 percent credit for his ability to teach and prepare his students. I could not have done this without his help and support. I now have experience that I will be able to share with my students as a teacher.”

A member of the SUNY Cortland faculty since 1992, Broyles joined as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 1997 and to professor in 2004. He also teaches Ornithology, Introduction to Environmental Studies, Economy and Ecology of Belize, Biology of Trees, Integrated Earth and Life Sciences, and Conservation Biology Seminar.

A Midwest native, Broyles has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and both a Master of Science and a doctorate in Botany from University of Georgia. His dissertation, “The Reproductive Biology of Poke Milkweed, Asclepias exaltata L.: Population Structure, Mating Patterns, Pollen Dispersal and the Evolution of Inflorescence Size, was recognized by the university with the Sigma Xi Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award in 1993. The university presented him with its Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 1990 and its Outstanding Teaching Award in 1992.

The Botanical Society of America presented Broyles with its 1991 Margaret Menzel Award for Outstanding Paper in Plant Genetics. The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools awarded him its 1990 Outstanding Thesis Award in Natural Sciences and Mathematics. In 1989, he was recognized by the Association of Southeastern Biologists both for best student paper in ecology and for student research. He was inducted into the interdisciplinary honor society Phi Kappa Phi and the Blue Key National Honor Fraternity. In 2002, the State University of New York honored Broyles with its Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Broyles has taken part in numerous college committees and currently advises the Biology Club. He has served since 2005 as an Appeals Board justice of the College’s Judicial Affairs Office.

He is married to Susan Sherman-Broyles, a research associate at Cornell University. The couple lives in Cortland. They have two sons, Christopher, currently a sophomore at Methodist University, and Cory, a Cortland High School senior who is headed to American University in the fall.

SUNY Cortland will conduct two undergraduate Commencement ceremonies — one at 9:30 a.m. and the other at 2:30 p.m. — on Saturday, May 12, in the Park Center Alumni Arena.

An estimated 1,408 seniors will receive bachelor’s degrees during Commencement exercises, which will be presided over by SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum.

Geoffrey C. Godbey ’64, whose research revolutionized the way leisure time is perceived and continues to influence both public policy and private development, will address the graduates during the morning and afternoon ceremonies. The State University of New York will bestow an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters upon Godbey during Commencement. A prelude, processional and recessional music will be provided by the Cortland Brass Ensemble.

President Bitterbaum will deliver the charge to graduates.

During the morning ceremony, Gradin Avery, associate provost for enrollment management and marketing, will carry the mace, a ceremonial staff used as a symbol of institutional authority at the College’s Commencement and academic convocations. Four multi-colored gonfalons, representing the College, its School of Arts and Sciences, School of Education and School of Professional Studies, will be carried, respectively, by Gail Wood, director of Memorial Library; Larry Klotz, distinguished teaching professor of biological sciences; Joy Mosher, associate professor of childhood/early childhood education; and Jeffrey Walkuski, associate professor of physical education.

Kelsey Reed of Breezy Point, N.Y., and Samantha Rey of Syracuse, N.Y., both senior musical theatre majors, will sing the national anthem and the Alma Mater, respectively, for the morning ceremony.

During the afternoon commencement, Raymond D. Franco’ 72, M ’75, vice president for institutional advancement, will carry the mace. Gonfaloniers will be: Thomas Hischak, professor of performing arts, with the All-School banner; Mary Kennedy, distinguished teaching professor of English, representing the School of Arts and Sciences; Janet Duncan, associate professor of foundations and social advocacy, representing the School of Education; and Robert Johnson ’58, coordinator of athletic tutoring in the Athletics Department, for the School of Professional Studies.

Keith Golden and Angelia Golden, both of Schenectady, N.Y., and both senior musical theatre majors, will sing the national anthem and the Alma Mater, respectively, for the afternoon ceremony.

President Bitterbaum will welcome the graduates at both ceremonies. Mark Prus, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will recognize the honor graduates. The 2011-12 Student Government Association (SGA) President Jamie Piperato, a senior kinesiology: sport studies major from Thiells, N.Y., will deliver remarks. Joining President Bitterbaum in conferring the degrees will be R. Bruce Mattingly, dean of arts and sciences; John Cottone, dean of professional studies; and Andrea Lachance, interim dean of education.

A total of 116 students are scheduled to graduate summa cum laude — the highest academic honor — with grade point averages of at least 3.75 on a scale of 4.00.

The largest number of majors set to graduate in each of the three schools are: 159 physical education majors in the School of Professional Studies, 149 childhood education majors in the School of Education, and 82 business economics majors in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Nancy Niskin Sorbella ’82, the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association president, officially will welcome the graduates into the ranks of the College’s alumni residing in all 50 U.S. states and more than 40 countries. In its 144-year history, SUNY Cortland has graduated more than 68,000 alumni.

The Undergraduate Commencement Committee is co-chaired by Virginia B. Levine, executive assistant to the president, and Marley Sweet Barduhn ’76, associate dean of the School of Education.

Other committee members include: Sila Argyle, supervising janitor of Park Center; Seth Asumah, professor of political science; Darci Bacigalupi, special events coordinator; Laurie Barton, assistant to the president; Mary Kate Boland, assistant director of leadership and community development, campus activities; Terence Cahill, college store director; Mark DePaull, university police assistant chief; Ralph Dudgeon, professor of performing arts (music); senior Brenna Filipello, student representative; David Horrocks, assistant director of buildings and grounds services; Cheryl Jewell, assistant manager of sports facilities and manger of the Alumni Arena; Emilie Kudela, associate professor of childhood/early childhood education; Kathleen Lawrence, associate professor of communication studies; sophomore Brendan Lowe, student representative; Eric Malmberg, professor of physical education; William McNamara, director of dining services; Mary E. Murphy ’87, university police lieutenant; Tracy Rammacher, director of publications and electronic media; Susan Rayl, associate professor of exercise science and sport studies; senior Jonah Reardon, student representative; Hailey Ruoff ’98, assistant director, instructional technologies and design services; Lee Scott-Mack M ’01, associate director, Registrar’s Office; Timothy Slack, director of physical plant; and Brad Snyder, associate director of classroom media services.

This year, both undergraduate Commencement ceremonies will be broadcast live on Time Warner Cable access Channel 17 to viewers in the Cortland area. The ceremonies also can be viewed on campus in any classroom equipped with a television, on channels 2 and 17.

Under a tradition inaugurated at the 2004 ceremony by President Bitterbaum, undergraduates may honor a special person who has helped them achieve their academic pursuit or goals. The respective name of the honoree will be read along with each graduate.

Graduating seniors wishing to acknowledge their multicultural heritage also will participate in a Kente Graduation Ceremony at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 11, in the Corey Union Function Room. The traditional, woven multicolored kente cloth of Ghana, originally worn by royalty, has become an important symbol for many African- Americans to highlight their connection to the African continent.

The SUNY Cortland Commencement ceremony for students earning master’s degrees and certificates of advanced study is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, May 11, in Bessie L. Park Class of 1901 Physical Education and Recreation Center Alumni Arena.

The College will award 217 master’s degrees and 22 certificates of advanced study. After the ceremony, a reception for the graduates and their guests will take place in the Corey Gymnasium.

An academic procession will open the Commencement. Associate Professor of Economics Timothy Phillips, who chairs the Faculty Senate, will be the macebearer.

Faculty members will carry the four multi-colored gonfalons representing the College, School of Education, School of Professional Studies, and School of Arts and Sciences, respectively. The gonfaloniers are: Peter McGinnis, chair of the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee and professor of kinesiology; Susan Wilson, associate dean of professional studies; Donna Videto, professor of health; and Rena Janke, associate professor of biological sciences.

Marina Gorelaya will perform the processional and recessional music. Senior musical theatre major Sara Laursen of Wantagh, N.Y., will sing the national anthem and the Alma Mater.

Provost Mark Prus will offer a welcome, and Amber K. Earl of Corning, N.Y., a candidate for Master of Science in Community Health, will provide remarks on behalf of the graduates. President Erik J. Bitterbaum will deliver the charge to the graduates. Presenting the degrees and certificates to the graduates will be R. Bruce Mattingly, dean of arts and sciences; John Cottone, dean of professional studies; and Andrea Lachance, interim dean of education.

Nancy Niskin Sorbella ’82, president of the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association Board of Directors, will welcome these newest graduates into the ranks of the College’s alumni, who live in all 50 U.S. states and more than 40 countries. In its 144-year history, SUNY Cortland has graduated more than 68,000 alumni.

Commencement marshals will be Mark Dodds, associate professor of sport management; Michele Gonzalez, associate professor of literacy; Beth Klein, professor and interim chair of childhood/early childhood education; Susan Rayl, associate professor of kinesiology; Hailey Ruoff ’98, assistant director, instructional technologies and design services; and Jeffrey Walkuski, associate professor of physical education.

The Graduate Commencement Committee is co-chaired by Virginia B. Levine, executive assistant to the president, and Ruoff.

Committee members include: Sila Argyle, supervising janitor; Darci Bacigalupi, special events coordinator; Marley S. Barduhn, assistant provost for teacher education; Mary Kate Boland, assistant director of leadership and community development, campus activities; Amanda Burrell, student representative; Terence Cahill, college store director; Mark DePaull, university police assistant chief; Tracy Frenyea, academic advisor and coordinator of graduate student support; Michele Irvin Gonzalez, associate professor of literacy; Peter McGinnis, professor of kinesiology; Joy Mosher, associate professor of childhood/early childhood education; Mary E. Murphy ’87, university police lieutenant; Brad Snyder, associate director of classroom media services; Arnold Talentino, honors program coordinator, and Yu Yu, student representative.

Graduates wishing to acknowledge their multicultural heritage will also participate in a Kente Graduation Ceremony at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 11, in the Corey Union Function Room. The traditional, woven multicolored kente cloth of Ghana, originally worn by royalty, has become an important symbol for many African Americans to highlight their connection to the African continent.

Joanne B. Freeman, who was rated one of the nation's "Top Young Historians" in 2005, will discuss the physical violence in the U.S. Congress between 1830 and the Civil War on Monday, April 30, at SUNY Cortland.

Freeman, a professor of history at Yale University, will share what her current research project has revealed in a talk titled “The Field of Blood: Congressional Violence in Antebellum America” at 4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, concludes “In/Civility,” the College’s yearlong series of conferences, lectures, film screenings and other events. “In/Civility” is presented by the Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC).

Freeman, who joined Yale’s History Department in 1997, specializes in the politics and political culture of the revolutionary and early national periods of American History.

In the last two years, she has worked as a historical consultant for the National Park Service in the reconstruction of the Alexander Hamilton Grange National Memorial.

Her current scholarship explores what the physical violence in the U.S. Congress suggests about the institution of Congress, the nature of American sectionalism, the challenges of a young nation's developing democracy, and the longstanding roots of the Civil War.

She is the author of the 2001 text Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the Early Republic (Yale University Press), which explores the “culture of honor” that animated the political relationships among the founding fathers, most notably, the famous Hamilton-Burr duel. The text won the 2002 Best Book Award of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. Her book was a featured selection of the History Book Club, and she has appeared on C-SPAN and on the PBS series, “The American Experience.”

Another of her books, Alexander Hamilton: Writings, was published by Library of America in 2001. She has written for Yale Law Journal, William and Mary Quarterly and the Journal of the Early Republic as well as contributed numerous articles for edited volumes.

Freeman has presented in venues such as the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Library of Congress and Colonial Williamsburg. She has researched for three exhibitions at the Library of Congress and one at the Museum of American Financial History. Freeman has served as historical consultant to “American Masters” on PBS, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the American History Media Center, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Park Service’s Hamilton Grange National Memorial.

A fellow of the Society of American Historians, she has a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia.

The “In/Civility” series is funded by the offices of the President and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Organizers and sponsors for Spring 2012 events also include the Africana Studies Department, the Political Science Department, the Performing Arts Department, the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, Neo-Vox and the “Teaching American History” Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

For more information, contact organizer and Associate Professor of History Scott Moranda at (607) 753-2052.

If the United States is spending more money on health care than any other country, shouldn’t it have the highest life expectancy and lowest infant mortality rate? Apparently not, says Craig Little, a SUNY distinguished service professor of sociology/anthropology at SUNY Cortland.

Little will present “Health Care in America: Where In The World Are We?” at 8 a.m. on Thursday, May 3 in the Park Center Hall of Fame Room. The talk is the final one in the SUNY Cortland Community Roundtable series, which is presented by the President’s Office and the Field Experience and School Partnerships Office.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will precede the lecture at 7:45 a.m. and a question-and-answer session will follow it.

“The American mentality surrounding health care is: ‘If I got mine, I don’t care about anyone else,’” Little said.

But there are more than 50 million Americans living without health care, Little pointed out.

 “Instead of reinventing the wheel, let’s look at the countries already providing affordable and adequate health care for their people,” he said.

In his talk, Little also will address the importance of health care for college students.

 “Most young adults don’t feel like they need health care,” he said. “But imagine not having health care and getting into a car accident. You could potentially spend the rest of your life in debt.”

The SUNY Cortland Community Roundtable series provides programs on diverse intellectual, regional and cultural topics of interest to College faculty, staff and community members. Public parking is available in the Park Center lot during the event.

For more information, contact the Field Experience and School Partnerships Office at (607) 753-4214.

SUNY Cortland students can become eligible for speaker docks, Campus Store gift cards and other prizes, just for filling out an anonymous online survey about their health-related habits, practices and needs.

Findings from the survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, will be used to assess and improve health care programs and services on campus.

“By doing the online survey, students are able to share their health concerns and interests and will have a significant part in determining future programming efforts for the College,” said Cathy Smith, health educator in the Health Promotion/Student Development office. “The Health Promotion Office is offering excellent prizes as an incentive for completing the online survey because this survey is so important.”

SUNY Cortland students ages 18 years and older are invited to participate in the online 2012 National College Health Assessment. It is sponsored by the Student Development Center, which includes the Health Promotions Office, the Student Health Service, the Counseling Center and the American College Health Association (ACHA).

The survey is online at http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/33760/NCHA-IIb-S12-SUNYCORTLAND.htm. A link to the survey was emailed to all undergraduate students on April 16. Students are encouraged to complete it in one sitting.

Completely voluntary and anonymous, some questions are of a personal nature concerning such health behaviors as substance use and sexual activity. No identifying information will be associated with the responses and students can choose to not answer any question. Names and contact information on the printed sheet are never linked in any way to student survey responses.

After completing the survey, students can print a “Thank you for participating” statement that they can write their names on and drop it off in the “red box” in the Health Promotion Office, Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-1. A drawing for prizes, which include headphones, a camera, speaker docks and College Store gift cards, will be held at the end of the project.

This survey, developed by the ACHA, will be administered through May to assess the behaviors, attitudes and perceptions of college students related to a broad range of health issues. These issues include alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, exercise and nutrition, safety and violence, sexual health and mental health. The ACHA/NCHA II survey is the most widely used and accepted among colleges and universities. It has been administered to more than 825,000 students at more than 550 colleges and universities since 2000. 

The standard survey will also include an additional seven questions specific to SUNY Cortland and the on-campus Student Health Service. 

For more information, contact Smith by email or at (607) 753-2066.

Four high-achieving members of SUNY Cortland’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines, put academic excellence on full display and again raised the bar for future scholars in 2012.

The students, recognized as “Scholars of the Year” by Phi Kappa Phi’s Cortland chapter, included Bryan Mulcahey, a senior business economics major from Morrisville, N.Y.; Kellie Murphy, a junior adolescence education: social studies major from Farmingdale, N.Y.; Mark Nader, a senior sport management major from Oneonta, N.Y.; and Meghan Rae Olsowski, a senior sociology major from LeRoy, N.Y.

The honor was based on their academic accomplishments as well as their leadership and volunteer involvement at the College.

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi annually initiates about 30,000 new members from nearly 300 campuses in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

Here’s a closer look at each of the 2012 recipients:

Bryan Mulcahey

Bryan Mulcahey

The president of SUNY Cortland’s Zeta Delta chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, a political science honor society, time management has proven crucial to Mulcahey.

“Procrastination throughout my college career was not an option and staying on top of my academic duties was a key to my success both in and out of the classroom,” he wrote in his award application.

A former member of the College’s varsity football team, he was named to the SUNYAC All-Academic team as a freshman. He is a current member of the Economics Club and the Entrepreneurial Club and has participated in the Political Science Association in the past.

Twice named to the President’s List and a Dean’s List member every semester during his College career, Mulcahey will move on to law school at Marquette University in the fall.

“I have not taken the easy road or been one to miss out on any opportunities presented to me while at Cortland,” he said.

Kellie Murphy

Kellie Murphy

A future educator, Murphy has set high career goals for herself.

“I would hope to be a principal in a district where I can improve the relationship between the faculty and students in hopes of producing an exciting learning environment for all,” she wrote in her award application.

There’s not much reason to doubt her.

A member of three honor societies, including the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society, Phi Alpha Theta history honor society and the Phi Eta Sigma freshman honor society, Murphy has been recognized on the “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges” list.

A member of both the President’s and Dean’s lists, she also participates in the History Club and Spanish Club. Outside of the classroom, she volunteers as a homework help mentor and a campus tour guide. 

“It is my determination for happiness and success that allows me to balance and integrate all aspects of my life,” she said.

Mark Nader

Nader already has his career in motion through a current internship.

“I have begun to pursue my goal as I am currently interning with the Detroit Tigers, in the player development department, for my senior requirement,” wrote Nader, whose family owned a minor league baseball franchise in Oneonta, N.Y., for more than half a century.

Nader was a sports editor and writer for The Dragon Chronicle, SUNY Cortland’s student newspaper, covering various sports for three years. He also has been an active member of the SUNY Cortland Sport Management Club since his freshman year and his name has regularly appeared on the College’s Dean’s List.

Nader also was named the 2009-10 Sport Management Department Most Outstanding Sophomore of the Year.

As a sophomore, he was awarded a prestigious internship at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“My passion for sports has not only shaped my time at SUNY Cortland, but it is also shaping my future and my goal of working for a Major League Baseball franchise,” Nader said. “I am currently pursuing my goal and believe this is the first step to making my dreams become a reality.”

Meghan Rae Olsowski

Meghan Olsowski

Olsowski dabbles in a little bit of everything. And everything she does, she does well.

She’s the co-president of the College’s Environmental Club and an active member in its Criminology Club.

In the past, she worked at an internship with the Cortland County Youth Bureau, volunteered at the Cortland SPCA and participated in Relay for Life, among other activities.

A member of SUNY Cortland’s Honors Program and a regular member of the College’s Dean’s and President’s lists, Olsowski says the sociological research she conducts outside of class is one of her most fulfilling achievements.

Last summer, she also studied parapsychology in Scotland.

“Not only did it open my eyes to a new culture and perspective on life in general, but also it changed the way I look at the world in so many wonderful ways,” Olsowski said.

A SUNY Cortland communication studies class will offer its interpretation of poverty in Cortland County with a gallery of mobile photography on Thursday, April 26, at the Blue Frog Café and Music Club in downtown Cortland.

The event, which takes place from 3 to 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public, features a new Insta-ACT (Active Community Transformation) photo gallery project. The project’s purpose is to raise awareness through innovation.

"More than anything, we're trying to create a narrative of hope," said Caroline Kaltefleiter, an associate professor of communication studies who teaches the course. "This isn't meant to be a gloomy talk about poverty; we're trying to do something constructive."

Students in the New Communication Media course snapped images that they felt represented Cortland County’s current economic situation. The students used Instagram, a popular mobile photography application for smartphones, to gather photos.

“Mobile apps have a widespread reach that doesn’t get torn off the walls like overlooked flyers do,” Kaltefleiter said. “By using Instagram as our platform, we are able to generate captivating images that are spread by the users to varying platforms. We find images, put them through a filter and then the viewer spreads the message.”

The class also plans to create a documentary and large-scale printings of selected images that will be displayed during the gallery event.

“For too long, the unbreakable spirit of the Cortland community has been overshadowed by the economic crisis,” an event poster reads. “Action must be taken, and the time is now. Together, we can spark a transformation.”

The Blue Frog Café and Music Club is located at 64 Main St., near the intersection of West Court Street and Main Street.

For more information, contact Kaltefleiter at (607) 753-4203.

The SUNY Cortland football team is calling on the local community to get in the game and join the fight against diseases affecting bone marrow, such as leukemia.

The program will host its fourth annual “Get in the Game, Save a Life” National Marrow Donor Program Drive from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, in Corey Union. The drive aims to add to the nearly 20 million people worldwide listed as potential donors and the two successful match stories SUNY Cortland has claimed over the past couple of years.

Joining the bone marrow registry is easy and pain-free; volunteers simply need to swab the inside of a person’s cheek for 30 seconds.

But while there are millions of registered marrow donors worldwide, only about 250 matches are found each year. In many cases, there’s a 1-in-80,000 chance that a registered donor will be a match.

Still, the Cortland football team has provided two rare success stories of its own.

In January, Taylor Spindel, a former student from Sachem, N.Y., was identified as a potential match for a 26-year-old male with leukemia. She had registered three years earlier at the Cortland Football Bone Marrow Drive.

 “My boyfriend, Alex Grimm, then a wide receiver for Cortland at the time, convinced me to register,” she said. “I remember him saying that it was for a good cause, but that I’d probably never be called.”

She said she was initially scared when she received the call that she was a potential match, but it took only minutes to agree to donate her bone marrow.

“I thought to myself: ‘This is such an amazing and rare opportunity. How can I pass it up?’” Spindel said.

Spindel left Stony Brook University Medical Center in late February hoping she had saved the man’s life. She followed the lead of John Stephens, a sophomore linebacker on Cortland’s football team and a physical education major from Goshen, N.Y., who gave SUNY Cortland its first bone marrow success story last year.

Stephens registered in the program while visiting as a potential student-athlete in 2010. During his freshman year, he was identified as a match for an infant girl with leukemia.

He donated his marrow, and that donation has helped place the girl on the road to recovery.

Donating bone marrow is a surgical procedure done under anesthesia. During the donation, doctors insert a needle into the pelvic bone and extract the marrow with a syringe.

“It’s a painful recovery process,” Spindel said. “I wasn’t expecting to feel anything worse than a muscle pull. But when I try imagine what a cancer patient might feel throughout chemotherapy, I can’t complain.”

For more information on the bone marrow drive, contact Cortland assistant football coach Bryan Wiley at (607) 753-4912.

Two SUNY Cortland Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) seniors will hold opening receptions for their thesis exhibitions on Friday, April 27, at Cortland area galleries.

Lindsay Wilson will introduce “Curves of Steel” from 5 to 7 p.m. at Main Street SUNY Cortland, 9 Main St. with an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. Her show will be on display from Thursday, April 26, through Sunday, April 29. This solo exhibition can be viewed on the third floor open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the duration of the show.

Sarah Lampke will hold an opening reception for “Before I Wake” from 7 to 9 p.m., with an artist talk at 7:30 p.m., at 104 Main St., on the third floor above A Pizza & More. Her exhibit will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, and from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 29.

Sarah Lampke's "Wolfgirl" is part of her  “Before I Wake” thesis exhibition.

The B.F.A. is a 73 credit hour intensive degree program within the Art and Art History Department that requires a portfolio review to enter. The senior year thesis project is intended for students who plan to pursue a professional career in art or to prepare for specialized graduate study, in particular the Master of Fine Arts degree. A cohesive body of work is developed from concept to exhibition, accompanied by written proposal, summary documentation and oral presentation. Entrance into senior thesis is by special permission attained through committee review of work at the end of the junior year.

“The thesis exhibit is a culminating experience comprising two semesters of working closely with three faculty committee members,” said Jenn McNamara, assistant professor of art and art history and chair of the B.F.A. Committee. “This committee advises the students on the creation of a comprehensive body of researched artwork, a thesis paper and an oral defense.”

For three years, Lampke, from Ithaca, N.Y., was selected to participate in the Best of SUNY Student Art Exhibition at the New York State Museum in Albany, N.Y., and twice selected as “Best of SUNY.” Her work was featured in SUNY Cortland’s student Select exhibits in 2010 through 2012, held in the Dowd Gallery, and in 2010 she won the College’s Gerald N. DiGiusto Senior Scholarship Award. Between January and February, she held a solo show in downtown Ithaca, N.Y.

“Before I Wake” is a collection of works commenting on subjects of nudity, sexual behavior, bestiality, growth and destruction while investigating a sense of romantic enchantment.

“These works captivate a stark darkness and fairytale ambience,” said Lampke. “The truth of the various bones extends energy into the evolution of the animal-human creatures. Small flowers bloom from the flesh of the figures, alluding to a harmonious web, a romantic hope.”

Lindsay Wilson's "Cold Rolled Pleats" is part of her “Curves of Steel” thesis exhibition.

Wilson, from Tully, N.Y., is a dual major in fine arts and mathematics. Her artwork is a personal exploration of gender stereotypes. She employs social and cultural constructs to drive her work, focusing on uniting culturally labeled “feminine forms” with culturally labeled “masculine materials.” Wilson is a metal fabricator who transforms rigid metal into soft, elegant, curving garments and sculptural forms.       

Wilson was selected for the Best of SUNY 2011-12 Student Art Exhibition Best in Show for “Steel Maiden II,” which is currently on exhibit at the New York State Museum. She received the SUNY Cortland Gerald N. DiGiusto Senior Scholarship Award in 2011, the Beard Gallery’s “Here We Go” Best in Show for “Steel Maiden,” the American Juried Art Salon’s Decorative Arts International Show Merit Award for “Geared Up” and the Best of SUNY 2010-11 Student Art Exhibition Best in Show’s Honorable Mention for “Geared Up.” In 2010, Wilson was the SUNY Artist of the Week in December and was awarded SUNY Cortland’s Student Select Best in Show for “Geared Up.”

For more information, contact McNamara by email or at (607) 753-4411. 

The SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir will perform its yearly spring concert, paying special tribute to gospel greats Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke, Moses Hogan and Kirk Franklin on Sunday, April 29.

The event, which begins at 4 p.m., will take place in Old Main Brown Auditorium and is wheelchair accessible. A dessert reception will follow immediately after the performance.

Admission is $3 for students and $5 for the general audience. Complimentary tickets are available on an at-need basis. The proceeds will go to the Gospel Choir Scholarship and Programming Funds.

 The choir, which recently returned from its spring 2012 tour to Washington, D. C., and Maryland, will offer selections based on Ubuntu, the African ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people’s relationships to each other, expressed as: “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

Seth Asumah, a distinguished teaching professor of political science and chair of Africana studies at SUNY Cortland, will elaborate on the concept of Ubuntu and its implication for unity in today’s times.

Saxophonist Jamie Yaman of Cortland will perform “Silver and Gold,” backed by the choir ensemble, in honor of Kirk Franklin. Dorothy Thomas ’77 of Cortland, a pianist, will perform Whitney Houston’s “One Moment in Time,” by Albert Hammond and John Bettis, and “I’ll Always Love You,” by Dolly Parton. Khalia Brown, a junior speech and hearing science major from Brooklyn, N.Y., will sing Houston’s rendition of “I Look to You,” and junior Jason Carriero, an adolescence education: English major from Hartsdale, N.Y., will pay tribute to Sam Cooke by performing “I Know A Change Is Gonna Come.”

The choir recently returned from its spring 2012 trip to Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

The choir also will present the spiritual, “Keep Your Lamp,” in recognition of Moses Hogan, among selections of spiritual and contemporary genres. 

The performance will be directed by Robert Brown, an adjunct instructor in Africana studies at the College. Brown also teaches music in the Syracuse (N.Y.) City School District and is the music director of the New Life Community Church.

Choir musicians are Andy Rudy, Reginald Siegler and Benjamin Terry, all from Syracuse, and Yaman.

The program is sponsored by the SUNY Cortland Africana Studies Department, Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, Alumni Affairs Office, Cortland College Foundation, Division of Student Affairs, President’s Office, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Office, and student activity fee.

The event was organized by Samuel Kelley, a distinguished service professor of communication studies and adviser of the choir. For more information, contact Kelley at (607) 753-4104 or Asumah at (607) 753-2064.

The Choral Union at SUNY Cortland, under the direction of Stephen B. Wilson, will present Gioacchino Rossini’s last great work, the “Petite Messe Solennelle,” (the “little, solemn mass”), on Tuesday, May 1.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre. Presented by the Performing Arts Department, the event is free and open to the public.

Written in 1864, the tongue-in-cheek title of Rossini’s masterwork belies the scope of this powerful, joyous and even playful work, according to Professor Wilson, a Performing Arts Department faculty member whose specialty is music.

The choir will present the mass in its original form with accompaniment for two pianos and harmonium, a unique sound for an equally unique composition. Rossini later orchestrated the accompaniment but reportedly preferred the original version.

As with Verdi’s “Requiem,” which this piece resembles in its power and emotional depth, the “Petite Messe Solennelle” was not intended for use in church, despite its text, which is the liturgically accurate Ordinary of the Latin mass. Its structure, length and at times, whimsical musical ideas, make it unsuitable for an ecclesiastical setting.

Performing on piano will be Alan Giambattista, the Choral Union’s regular keyboardist, and Richard Montgomery, SUNY Cortland’s staff pianist. Playing his own harmonium will be guest artist Geoffrey Royal of Ithaca, N.Y.

The solo quartet will feature three members of the SUNY Cortland applied voice faculty. Soprano Marion Giambattista, tenor Gary Moulsdale and bass-baritone David Neal will be joined by mezzo-soprano Ivy Walz of Ithaca College to render the highly challenging music for these voices. The performance will feature arias that remind the listener of the many operas written by Rossini as well as ensemble selections including a trio and a duet. The quartet will sing intermittently in the movements for the chorus, providing a change of color and weight to those portions.

The Choral Union is a 50-voice ensemble consisting of students, faculty and staff of the College and volunteer adult singers of the Cortland and Central New York region. Membership is available to anyone interested in artistic choral singing.

For more information, contact Wilson at (607) 753-4615 or stephen.wilson@cortland.edu.

Reluctant students trudge to the library as their hopeless umbrellas are flipped inside out by the infamous and powerful wind gusts of Cortland, N.Y. It is that time of year again: Pouring rain crashes to the ground while research paper and presentation deadlines creep up.

Does this sound all too familiar? Students may now do research while staying warm and comfortable in their own residences by using SUNY Cortland’s research technology assistance, Text a Librarian. This unique service gives students the opportunity to interact virtually with librarians via their mobile devices.

“It is a fast and easy way to get accurate answers to a specific question,” said Sara Quimby, assistant librarian at the College’s Memorial Library.

Students may ask simple research questions by typing “cort” in the textbox, followed by their question. Messages should be sent to 66746. Librarians provide a response within five to 10 minutes between the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

“This service provides a great way to find credible sources,” Quimby said.

Kaitlynn Cunane, a junior childhood education major from Newburgh, N.Y., recently tried the program for the first time.

“Text a Librarian was really quick and easy and I loved that I didn’t have to leave my house,” she said. “It took less than 10 minutes to get an answer to a question that I might have otherwise taken awhile to solve.”

As a full-time student who is in her first educational block and a part-time worker at a local accounting office, it is hard to find the time to go to the library, Cunane said.

“The text I received back included a link for further reference, which I could click on directly from my phone, and this was convenient,” Cunane said. “It saved a lot of time and was really helpful for a busy student like me.

“I will definitely be using Text a Librarian again in the future,” she said.

“Twenty-five libraries, some school libraries like ours and some public, are covered through a shared interface,” said Lorraine Melita, reference and instruction coordinator at Memorial Library.

The texted questions are sent to an email that all of the librarians share. Each librarian in the program takes about two hours a week answering questions.

“Answers can come all the way from San Jose State to us here in Cortland,” Quimby said.

 “A lot of times someone will ask a question about their specific library,” Quimby said. “Any of the librarians can answer those questions because we all have access to every library catalog that uses the Text a Librarian program.

“Essentially, questions can be answered across the country,” Quimby said.

After using the service, participants are asked to fill out a brief survey at goo.gl/Nk5hR to provide feedback about the experience. For more information, email Melita.

Nicole Tucker, a senior at SUNY Cortland, is president of a club that lets students flash back to the 1990s, a nostalgic time when the Backstreet Boys and hula hooping were among the latest trends. While boy bands may be a thing of the past, the hula hoop is making a strong comeback on the SUNY Cortland campus.

“I saw my friends hooping and it looked so intense,” said Tucker, about her college companions. “But when I picked up the hoop for the first time, it just felt right. It’s so fun, plus it can burn up to 800 calories an hour.”

The Hoop Dance Club of SUNY Cortland offers hula hooping as an unconventional alternative to the routine work out. Members increase their heart rates by tossing and twirling the hoops around their arms, legs and waists while listening to motivating and energizing music.

The club, established in 2007, meets on Wednesdays and Sundays from 9 to 11 p.m. in the Park Center dance studio. Practices are not mandatory and new members are always welcome.

“Hoop dance is focused on recreation and fun,” said Tucker, a physical education major from Holland, N.Y.

She described the club as “blissful,” as it is a way for her to work out her mind, body and spirit.

“I love how Hoop Dance Club is laid back,” Tucker said. “It is stress-relieving and you are doing something great for your body.”

“Another unique aspect of our club is the fact that we make all of our own hoops,” Tucker said. Members make their own hula hoops by shaping tubing and connecting it with decorative and colorful duct tape.

Although they do not engage in recitals or competitions, the club performs at various campus events such as Health Day and the Student Conference on Diversity.

Katy Rendinaro ’11, who earned a B.A in therapeutic recreation, is the founder of the Hoop Dance Club. As a freshman, Rendinaro, shown above on the left, saw a hoop dance performance at a music festival and instantly became mesmerized. She recruited her friends to join her in hooping and worked with Recreational Sports to launch the Hoop Dance Club at the Taste of the World celebration on campus.

For more information, contact Nicole Tucker.

The campus community is invited to participate in “Make a Difference Day,” an annual campus beautification event, on Tuesday, May 1.

Volunteers are asked to meet at the front entrance of Moffett Center on Graham Avenue at 8:30 a.m. to receive work assignments. Coffee and Danish will be served. The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon at work sites throughout campus.

The Physical Plant encourages students, faculty, staff and alumni to join them in planting flowers and trees, mulching, raking, sweeping and general spring cleanup. Teams, groups and individuals are welcome. The grounds crew staff will prepare the work sites and provide tools and assistance in all areas. Employees are granted release time, with supervisory approval, to assist in the beautification of the grounds.

“As I think everyone will have noticed, the academic calendar has moved up considerably this year,” said David Horrocks, assistant director of buildings and grounds at the Physical Plant. “With Commencement occurring so much sooner than last year we could certainly use some helping hands to beautify the campus in time for that event.”

The annual event is weather permitting.

“We’re happy to accommodate people who would like to work in their favorite areas,” Horrocks said. “Many people return each year to a specific task that they enjoy — for some it’s planting flowers at the memorials, others like to spread mulch around their office building.”

Those interested in volunteering are asked to register by contacting Melinda Ferguson, secretary for physical plant, at (607) 753-2101.