Campus Champion

She’s from a small town, Freeville, N.Y., but Annali Fuchs has big city talent and aspirations. The junior musical theatre major’s singing and speaking abilities were displayed at the kickoff event for the “Educating Champions: The Campaign for Cortland” on Sept. 24 at Ledyard Farms in King Ferry, N.Y. They will shine again when she stars as Gladys in the College’s production of “Pal Joey,” which starts Oct. 28. Annali’s 14-hour days in the Dowd Fine Arts Center and near perfect grade point average show a dedication that bodes well for her ultimate goal: the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical “Wicked.”

As part of its ongoing effort to become one of the healthiest higher education institutions in the United States, SUNY Cortland will become a tobacco-free campus on Jan. 1, 2013.

“One of the College’s major institutional priorities is the health and well-being of all members of the SUNY Cortland community,” College President Erik Bitterbaum said. “Research has proven that one of the clearest threats to individual and public health is posed by tobacco. With that in mind, SUNY Cortland is pleased to join the more than 250 campuses nationwide that have become tobacco-free environments."

President Bitterbaum announced the new policy to faculty, staff and students Wednesday.

The new policy, developed over the course of a year, prohibits all tobacco use, not just smoking. Only one other SUNY campus, Buffalo State College, has announced a completely tobacco-free policy.

“All forms of tobacco use pose significant health risks, including chewing tobacco, which can cause throat and mouth cancer, tooth decay, gum disease and nicotine addiction,” said Dr. Devin Coppola of Student Health Services, co-chair of the campus Tobacco Advisory Committee. “SUNY Cortland is committed to playing a national leadership role in supporting a culture of health, fitness and genuine respect for the well-being of all members of the campus community.”

President Bitterbaum appointed the advisory committee last year to research tobacco-related practices at other institutions and to develop a tobacco-free policy for the SUNY Cortland campus. The committee met regularly throughout the year, discussed the issue at several campus open forums, met with the College’s unions, and developed a proposal.

That proposal was reviewed and approved by the President’s Cabinet on July 25, 2011. The full policy can be viewed at the SUNY Cortland Tobacco-Free Policy website.

To allow adequate time for students, faculty and staff to prepare, the effective date for full implementation of the Tobacco-Free Policy will not take place until Jan. 1, 2013. Meanwhile, the campus will offer a variety of ways to support the SUNY Cortland community in achieving the goal of becoming tobacco-free.

Details of the policy’s proposed implementation plan will be refined continuously over the course of the next year.

SUNY Cortland’s decision to take a comprehensive view of tobacco use is based on the overwhelming scientific evidence assembled by the U.S. Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Protection Agency, and World Health Organization, which demonstrates that tobacco is a profound agent of deadly diseases, responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year, both to tobacco users and non-users.

The former high school football coach who inspired Denzel Washington’s character in the popular sports film “Remember the Titans” will bring a stirring pep talk to SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Herman Boone, the black coach who led an integrated squad during a time of high racial tension in the 1970s, will discuss the film he inspired, team building and lessons in diversity in the Corey Union Function Room at 7 p.m. Sponsored by the Student Activities Board, his talk is free and open to the public.

Walt Disney Pictures produced the sports movie based on Boone’s 1971 football team from Alexandria, Va. That was the year Boone was tabbed head coach of the T.C. Williams High School, a newly integrated school formed from the consolidation of three institutions.

Public outcry followed the move, as some community members thought Bill Yoast, the white head coach at one of the consolidated schools, was unfairly passed over for the Titans’ head coaching job. Yoast, however, was appointed as an assistant on the team’s staff.

The two coaches put aside their differences in an attempt to fix the strain between their black and white players and the larger Alexandria community. “Remember the Titans” recounts more than a high school football team’s quest for a state championship; it considers race relations and tolerance during a volatile period in the 1970s.

Boone, now 75 years old, is retired, but continues to travel the country as a motivational speaker. He enjoyed high school teaching and coaching careers in Virginia and North Carolina for more than two decades.

A native of Rocky Mount, N.C., Boone earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Carolina Central University.

The first 50 people who arrive at Boone’s talk will receive a free t-shirt from SUNY Cortland’s Student Activities Board. For more information, contact Mary Kate Boland, the assistant director of leadership and community development, at (607) 753- 2034.

SUNY Cortland will recognize the diversity and inclusiveness of its campus on Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a celebration of National Coming Out Day.

An all-day event outside of Corey Union will support the efforts of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community on campus. Spectrum, the College’s all-inclusive gay-straight alliance, will offer a presentation at 6 p.m. in the Voice Office, which houses multicultural clubs in a room off Corey Union’s main lobby. Refreshments will be provided.

Throughout the day, campus community members will be able to sign their names on a long roll of paper that pledges support for LGBTQ individuals. Organizers also will hand out free bumper stickers that include the message: “I don’t tolerate hate.”

Sponsored by the LGBTQ Faculty Committee and Spectrum, the event seeks to eliminate homophobia and create an inclusive campus.

Tuesday’s festivities will move to the lobby of Corey Union in the event of inclement weather.

National Coming Out Day evolved after the second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on Oct. 11, 1987. On that day, more than 500,000 people gathered to march in Washington, D.C. to celebrate coming out. Several LGBTQ organizations were born after the event, and the day’s anniversary now marks an annual celebration across the country.

A series of lectures on chemistry continues on Monday, Oct. 24, when Susan Bane, a professor at SUNY Binghamton, will give a presentation on “Designer Drugs: Progress Toward New Anticancer Agents Based on Taxol.”

Bane will begin at 3 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 304. Her talk, and two others remaining in the series that relates to health, the environment, energy and other critical topics, will feature a light reception at 2:40 p.m. on the day of the lecture in the third floor lobby of Sperry Center. All of the lectures conclude with a 45-minute discussion at 4:15 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105.

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

In addition to Bane’s presentation:

• Leland Widger, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss “Non-heme Biomimetic Complexes of Mixed N/A Donor Sets” on Nov. 7.

• Akiko Fillinger, an associate professor at Ithaca College, will address “Chemistry for the Future: Materials Design for Alternative Energy Sources” on Nov. 21.

“There is a reason that high school teachers frequently present chemistry as 'the central science,’” said series organizer Karen Downey, a SUNY Cortland assistant professor of chemistry. “It is tremendously applicable to our society’s needs. Chemists contribute to efforts to monitor and to improve our environmental conditions. Chemists work to understand how medicines function in the body, and to design molecules that will more effectively do that work. Chemists investigate how energy and matter interact, and how we can manipulate matter to most safely supply energy for us.

“This seminar series is designed to acquaint members of the Cortland community with current research efforts being pursued not just on our own campus, but at neighboring institutions. Our researches are not carried out in isolation, but as part of a larger scientific community of people contributing their thoughts, insights and hours of effort to improve our understanding of the world around us.”

Susan Bane

Bane, whose work could lead to synthetic cancer drugs with fewer side effects, likes to compare cancer chemotherapy to surgery in the Middle Ages.

“It can be very crude,” she said. “Chemotherapy literally poisons the patient in the hope that the cancer cells will die first. The drug Taxol, for example, a substance made from the needles of the yew tree, attacks a central structure within cells called microtubules.

“Anything a cell does that involves movement involves microtubules,” explains Bane, who has been researching these mysterious microscopic structures at Binghamton since 1985. Her current research in this area is part of the work of a consortium of laboratories from Binghamton, Virginia Tech and Emory University.

“Although Taxol has been very successful as a drug, no one yet knows how exactly it latches on to the proteins on the surface of the microtubules,” Bane said. “Additionally, its low solubility and its propensity to cause drug-resistant tumors are major problems.” 

She will present her investigation on the precise interactions between Taxol and its biological target, the microtubules. Bane and her colleagues aim to use this knowledge to design and synthesize new drugs that will act like Taxol.

“A totally synthetic drug can be designed to retain therapeutic effectiveness while avoiding the problems associated with Taxol,” Bane said.

Leland Widger

Widger, who formerly worked with Frank Rossi, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of chemistry, is currently affiliated with the Goldberg Research Group, which is examining the role of metal ions in enzymes.

Widger’s work focuses on discerning the structural and functional characteristics that are essential to the role of metal ions in metalloenzymes. This is significant in that metals play roles in approximately one-third of the known enzymes.

In his lecture, Widger will focus on the chemistry of non-heme iron centers — meaning those not associated with the blood component called hemoglobin. This area of research is broadly significant in biology and in synthetic chemistry.

Akiko Fillinger

Fillinger hopes with her research to develop materials that will enable humans to use non-petroleum-based energy sources.

The most promising substance she is looking into is called nanocrystalline cuprous oxide (Cu₂O).  When the single crystals — sub-micron in dimension — of material are illuminated in water with sunlight, the energy of the sun’s photons can be absorbed by the nanocrystalline Cu₂O and converted to electricity.

“Our ultimate goal with nanocrystalline Cu₂O is to generate hydrogen gas by splitting water,” Fillinger said, noting the process potentially will provide an environmentally friendly energy source in an environmentally sensible manner.

For more information, contact Pam Smith in the Chemistry Department at (607) 753-4323 or Karen Downey.                 

The musical quartet Huun Huur Tu will bring an innovative genre of music that combines traditional instruments and funky rhythms when it visits SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The group, from Tuva — a Russian republic about the size of Iceland and which borders with Mongolia — relies on vibrant acoustics to produce unique throat-singing sounds. Huun Huur Tu will perform at 8 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.

The concert, part of the 2011-12 Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS), costs $5 for general admission and $3 for SUNY Cortland students who show their College ID. Children 10 years old and younger will be admitted free. Tickets can be purchased in Corey Union, Room 406, or at Brown Auditorium beginning one hour prior to the performance.

“The CALS Committee is charged to serve as a focal point for planning the expansion and enrichment of campus cultural activities,” said Sandra Wohlleber, the assistant director for campus activities and Greek affairs. “We look to rotate things around so we do not appear to always be bringing back the same groups and the same types of events. We look to come up with some possibilities of different genres and different performers to bring to campus.”

A throat singing group has been on the committee’s wish list for four years, she said.

Huun Huur Tu began touring in the West more than 17 years ago and has been credited with introducing the outside world to a wealth of Tuvan traditions.

Throat singing has become the ensemble’s trademark. The group’s singers produce two or three notes simultaneously, giving off the sound of a flute, whistle or bird. But only the human voice creates the sound. Music critics compare Huun Huur Tu’s sound to the whistling of the winds of the Altai Mountains in south central Siberia, near where the group is from.

“It is unfamiliar yet very accessible, an otherworldly but deeply spiritual music rooted in the sounds of nature,” wrote one critic in the Chicago Tribune.

Native Tuvan instruments back up the throat singing while some western instruments, such as the guitar, appear in select songs. The group’s genre is often listed as indigenous folk. But Huun Huur Tu also experiments with electronic music.

The group has been active since 1992 and has released 17 albums, including its most recent recording, “Eternal,” in 2009. Several musicians, including Frank Zappa, have collaborated with the quartet.

For ticket information or questions regarding CALS events, contact the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office at (607) 753-5574. Huun Huur Tu appears by arrangement with Eye for Talent, Inc.

Robert Rightmire ’66, of Patchogue, N.Y., will discuss an historic mural at the U.S. Post Office in Cortland and its connection to the Mexican muralist movement during the 1920s in a talk on Saturday, Oct. 15.

The SUNY Cortland alumnus, a retired educator and author in the field of art history, will offer “Ryah Ludins: From Mexico to Cortland, the Creation of a Post Office Mural” at 1 p.m. in the lobby of the post office at 88 Main St. People are encouraged to bring their own chairs to the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

His talk caps a month-long series of lectures sponsored by SUNY Cortland’s Latino and Latin American Studies Committee (LLAS). The LLAS Committee and the Cortland County Historical Society sponsor the post office discussion.

The Mexican muralist movement from nearly a century ago might not seem historically relevant to downtown Cortland. Ludins, however, became the first woman to receive a mural commission from the Mexican government and contributed a wood relief titled “Valley of the Seven Hills” to the Cortland post office in 1943.

The artist’s fascinating story is part of an extensive cultural connection shared by the U.S. and Mexico from the 1920s to the 1960s. The Mexican muralist movement stands out among many other artistic patterns because of its strong political undertones and social concern expressed through the artwork.

Rightmire enjoyed a 30-year teaching career at both the high school and college levels before his retirement. Last year, he curated an exhibition devoted to Ludins at the Cortland Free Library. He has served as a guest speaker at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., the Rockwell Kent Gallery at SUNY Plattsburgh and several other high school and college events.

For more information on Rightmire’s talk, contact Gigi Peterson, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of history, at (607) 753-2051 or the Cortland Historical Society at (607) 756-6071.

The SUNY Cortland Performing Arts Department has announced its fall semester season of theatre and music events at the Dowd Fine Arts Center.

All events take place at the Dowd Fine Arts Theatre unless otherwise noted. Music events are free and tickets for the musical will be on sale at Jodi’s Hallmark Shop one month before opening night and at the door the nights of the performance. For more information, visit the department website.

The season begins in October with the regional premiere of the original Rodgers and Hart musical “Pal Joey,” which plays for six performances from Friday, Oct. 28, through Sunday, Nov. 6. This Broadway favorite includes the hit songs “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and “I Could Write a Book.” The production, directed and choreographed by Kevin Halpin, will be performed at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 28, 29, Nov. 4 and 5, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6.

The College Singers will launch the first of several music concerts beginning at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13. They will perform a concert version of the powerful Broadway hit “Les Miserables.”

Ubaldo Valli will conduct the College-Community Orchestra in a performance titled "Charles Ives and His World" at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The concert will feature an orchestral version of the iconoclastic American composer's "The Alcotts," and related works by Wagner, Beethoven and Boehme. Featured performers include concertmistress Lois Pfister and trumpet soloist Ralph Dudgeon.

The Choral Union continues its association with The Arts at Grace Series with a performance of music by Haydn, Holst, Hovhaness, Diemer and Veitch at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4. Presented under the direction of Stephen Wilson, the concert takes place at Grace and Holy Spirit Church (formerly Grace Episcopal), 13 Court St., Cortland. Donations will be gratefully accepted.

The College Singers, student soloists, the Gospel Choir and SUNY A Cappella will present the popular annual holiday concert on at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6. College Singers conductor Stephen Wilson coordinates the concert, which celebrates Chanukah, Christmas and the Winter Solstice.

Rounding out the fall calendar is “A Christmas Carol,” an adaptation of the classic story by Charles Dickens that includes Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, the Christmas spirits, and all of the other traditional characters. The production, co-directed by Howard Lindh and Mark Reynolds, will be staged in the Lab Theatre at the Dowd Fine Arts Center, with 8 p.m. performances on Thursday, Dec. 8, and Friday, Dec. 9, and two performances, one at 2 p.m. and one at 8 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 10, and Sunday, Dec. 11.

For more information about these events, please visit the Performing Arts Department website or call (607) 753-2811.

A former American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer will discuss major trends in the U.S. constitutional interpretation and current civil rights issues that shape American understanding of the Constitution, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at SUNY Cortland.

Gouri Bhat, a partner at Berk Law in Washington, D.C., and formerly of the American Civil Liberties Union, will present “We the People: The Constitution and the Culture of Civil Rights” at 4:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105.

Her talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of the 2011-12 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series, themed this year on “Culture and the Written Word.”

A 4 p.m. reception to welcome Bhat, the sister of SUNY Cortland Associate Professor of History Girish Bhat, precedes the lecture in Moffett Center, Room 2126. Both the lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

Bhat’s practice has ranged from top-tier public interest litigation against government officials and public entities to litigation that targets powerful private companies charged with civil rights violations. She has spent more than a decade working as a plaintiff’s class action litigator and has represented workers, consumers, prisoners, immigrants, juveniles and racial minorities.

She is recognized as an expert on the U.S. Constitution and current civil rights issues.

Bhat was certified as class counsel representing African-American employees in Abdallah v. Coca Cola Company. That landmark case resulted in an array of programmatic reforms and one of the largest financial settlements in the history of employment class action cases.

She also served as co-lead counsel in the ACLU’s litigation with the Hutto Family Detention Center on behalf of immigrant children held by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at a medium-security prison in Texas. Bhat became the principal creator of an innovative settlement. As a result of the case, the federal government abandoned the practice of family detention in 2009.

She received a B.A. in English from the University of Texas and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School. After graduating from law school, Bhat clerked for two years for Judge Lynn Adelman, a federal district judge in Wisconsin.

The Brooks Lecture Series honors the late Rozanne Marie Brooks, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and SUNY Cortland professor of sociology and anthropology. Brooks was a SUNY Cortland faculty member for 36 years; she passed away in 1997. The 2011-12 Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) and the Cortland College Foundation.

For more information, contact Sharon Steadman, the lecture series organizer and Brooks Museum director, at (607) 753-2308.

A film that mourns the death of a young hate crime victim will launch SUNY Cortland’s Native American Film Series on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Presented by the College’s Native American Studies Program, the series is free and open to the public. The four films will be presented at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays in Sperry Center, Room 205.

“Two Spirits” is the story of Fred Martinez, a young teen who possesses a balance of masculine and feminine traits, which is considered a special gift according to his traditional Navajo culture. His determination to express his truest identity costs him his life at age 16, when he was murdered in Cortez, Colo. The film interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son with a revealing look at a time when the world simply wasn’t divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders. The film is co-sponsored with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Committee.

“Older Than America,” a contemporary suspense drama, will be shown Nov. 1. The film deals with the issues created by the boarding schools that the government imposed on Native children in the United States and Canada and how generations were damaged within the affected families. Directed by Georgina Lightning, the film stars Lightning, Adam Beach, Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal.

“Older Than America” follows Rain, played by the film’s director Georgina Lightning, a Native American woman living in northern Minnesota with her fiancé, Johnny, played by Adam Beach, the local tribal police officer. Rain is struggling with disturbing visions she has been having recently, and as a result she begins to worry that she might be suffering from schizophrenia like her mother did. When a geologist, played by Bradley Cooper, from Minneapolis comes to investigate some strange seismic readings at an old abandoned boarding school for Native Americans, events are set in motion that will lead Rain to discover a horrible secret.

“Two Indians Talking” will be shown on Nov. 8. This film conveys the humorous, uncensored conversation between two First Nation men who are about to take part in their community’s roadblock. Each man wants fiercely to do the right thing, but each struggles with the question, “When you do something for the right reasons, does that make it the right thing to do?” Adam Beach also is in this movie, playing Justin Rain, a university-educated Native of the Seventh Generation, raised to believe that knowledge is the Native American’s best tool for survival. Nathan, played by Nathaniel Arcand, is a high school dropout whose dreams have been consistently crushed in his endurance of the past 20 years. On the eve of their nation’s roadblock, the cousins prepare for the impending battle in a community center that they paint with heartfelt conversation and humorous debate about life, culture, identity, women, literature, dreams, politics, education, poverty and the possibility of hope for the future.

“Apache 8” will conclude the series on Nov. 15. The film tells the story of an all-women wild land firefighter crew from the White Mountain Apache Tribe that has been fighting fires in Arizona and throughout the U.S. for more than 30 years. The film delves into the challenging lives of these Native firefighters. Four extraordinary women from different generations of the Apache 8 crew share their personal narratives with humor and tenderness. They speak of hardship and loss, family and community, and pride in being a firefighter from Fort Apache. “Apache 8” weaves together a compelling tale of these remarkable firefighters, revealed for the first time.

The series is sponsored by Native American Studies, Auxiliary Services Corporation, the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Committee.

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

United University Professions (UUP), the union that represents academic and professional faculty on all state-operated SUNY campuses, recently presented SUNY Cortland graduate student Daniel Pitcher with its inaugural William E. Scheuerman Post Baccalaureate Scholarship.

Pitcher, who expects to graduate in December with a master’s degree in sport management, received the $2,000 scholarship during the union’s 2011 Fall Delegate Assembly from Sept. 23 to 24 in Albany, N.Y.

He was among five students who were awarded scholarships at the event and this year’s only graduate student recipient.

The award, named in honor of former UUP President William E. Scheuerman, is given to an outstanding full-time SUNY graduate or professional school student who exhibits dedication to the goals and ideals of the labor union movement.

As Cortland’s star quarterback, Pitcher plans to use his leadership ability to coach football.

“Coaching is one of the best ways to impact the athletic, social and academic lives of others,” Pitcher said. “Like union leaders, coaches teach fairness, dedication and the power of working together.”

Pitcher has underscored these tenets in his inspirational speeches to his classmates on campus, to area high school students, and to the sports community at a National Football Foundation banquet held in Verona, N.Y.

“Dan is a genuine, consummate student athlete and a super ambassador for family, team and University,” said UUP member and SUNY Cortland head football coach Dan MacNeill '79.

Pitcher earned a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Cortland in 2010 while maintaining a 4.08 GPA and serving as captain and quarterback on the College’s football team.

He has deep ties to SUNY Cortland and the State University system. Pitcher is the son of Michael Pitcher, a SUNY Cortland lecturer who also coordinates audiological services for the Communication Disorders and Sciences Department. His brother, Matthew, is a senior kinesiology major at the College as well as a football team offensive lineman. Both his parents earned their degrees from SUNY Geneseo.

To qualify for the award, Pitcher met the scholarship criteria of carrying a course load of a least nine credits after having completed at least nine credits, while holding a cumulative grade point average of 4.0.

Former UUP President William E. Scheuerman helped secure seed money for the UUP scholarship for graduate and professional school students. The scholarship was made possible with money bequeathed to UUP by the late Katherine Carter. Cater made numerous contributions to the fund in memory of her late husband, Robert, a SUNY Oswego union member and colleague to Scheuerman.

The application deadline for the 2012 scholarship is March 1, 2012. For more information or to complete an application, visit UUP’s website at www.uupinfo.org/scholarships/scholarship.html. Applications also are available at UUP chapter offices or at campus financial aid offices. Applications may also be obtained by calling UUP’s administrative office in Albany toll-free at (800) 342-4206.

The SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir will present its fall concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, in Old Main Brown Auditorium.

Tickets for the event, which is open to the public, are $3 for students and $5 for general admission. Complimentary tickets are available based on need. Proceeds support the Gospel Choir Scholarship and Programming Funds.

The concert will feature contemporary and traditional gospel selections and popular American hymns. Cortland A Cappella, directed by Noelle Paley, the director of the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, will perform, along with the Gospel Choir Ensemble, saxophonist Jamie Yaman, pianist Dorothy Thomas ’77 and the Gospel Choir Instrumental Ensemble. 

The Gospel Choir continues its practice of mixing standard favorites from its repertoire with new selections, which this year include “Battlefield” and “Glorious.”  Returning to the lineup will be “My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord,” “Faithful” and “O Happy Day,” which was made popular by the Edwin Hawkins Singers. Khalia Brown, a junior speech and hearing sciences major, is the soloist for “O Happy Day.”

Cortland A Cappella will present “Amazing Grace,” the spiritual “Wade in the Water,” and “Jar of Hearts,” by Christina Perri. Additional selections will be performed by Yaman, Thomas and the Gospel Choir Instrumental Ensemble.

Robert Brown, a SUNY Cortland adjunct instructor in Africana Studies, will direct the Gospel Choir. Brown teaches music at Blodgett Elementary School in Syracuse, N.Y. He is also music director of the New Life Community Church. Choir musicians are Andy Rudy, Reginald Siegler, and Benjamin Terry, all from Syracuse. Yaman is from Cortland.

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

For more information, contact Samuel L. Kelley, professor of communication studies, by email or at (607) 753-4104, or Seth Asumah, professor of political science and Africana studies, by email or at (607) 753-2064.

SUNY Cortland will kick off its 2011-12 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign on Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a noon luncheon for volunteers in Corey Union, Room 305-06.

The campaign, which relies on state employee volunteers to canvas co-workers for donations, will continue until Wednesday, Oct. 26.

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

“Last year the campus raised $47,039 from 317 donors,” said Laurie Barton, assistant to the president, who is chairing this year’s SEFA campaign on campus.

“Despite the continued economic downturn, we hope to meet or exceed last year’s donations,” Barton added. “The 2010-11 appeal assisted 31,515 residents, or 65 percent of Cortland County, through more than 27 health and human services programs provided by the 13 local United Way agencies. The need for your campaign dollars remains strong in these difficult economic times. Your donation to local agencies clearly makes a difference.”

The College will offer incentives for employees who donate to the 2011-12 campaign. At the campaign’s end, a drawing for five prizes will be conducted. First prize is a reserved campus parking space located in the lot closest to the winner’s building. To be eligible, an employee must pledge at least $104. Everyone who donates a minimum of $25 will be eligible to win one of three $25 Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) gift certificates. Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) members who donate $25 will be eligible for a $50 gift certificate to Hairy Tony’s Restaurant.

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

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

Local members of the Cortland County SEFA Committee also include:  Teri Arnold, New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), Kathleen Burke, SUNY Cortland United University Professions (UUP) affiliate; Gary Evans, SUNY Cortland (management/confidential affiliate); Lois Marshall, NYSDOT (CSEA affiliate); Donna Raymond, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (CSEA affiliate); Cindy Tarlton, Community Health Charities of New York; John Young, SUNY Cortland (CSEA affiliate); Cynthia Eberhart, executive director, United Way for Cortland County; Antoinette Tiburzi, SUNY Cortland professor emerita and Cortland County SEFA chair; Laurie Klotz, Cortland County SEFA vice chair; and Barton, 2011-12 SEFA campaign chair.

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

SUNY Cortland’s 2011-12 Alumni Speaker Series kicks off Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a panel discussion intended for students who want to pursue jobs in communication and marketing.

The informal discussion takes place at 7 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Panelists include Joan Brennan Emmer ’70, an event planner with the EMR Agency; Jennifer Kolozsvart ’05, a marketing copywriter with Raymour & Flanigan Furniture; Thomas Quinn ’78, the marketing director for Cortland Regional Medical Center; and Lisa Sturdevant ’92, who works in creative services with WETM-TV in Elmira, N.Y.

The communication and marketing panel is the first of six discussions planned with alumni professionals throughout the academic year. The remaining Alumni Speaker Series events, which begin at 7 p.m., include:

• Health professionals on Tuesday, Nov. 15, in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Sport management professionals on Tuesday, Feb. 7, in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Business and economics professionals on Monday, Feb. 20, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.
• Professionals in the human services and helping professions on Tuesday, March 20, in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Professionals involved with recreation and leisure on Tuesday, April 3, in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

The Alumni Speaker Series is sponsored by the Alumni Affairs Office and Career Services. For more information, contact Career Services at (607) 753-4715.

The annual “Interviewing Etiquette Program,” formerly “Goofs and Goblets” career dinner program, will be presented from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. Advance reservations are required by Tuesday, Oct. 18.

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

Participants will attend a reception and be served several courses hosted by Louie Larson, associate director emeritus of career services. The program will incorporate career networking and dining etiquette in a fun and humorous way.

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

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

Faculty or staff members interested in sponsoring students or making a reservation to attend should contact Michelina Gibbons, Career Services, by email or at (607) 753-2224. Sponsors must confirm student attendance and register students with Career Services.

The event is sponsored by the Alumni Association, Auxiliary Services Corporation and Career Services.

“The Cardiff Giant,” a two-act comedy-history by SUNY Cortland Professor of Performing Arts Thomas Hischak, will take the stage at the Center for the Arts, in Homer, N.Y., on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The staged reading, which features a cast of SUNY faculty members, will begin at 7 p.m. at the center located at 72 South Main St. The performance is free and open to the public

“The Cardiff Giant” is about the famous 19th-century hoax in which a petrified giant man was found buried on a farm in Cardiff, N.Y. The discovery was a sensation and people came for miles to see the giant before it was put on display in New York and other cities. Later proven to be a hoax, the statue is currently at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. “The Cardiff Giant” is a comedic look at the history of the giant and the people behind the hoax.

The cast for the play reading includes SUNY faculty members Girish Bhat, History Department, Kim Hubbard, Performing Arts Department, Robert Spitzer, Political Science Department, and Sharon Steadman, Sociology/Anthropology Department. Also in the cast are William Allen, Beth Hubbard, Bill Lee, Bob Sanders, Jackie Sanders, Teresa Spitzer and Sandy Swierczek.

“The Cardiff Giant” was a winner in the 2010 Julie Harris Playwriting Competition at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in California. Hischak is the author of 25 published plays as well as several books on theatre and film. 

For more information, contact Hischak by email or at (607) 753-4206.

The Human Resources Office announced the recipients of its Annual Accrual Achievement Awards for Classified Service. These employees have used one day or less of sick leave accruals during the 2010-11 fiscal year.

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

The program was created to recognize classified employees who use minimal amounts of sick leave and to encourage other employees to build up sick leave balances. The awards will be distributed on Friday, Oct. 28. Those employees who will receive the award are:

Robert Albro
John Aldrich
Walter Anderson
Dale Argyle
Ronald Benda
Chauncey Bennett, III
Gregory Bliss
Tanya Brayton
Renato Bervetti
Ellen Brown
Stacey Buckley
Dana Bush
Susan Bush
Frances Bushaw
Giuseppe Canzano
Duane Card
Kathleen Card
Wayne Carroll
Vicki Clark
Lucinda Compagni
Barbara Conrad
Michele Cornelius
Roger Cornelius
John Coye
Judy Daniels
Deborah Dintino
Ella Dorman
Francis Evangelista
Barbara Field
Burton Fritts
Carol Gridley
Katherine Gustafson
Kathleen Hudson
Marilyn Jones
Sandra Kline
Nancy Kuklis
Gary Lansdowne
Jane Leonard
Dawn Linn
Jo-Ann MacLean
Greg McCartney
Valerie McConnell
Kathy McCracken
Diana McGee
Donald Moody
Denise Morse
Rhonda Moulton
Marcia O’Loughlin
Rosemary Ottenschot
William Parente
Linda Parker
Linda Parmiter
Michael Partigianoni
Ruth Partigianoni
Claire Payne
Linda Pedrick
Edith Pennell
Gregory Peters
Darlene Phillips
Steven Phillips
Connie Piech
Donna Poole
John Reynolds
Steven Rolfe
Joan Root
Rosemary Root
Elizabeth Scott
Russell Scott
Mitchell Seamans
Pamela Schroeder
Shirley Shepard
LouAnne Simons
Lawrence Smith
Nadia Snell
Lynn Stevens
Joseph Stockton
Kathleen Stockton
Mark Taylor
Melony Warwick
Dortha Weaver
Joyce Willis
Gary Withers
Patricia Wolff
Teri Wood
Kenneth Woodworth

The 2011 Annual Service Awards Ceremony recognizing classified staff will be held on Friday, Dec. 2, 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.

35 Years

Wendy Fairchild, Information Resources Office

30 Years

Mavis LeFever, Campus Activities and Corey Union Office

John Reynolds, University Police Department

Patrick Stack, Service Group

Sharon Tucker, Performing Arts Department

25 Years

Mary Cervoni, Registrar’s Office

Bonnie Eldred-Kress, Athletics

Brenda Gorman, Student Health Service

Theresa Peebles, Mathematics Department

Darleen Richardson, Research Foundation of SUNY

Mitchell Seamans, Mail Services/Central Warehouse/Commissary/Central Receiving

20 Years

Leslee Anne Bellardini, Health Department

Chauncey Bennett, University Police Department

Harland Bigelow, Budget Office

Linda Bunting, Custodial Services

Brenda Hammond, University Police

Elaine Lund, Student Health Services

William Parente, Custodial Services

Steven Phillips, Structural Maintenance

Ronald Riccardi, Structural Maintenance

Pamela Schroeder, Academic Affairs Office

Cheryl St. Peter, Custodial Services

15 Years

Doris Albro, Administrative Computing Services

Franklin Dalton, University Police Department

Kathleen Gauthier, Residence Life and Housing Office

Faith Kashuba, Stores Clerk I, Mail Services/Central Warehouse/Commissary/Central Receiving

10 Years

Patricia Alter, Literacy Department

Dale Argyle, Physical Plant

Nancy Beattie, Custodial Services

Renato Brevetti, Structural Maintenance

Lori Burns, Student Health Service

Giuseppi Canzano, Structural Maintenance

Kathy Coggi, Financial Aid Office

Michele Cornelius, Custodial Services

Timothy Gowe, Transportation Services

Carol Gridley, Advisement and Transition

David Haggerty, Custodial Services

Dawn Harvey, Custodial Services

Timothy Hecker, Heating Plant

Jane Leonard, Custodial Services

Chad Matijas, Structural Maintenance

Richard Nauseef, Heating Plant

Linda Parker, Custodial Services

Connie Parmiter, Mail Services/Central Warehouse/Commissary/Central Receiving

Ruth Partigianoni, Custodial Services

Gregory Peters, Custodial Services

Patricia Randolph, Center for Educational Exchange

Shirley Randolph, Student Accounts Office

Rosemary Root, Custodial Services

Athena Vunk-Moynihan, Registrar’s Office

Nancy White, Custodial Services

SUNY Cortland’s Performing Arts Department has announced the cast for its fall production of the original 1940 Broadway hit musical “Pal Joey.” 

The play will be performed at Dowd Fine Arts Theatre from Friday, Oct. 28, to Sunday, Oct. 30, and Friday, Nov. 4, to Sunday, Nov. 6. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m.

Staying true to the music and lyrics of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, with a book by John O’Hara, this production revives the story of Joey Evans, a small-time song and dance man who is desperate for success.

The performance includes familiar songs, such as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and “I Could Write A Book,” and is highlighted by the spectacular choreography that has become a hallmark of SUNY Cortland musicals. 

The cast includes Tim Fuchs as Joey; Sam Rey as Vera; Annali Fuchs as Gladys; Angelia Golden as Linda; Derek Mellor as Lowell; Keith Golden as Louis; Mallory Walton as Melba; and Rasheem Ford as Mike. Katie Quigley and Ricky Wenthen perform as specialty dancers, and the chorines (“chorus girls”) are played by Lauren Collins, Lindsey Galgano, Chrissy Jackson, Sara Laursen, Grace McGeoch, Carly Merrill and Katie Quigley. The ensembles include Jacqui Fisher, Kerry Maloney, Melissa Pipher, Lauren Puente, Lisa Reid, Katie Stanton, Joey Gugliemelli, Chad Henke, David Newman, Charles O’Connor, Paul Warren Smith and Ricky Wenthen.

“Pal Joey” is directed and choreographed by Kevin Halpin. The associate director and choreographer is Cindy Halpin and the musical director and conductor is Corinne Aquilina. Howard Lindh is the set designer, Preston Mayre is technical director, Joel Pape is the sound designer and lighting designer and Mark Reynolds is the costume designer. 

Admission is $16 for the general public; $14 for senior citizens and SUNY staff; and $7 for all students and children. Tickets are on sale at Jodi’s Hallmark Shop on Main Street in Cortland, and at the door prior to each performance.

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