Campus Champion

Mike Partigianoni, the athletics equipment room supervisor known affectionately as “Parge,” does the necessary dirty work for SUNY Cortland’s sports teams. During a 31-year career at the College, Mike has handled daily laundry and equipment duties with reliability and humor. This year, he will wash the practice and game uniforms for more than 800 student-athletes and coaches. Mike, who owns an extensive personal collection of red and white shirts with SUNY Cortland’s Red Dragon logo, proudly wears one with the letters “BTS” on its back. The shirt perfectly communicates his “behind the scenes” career.

SUNY Cortland recently created and filled a new position, unique among SUNY institutions, dedicated to both reducing the College’s energy use and lowering its power bills.

Douglas Roll, a former power plant manager with experience in renewable energy and budget oversight, became the College’s first energy manager on Oct. 17.

In that position, Roll will pursue opportunities to reduce the amount of energy that the College uses. That will include implementing strategies to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings and ensuring that all new construction meets the highest practical “green” standards.

Roll also will monitor the rates charged by the campus’ energy suppliers and constantly make adjustments to ensure the campus spends less on power and uses more renewable sources of energy.

“We see this as taking things to the next level,” said Timothy Slack, director of the SUNY Cortland physical plant. “We’re already in the top 25 percent as far as energy efficiency. Now we’ll be able to look even closer at usage, and we’ll realize savings from the supply side as well.”

One of the College’s core priorities is to use all of its resources wisely. Energy costs make up about 10 percent of SUNY Cortland’s operating budget, according to Slack. Through a combination of reduced use and lower prices, the College could see significant savings, he said.

The new position also will help SUNY Cortland reduce the amount of carbon it is responsible for releasing into the atmosphere. A charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, the College recently developed the Cortland Climate Action Plan, which sets goals for energy conservation, recycling and other sustainable practices.

At Cortland, Roll also will play a role in educating students, faculty and staff about sustainable energy practices, supporting the culture of sustainability that has taken root among faculty, staff and students.

Roll, a former middle school biology teacher with an engineering degree from Cornell University, was plant manager of a coal-fired power facility in Dresden, N.Y., for 12 years. While there, he oversaw installation of $50 million in pollution controls and the creation of a $9 million biomass co-firing project.

Roll graduated from Queens College in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and secondary education. He taught seventh- and eighth-grade biology, general science and physical education at St. Gabriel’s School in Astoria, N.Y., for two years after that.

In 1981, Roll earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University.

He became a project engineer for New York State Electric and Gas in 1982, working in a number of engineering and supervisory positions and eventually becoming operations manager of NYSEG’s Greenridge Station in Dresden, N.Y. When the coal-fired power plant was sold in 1999 to AES Corp., a global energy firm headquartered in Virginia, Roll became plant manager. 

In the community, Roll is a referee for college, high school and semi-professional football; high school lacrosse; and youth hockey, which he also coaches.

Tickets to the 2011 Cortaca Jug football game at Ithaca College will go on sale exclusively for SUNY Cortland students, faculty and staff next week, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, and Wednesday, Nov. 2.

After that, starting on Thursday, Nov. 3, any remaining tickets will be made available to the general public.

The Cortaca game, described by Sports Illustrated as “the biggest little game in the nation,” will start at noon on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Ithaca College’s Butterfield Stadium. This annual Division III showdown between rivals SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College for possession of the coveted Cortaca Jug has been a tradition for more than half a century, and typically sells out.

No tickets will be sold on the day of the game, and only ticket holders will be allowed inside Butterfield Stadium for the event. Simply showing College identification will not get anyone into the stadium. Advance ticket purchase is therefore critical for anyone wishing to attend.

Ticket sales for students, staff and faculty will be from 5 to 10 p.m. in the hallway outside the Corey Union Function Room on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, as long as the supply of tickets lasts.

All students, staff and faculty are eligible to buy one, and only one, ticket. A SUNY Cortland ID is required for each purchase.

Tickets cost $8, and payment must be made by cash only. All seating is general admission.

The supply of tickets provided by Ithaca College is limited, and there is no guarantee that all students will be able to purchase tickets. If there are tickets remaining after being made available exclusively to the SUNY Cortland campus community, they will go on sale to the public on Nov. 3, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 406. 

Sales of tickets during this time will be limited to two tickets per person.

More information about the 53rd Cortaca Jug football game can be found on Facebook.

Alumni can find information on the College’s Cortaca ticket lottery elsewhere on the Cortaca Alumni Page of the SUNY Cortland website.

A renowned Abraham Lincoln biographer will speak at the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House on Monday, Nov. 7, thanks to the work of a pair of College alumni who continue to celebrate the former president’s connection to nearby Homer, N.Y.

Michael Burlingame, the distinguished chair in Lincoln studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield and the author of the two-volume book Abraham Lincoln: A Life, will offer his lecture at 7 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be accompanied by refreshments.

Burlingame also will speak at the Center for the Arts in Homer on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m.

“Many popular periodicals have referred to him as the most knowledgeable man in the world on Lincoln,” said Martin Sweeney ’68 M.S.Ed. ’72, one of the alumni who arranged Burlingame’s visit. “He’s come out with the most recent and, so far, the most definitive Lincoln biography.”

Sweeney, a retired social studies teacher and Town of Homer historian, and David Quinlan ’81, a Marathon (N.Y.) High School art teacher, co-chaired a 2009 event titled “Homer’s Celebration of Lincoln in Paint and Print” to mark the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and recognize three local sons with connections to the former president.

Francis Carpenter, the White House portrait artist, Eli DeVoe, a member of the U.S. Secret Service who helped prevent an assassination attempt on Lincoln, and William Osborne Stoddard, Lincoln’s assistant secretary, all came from Homer.

“People are surprised to learn that there’s any connection at all, let alone what I have heard one person call the Lincoln trifecta,” said Sweeney, who also grew up in Homer before attending SUNY Cortland.

The bulk of Burlingame’s Nov. 7 talk at the Alumni House will address post-Civil War America and Lincoln’s lasting impression on it. In addition to his 2008 award-winning book, Burlingame wrote the 1994 book The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln. He also has edited several volumes of primary source material tied to Lincoln.

He received the Abraham Lincoln Association Book Prize in 1996, the Lincoln Diploma of Honor from Lincoln Memorial University in 1998 and Honorable Mention for the Lincoln Prize from Gettysburg College in 2001. Burlingame was inducted into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois in 2009.

Abraham Lincoln: A Life won the 2010 Lincoln Prize for the best scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln. It also was a co-winner of the annual book prize awarded by the Abraham Lincoln Institute of Washington, D.C.

Burlingame earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and performed his doctoral work at Johns Hopkins University. He taught history for 33 years at Connecticut College in New London, Conn. before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois at Springfield in 2009.

Besides collaborating on the 2009 event to honor three Homer residents with ties to Lincoln, Quinlan and Sweeney each celebrated their admiration for the former president in different ways.

Quinlan tapped his artistic talent and painted a portrait titled “The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation Before the Cabinet.” He donated it to the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association and it now hangs in the Parks Alumni House.

Sweeney wrote a book, Lincoln’s Gift From Homer, New York: A Painter, an Editor and a Detective, that was released in August. It examines Carpenter the artist, Stoddard the editor and DeVoe the detective and the ties each man shared with Lincoln.

“You might say that David is Homer’s current Carpenter and I’m the current Stoddard,” Sweeney said.

Both graduates appreciate their hometown’s historic ties to Abraham Lincoln.

“When you drive through Homer, it looks very much like a 19th century village and it is,” Sweeney said. “It’s also a place that has a strong connection to Lincoln, times three.”

A New York Times bestselling book that examines the close relationship of the mass exterminations led by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin will be discussed by a four-person panel at SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

Three SUNY Cortland faculty members and an Ithaca College professor will discuss Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, the 2010 book written by renowned historian Timothy Snyder, at 7 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

The event, part of SUNY Cortland’s Project on Eastern and Central Europe, is free and open to the public.

Panelists include Girish Bhat, a SUNY Cortland associate professor of history; Sanford Gutman, a SUNY Cortland professor emeritus of history; Scott Moranda, a SUNY Cortland associate professor of history; and Zenon Wasyliw, an Ithaca College professor of history.

Bloodlands uses primary sources from victims such as letters, notes and diaries found on corpses to introduce overlooked episodes of mass killing. Snyder’s work, praised by The Economist and The New Republic as one of the most important works of 2010, offers a unique look at World War II and genocide in the 20th century.

“The book is unique in that it narrates two genocides as one event,” said Moranda, who instructs courses at SUNY Cortland related to European history. “It does this by focusing not on a political state such as the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany, but instead looking at a geographical region in Eastern Europe that Snyder labels the ‘bloodlands.’”

The bloodlands primarily consist of present-day Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Snyder investigates the relationship between Hitler’s Nazi regime and Stalin’s Soviet forces and considers the motives behind both sides. Moranda said the author weaves two histories chapter by chapter.

“In doing so, (Snyder) casts light on the ways the Soviet genocide was not as different from Nazi atrocities as a person might guess,” Moranda said. “He even suggests that the two genocidal policies interacted with and fed off one another.”

Moranda and SUNY Cortland Distinguished Service Professor Henry Steck, who will serve as the panel’s moderator, both said the book emphasizes the magnitude of Polish and Ukrainian suffering during World War II and compares the hardships to those suffered by Jews during the same period.

“When we think about the bulk of the war, we always think of the Western front, the invasions of France and Italy and so on,” Steck said. “But Snyder says the real war was in the bloodlands.”

Steck said each of the four panelists brings a different area of expertise to the discussion.

Bhat teaches Russian history and regularly offers a course on the Stalin period. Gutman’s specialties include the Holocaust and recent Jewish history. Moranda specializes in German history. And Wasyliw brings knowledge of Russian and Ukranian studies.

Steck will provide context on Bloodlands during the discussion for people who have not read it. However, a copy of the book is available on reserve at SUNY Cortland’s Memorial Library.

Sponsors for the panel discussion include Auxiliary Services Corporation, Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Office, Hillel, International Programs Office, International Studies Program, James M. Clark Center for International Education, Jewish Studies Committee, and the College’s history and political science departments.

Robert Spitzer, a SUNY Cortland distinguished service professor and a frequent political commentator on national politics, will predict the outcome of the U.S. presidential race an entire year before the 2012 election.

Spitzer, a nationally recognized authority on political subjects including the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. presidency, and the politics of gun control, will present “Looking Toward the 2012 Elections” during a Community Roundtable on Thursday, Nov. 3, at SUNY Cortland.

Predictions for the Republican primary and general elections, along with a discussion about the issues that will shape them, will be offered from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Park Center Hall of Fame Room. A question and answer session will follow. Refreshments will precede the lecture at 7:45 a.m.

Sponsored by the President’s Office and the College’s Field Experience and School Partnerships Office, the Community Roundtable is free and open to the public.

Spitzer, who chairs the College’s Political Science Department, said he won’t waste time building suspense for his predictions.

“The first thing I’m going to say in my talk is who I think is going to win,” said Spitzer, who has appeared on national television news shows that include NBC’s “Today Show” and ABC’s “Good Morning America” and has been quoted by the New York Times, the Washington Post and other major newspapers.

He also will recap how the election has been shaped and how he thinks it will play out.

“There’s been a lot of focus on the Republican debates and the political jockeying of the Republican candidates,” he said. “Most of it means little because no votes have been cast yet. None will be cast until January.”

The economy, healthcare and foreign policy include some of the election issues that Spitzer will address.

“The economy will be the number one issue next year in the election, without question,” Spitzer said.

Most of Spitzer’s election-related predictions, however, will be kept quiet until the Nov. 3 roundtable.

“I have some very specific predictions about what I think will happen, which I don’t want to tip my hand on,” he said.

Spitzer is a regular panelist on “The Ivory Tower Half Hour,” WCNY-TV’s popular public affairs program, which airs every Friday night. He is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

On Jan. 12, he appeared on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” to discuss gun control proposals in light of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 other people at a public meeting.

His books include The Politics of Gun Control (1995; 4th ed. 2007), Politics and Constitutionalism (2000), Essentials of American Politics (co-authored, 2002; 2nd ed. 2006), and The Presidency and the Constitution (co-authored, 2005).

The Community Roundtable series provides programs on diverse intellectual, regional and cultural topics of interest to College faculty, staff and community members. This year, the number of roundtables has been reduced to reflect the merger of the Center for Educational Exchange with Field Placement to create Field Experience and School Partnerships Office. Two more roundtables are scheduled this academic year. They will take place on the first Thursdays of April and May.

Parking in the Park Center lot is open to the public during the roundtables. For more information, contact the Field Experience and School Partnerships Office at (607) 753-4214.

Nina Roberts, a recognized authority on race, culture and gender issues in parks and recreation, will deliver the prestigious Metcalf Endowment Lecture at this year’s 61st annual SUNY Cortland Recreation Conference from Nov. 3 to 4 at the College.

Roberts, who currently directs the Pacific Leadership Institute (PLI) at San Francisco State University (SFSU), will discuss “Multiculturalism and Quality of Life: Strong Communities Build a Strong Nation” at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, in the Corey Union Function Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.

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

“Recreation and recreational programs are vital not only to individual health and wellness but also to communities and ultimately, the entire nation,” said Ethan Taylor, the conference’s program coordinator, referring to the conference planning committee’s selection of the theme. “‘Recreation Nation’ recognizes that individuals, communities and our nation are made stronger through participation in recreational pursuits.”

Registration takes place at 7 a.m. on both Thursday and Friday at Corey Union. The fee is $115 for professionals and $50 for SUNY Cortland students to attend both days; and $80 for professionals to attend Thursday or Friday only. The non-SUNY Cortland student group rate to attend both days is $30 each for 10 or more students. The additional cost to receive Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits is $8. The registration fee includes meals and entertainment.

Additional information may be obtained by calling (607) 753-4939, by e-mailing recconf@cortland.edu or online at www.cortland.edu/recconference, where the brochure and registration form may be viewed or printed.

More than 300 students are expected to attend the conference, which will offer more than 48 educational sessions and practical workshops on recreation management, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and leisure and society. A research symposium also is planned.

Topics will include blending commercial recreation and the great outdoors, sustainability in parks and recreation, new games as the foundation of cooperative and non-competitive play, making a challenge program sufficiently challenging, character education in recreation, bird watching and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Participatory Science Project, learn to fly and build an airplane, recreation therapy and a case study of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, conflict transformation using an experiential outdoor education model, social media, a field trip on facilitating resiliency in youth, animal-assisted therapeutic recreation, avoiding words that hurt, and quick and easy games from around the world.

The event is planned and directed by SUNY Cortland recreation and leisure studies majors in the Special Events Planning class taught by conference advisor Leiko Benson, a teaching assistant in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department. The students and the committees they chair include:

• Taylor of Brewerton, N.Y., who also is co-chairing budget, treasurer and office manager;

• Peter Bardou of Syracuse, N.Y., budget, special programs, evaluation and volunteer coordinator;

• Sam Benjamin of Burlington Flatts, N.Y., social services and registration;

• Casey Cregg of Ithaca, N.Y., brochure and posters, theme and logo, special speakers and research symposium;

• Robert Cutright of Utica, N.Y., brochure and posters, theme and logo, alumni newsletter and exhibits and internship fair;

• Mike DeRuyter of Saugerties, N.Y., social services and special speakers;

• Kris Docherty of Malta, N.Y., marketing, public relations, brochure and posters and theme and logo;

 • Jen Fitzpatrick of Phoenix, N.Y., program coordinator and special programs;

• Ben Kimple of Manlius, N.Y., marketing, brochure and posters, theme and logo and internal services;

• Mike Prove of Fayetteville, N.Y., marketing, program coordinator and program design;

• Brian Skeats of Woodstock, N.Y., bulk mailing, alumni chair and special speakers; and,

• Chelsea Smith of Babylon, N.Y., teaching assistant.

Cortland alumni presenting at this year’s conference include Janice Pauly ’71, Tom Kehoskie ’74, Karen Purcell Beard ’75, Jon Cooley ’75, Heidi Jewett ’79, Jody Phelps Rogers ’80, Jim Raulli ’87, John La Rue ’89, Jon Harshberger ’98, Scott Catucci ’00, Rhonda Jacobs ’01, Pat Mercer ’03 and Marrick McDonald ’04.

Roberts, a professor in SFSU’s Recreation, Parks and Tourism Department, has focused her research on the areas of outdoor programming and leadership, adventure education, youth development and recreation land management. Her studies explore gender issues and ethnic diversity in relation to attitudes and experiences regarding public parks.

The institute she directs is an organization based at SFSU that offers a menu of programs centered on learn-by-doing opportunities. The PLI uses the value of challenge, the power of play and the great outdoors as teaching tools for building life skills such as self-esteem, trust, leadership and the ability to work as a team.

Nina Roberts, the 61st annual Recreation Conference keynote speaker, enjoys some time in a favorite state park in Califorenia. She is a recognized authority on race, culture and gender issues in parks and recreation.

A dynamic educator and respected leader, Roberts is nationally known for her work with regarding race/ethnicity and national parks as well as urban youth, women and girls and their development of healthy lifestyles.

She has shared her ideas through interviews on Public Radio International, CNN.com, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe.

Roberts has been acknowledged for her commitment to diversity and social justice with a desire to break down barriers of inequality, especially relating to park access and recreation opportunities on public lands. Her work provides leaders and managers in outdoor recreation and adventure, natural resource education and conservation with ideas and resources needed to respond more effectively to changing demographics as well as cultural shifts and trends across the U.S.

At SFSU, she also is a gateway partner with the National Outdoor Leadership School and an affiliate faculty member with the Environmental Studies Program. A member of the University Committee on International Programs and Social Justice, she coordinates the undergraduate assessment for her department.

In the community, Roberts serves as a fellow teacher consultant with the Bay Area Writing Project, Steering committee member of The Nature Conservancy’s National Youth Poll, National Parks Centennial Steering Committee member, research committee co-chair of the National Parks Promotion Council, advisory council member of the Center for Diversity and the Environment and advisory council member of GirlVentures.

Roberts earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Recreation from Bridgewater State College and a Master of Arts in Outdoor Recreation Resources from University of Maryland. She has a doctorate in natural resource education and outdoor recreation from Colorado State University.

This year, the conference social will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, at Brix Pubaria on 60 Main St. in Cortland. The event is sponsored in part by Parkitects and the Great Outdoors RV Superstore.

Good teachers have high standards and expectations, teach manners and the Golden Rule, and tell good stories, says best-selling author and award-winning educator Hal Urban.

Urban will talk about his strategies for effective character education during a daylong workshop for educators on Friday, Nov. 4, at SUNY Cortland.

He also will lecture to SUNY Cortland students, faculty and staff on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Both events are presented by the School of Education’s Center for the 4th & 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility), a character education center devoted to advancing the “smart and good” schools vision throughout schools in this country and abroad.

In his talk and workshop, both titled “Lessons From the Classroom: 10 Things Good Teachers Do,” Urban will discuss the characteristics that good teachers possess.

On Friday, Nov. 4, Urban’s full day workshop will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Park Center Hall of Fame Room.

Registration, which includes lunch, is $99. The deadline to register has been extended until Thursday, Oct. 27. The registration form and more information is available on the Center’s website at www.cortland.edu/character or by calling the center at (607) 753-2455.                 

Two of Urban’s books, Lessons from the Classroom and Life’s Greatest Lessons, will be available for purchase at the workshop.

While visiting campus, Urban also will offer his insights on education to more than 150 SUNY Cortland students who are training to become educators. The event, which is free and open to faculty, staff and other SUNY Cortland students, will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, in Sperry Center, Room 204.

Urban, an award-winning teacher, author and international speaker whose workshops are in demand by educators in grades kindergarten through 12, shares his strategies for fostering a caring classroom community. Urban says that good teachers:

• help their students to both own and honor the rules.

• create a caring community.

• protect the classroom atmosphere from toxic words.

• use the power of visible reminders.

• inspire their students to set goals, and,

• form a partnership with parents.

Urban primarily gears his talks to teachers of every grade level, students of all ages, and parents. He also speaks to people in business, health care, service organizations and places of worship. On the speaking circuit since 1995, he has traveled more than two million miles, and made more than 1,000 presentations in 40 states and six foreign countries. Once he delivered a keynote address in the Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.

Urban was a teacher for 36 years. He taught at high schools in northern California and part time at his alma mater, the University of San Francisco (USF). He won numerous awards at both levels, including the Character Center’s National Educator of the Year award in 1999. Students at USF awarded him the Lifelong Learning Award in 1988 and the Most Supportive Professor Award in 1990. Urban won a Distinguished Teacher Award at San Carlos High and was Teacher of the Year twice at Woodside High.

In 2005, he was presented with the Sanford N. McDonnell Lifetime Achievement Award in Character Education at the Character Education Partnership’s National Forum in Atlanta, Ga.

Urban grew up in the northern California town of Redding and attended college on an academic/athletic scholarship. At USF, he made the Dean’s Honor Roll every semester, played Division I basketball, was a student body officer, and president of his fraternity.

Urban continued his education at USF, earning a California teaching credential, a master’s degree in history and a doctorate in education. He completed post-doctoral work in the psychology of peak performance at Stanford University.

Urban raised three sons as a single father. He lives in Redwood City, Calif., with his wife, Cathy. For more information, visit his web site at www.halurban.com.

The Center for the 4th and 5th Rs was founded in 1994 by psychologist Thomas Lickona, a professor of childhood/early childhood education and published author of eight books on character development and moral behavior. The Center promotes the smart and good schools vision of character education, whose mission is to integrate excellence and ethics, that is, to develop performance character — doing one’s best work — and moral character — doing the right thing — within an ethical learning community.

The center’s Smart and Good Schools Summer Institutes have trained more than 4,500 principals, teachers and other educators from 35 states and 20 countries. The center publishes Excellence and Ethics: The Education Letter of the Smart and Good Schools Initiative, provides guidance and resources for assessment of character education, conducts research on character education, conducts on-site school and district trainings, and creates programs that help schools implement the center’s smart and good schools vision.

Hobit Lafaye M ’11, an innovative cyclist and former SUNY Cortland graduate student, has earned national recognition for her efforts to promote cycling as an alternative form of transportation.

Lafaye, of Ithaca, N.Y., will receive the Outstanding Graduate Student Activity Award from Rho Phi Lambda, the national honorary fraternity for Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies, at its national meeting on Thursday, Nov. 3, in Atlanta, Ga.

The former non-traditional student completed her master’s degree in recreation this spring.

“Hobit is one of the most creative students with whom I had the pleasure to work,” said Lynn Anderson, a SUNY Cortland professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies. “She has brilliant ideas and the talent to turn them into reality. Her master’s work is evidence of that.”

That work is a major reason Lafaye will receive the national honor.

Her master’s project, titled “Creating Cultural Change through the Theory of Planned Behavior and Interpretation: A Project to Promote Cycling for Transportation,” created the blueprint for a research-based social marketing campaign.

“Her master’s project was exceptional,” Anderson said.

 Lafaye’s research partially dealt with the leisure constraints theory, which addresses factors that prevent physical activity such as a lack of facilities, support or money, and possible solutions to obstacles.

As a cyclist, Lafaye wanted to focus on the positive aspects of cycling as well as rules and regulations for safely sharing the road. Her idea was to promote cycling efforts through social networking and her own website.

“With 70 percent of adults and 50 percent of children being overweight or obese, biking can be used as a form of transportation as well as fitness,” said Lafaye, who runs most of her errands by bike.

Another part of Lafaye’s project involved education. She still seeks to educate drivers and cyclists on the rules of sharing the road to provide a safer experience for both sides.

“There’s so much animosity for cyclists and through education I want to reduce that,” she said.

Lafaye presented at a SUNY-wide conference in Albany, N.Y.

Currently, she works for BIKE (Bikes and Ideas for Kid Empowerment) in Syracuse, N.Y. The program, hosted on Saturdays and for at-risk youth in the city, enables children to learn skills they need to gain success and confidence regardless of their family’s financial status. The group recently took part in the Ride for Breast Cancer in Syracuse.

Lafaye, 40, who earned bachelor’s degrees from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla., will relocate with her two young children in November to Norfolk, Va., to begin her doctoral studies at Old Dominion University. She will teach there and will begin to implement the master’s project she started at SUNY Cortland.

“I think it would prove a lot to make such a large east coast city a biking city,” she said.

Lafaye understands the challenges that lie ahead in her pursuit to promote an alternate form of transportation such as cycling.

“There has been a focus on infrastructure, which is necessary but insufficient to increase cycling for transportation,” she said. “We also need to address cultural attitudes and barriers.”

An exhibition of oil paintings, drawings, photographs and prints depicting Ireland’s rugged beauty, by 23 participants in SUNY Cortland’s most recent Dingle Summer Art Program, will open on Saturday, Nov. 5, in downtown Cortland.

The reception that opens “The Irish Landscape” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Beard Building Gallery at Main Street SUNY Cortland, located at 9 Main St. Most of the 23 artists will be on hand to discuss their work.

Presented by the SUNY Cortland student organization Art Exhibition Association, the College’s Institute for Civic Engagement and the Cortland Downtown Partnership, the event and exhibition are free and open to the public.

“The Irish Landscape” will remain on display until Jan. 30, 2012. The gallery is open to visitors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All work on exhibit was produced during the newly expanded program taught by SUNY Cortland Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History George Dugan and Patricia Hunsinger.

The artists represented in “The Irish Landscape” were students from many SUNY campuses as well as working art professionals from throughout the state who enrolled in the six-credit graduate and undergraduate level course offered last summer in the busy fishing port community of Dingle, County Kerry. All work was created outdoors on the Dingle peninsula.

Madeleine Bialke, a student from SUNY Plattsburgh, is shown painting a landscape along the coast of Ireland during her Dingle Summer Art Program experience last summer.

“The fickle changes in the weather, shifting light and the ever-present wind both challenge and reward” the artist, Dugan said.

“The town of Dingle, with its captivating and brightly painted shops, and the Dingle peninsula, with its dramatic, ragged coastline, white sandy beaches, lush green pastures and the ever-present blue mountains, offer the artist the most stunning and picturesque subject manner.”

The students also immersed themselves in the culture of Ireland through selected readings, attendance at social events and lectures by visiting artists. Each participant completed a finished ‘master work’ painting with a final portfolio.

Offered every summer, the program in its 10th year is open to budding as well as accomplished artists. In 2012, two four-week sessions will be offered. For more information, contact SUNY Cortland’s International Programs Office at (607) 753-2209 or online at www.cortland.edu/studyabroad.

The Beard Building Gallery in historic downtown Cortland is a collaboration between SUNY Cortland, the Cultural Council of Cortland County and the Cortland Downtown Partnership.

To raise awareness for the most common type of cancer among women in the U.S., SUNY Cortland’s Women of Color student group will hold its seventh annual Breast Cancer Walk on Sunday, Oct. 30.

The walk, which begins at 12:30 p.m. on the steps of Corey Union, covers approximately two miles around the SUNY Cortland campus.

The event is free and open to the public, but Women of Color will accept donations. T-shirts will be sold for $10 along with pink capes for $5, with all funds going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, an organization that aims to spread knowledge and foster hope in the fight against the disease.

“Breast cancer is something that is growing rapidly in our lives and many people are being diagnosed with it every day,” said Violeta Rivera, the Women of Color president. “Women of Color works to be a support group for both women and men and we like to support our fellow students by showing them they are not alone.”

Rivera said her group wants to stress that the disease can affect men, too. Knowledge of the disease and early detection programs could help save lives, she said.

After the walk, an open mic program will be held in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge with the College’s A Cappella singing group. Participants will be able to share stories about their experiences with breast cancer, read poems and listen to support others.

“This is an institution full of different people who may not know what others have faced or what they are facing now, and having that support on campus is beneficial to those who need it,” said Rivera. “It’s also important to spread awareness on how to prevent breast cancer, how to perform a self examination and what can possibly lead to breast cancer.”

The Women of Color will provide a free continental breakfast to the first 50 people to arrive at the walk.

For more information, contact Rivera.

John Rennie Short, an internationally recognized geographer, will discuss his collection of contemporary Aboriginal paintings in Dowd Gallery at SUNY Cortland on Thursday, Oct. 27.

The lecture highlights the “Contemporary Aboriginal Art: Mapping Land, Representing Country” exhibition that will run in Dowd Gallery from Monday, Oct. 24, to Friday, Dec. 16.

Short, a professor in the Public Policy Department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will offer the lecture “The Incredible Rise of the Desert Art Movement” at 4:45 p.m. An opening reception begins at 4 p.m. Short’s lecture, the opening reception and the gallery exhibition are free and open to the public.

In his talk, Short will discuss the development of the indigenous contemporary art world in the Central and Western Desert of Australia.

 “There has been very active acquisition of contemporary Aboriginal painting by North American collectors for almost 30 years, but exhibitions of this art are only recently making true inroads onto the schedules of museums and galleries in the U.S.,” said Bryan Thomas, Dowd Gallery’s interim director. “We are very grateful to Professor Short for sharing his collection with us.”

Kathryn Kramer, an associate professor in the Art and Art History Department at SUNY Cortland, will serve as the exhibition’s curator.

“John Rennie Short brings his profoundly interdisciplinary scholarship to bear on the field of Aboriginal art, which has resulted in a milestone exhibition,” Kramer said.

The Dowd Gallery’s aboriginal exhibition will feature a total of 32 works: 27 paintings, four aerial maps of Australia and one sculpture.

A full-color, illustrated catalogue featuring an essay by Short and an interview with him will accompany the exhibition.

Widely published in the areas of urbanism, globalization, environmentalism and cartography, Short is currently working on a book about Aboriginal Australian art titled Representing Country: Evolving National Imaginaries and Indigenous Art in Alice Springs. A chapter, “Representing Country in the Creative Postcolonial City,” will appear in an upcoming issue of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers.

Support for the exhibition and its programming is provided by the Roberta Gere Doering ’46 Art Acquisition Fund, the Cortland College Foundation, the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the Haines Fund, the Art Exhibition Association, the James M. Clark Center for International Education, the International Programs Office, the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Office.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment.

For more information, contact the gallery at (607) 753-4216.

U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, whose efforts were instrumental in securing continued funding for SUNY Cortland’s AmeriCorps program, toured the College campus and met with students and faculty members on Sept. 28.

During a roundtable discussion, Hanna - a Republican whose 24th Congressional District includes Cortland - discussed a wide range of issues and campus initiatives with President Erik J. Bitterbaum and more than a dozen students, faculty and administrators. 

“What a great collection of minds,” Hanna said at the end of the more than hour-long meeting in the Park Center Hall of Fame Room.

Michael Tota, a business economics major who is concentrating in financial management, described his undergraduate research on salary compression among higher education faculty. Kathleen Burke, associate professor of economics, told the congressman about the student-aided research done by the department into the College’s economic impact on the region. Both shared their thoughts on President Obama’s jobs bill at Hanna’s prompting.

Amie Whitlock, a geology major who is concentrating in environmental science, and Christopher McRoberts, professor of geology, talked about Whitlock’s research work and undergraduate research in general. McRoberts described SUNY Cortland’s annual Scholars’ Day program.

Brice Smith, associate professor and chair of physics, talked about the College’s comprehensive plan to reduce carbon emissions. At Hanna’s request, Smith also discussed his view that nuclear power is not an economically viable alternative to fossil fuel.

Rebecca Schwartzman, an athletic training major and emergency medical technician, talked about the student-run campus ambulance service and the assistance it provided to flood victims in Binghamton, N.Y. earlier in the semester.

Jamie Piperato, a kinesiology major who is concentrating in sport studies, who also serves as president of the Student Government Association, shared her thoughts about student activism on campus, and the need to get a greater percentage of the student body involved.

Ashley Mosgrove, an inclusive special education major, talked about her fulfilling work with the Cortland County Youth Bureau as a SUNY Cortland AmeriCorps volunteer.

Pictured, from left to right, are Jamie Piperato, SUNY Cortland Student Government president; Amie Whitlock, a geology major doing geology research; Mike Tota, a business economics major doing undergraduate research; Rep. Richard Hanna; Jennifer Peter, a graduate assistant with Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators program; Ashley Mosgrove, an inclusive special education major and Americorps volunteer; and Rebecca Schwartzman, an athletic training major and volunteer with the student emergency medical service.

Richard Kendrick, a professor of sociology and anthropology and director of the SUNY Cortland Institute for Civic Engagement, thanked Hanna for his help in securing more than $370,000 in supplemental federal funding for the College’s  2011-12 AmeriCorps program. The funding will allow the College to triple the size of its AmeriCorps program.

Jennifer Peter, a graduate assistant with Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) Program, described the College’s initiative to prepare young educators to become teachers in high-needs, urban school districts. Peter, herself is a product of the program.

Marley Barduhn, assistant provost for teacher education, discussed SUNY Cortland’s other programs for helping vulnerable student populations, such as migrant family outreach. She expressed the need to continue to align teacher education programs with the changing needs of public school districts.

Six choirs, including the SUNY Cortland Gospel Choir and Cortland A Cappella, will raise their voices in celebration at the 26th SUNY Cortland African-American Gospel Music Festival on Sunday, Nov. 6, at the College.

The festival begins at 4 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for general admission. Proceeds support the Gospel Choir Scholarship and Programming Funds and the 2013 European Tour. SUNY Cortland’s Gospel Choir and Cortland A Cappella are a part of the College’s Africana Studies Department.

SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum will extend the welcome on behalf of the College.

Le Moyne College, directed by Burnell Reid, joins the lineup of guest choirs this year. Returning choirs are: Binghamton University Gospel Choir, directed by Denise Livermore, Shanice Hodge and Jessica Davis; SUNY Oswego Gospel Choir, with Robert Short as director; and Syracuse University’s Black Celestial Choral Ensemble, directed by Byron F. Canada.

Each choir will present two songs, one gospel and one a cappella. A mass choir, featuring all the choirs together, will serve as the finale. 

SUNY Cortland’s Gospel Choir will open the event with the following selections: “My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord,” by Orlando Draper; “Battlefield,” by Norman Hutchings; “Now Are We,” by Kayla Parker; and “Glorious,” by Marth Munizzi. Jason Carriero is the soloist for Battlefield. Mass choir selections will be “Faithful,” and “Oh Happy Day.”

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

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

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

The Dowd Fine Arts Theatre will transform into a tawdry South Side Chicago nightclub for six days beginning Oct. 28 when SUNY Cortland’s Performing Arts Department presents the original 1940 Broadway hit musical “Pal Joey.” 

The production is the regional premier of the Depression-era classic starring Joey Evans, an unsympathetic antihero, who was blamed for having “too much imagination to behave himself.”

Staying true to the music and lyrics of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, with 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 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.

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.

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. 

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

The Publications and Electronic Media Office has updated the SUNY Cortland Directory of Campus Offices, a PDF that lists emergency information, employee benefits, campus offices and faculty by department along with other information that was previously included in the Campus Information section of the printed directory.

The PDF can be downloaded and saved or printed from the Directory link on the Faculty/Staff home page at http://webapps1.cortland.edu/directory_search/directorySearch_jq.php.
The Directory Search page also offers

• a search by employee’s last name
• a search by department or office
• a faculty and staff A-Z list

Employees are asked to keep their online directory listing current. Directions on how to make updates are listed on page four of the SUNY Cortland Directory of Campus Offices.

Nominations are now being accepted for the College’s Excellence in Professional Service Awards. Letters of nomination will be accepted from SUNY Cortland students, colleagues or supervisors. Any professional who has completed at least two years of service at SUNY Cortland is eligible for an award. 

Nomination materials must be submitted no later than 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to Chair, Professional Service Awards Committee, Bursar’s Office, Miller Building, Room 323. Nominees will be notified by the Awards Committee of their candidacy after Jan. 31.

Awards will be given for excellence in three categories: 

Institutional Service Award

Nominees should be individuals who serve as role models within their area of responsibility, their profession or department. Characteristics such as leadership, organization, problem-solving or decision-making skills should serve as examples of professionalism of the highest caliber. These characteristics may be demonstrated in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

• outstanding performance within the job description
• participation in committees or activities that support the College’s long range planning goals
• participation in professional development and training

Innovation Within Profession Award

Nominees should be individuals who have demonstrated creativity in the development or application of ideas or concepts within a professional operation. Characteristics of innovation may be demonstrated in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

• application of technology within one’s field
• redesign of a process or program to improve effectiveness
• maximization of campus resources in operations (e.g. fiscal efficiency)

Service to Students Award

Nominees should be those who have demonstrated leadership in the development or enhancement of programs and services that respond to student needs. Characteristics of excellence in service may include, but will not be limited to:

• demonstration of “going the extra mile” in order to serve students
• development of creative student programming or services
• implementation of programs or processes designed to improve services to students

Typed letters of nomination must be submitted in the following format:
1. name, title, department of nominee
2. name of nominator, relationship to nominee (e.g. colleague, supervisor, student)
3. award category that captures the achievement of the nominee
4. specific information in support of the nomination that answers why the individual’s service/innovation/achievement in that category should be recognized
5. up to two letters of support (recommended)

The Awards Committee reserves the right to request additional supporting information as necessary. Nominees must have completed at least two years of service as a professional staff member and must not have been a recipient of an award within the same category within the previous three years. Nominations should be for current service/innovation/achievements and for activities that would either not be considered to be within the normal scope of activities included in the nominee’s performance program or should be documented to show how the service/innovation/achievement far exceeded normal expectations.

Recipients will have announcements of the honor sent to The Bulletin and the Cortland Standard. They will also receive a certificate of recognition at a small ceremony.

Campus community members are asked to nominate colleagues for their exemplary service.

For more information, contact Professional Service Awards Committee Chair Colleen DeGouff, Student Accounts Office, at (607) 753-2313.

Orientation programs and transfer transition seminars have been planned for 2012. Below are the program dates for January, June/July and August. All first year orientation programs are two days long with advisement and registration occurring on the second day of the program. All transfer transition seminars are one day.  

January 2012

Transition Seminar: Tuesday, Jan. 10

Seminar and Open Registration: Tuesday, Jan. 17

Summer June/July

Transfer Session 1: Friday, June 22

First Year Session 1: Monday, June 25-Tuesday, June 26 

Transfer Session 2: Wednesday, June 27

First Year Session 2: Thursday, June 28-Friday, June 29

First Year Session 3: Monday, July 2-Tuesday, July 3

Transfer Session 3: Friday, July 6

First Year Session 4: Monday, July 9-Tuesday, July 10

Transfer Session 4: Wednesday, July 11

First Year Session 5: Thursday, July 12-Friday, July 13

August 2012

Orientation and Open Registration: Friday, Aug. 24. This program is for students who cannot attend a June/July Orientation.

Various offices and departments work together to make these events a success and to aid our new students in their transition to SUNY Cortland. The campus community is invited to participate in these programs.

For additional program information, refer to the orientation website at http://www2.cortland.edu/offices/advisement-and-transition/orientation/

Questions regarding the Orientation program should be directed to Marinda Souva in the Advisement and Transition office.