Campus Champion

Ten years ago, following more than three decades as a Syracuse City School District social studies teacher, Jim Miller “retired” to become a SUNY Cortland professor. Along with his practical experience, Jim brought along an event he has chaired nearly as long as he’s taught: the CROP Hunger Walk. “It’s a perfect service-learning course for my adolescence education: social studies majors, something they can take into their own classrooms and unite service-learning and global history,” says Miller, whose efforts have yielded over 20 SUNY Cortland teams set to “End Hunger One Step at a Time” on Sunday, Oct. 20.

The subject of hydrofracking for natural gas energy has become a highly charged issue in America, with everyone, seemingly, taking sides. That hasn’t stopped author Seamus McGraw, whose byline has appeared in many national magazines, from jumping right into the political fray.

The author of The End of Country, McGraw will bring his own insights based on his up-close-and-personal experience with the mining technique impact on his hometown in a SUNY Cortland lecture on Monday, Oct. 14.

McGraw’s presentation,  “Finding Your Footing in a Fractured Land: The Moral and Philosophical Dilemma of Fracking,” begins at 7 p.m. in the Sperry Center Johnson Lecture Hall, Room 106.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the College’s Philosophy Department, the Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice, and the Environmental Justice Committee of the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies.

“There are few places where the divisions are quite as visible as New York state at the moment,” McGraw said. “When this started in Pennsylvania, you didn’t have the ossified, partisan lines there. The opposition hadn’t hardened on both sides. We were caught quite unaware. In New York, quite frankly, this had already been hijacked by — let’s just call them ‘ardent voices’ — on both sides. That’s what’s significantly different.”

McGraw is a full-time writer who has seen his work published in Playboy, Reader’s Digest, Radar, Spin and The Forward. He received the Freedom of Information Award from the Associated Press Managing Editors as well as honors from the Casey Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists.

His 2011 book received major reviews, including one by the American radio host, activist and attorney specializing in environmental law, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“Deeply personal, sometimes moving, sometimes funny, The End of Country lays out the promises and the perils faced not just by the people of one small Pennsylvania town but by our whole nation,” Kennedy wrote.

“This cautionary tale should be required reading for all those tempted by the calling cards of easy money and precarious peace of mind,” Tom Brokaw wrote. “The result too often is bitter feuds, broken dreams, a shattered landscape.”

McGraw views energy mining in upstate New York state and elsewhere around the country as probably inevitable.

Seamus McGraw

“I’m a guy who used to drive around in a waste vegetable oil-powered Mercedes,” McGraw said. “For us to achieve what we all most fervently wish for — an independent, renewable energy supply — we require an infrastructure,” he said. “And in order to do that, we require some dependence on fossil fuel until we can turn around and shake it off.

“The question is, ‘What fossil fuel are we going to use?’ And the question is, ‘Are we going to police it or are we going to stand behind our ideological barricades and wave our dogma at each other?’”

Some of the greenest current solutions leave their own carbon footprint, McGraw said. He’s aware of one proposed massive California solar array project that will power 450,000 houses, for example.

 “All the stuff that’s going to be used in construction of that development has to be mined, has to be manufactured, has to be shipped, has to be erected on site,” McGraw said. “That carries a fossil footprint. And the installation they are putting in has about a 30-year lifespan, which means we have to repeat this all over again in 30 years. That’s just for those 450,000 homes. There are 350 million people in America.”

SUNY Cortland Professor of Philosophy Kathryn Russell invited McGraw to speak on campus and is teaching from his book in two of her classes this semester, Environmental Ethics and Science and Its Social Context.

“The topic of ‘fracking’ in the context of climate disruption is certainly a timely one,” Russell said. “I hope McGraw’s lecture will help the issue come alive for students at SUNY Cortland. It will also give them a chance to dialogue with him.”

McGraw grew up in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, in the rocky, remote northeastern corner of the state, which is home to a community of stoic, low-income dairy farmers, many of them third- and fourth-generation, and more recent homesteaders seeking a haven from suburban sprawl.

He once pitched hay and spread manure on the same fields the gas companies are now prospecting, and he still lives in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and four children.

A battle for control has continued there since the discovery of one of the richest natural gas deposits the world has ever known, the Marcellus shale. The conflict pits the forces of corporate America against a band of locals determined to extract their fair share of the windfall, but not at the cost of their values or their way of life.

When McGraw’s own widowed mother was approached about leasing the family farm for gas exploration, he began to chronicle the experiences of his mother and her neighbors.

“When (our family) negotiated to lease, we were able to negotiate from a position of being better informed by virtue of when we did it and by observing what our neighbors had gone through,” McGraw said.

“When I do these talks, I very often raise the point. I’ll ask the people ‘what is fracking?’ There has been enough background noise for most and rudimentary information for some that people can give me a basic description. I always say, ‘That’s almost right, but you’re not cracking the rock, you’re exploiting existing fractures in the rock.’

“I argue that what’s taking place more than a mile below the surface is mirrored by what is taking place on the surface. You have these worried, divided communities that are, quite frankly, being exploited by people on both sides of the issue, which often has very little to do with the actual challenge at hand.                  

“The question is: do we have the character to get beyond that fractious debate — the polemics — and look at this with an unjaundiced eye,” McGraw queried. “I’m not sure that we do. But if we can do this, we are going to start doing this in places like SUNY Cortland.”

He is currently working on a documentary trailer about his family's experiences with the Marcellus shale.

For more information about McGraw’s book, visit his website. For more information about the talk, contact Russell at 607-753-2014.

It’s been a long time coming for the SUNY Cortland seniors who will star in a one-night-only production of “The Rocky Horror Show” on Friday, Oct. 18.

Each year, the College’s newest crop of musical theatre majors picks a well-known quote to use as its motto. So tradition led members of the Class of 2014 to borrow from the popular 1970s cult classic when they first arrived on campus.

“Don’t dream it, be it,” the line goes.

After three years of trying to find a way to perform “The Rocky Horror Show,” their dream will be realized with an independent, student-produced show. The performance begins at 10 p.m. in the former United Community Church at 19 Church St. in Cortland.

General admission tickets can be reserved for $8 by calling 607-745-5089. Special VIP tickets, which include front-row seating, shuttle transportation to the show and entry to a cast reception, also are available for $10. VIP guests must be 21 years old.

Roughly half of the 400 available tickets already have been sold.

“The support from the community has been huge,” said Joey Gugliemelli, the show’s artistic director who also will play the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad transvestite scientist. “We really want to sell this thing out.”

The comedy follows a young couple forced to seek refuge during a storm in Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s bizarre home. It offers a humorous play on the science fiction and horror movies from decades ago.

Mark Reynolds, the costume designer in the College’s Performing Arts Department, will direct the show. Cast members include: Alexa Defina as Nurse Ida Bender Over; Jackie Collins as Nurse Ida Bender Over Too; Will Rivera as Brad; Emily Freeman as Janet; Lindsey Galgano as the narrator; Alejandro Circelli as Riff-Raff; Chrissy Jackson as Columbia; Jacquie Fisher as Magenta; Ben Shimkus as Rocky; David Newman as Dr. Scott; Allison Tamburello as Eddie; and Catherine Skojec, Camille Parlman, Lauren Puente, Melissa Pipher, Nikki Ferrara and Sarah Shaiman as orderlies.

Reynolds called the musical “the original cult classic experience” and said the student production will take some creative liberties.

“The culture that we live in now is a lot more accepting of even just the word transvestite,” he said. “So we’re able to push things further to make them a little more risqué.”

In fulfilling a goal he’s shared with his classmates since they were freshmen, Gugliemelli said the weeks leading up to the show have stressed all that goes into a grassroots production.

Local businesses offered discounts on their services and helped to market it. Faculty members from the Performing Arts Department volunteered their time. And cast members themselves juggled rehearsals with their commitments to the department’s production of “Rockabye Hamlet.”

“It’s all part of the business,” Gugliemelli said. “And it’s all worth it.”

Campus supporters for the event include the Performing Arts Department and the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office. The Cortland Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center also will host a free 1980s themed party preceding the show from 7 to 9 p.m. at the same location.

For more information, contact Gugliemelli, Reynolds or visit the show’s Facebook page.

The next discussion in SUNY Cortland’s Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC) series, a talk focused on urban education, will take its lead from a group who can speak to it best: high school students.

“Perspectives on Urban Education: For Teachers, By Students” takes place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. Students from the Teaching and Learning Institute at East High School in Rochester, N.Y., will offer the panel presentation, which is free and open to the public.

It follows the year’s CICC book read theme of “Inter/Action,” which suggests all Americans aren’t always given an equal opportunity to tell their story.

The College’s 2013-14 programming is built around the books Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago, by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman, and Blasphemy, by Sherman Alexie. In their book, Jones and Newman offer firsthand accounts of life in a Chicago housing project. Alexie’s work includes a collection of short stories that considers America through the eyes of a Native American.

“We thought this presentation would fit perfectly with this year’s theme of ‘Inter/Action,’” said Brian Barrett, an associate professor of foundations and social advocacy and current co-chair for CICC. “As many on this campus are aware, students’ school-based interactions play a critical role in shaping their future opportunities – for better or worse.”

The Teaching and Learning Institute was founded in 1995 to help the Rochester City School District “grow its own” future teachers. Since its inception, the institute has trained more than 200 students with 13 graduates now working in the Rochester City School District. Many others are teaching in various areas of the United States.

High school seniors on the panel will speak firsthand about their experiences in an urban classroom.

They are expected to describe inequities as they relate to access to resources, effective teaching and quality curriculum. They also will discuss their own efforts as actively engaged students and prospective teachers to counter those challenges.

Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) program provided additional support for the presentation.

The fall semester’s remaining CICC events include:

• Thursday, Oct. 17: Readings from Blasphemy at 7 p.m. in Old Main Colloquium.

• Monday, Oct. 21: Readings from Blasphemy at 4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Monday, Nov. 18: A reading by Joe Bruchac, the popular Native American storyteller and writer, at 4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Tuesday, Nov. 19: A screening of Beasts of the Southern Wild, a 2012 fantasy drama film nominated for four Academy Awards, at 7 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105.

For more information, contact Barrett at 607-753-2330 or CICC co-chair Howard Lindh, scenic designer for performing arts, at 607-753-4101.

Islands are where many migrants and asylum-seekers around the world first land in their pursuit of safety and freedom.

But for many, the archipelagos become a physical and legal trap.

Geographer Alison Mountz will explore the processing and detention of these would-be immigrants on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at SUNY Cortland.

Mountz, an associate professor of geography with the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, will discuss “Island Detentions: Migration, Enforcement and Struggles Over Asylum” at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125.

Her talk continues the 2013-14 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series at SUNY Cortland. This year the Brooks lectures take on the theme of “Cultures in Conflict, Pathways to Resolution,” featuring upcoming presentations ranging from women’s involvement in the Arab Spring to the ongoing conflicts between Turkey and Europe, to how domestic policy on crime sometimes creates even more conflicts.

A reception to welcome Mountz starts at 4 p.m. in the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum, Moffett Center, Room 2126.

Alison Mountz

This event, and others in the Brooks series, is free and open to the public.

Mountz, who holds her school’s Canada Research Chair in Global Migration, has focused her studies on the peripheral edges of sovereign territory where migrants try to land, work and seek asylum. These islands are significant for border authorities, raising complex issues surrounding legality, sovereignty, governance and exclusion. She will describe how migrants and asylum-seekers are kept, literally, at the margins of the countries in which they seek refuge.

Mountz is the author of a book, Seeking Asylum: Human Smuggling and Bureaucracy at the Border (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010); and the co-author of a second, Key Concepts in Political Geography (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2009).          

Before joining Wilfrid Laurier University, she was an associate professor in geography at the Maxwell School of Public Administration and International Affairs at Syracuse University from 1998 to 2003.

Mountz also served as a W.L. Mackenzie King Research Fellow in the Canada Program and a visiting associate professor at Harvard University.

She graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Latin American and Caribbean studies. At Dartmouth, she was a Presidential Scholar, a Sociology Senior Fellow and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She pursued graduate work in geography, earning a Ph.D. from University of British Columbia and an M.A. from Hunter College.

The 2013-14 Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) and the Cortland College Foundation. For more information, contact Professor of Sociology/Anthropology Sharon R. Steadman, the lecture series organizer and Brooks Museum director, at 607-753-2308.

Victor Siegle has long been a driving force in Cortland County, helping to boost its economy and serving as a catalyst for progress in the community.

Siegle, among the longest serving members of the Cortland College Foundation Board, was recognized on Sept. 27 as SUNY Cortland’s 2013 College-Community Appreciation Award recipient. He was honored during a dinner event in the College’s Corey Union Function Room.

As a top executive at Marietta Corporation, Siegle’s vision and ability helped build the Cortland-based firm into one of the region’s biggest employers.

Siegle, a Cortland native who returned home to seek business success after graduating from Yale University, is now the owner of Management Software, a developer of business management software based in Homer, N.Y.

Over the years, Siegle has served his community in many different ways. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Cortland County Industrial Development Corporation, the Business Development Corporation and Natrium Corporation. Siegle was a major influence in the creation of the J.M. McDonald Sports Complex and was a co-founder of the Homer Little League.

He also has been a leader in organizations and efforts to promote culture in the Cortland area, including his strong support for the Center for the Arts of Homer. His energy has put him at the forefront of local initiatives related to the environment and sustainability, including the creation and stewardship of the Homer Community Garden. Siegle serves on the board of the Siegle Foundation, providing generous support for local charitable organizations.

His life has been devoted to improving the economic, cultural and educational vitality of the Cortland community, all of which strengthens SUNY Cortland.

Siegle also has helped the College in a more direct way, lending his vision and experience to service on the foundation board and providing financial support through gifts to SUNY Cortland.

A board member since the late 1990s, Siegle’s years of dedicated service have contributed to two successful capital campaigns in support of the College’s goals. He was involved with the College’s first campaign, which met its $10 million goal in 2003. In June of this year, the more ambitious Educating Champions: the Campaign for Cortland campaign surpassed its goal by more than 10 percent, raising more than $27.5 million. Educating Champions was conceived in 2008, during the height of the national economic crisis, when many colleges and universities ¾ including SUNY Cortland ¾ were advised to scale back their goals.

Siegle is proud of the early leading role he played in successfully advocating with the board to significantly raise its level of scholarship spending on SUNY Cortland students.

Siegle also serves the College as a guest lecturer in an environmental and resource economics class and as a mentor in an entrepreneurship course.

A Homer, N.Y., resident, he is married to Ann Handman Siegle, who works as a special education teacher for the Franziska Racker Center, an Ithaca-based organization that serves people with special needs. They have two grown children: Lizzie, who works with international exchange students at Tufts University; and Josh, who is completing his doctorate in neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The College-Community Appreciation Award is sponsored by the College Council. It was created in 1985 as a means of thanking persons who have assisted the State University of New York College at Cortland in a significant manner. Siegle is the 29th citizen to receive the honor.

A panel will discuss the long and difficult pursuit in America of gender-related rights, including marriage equality, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at SUNY Cortland.

The program “The Journey to Equality,” which represents the inaugural event in the College’s Louis Larson Lecture and Performance Series, begins at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

Organized by the College’s LGBTQ Faculty and Staff Committee, the presentation will feature panelists addressing the historical and legal ramifications of marriage equality. 

In their campaign for marriage equality, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community seeks access to the same legal rights as others conveyed by marriage, including a right most people take for granted, which is to marry.

Louis Larson

The speakers will include the annual lecture’s namesake, Louis Larson, associate director emeritus of career services at SUNY Cortland. Also presenting will be Barrie Gewanter, who directs the local New York Civil Liberties Union Chapter; and Jason Hungerford and Mariette Geldenhuys, client and lawyer respectively, nine years ago when Hungerford sued Tompkins County for marriage equality.  

The talk is free and open to the public. The ongoing series is intended to educate and support individuals in the campus and local LGBT communities and their allies.

Future lectures — geared to help foster and promote diversity and mutual respect — will include guest speakers, panel talks and performances from professionals in the LGBT community.

The series is sponsored by the campus Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies and a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC). Special thanks to Health Educator Catherine Smith and the Student Development Center for assisting this year in allowing the inaugural event to be hosted through the College’s Wellness Wednesday series.

The series honors Larson, who served SUNY Cortland’s Career Services for 23 years and retired in 2010. In June of that year, he was honored with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service, recognizing his extensive record of professional service to the institution and beyond.

Larson joined the staff in 1987 as assistant director of career services and later was promoted to associate director. Characterized by his colleagues as an “ambassador for SUNY Cortland,” he is known for his unique ability to deliver information in a meaningful and engaging way. A charismatic and skilled speaker, Larson is often invited to classrooms to speak.

For more information, contact committee co-chairs Vicki Wilkins at 607-753-4972 or Kathryn Coffey at 607-753-2974.

SUNY Cortland will kick off its 2013-14 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign on Monday, Oct. 21, with a noon luncheon for volunteers in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. The campaign, which relies on state employee volunteers to canvas co-workers for donations, will continue through Monday, Nov. 4.

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

“Last year the campus raised $52,028 in SEFA campaign donations from a total of 349 SUNY Cortland employees,” said Lori Porter who, with Mavis Lefever, will co-chair this year’s SEFA campaign on campus.

“While last year’s campaign was incredibly successful in terms of dollars raised and the number of donors, we are hopeful that even more money can be raised and that more employees will decide to contribute to this year’s campaign,” Porter added.

We are hopeful that as many or more employees will be able to contribute to this year’s campaign in an effort to meet or exceed the number of programs and people who benefit from these donations,” Porter added. 

According to Abigail Oaks, campaign associate for the United Way for Cortland County, last year’s United Way donations were allocated to 26 programs at 13 agencies. The number of people in the county served through these programs in 2012 was 27,157, or 56 percent.

 The College will offer incentives for employees who donate to the 2013-14 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 at least $25 will be eligible for a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant.

SEFA campaigns also are conducted at the State 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 about 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, 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 include: Kathleen Burke, SUNY Cortland United University Professions (UUP) employees; Cynthia Eberhart, federated campaign coordinator for the United Way for Cortland County; Gary Evans, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees; Laurie Klotz, SUNY Cortland UUP employees; Lois Marshall, NYSDOT, CSEA employees; Donna Raymond, NYSEC, CSEA employees; Cindy Tarleton, Community Health Charities of New York; Antoinette Tiburzi, SUNY Cortland professor emerita, Cortland County SEFA chair; and Laurie Barton, SUNY Cortland, management/confidential employees.

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

The Mystic Warriors, dedicated to the preservation of Andean folk music, will use ancient flutes and panpipes in conjunction with contemporary instruments during their concert on Friday, Oct. 11, at SUNY Cortland. 

The performers, who seek in their music to remain true to the art, culture and heritage of the Quechua and Aymara people in Bolivia and other pre-Inca civilizations, will begin their recital at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

Presented by the College’s Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS), admission to see Mystic Warriors is $3 for SUNY Cortland students and $5 for general admission. Children 10 and under will be admitted free.

Tickets for the event can be purchased in Corey Union, Room 406, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; by calling 607-753-5574; or beginning one hour prior to the performance at the venue. All seating is general admission.

Crossing musical boundaries and defying definition, the Mystic Warriors are proud to share their musical heritage and universal message of peace and harmony.  

“While their music appears to fit into the ‘New Age’ category, it often sounds like world music, contemporary jazz, Latin or mainstream popular,” described a Potomac Overlook Regional Park reviewer. “The performers believe their music is a fusion that crosses over all of these without leaving the boundaries of Andean Music.”

Mystic Warriors was founded in 1993 by Andres and Marco Mallea in Washington, D.C. While growing up, they were influenced by pop music and culture, classic rock and contemporary jazz, a mix that influenced their music as much as their Andean background.

Having performed with various traditional Andean groups in the United States, the pair decided to make their music more accessible to their American audience by adding contemporary instrumentation such as guitar synthesizers, drums and bass.

That year they recorded their first album. Self-titled “Mystic Warriors,” it is a fusion of ancient and modern instruments that allowed them to express themselves to a wider, larger audience and create their unique style.

In 1995 they recorded “The Shadow of the Sun,” continuing the blend of ethnic Andean instruments and melodies with contemporary sounds and arrangements.

Mystic Warriors also tours the United States, performing at festivals and music and other venues, including all major U.S. government agencies, foreign embassies, museums, the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center. In 1994 by special invitation they performed at the White House for Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

The Malleas have shared stage with Tito Puente, Bo Diddley, Tom Rush and Spiro Gyra. They have recorded music for various National Geographic documentaries and received many awards, including the 1997 “Ringo” Music Award from The Washington Hispanics for “Best International Folk and World Music Group.”

For more information about Mystic Warriors, visit the band’s website at www.mysticwarriors.com.

For ticket information or questions regarding CALS events, contact the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office at 607-753-5574 or visit the CALS Web page.

Needs of patrons with mobility challenges are accommodated through special seating assignments. Advance notice is appreciated.

CALS is funded by the student activity fee and grants from the Auxiliary Services Corporation, the Cortland Fund, the Cortland College Foundation and the Strategic Initiative Advancement Fund.

SUNY Cortland’s latest Dowd Gallery exhibition explores the relationship between two-dimensional images and three-dimensional objects through ceramic sculptures and large-scale photographs of the human body.

“Ashley Lyon: Fleshing,” which runs through Friday, Nov. 22, features the work of an Alfred University faculty member based in Hornell, N.Y. Lyon teaches in the school’s Ceramics Department and focuses on the human figure fragment.

The Dowd Gallery exhibition is presented as a single installation rather than as individual pieces of Lyon’s artwork. It is free and open to the public.

The gallery remains housed for the fall semester on the third floor of Main Street SUNY Cortland, 9 Main St., while the Dowd Fine Arts Center undergoes renovations. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The gallery is closed Sunday and Monday.

Above: Ashley Lyon in the studio, 2013 Above left: Ashley Lyon, Bent Leg, ceramic, 2013

A talk by Lyon takes place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12. Additionally, a ceramics workshop takes place from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, in Old Main, Room G-40. The hands-on event is free but registration is required by calling 607-753-5745 or emailing erika.fowler-decatur@cortland.edu

Rather than sculpting directly from human models, Lyon is inspired by two-dimensional images, such as photographs, Internet images or even memories. She then replicates those pictures in three-dimensional work that strives to be as real as possible.

Additionally, Lyon often pauses to photograph her sculptures during their creation with a large format camera. The three-dimensional objects are thus translated back into two dimensions once again.

Capturing the objects during the creation process also informs how Lyon proceeds with her work, which she tweaks based on how the composition appears in the camera’s viewfinder.

And while many artists choose to focus on the figure, Lyon avoids the representation of specific people or the narration of a story. She attempts instead to make the image or object devoid of any emotion by presenting it as a fragment.

Her sculpture is hand-built, not cast from real bodies or objects, and contains flaws.

Lyon admits that sculpted body parts and fragments are strewn around her studio — a leg propped up against a wall, two feet placed in front of a chair like shoes, an arm on the table with the hand dangling off the edge.

“A whole figure striving to appear hyper-realistic can often feel like a dummy or mannequin; everything is described,” Lyon says. “This halts close looking, leading to an illustrative interpretation of work.

“I am striving instead for a nearness to realism, like a peripheral vision.”

Lyon’s exhibition is supported by The Cortland Fund and Cortland College Foundation.

For more information or to schedule a group tour of the gallery, contact Gallery Director Erika Fowler-Decatur at 607-753-4216.

Just how much have climate and land use changes impacted London’s primary water supplier?

A University of Oxford faculty member will answer that question during a geology talk at SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

“The Impacts of Climate and Land Use Change on Hydrology, Water Quality and Ecology of the River Thames,” takes place at 7 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 204. Sponsored by the College’s Geology Department, Geology Club and Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the event is free and open to the public.

Paul Whitehead, a professor of water science at the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment, will discuss the River Thames, southern England’s principal river system and the provider of roughly two-thirds of the city’s water supply.

Recent climate change studies tied to the Thames suggest threats to water supply along with damage to river quality ecology. Land use change also is predicted to have an impact as agriculture becomes more intensive and farmers react to higher grain and food prices.

During his talk, Whitehead will discuss the important issues at hand as well as the setup of the Integrated Catchment Model, an assessment tool applied to measure many European ecosystems. Model results related to flow, nitrogen, phosphorus and ecology — along with their decision-making implications — will be mentioned.

Whitehead brings more than 35 years of experience studying water quality and pollution issues to the talk. The director of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Macronutrients Cycles Program, he has been involved with more than 40 research projects while working with many different universities.

In his extensive travels, Whitehead has visited six continents to study changes in land use, climate and the environment. He holds a Ph.D. in dynamic analysis of water resource systems from the University of Cambridge and an M.S. in control and systems theory from the University of Manchester.

For more information, contact Li Jin, assistant professor of geology, at li.jin@cortland.edu or 607-753-2188.

The SUNY Cortland community has rallied in the past to support an adopted zoo in a different country. On Saturday, Oct. 19, they will continue their efforts, this time by hosting a block party to support renovations to make the Belize Zoo more accessible to the public.

The block party, which is open to the public, will run from 2 to 4 p.m. in the parking area beside the Marketplace Mall in downtown Cortland. The festivities will continue at 7:15 p.m. inside the Blue Frog Café, site of several prior zoo fundraisers.

The block party will feature family-friendly carnival games and activities and possibly a few furry guests from the Cortland SPCA and other groups. That evening’s festivities at the Blue Frog will include games of chance, music, magic and refreshments.

The presence of Jamal Andrewin-Bohn, an environmental educator at the Belize Zoo, will highlight the day’s party. Andrewin-Bohn, in his second visit to SUNY Cortland, will be on campus to promote the zoo from Oct. 14 to 23.

Additionally, the 12 SUNY Cortland students who took part in a class work project have been invited to come talk about their experience in helping the zoo.

“We're hoping to have a great day, full of spreading awareness and raising money for a great cause,” said organizer Mary Kelly, a student in the College’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department and a member of the College’s Americorps Project.

Last fall, students in a class taught by Vicki Wilkins, a professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies at SUNY Cortland, raised $8,860 on campus for zoo improvements. During spring break in March, Wilkins and 12 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in her Special Topics in Recreation and Leisure Studies course flew to the tiny, sparsely populated country on the northeast coast of Central America to make the entrance walkway to the national zoo reachable by anyone. They also adapted newly constructed restrooms outside the zoo’s entrance, dug holes to plant landscaping and visual barrier poles and marked driving slots for the vehicles of visitors with restricted mobility.

“We knew our work with Belize couldn’t end when we left the zoo in March,” Kelly said.

After brainstorming a bit over the summer and going down again to meet with Sharon Matola, the zoo director, Wilkins and Thomas Pasquarello, another SUNY Cortland faculty member, came up with the next phase of ongoing Belize Zoo Transformation Project, Kelly said.

“The zoo only has about 500 feet of pathway left until most of the zoo will be accessible — a long way from the original goal of doing a mile,” Kelly said. “The cost to finish the project equates to an estimated $10,000 or about $18 per foot.”

Any donations to the Belize Zoo Transformation Project will be money well spent, according to the zoo’s representative.

“We knew that Vicki had rounded up her most motivated students, and had high expectations for the group, which, I’m happy to say they met and surpassed with flying colors,” said Andrewin-Bohn about the spring break student project at the zoo.

“They managed to raise more funds than they had originally targeted for the zoo’s accessibility project, and put in some solid days of manual labor, working on the pathways themselves,” he said.

“I know even our work crew in charge of the pathways — who were a little skeptic since most of the group were girls — were also impressed with how well they handled the hard work, and tropical temperatures to boot,” he said.

“It was heart warming to see students that dedicated to a cause hundreds of miles away from home.”

More than 600 prospective college students are expected to spend a day visiting academic departments, touring the campus and talking to faculty and students during the SUNY Cortland Fall Open House on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 14.

Most high school students have the day off from school. The College, however, has a regular day of classes, so interested individuals will get a realistic impression of what the campus is like, said Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management Mark Yacavone. Faculty, staff and students from academic departments and student service offices will be available to meet with visitors throughout the program. Additionally, guests may tour the campus and eat in the dining facilities.

The open house allows visitors who have made prior reservations the opportunity to experience the campus by interacting directly with students, faculty and staff. Individuals who have not pre-registered also are welcome to attend.

The program will begin formally at 9:30 a.m. in Park Center. An Academic Fair and Student Services Fair featuring department faculty and student services will take place in Park Center Corey Gymnasium from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. At 12:30 p.m., students are encouraged to go to their chosen academic department offices for more information and a tour.

Guided tours of the campus and residence halls will run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Participants will meet in the Corey Union Function Room.

At 10:30 a.m., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Mark Prus will give a presentation on the Honors Program in Park Center, Room 1204.

Also that day, assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Theresa Curtis will give a presentation on pre-medical advisement at 1:15 p.m. in Bowers Hall, Room 236. Special sessions on admissions, financial aid, athletics, dining services, residence life and housing also will be offered that day. For details, visit the website at cortland.edu/admissions.

Parking for Open House visitors will be provided in the Route 281 parking lot, which features  shuttle bus service to Park Center.

Yacavone noted that the fall format is much different from the Spring Open House, where most visitors already have been admitted and are in the process of deciding whether to attend SUNY Cortland.

A second Fall Open House for those unable to attend the first one is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 11.

The 2013 Annual Service Awards Ceremony recognizing classified staff will be held on Friday, Dec. 6, 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 http://www2.cortland.edu/hr/ at 607-753-5751.

45 Years

Linda Pedrick, Academic Affairs

35 Years

Ingrid Griswold, Memorial Library

30 Years

Lori Crandall, Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department

K. Michael Woodworth, Structural Maintenance

25 Years

Paula Giroux, Student Health Services

Linda Parmiter, Field Experience and School Partnerships Office

Claire Payne, Psychology Department

Donna Pool, Custodial Services

Paul VanValkenburg, University Police

20 Years

Constance Biviano, Student Health Services

Barbara Conrad, Childhood/Early Childhood Education

Dennis Gallow, Grounds

Lori Porter, School of Professional Studies

Debra Smith, Custodial Services

Victoria Stockton, Custodial Services

15 Years

Christopher Amedeo, Heating Plant

Jennifer Baker, Student Health Services

Darwin Bartholomew, Custodial Services

April Calale, Financial Aid

George Cole, Custodial Services

Melinda Ferguson, Physical Plant

Benjamin Finton, Central Warehouse/Mail Services/Commissary/Central Receiving

Deborah Lewis, Residence Life and Housing

Valerie McConnell Custodial Services

Denise Morse, Custodial Services

Debra O’Mara, Custodial Services

Deborah Slater, Memorial Library

Kathleen Stockton, Custodial Services

Colleen Trinkle, Custodial Services

Shirley Tutino Admissions

Joyce Willis, University Police

Gary Withers, Custodial Services

10 Years

Stacey Buckley, Physical Education Department

Kathleen Card, Custodial Services

Mary Jo Carey, Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education

David Coakley, University Police

Judy Daniels, Custodial Services

Carol Freeman, Custodial Services

Katherine Gustafson, Institutional Research and Assessment

Joel LaMott, Heating Plant

Gary Lansdowne, Physical Plant

Kevin Markowski, Heating Plant

Anne McLorn, Art and Art History Department

Patricia Pinto, Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department

Steven Rolfe, University Police

Students interested in careers in education should attend SUNY Cortland’s 2013-14 Alumni Speaker Series event on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

The panel discussion, titled “Education Panel: How to Land Your First Teaching Position,” begins at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Panelists include Steven C. Woodard '90, director of Career and Technical Education at Cayuga Onondaga BOCES, Kraig D. Pritts C.A.S. '96, superintendent of Schools at Tully Central School District and MaryAnn Murphy '02, principal at Tully Junior/Senior High School.

 “Students interested in a career in communications should come prepared to ask our alums how they scored their first job, their paths from Cortland to where they are today and other questions related to their careers,” said Erin Boylan, associate director of alumni affairs. “This is a great opportunity to get advice directly from professionals.”

The discussion, the second of six in the series, is sponsored by the Alumni Affairs Office and Career Services. For more information, visit the Career Services website or call them at 607-753-4715.