Campus Champion

Senior Brittnie Daugherty has made her mark across campus. The Phi Kappa Phi honor society member manages the Leadership House and serves as a COR 101 teaching assistant. But the sociology/criminology major may be best known for her work as president of the Student Activities Board, the club that brings concerts and other high-profile entertainment to campus. It’s one of the College’s largest student clubs both in operating budget and executive board members. But Brittnie thrives on the challenges, and she’s excited about what’s ahead. That includes alternative pop band Echosmith, who recently committed to a special Cortaca Jug concert on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Soon, yellow community bicycles won’t be the only affordable, environmentally friendly transportation available at SUNY Cortland’s Student Life Center.

Zipcar, a popular car-sharing service, will begin offering students a convenient alternative to keeping a vehicle on campus by the end of October.

Registered SUNY Cortland Zipcar users will have access to two cars parked near the Student Life Center 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service costs $15 a year for annual membership plus student-discounted hourly or daily rates. Gas, insurance and maintenance are included in those charges.

“This is a creative way for our students to access cars without having to worry about parking or any of the extra costs that come with ownership,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “Any alternative that can reduce parking needs and help shrink our carbon footprint is worth exploring.”

Zipcar’s presence on other college and university campuses has resulted in a drop in congestion and parking demand, and therefore a reduction in car emissions. The car sharing service marks SUNY Cortland’s latest “green” effort to manage resources effectively and protect the environment. Earlier this year, the College was named one of the greenest colleges in the U.S. by BestColleges.com. It was the only campus in the State University of New York system on the list.

One Zipcar has the ability to take approximately 15 personally owned cars off the road, according to the company’s studies. And in terms of cost, Zipcar members pay only for the time they use a car, which can save up to 70 percent of a student’s total transportation costs.

Members must be at least 18 years old with a valid driver’s license. They will be able to reserve a Zipcar online or from their smartphone for as little as an hour and up to seven days, with a driving limit of 180 miles per day.

Details on how to register for Zipcar, make a reservation and gain entry into a car will be provided when the service launches later this month.

In the wake of recent shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon and Northern Arizona University, SUNY Cortland will hold a series of educational events aimed at preparing the campus community to survive a similar act of violence.

“Unfortunately, we live in an age in which tragedies of this type have the potential to occur on any campus,” President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “Colleges and universities are special places that promote openness and freedom of discourse. Our campus is a major corridor and people are moving through it all the time.

“We see strangers here every day, but there are things we can do. It will take constant vigilance and cooperation, but we can help protect our campus from this type of unlikely, but extremely tragic, attack.”

So far, three events have been scheduled for this month: two training sessions for faculty and other campus community members and a seminar on recent college campus shootings by Distinguished Service Professor Robert Spitzer, an internationally respected expert on gun laws.

Additional education sessions on topics ranging from campus security measures and emergency communication to personal safety in the event of campus violence are being scheduled.

Bitterbaum also is urging all members of the College community to review the information provided about active shooter incidents on SUNY Cortland’s emergency webpage.

Students, faculty and staff should be sure to watch the video on that page. It is also imperative that everyone who has not already done so sign up for early warning messages through the New York Alert system.

The three events scheduled so far are:

• “Guns and Safety on College Campuses After the Umpqua Shooting,” the seminar is an exploration of what can be done to deter these types of events. Led by Spitzer, who has authored five books on gun policy, the talk will be at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.
• Active Shooter Training, presented by the University Police Department and the Human Resources Department, will be at 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, in Corey Union Fireplace Lounge. The program is geared toward faculty and staff, but all members of the campus community are invited.
• Active Shooter Training, presented by the University Police Department and the Human Resources Department, will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. The training is geared toward faculty and staff, but all members of the campus community are invited.

Information on additional events will be publicized when details are available.

SUNY Cortland sophomore Kaley Clavell understands what it means to be tested outside the classroom. It’s a skill that will benefit the aspiring teacher for a lifetime, especially when she eventually stands in front of a classroom of her own.

Last winter, after a successful first semester at the College, the Suffern, N.Y. native made a visit to the local oral surgeon for a scheduled wisdom teeth removal. But the doctor discovered something more serious: a tumor in her jaw had gone undetected for years.

“They caught (the tumor) at the best time,” Clavell said. “It basically eroded my jaw bone.”

A major surgery would borrow an artery, nerves and six inches of fibula bone from her leg. All of the teeth on the lower right side of her mouth needed to be removed. And then, of course, there was the likelihood of surgery scars plus at least three months of recovery.

Some teenagers might have shut themselves off to the world, but Clavell responded in her typical way — by flashing her contagious smile and confronting the challenge with a positive outlook.

It’s why the childhood education major was honored Monday evening by the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City, alongside New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams, American jazz drummer Roy Haynes and Dr. Gabriel Sara, an oncologist at Mount Sinai Roosevelt. Every year, the hospital honors one patient, one doctor and prominent people who embody the positive spirit of music therapy.

This past summer, during Clavell’s weeklong stay in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit, she received daily visits from musical therapy staff members. Their job relies on singing and instruments to relieve the stress and anxiety that often come with hospitalization.

“I never really had that moment when I thought it was going to be impossible,” she said. “It was just something that I had to do, especially for my parents.”

SUNY Cortland sophomore Kaley Clavell was honored by the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine alongside New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams (pictured), American jazz drummer Roy Haynes and Dr. Gabriel Sara, an oncologist.

The tumor was found to be benign shortly after the initial detection, but it still meant juggling several follow-up appointments with the oral surgeon during the spring semester of Clavell’s freshman year. She notified Ronnie Casella, the associate dean of SUNY Cortland’s School of Education, that she might miss sporadic classes for doctor’s visits in New York City. Clavell’s bigger plan was to undergo surgery early in the summer so that she wouldn’t miss fall semester classes.

“The description of what she was going through sounded very severe, yet she was so upbeat,” said Casella, who regularly works with students in the School of Education when they encounter serious medical emergencies. “Usually students will take a semester off, and it would have been completely warranted in Kaley’s case.

“But she kept saying, ‘I’m really determined to come back on time.’ And sure enough, despite some complications, she made it back.”

The complications involved a delay in Clavell’s surgery, which was pushed from June to mid-July. She said the only low point came roughly a month after the procedure took place, when her face swelled unexpectedly a few weeks before she was supposed to return to Cortland for her sophomore year.

Clavell eventually thought back to her hospital stay, which included her 19th birthday five days after the surgery took place. She was on doctor’s orders to eat through a feeding tube, so cake and ice cream weren’t part of the celebration. Thanks, however, to musical therapists and medical staff, it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of her life.

“It was the best birthday because it made me realize how little the material things matter,” she said.

Clavell arrived back on SUNY Cortland’s campus in time for her sophomore year, feeling stronger for having gone through the physically and emotionally draining ordeal. The experience offered a unique perspective that ultimately will make her a stronger teacher, she said.

“I feel like I’ll be able to relate better to students during those difficult times,” said Clavell, a second-year member of the College’s Cortland Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) program, which provides scholarship support for future educators who agree to teach in a high-needs, urban school for at least two years after graduation.

More recently, she’s become a champion for the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation’s “Faces of Courage” campaign. And in addition to the award she received Monday, she’ll also speak at Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s annual gala at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in November.

In truth, Clavell will end up missing some class time during the fall semester because of her surgery — but for the best reasons possible.

“Kaley’s been amazingly upbeat through all of it,” Casella said. “She’s just been a trooper in so many ways.”

Award-winning filmmaker Ira McKinley will share his 2014 personal exploration of the devastating impact of police brutality and mass incarceration on the black community on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at SUNY Cortland.

McKinley, who co-directed "The Throwaways" with Bhawin Suchak, will answer questions after the screening of his 62-minute film beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 106.

The event, which is free and open to the public, continues the College’s yearlong series on “Thinking about War and Peace.”

The documentary follows a theme expressed by Ralph Ellison: “I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids; and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”

As told through the eyes of McKinley, a formerly incarcerated activist, the documentary shows — with rawness, urgency and power — the rising national movement to fight against a wave of police killings of black people in America. 

The film has been described as timely and provocative.

“‘The Throwaways’ is more just than an illumination of marginalized people at their weakest moments,” McKinley said. “It is a call to action, a story of directly engaging in the fight for justice.”

“‘The Throwaways’ courageously explores the most pressing racial justice issue of our time: the mass incarceration and racial profiling of poor people of color,” writes Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow.

Winner of the 2014 Best Documentary by Long Beach Indie and the 2014 NY Hi-Light by the Harlem International Film Festival, “The Throwaways” was an Official Selection at the 2013 New Hampshire Film Festival and in 2014 was an Official Selection at the Socially Relevant Film Festival, Roxbury Film Festival, Kingston Film Festival, COMMFest Toronto, Film Columbia, Catskill Mountain Film Fest and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival.

	Promotional poster for "The Throwaways."

The screening and guest speaker are sponsored by the College’s Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS), the Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice, the Africana Studies and Philosophy departments, and an Auxiliary Services Corporation grant.

For more information about the film, visit the website http://throwawaysmovie.com. For more information about the series, contact CGIS director Mecke Nagel at 607-753-2013.

SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum wants to have a candid campus conversation — three of them, to be exact — on crucial topics that will set the College’s course for the future.

“Let’s Talk about Race” marks the first of three discussions in the President’s Conversation Series on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at SUNY Cortland. It takes place from 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, in the David J. Vittor ’67 Lecture Hall, located in Sperry Center, Room 105.

All students, faculty, staff, alumni and local community members are encouraged to attend.

The conversation series will attempt to gather multiple perspectives, establish campus-wide appreciation for differences and provide future direction for an equitable and inclusive SUNY Cortland.

Each discussion will include an expert on the topic; a panel made up of students, faculty and staff members; and a group discussion about how the College can move forward in each of the crucial topics. Sexual identity and cultural climate will be discussed in future conversations with President Bitterbaum.

For more information on the initial event, contact the College’s Multicultural Life and Diversity Office at 607-753-2336. Information on future meetings will be released when it is available.

Building on the success of campus events surrounding last year’s Cortaca Jug game, SUNY Cortland will bring in up-and-coming indie pop band Echosmith for a special concert Saturday, Nov. 14.

The show will begin in the evening, after the College’s football team returns to Cortland after taking on Ithaca College in the storied Division III rivalry game.

Details of the concert such as time, location and ticket information, are not yet available. They will be announced at a later date.

The California-based group — made up of four siblings who range in age from 16 to 22 — is best known for the hit single “Cool Kids,” which earned double platinum status and reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last fall. Echosmith’s debut album “Talking Dreams” also included the popular track “Bright.”

Last fall, the College initiated what it hopes will become a new Cortaca Jug tradition by hosting a major concert event after the game. It is one of several student-oriented events that will be scheduled during the weekend of the game. A full schedule of events for 2015 will be announced in the weeks leading up the Nov. 14 game, which takes place this year at Ithaca College’s Butterfield Stadium.

Last year’s Cortaca Jug show, which brought in electronic dance duo The White Panda, filled Moffett Center gymnasium. The College’s Student Activities Board added that show to a 2014-15 concert line-up that also included country musician Raelynn in February and rapper Big Sean at Spring Fling.

SUNY Cortland students have become key contributors to the local community’s CROP Hunger Walk, which will be the case again this year when they walk to raise awareness for the hungry Sunday, Oct. 11.

The event, which is part of a larger national initiative, seeks to increase knowledge of hunger causes and to raise funds to feed those in need. Last year, 86 percent of local walkers were SUNY Cortland students. They accounted for nearly half of the more than $11,000 raised locally.

“From the figures over the last three years, you can see the significant role that SUNY Cortland students have played,” said Jim Miller, a lecturer of history at the College and a lead organizer of the local event.

This year’s three-mile walk starts at Grace Episcopal/Holy Spirit Lutheran Church at 13 Court St. in Cortland, and it will take place rain or shine. Registration begins at the church at 1 p.m., with the walk starting at 1:30 p.m.

Donations will be accepted at the event or in advance through the local CROP Hunger Walk’s website, which also offers online event registration.

Several SUNY Cortland student groups, Greek organizations and sports teams played key roles in last year’s efforts. The College’s women’s lacrosse team raised $920 and earned the Gold Cleat Award as the top fundraising sports team. The Delta Phi Epsilon sorority brought in the highest total among Greek organizations.

Poor weather conditions forced a slight drop in overall participation numbers in 2014, but the group of 269 SUNY Cortland students still improved their fundraising total from 2013. Miller said he hopes both numbers will increase this year with cooperation from the weather and the event’s growing popularity among students.

Twenty-five percent of the local funds raised this year will be returned to the City of Cortland to feed those in need and assist organizations such as Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and Loaves and Fishes.

According to the CROP Hunger Walk website, approximately 1,300 walks take place each year across the U.S., drawing 116,000 participants. The events are sponsored by the Church World Service, and invite people from all backgrounds to come together in support of the cause.

For more information about the Cortland event, visit the Cortland CROP Hunger Walk Facebook page or contact Miller or Susan Wilson, associate professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies.

Prepared by public relations intern Brandon Romagnoli

General falconer Mary Cope will discuss the sport as she shows off her red-tailed hawks, kestrels and owls on Wednesday, Oct 7, on the Memorial Library second floor.

Cope's demonstration, scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m., continues the library's displays and event series titled “Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine of Harry Potter’s World,” which focuses on the literary phenomenon started in 1997 by British Author J. K. Rowling.

Coincidentally, most of Cope's owls are named after Harry Potter characters.

Until Saturday, Oct. 10, SUNY Cortland’s Memorial Library will continue to turn into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters for all visitors. The destination won’t be the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but instead an exhibit where visitors can learn all about potions, monsters, herbology, magical creatures, fantastic beasts, midwifery and immortality.

	Illustration of dragon, Konrad Gesner, Histoiae Animalium, 1551 courtesy National Library of Medicine

This traveling exhibition, featuring materials developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, explores Harry Potter’s world and its roots in Renaissance magic, science and medicine.

A reception to open the exhibition took place Sept. 15 on the library’s second floor. The event featured a panel discussion featuring faculty experts speaking on such topics as alchemy, herbology and midwifery. The talk included Greg Phelan, chair of the Chemistry Department, Angela Pagano, Biological Sciences Department faculty member and assistant dean for accreditation, Moataz Emam, chair of the Physics Department, and Sally Dear-Healey, visiting assistant professor of sociology/anthropology. 

Also during the opening reception, student science clubs and the College’s Quidditch Team shared interesting information about things like the science of invisibility, alchemy and the intricacies of their intramural pastime.

Millions of young readers have followed Harry to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he discovers his heritage, encounters new plants and animals and perfects his magical abilities.

	Hortus Sanitatis, 1491, courtesy National Library of Medicine.

“Everyone knows the Harry Potter series either through books or movies,” said organizer Anita Kuiken, instructional services librarian. “People are naturally drawn to his world — a world of fantasy and possibilities beyond the everyday.

“More importantly, it’s a good fit for our campus, because it demonstrates how creativity, passion and thought fuel developments in the sciences, literature and culture.”

Although a fantasy story, the magic in the Harry Potter books is partially based on Renaissance traditions that played an important role in the development of Western science, including alchemy, astrology and natural philosophy.

During the exhibition, six free-standing panels on loan from the National Library of Medicine will be displayed on the second floor of the library. Incorporating the work of several 15th- and 16th-century thinkers, each screen examines important ethical topics such as the desire for knowledge, the effects of prejudice and the responsibility that comes with power.

Meanwhile, the College’s resources in alchemy, birds of prey, Renaissance art and culture and the Harry Potter series itself will be displayed throughout the first floor.

“We encourage those in attendance of the events to join in the spirit of the gathering, so cloaks, wizard hats and wands are welcome though you’ll have to park your brooms outside,” observed Brian Story, instructional services librarian, who also organized the exhibition.

For more information, contact Kuiken at 607-753-4983.

The typical college student might be stumped over the meaning of “Gaia Theory” or “land ethic.”

Biologist Martin Ogle not only excels as an expert in that theory, but he was honored in 2010 for his ability at explaining obscure scientific concepts in informal and non-academic settings with the annual award of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

	Martin Ogle

On Thursday, Oct. 8, at SUNY Cortland, he will share his innovative ideas for thinking of the land as a community of which we all are part.

Ogle, who was chief naturalist for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority from 1985 to 2012, will present “Aldo Leopold, Local Land Ethics and Planetary Challenges” at 4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

Organized by the College’s Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC), the event is free and open to the public.

The event continues the 2015-16 CICC series, themed this year on “Where are We?” The discussions consist of talk about the role that local communities play in the greater society’s achievement of economic health, environmental resilience and overcoming inequalities of all types.

Ogle will discuss theAldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac, which encompasses a series of essays geared for conservationists and wildlife biologists. Leopold in his book imagined a local community that included both humans and the natural world and called for a new “land ethic” about what is economically relevant to the love of place and the rights of land, animals and plants.

Sand County Almanac is one of four “common readings” relating to upcoming lectures that the campus and community are encouraged to read in advance. Additional selections include Will Allen’s The Good Food Revolution, Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything, and Gerald Grant’s Hope and Despair in the American City.

Ogle in his most recent scholarship attempts to expand on Leopold’s concept of Gaia Theory, which in recent times has been defined as the scientific view of Earth as a single physiological system.

“The metaphor ‘Gaia’ powerfully reflects this science and gut-level feeling that reminds us that forests, mountains, prairies and savannas we inhabit are physiologically linked to everything else,” Ogle said.
His Gaia Paradigm, which he has advanced through his workshops, programs and writings, asserts that this re-discovery of Earth’s life must be the compass that points back and gives meaning to specific places of work and life.

“Gaia Theory tells us that the rock, water, air and organisms (including us) have and continue to co-evolve as a single physiology,” Ogle said. “It puts humans in place with the rest of the world.”

The theory already has inspired ideas and practical applications for economic systems, policy and scientific inquiry.

Ogle asserts that his discussion topic fits well into the series’ theme.

“The question ‘Where are we?’ has become complicated in the past few decades of high mobility, cultural homogenization and scientific advances,” he said. “We may come to explore this question, however, in ways similar to our relatively immobile and culturally distinct ancestors.”

Ogle, who was born and spent much of his younger life in South Korea, holds degrees in wildlife biology from Colorado State and Virginia Tech. In 2012, he and his family moved to Louisville, Colo., where he founded Entrepreneurial Earth LLC.

He has written articles and completed book reviews for Taproot: a Journal of Outdoor Education published at SUNY Cortland by the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors.

Future events in the “Where Are We?” series will be announced in the next Bulletin.

By holding an annual series on a different intellectual theme, the CICC committee aims to generate common topics of discussion and to establish traditions of intellectual discourse on campus. Faculty and staff are encouraged to infuse the theme into their courses, either through selections from the common readings or other texts related to the theme.

The series is sponsored by the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Office, the President’s Office and the Cortland College Foundation.

For more information on Ogle’s talk, contact Professor Charles Yaple. For more information on the “Where Are We?” series, contact CICC co-chair Scott Moranda at 607-753-2052.

Prepared by public relations intern Jessica McFadden

More than 700 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. 12.

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 ’94.

Faculty, staff and students from academic departments and student service offices will be available to meet with visitors who have made prior reservations throughout the program. Additionally, guests may tour the campus and eat in the dining facilities. Individuals who have not pre-registered also are welcome to attend.

View the full Open House schedule.

The program opens with an Academic and Student Affairs Fair from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Student Life Center gymnasium. Academic department faculty and student services representatives will be available to meet visitors and answer questions. At 12:30 p.m., prospective 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 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Participants will meet in the Student Life Center.

At 10:30 a.m. Frank Rossi, associate professor of chemistry, will give a presentation on the Honors Program in Corey Union, Room 209. Pre-law advisor Timothy Delaune, an assistant professor of political science, will address visitors at 11:15 a.m. in the Corey Union Fireplace Lounge. Pre-med and pre-dental advisor Theresa Curtis, associate professor of biological sciences, will discuss academic options at 1:15 p.m. in Bowers Hall, Room 1214. Deborah Van Langen, assistant professor of kinesiology, will present on pre-physical therapy/occupational therapy at 1:30 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. 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 the Student Life 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 Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Spending her junior year in Salamanca, Spain last semester changed SUNY Cortland senior Shareefah Pereira’s life.

“Studying abroad was not only about learning Spanish, but about discovering my passion for languages and travel,” said Pereira, a dual major in early childhood and childhood education and Spanish from Binghamton, N.Y.

Some 30 SUNY Cortland students will study abroad in Salamanca, Spain, next spring and fall with support from new travel awards arranged by the State University of New York through Santander Bank.

Coincidentally some 30 students already had applied to study in Salamanca next spring even before the grant for $20,000 was announced, according to Mary Schlarb, director of international programs at SUNY Cortland.

“Scholarships are a way to help students have the amazing opportunity of participating and we want to make it work for them,” Schlarb said. “Salamanca is one of our most popular programs with high marks from students.”

She refers to a program International Programs Office has operated for more than 35 years.

During Spring and Fall 2016 some of these SUNY Cortland students — and perhaps others who apply before the Thursday, Oct. 15 deadline — potentially will see their costs offset by awards of up to $5,000 as part of the SUNY-Santander Global Scholars program, Schlarb said.

The College is one of 20 colleges and universities in the 64-campus system that SUNY selected to distribute the award for students planning studies in Spanish-speaking countries on behalf of the Spanish bank.

SUNY Cortland was chosen for the SUNY-Santander Global Scholars program based on criteria that included demonstrated commitment to providing scholarship funds to students from underserved populations; existing collaboration agreements that would benefit from immediate SUNY student travel; and having a successful ongoing program that merits support.

According to the grant’s stipulations, SUNY students can receive up to $5,000 for semester-long study abroad. Most SUNY Cortland students will receive between $1,000 and $2,000.

The College’s International Programs Office decides the size of each student’s award, but no one student will receive more than $5,000, according to Schlarb. The amount each SUNY Cortland recipient receives will be determined through an evaluation of their grade point averages (with a minimum 2.7 or higher GPA), resumes, recommendations and students’ financial needs.

In early 2014, the College joined Generation Study Abroad, a nationwide effort to ultimately get thousands more American students to graduate with the international experience necessary for success in a globalized world.

Reaching the College’s goal to double participation by 2020 means that more than 28 percent of the College’s undergraduate and graduate students would venture outside America’s borders to expand their intellectual horizons, according to Schlarb.

In 2011-12, 14.3 percent of the College’s undergraduate and graduate students traveled abroad for a semester of study, course, class project, internship or service learning opportunity. Presently, that percentage has increased to 17 percent of graduates.

The College encourages a large number of students to study abroad in order to develop their global competence, Schlarb noted.

“We believe international experiences, whether semester-long study, internships, student teaching or service learning, offer students transformational opportunities to enhance students’ academic learning, broaden their perspectives and develop skills and self-confidence that will serve them in their professional and personal lives,” Schlarb said.

“I was able to step out of my comfort zone, see the world, try new things and get college credit for it,” Pereira. “I would definitely encourage everybody to study abroad and uncover something interesting about themselves. Studying abroad is all about taking chances; and that is one chance I do not regret.”

To reach the Generation Study Abroad goal, International Programs strives to help students find funding resources available to them, including the many other scholarships available to SUNY Cortland students for scholarship elsewhere in the world, according to Schlarb.

“We are committed to helping all students overcome barriers to participating in international programs, so they, too, can seize the opportunity to broaden their perspectives, enhance their skills and enrich their college experience,” she said.

“Study abroad can be affordable for many students,” according to Schlarb.

The office holds a Study Abroad Fair along with numerous Study Abroad 101 information sessions. Students fresh back from their travel abroad visit classes on campus as interns and speak about their experience. International Programs staff works closely with faculty to see how opportunities to learn in another country might fit into their classes.

For more information on SUNY-Santander Global Scholars or the College’s program in Salamanca, Spain, contact Schlarb at 607-753-2209. For more information on other study abroad programs, visit the International Programs Office in Old Main, Room 219.

Prepared by public relations intern Jessica McFadden

Jim Benham ’67 could inspire any student who wonders how a person might transform one’s self from college chemistry major to successful engineer, with some impressive corporate chops.

Currently a board member for Intevac of Santa Clara, Calif., and Richardson Electronics of La Fox, Ill., Benham will visit many SUNY Cortland classrooms attempting to do just that from Wednesday, Oct. 7, to Friday, Oct. 9.

	Jim Benham '67

As the College’s most recent Executive-in-Residence, during his visit he will address students in the Strategic Management class of Associate Professor of Economics Timothy Phillips, the Chemistry Lab class with Professor Gregory Phelan and Associate Professor Jeff Werner, and a Physics Power Electronics class with Assistant Professor Douglas Armstead. He’ll get the chance to eat lunch and talk with student research fellows and scholarship recipients individually and meet with faculty, staff and members of the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors.

Benham also will deliver a lecture geared to science majors called “Night Vision Systems and a Career in Silicon Valley” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, in Bowers Hall, Room 1129.

The talk is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, staff and community members from many different interests are encouraged to participate in the seminar.

Benham earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at SUNY Cortland. He has a Master of Business Administration in Industrial Administration from Lynchburg College and completed a Stanford University program in manufacturing technology.

Benham has spent his career as an industrial engineer and research scientist.

From 1995 to 2013, Benham was president of Litton Electron Devices, a microwave tube manufacturer employing 500 people near Silicon Valley. He also is the past president and founder of E.O. Sensors in Palo Alto, an electrical optical sensor business that sold in the mid 1990s.

He began his career in 1967 as a research and development engineer with Raytheon, Machlett Labs in Stanford, Conn.

Benham and his wife, Jane Sheehy Benham ’68, currently live in Pleasanton, Calif.

Benham’s visit as Executive-in-Residence is supported by the Cortland College Foundation, the Alumni Engagement and Career Services. For more information, contact Lisa Court, associate vice president for development, at 607- 753-5571.

The “Trail of Tears” was a tragic chapter in the country’s history: the forcible removal of Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw people from their homelands in the southeast to Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi.

Most Americans think the horrific march happened only once.

But that history is incomplete, according to Sierra Adare-TasiwooPa api.

A Cherokee and Choctaw, she will share her knowledge, both through scholarly research and family reflection, of four such separations, motivated both by politics and force, on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at SUNY Cortland.

Adare-TasiwooPa api, who coordinates faculty development at Trocaire College in Buffalo, N.Y., will present “The Four Trails of Tears” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 204-208.

Sponsored by the English Department and the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the talk is free and open to the public.

Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi has focused her research on stereotyping throughout American history. Her work on the subject of children’s books and their impact on the cultural development of children has been published over the past several decades.

She is a member of Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, a pan-indigenous association seeking to ensure that the voices of indigenous and Hispanic peoples in the Americas are heard throughout the world.

 Adare-TasiwooPa api also teaches at Niagara University and is completing a doctorate in American studies at the University at Buffalo. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from SUNY Empire State College and a Master of Arts in Indigenous Nations Studies from the University of Kansas.

Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi has conducted research for an education film for Educational Fundamentals, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit. She has received a Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship and a grant from the Mark Diamond Research Fund to support her doctoral work.

For more information, contact Linda Rosekrans, lecturer in English, at 607-423-4886.

Award-winning environment correspondent Molly Peterson will discuss new strategies that public broadcasters use to engage the community’s interest in action on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Peterson, a journalist with Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) since 2007, will present “I See Change: The Transformative Impacts of Crowdsourced Climate Reporting” at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125. A reception to welcome her precedes the talk at 4 p.m. in the Rozanne M. Brooks Museum, Moffett Center, Room 2126.

The presentation is free and open to the public. The lecture continues the 2015-16 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series themed on “The Culture of Thought,” which allows participants to explore what has shaped, and is changing, the way humans think about the world around them.

Peterson will explore the subject of journalism and its role in shaping American views on issues such as climate change.

Her employer, SCPR, is a media network that operates in Los Angeles and Orange County. Her broadcasts seek to fulfill the radio station’s aims to strengthen bonds that unite Southern California’s diverse communities, to create highest quality news and information, and to be a forum for engaging audiences on regional and global issues.

Peterson will focus on one particular project, “I See Change,” a national, crowd-sourced weather observation reporting initiative created in 2012 by producer Julia Kumari Drapkin. Peterson often invites the public to document environmental changes and connect with reporters and scientists to find answers about what they’re experiencing.

“‘I See Change’ is a community climate and weather journal,” said Peterson, who has reported, edited, directed programs and produced stories for National Public Radio (NPR).

The groundbreaking environmental reporting platform combines citizen science, participatory public media and cutting-edge satellite and sensor monitoring of environmental conditions.

“Reporting on climate change for years, I’ve heard from listeners that reports and studies seem kind of distant,” Peterson said. “We’re encouraging people to observe with us. What is happening in their environment becomes immediate and vital to our audience.”

	Molly Peterson

She develops conversations with her audience about such topics as climate, science and policy through social media, web-based live chats and comments through the use of participatory approaches to news sharing. One such avenue is called Public Insight Journalism (PIJ), a pioneering approach to journalism created by American Public Media. Through a collection of tools, many of them web-based, PIJ broadcasters solicit knowledge and direct experience from people with the basic goal is to do better journalism.

Peterson studied international politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and attended University of California Hastings College of the Law.

The 2015-16 Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) and the Cortland College Foundation. For more information on the lecture or series, contact Sharon R. Steadman, professor of sociology/anthropology, lecture series organizer and Brooks Museum director at 607-753-2308.

Prepared by public relations intern Jessica McFadden

Sociologist Gerald Grant likes to compare the fates of schoolchildren in two urban areas, his hometown of Syracuse, N.Y., and Raleigh, N.C., in order to examine the causes and consequences of the nation’s ongoing educational inequities.

Grant, who currently is the Hannah Hammond Professor of Education and Sociology Emeritus at Syracuse University, will discuss “Hope and Despair in the American City” on Thursday, Oct. 15, at SUNY Cortland.

Grant’s lecture begins at 4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

His talk fits into SUNY Cortland’s yearlong program of lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions and concerts themed on “Where Are We?”

The series explores the role that local communities play in the greater society’s achievement of economic health, environmental resilience and overcoming inequalities of all types. Presented by the College’s Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC), all the events are free and open to the public.

A total of four “Where Are We?” events are scheduled during October.

Martin Ogle

Biologist Martin Ogle on Thursday, Oct. 8, will share his innovative ideas for thinking of the land as a community of which we all are part.Ogle, who was chief naturalist for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority from 1985 to 2012, will present “Aldo Leopold, Local Land Ethics and Planetary Challenges” at 4:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. See prior information about Ogle's visit.

“Landmarks” Exhibition

Next during October is an exhibition of eight photographs with drawings in local artist Robert Sherrill’s ongoing “Landmarks” project. Sherrill’s exhibition of eight studies for larger works will be displayed from Monday, Oct. 12, through Friday, Dec. 18, in the Dowd Gallery hallway gallery.

A Cortland resident who has been working actively as a visual artist for more than 30 years, Sherrill will give an artist’s talk at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Dowd Gallery in the Dowd Fine Arts Center.

After photographing a local landscape, Sherrill uses charcoal, chalk and graphite to transfer the image into a drawing. His interest lies in exploring the nature of spatial experience and the rhythms inherent in both the landscape and the process of making marks. These drawings are not a documentation of any specific place but rather are based on the dynamic of space and how it is experienced.

Sociologist to Lecture

In the Oct. 15 presentation Grant, who is the author of Hope and Despair in the American City (Harvard University Press, 2009), will explore the central question of why education reform keeps failing.

In shining a light on some of the nation’s deepest educational challenges the discussion also points toward the potential for school reform that remains today.

 “In this perceptive and important book …. the choice between one America and two Americas ,” writes Richard Kahlenberg of The Washington Monthly. “In most cities, he writes, there is an ‘invisible wall’ that keeps inner city children separate from more affluent suburban kids.  If (U.S. President) Barack Obama genuinely wants to provide equal educational opportunity for children, however, he needs to take steps to tear down that wall.”

	Gerald Grant

Born in Syracuse, Grant graduated from Syracuse Central High School. He joined The Washington Post in 1961 and was promoted to its national staff in 1964. A Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, he earned his doctorate in the sociology of education. As a postgraduate, he served as research fellow in Harvard’s Sociology Department. At Syracuse University he accepted appointments in the Cultural Foundations of Education and Sociology departments and was named the Hannah Hammond Professor and Distinguished University Professor.

Grant is the author of articles published in Commonweal, Daedalus, The New Republic, Minerva, the Harvard Educational Review, The Progressive, The Public Interest, The Washington Post. 

He co-authored Teaching in America: The Slow Revolution (Harvard, 1999), winner of the Virginia and Warren Stone Prize awarded annually by Harvard University Press for an outstanding book on education and society, and the 2000 American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Award.

His recent work addresses broader questions of urban social policy. His essay “Fluctuations of Social Capital in an Urban Neighborhood,” appears in Making Good Citizens: Education and Civil Society (Yale University Press, 2001).

Grant’s book, Hope and Despair in the American City, is one of four “common readings” relating to upcoming lectures that the campus and community are encouraged to read in advance. Additional selections include Will Allen’s The Good Food Revolution, Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything, and Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac.

Local Tales of Terror

 For the third event during the month, Tuesday, Oct. 20, the campus and community will gather on 37 Tompkins St. at The 1890 House for an evening of “Local Tales of Terror”: ghost stories and dramatic readings in the “spirit” of the season and treats.

The program, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., is co-sponsored by the staff and board of trustees of The 1890 Museum House and the Hollenbeck Cider Mill in Virgil, N.Y.

The impressive limestone mansion, once the home of 19th century Industrialist Chester F. Wickwire, aims to promote and interpret the historical and cultural significance of this property to the public. The 1890 House seeks to collect, preserve, research, display, and interpret objects that promote local and national history of America’s cultural heritage during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

During the event, visitors may also explore the grandeur of Cortland’s Castle, its many rooms, the history of the Wickwire family, the grounds and its carriage house. A suggested donation of $3 for students and $5 for adult guests will help support the continuing restoration work of one of Cortland’s architectural gems. For more information on the 1890 House, its events and its history, visit www.the1890house.org.

By holding an annual series on a different intellectual theme, the CICC committee aims to generate common topics of discussion and to establish traditions of intellectual discourse on campus. The series encourages faculty and staff to infuse the theme into their course curricula, engage in classroom discussions and debates around the theme, and propose campus events or speakers on topics connected to the theme.

The series also is sponsored by the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Office, the President’s Office and the Cortland College Foundation.

For more information, contact CICC co-chair Scott Moranda, associate professor of history, at 607-753-2052.

During her two decades of leadership Amy Simrell, the longtime executive director of the Cortland YWCA, deepened the organization’s ties with SUNY Cortland and its students, thereby strengthening the College’s connection with the community.

Simrell, who recently retired, was recognized on Oct. 5 as SUNY Cortland’s 2015 College-Community Appreciation Award recipient. She was honored during a dinner event in the College’s Corey Union Function Room.

A quiet but highly effective force in the Cortland community for nearly two decades, Simrell expanded the importance of the YWCA in the social fabric of Cortland County.

After taking the reins in 1996, Simrell more than tripled the $750,000 annual budget to $2.4 million in 2014. The driving force behind the $3.2 million expansion of the YWCA’s building, her efforts as chief fundraiser for that project helped the YWCA board raise more than triple the amount that a consultant told them was feasible.

	Amy Simrell

Under her guidance, YWCA programming addressed issues related to violence, health and fitness, poverty, diversity, quality of life and the needs of women and children. By combining ambitious vision with practicality and fiscal responsibility, Simrell was able to positively impact the lives of thousands of people in the Cortland region and beyond.

Her efforts often mirrored the priorities and values of SUNY Cortland.

Simrell worked with the College to establish the successful “Girls Day Out,” in which girls in grades five through eight try new recreational and athletic activities on the College’s campus, aided by SUNY Cortland student-athletes and staff.

She was a very early and enthusiastic partner with SUNY Cortland’s civic engagement initiative, providing a wide variety of service-learning opportunities through the YWCA that benefit both students and the community.

Simrell also strengthened the YWCA’s “Bridges for Kids” program, which pairs at-risk local children with positive adult role models, nearly 80 percent of whom are SUNY Cortland students.

During her tenure, the YWCA absorbed the Aid to Victims of Violence program, which provides services to sexual assault survivors, including SUNY Cortland students.

Under Simrell’s leadership, the YWCA expanded its childcare programs to include several sites in local schools. The number of summer day camps increased from one to three. By embracing student interns in these centers, she enabled many SUNY Cortland students to satisfy their practicum in early childhood education.

	Former Cortland YWCA Director Amy Simrell accepts a plaque from SUNY Cortland College Council Chair Thomas Gallagher, on the right, while SUNY President Erik J. Bitterbaum and student volunteers with the YWCA look on.

Simrell has been active in many local community groups — such as the Downtown Partnership, Rotary Club and the Cortland Regional Sports Council — that seek to improve the attractiveness and economic vitality of the Cortland area.

Born and raised in Ithaca, N.Y., Simrell graduated from Cornell University and directed area job-training programs and housing development for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. She served as an instructor of public administration at Tompkins Cortland Community College before accepting the leadership role at the YWCA.

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 SUNY Cortland in a significant manner. Simrell is the 31st citizen to receive the honor.

SUNY Cortland will kick off its 2015-2016 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 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 begin on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and extend through Wednesday, Oct. 28.

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 $41,977 in SEFA campaign donations from a total of 296 SUNY Cortland employees,” said Gail Cutler, who with Linda Crompton will be co-chairing this year’s SEFA campaign on campus. Cutler added, “While last year’s contributions were down from the previous year, we are hopeful that this year the campus community will rally to support the meaningful endeavors of this campaign. The help and support provided through the campaign to those in need is enormous.”

According to Abigail Oaks, campaign associate for the United Way for Cortland County, last year’s United Way donations were allocated to more than 22 health and human services programs at 11 local United Way agencies. Donations helped provide aid to victims of violence, support to parenting or at-risk teens, support and assistance after a disaster, scholarships to working parents for quality child care and many other essential services here in Cortland County.

The College will offer incentives for employees who donate to the 2015-2016 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, J. M. McDonald Sports Complex, YMCA and YWCA.

Local members of the Cortland County SEFA Committee and the organizations they represent 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; Antoinette Tiburzi, SUNY Cortland professor emerita, Cortland County SEFA chair; and Lori Porter SUNY Cortland, management/confidential employees.

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

Seven new members were inducted into the SUNY Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame during its 47th annual banquet and ceremonies on Saturday, Sept. 26, in the College's Corey Union.
 
The 2015 honorees are:
 
• Art Jessup '65, a four-year basketball and track and field athlete at Cortland and a successful teacher and coach in Washingtonville, N.Y., for 37 years until his retirement in 2002;
 
• Dennis Fries '67, a strong distance runner at Cortland who served as a distinguished teacher, coach and administrator in the West Irondequoit (N.Y.) Central School District for 39 years from 1967-2006;
 
• Maura Olga Stouter '70, a posthumous inductee who participated in numerous sports during the pre-Title IX era at Cortland and coached Smithtown (N.Y.) High School volleyball teams to more than 500 wins in 34 seasons;
 
• Tom Olivo '79, a gymnast and All-America diver at Cortland who coached collegiate diving before embarking on a long career in business consulting and performance measurement;
 
• David Wright '82, the assistant vice president for athletics and former men's soccer coach at Gettysburg College and former Cortland men's soccer All-American who shares the school record with 35 career goals;
 
• Andrea Spaulding '87, a two-time 400-meter hurdles national champion and eight-time track and field All-American who has coached and taught physical education on the scholastic level for 26 years;
 
• and Michael Borra '93, an All-America men's soccer striker/midfielder who shares the school record with 35 career goals and a long-time youth soccer coach and Syosset (N.Y.) High School social studies teacher.
  

Established in 1969, the C-Club Hall of Fame recognizes Cortland alumni who competed as athletes at the College and who have since distinguished themselves in their professions and within their communities. Honorary members are recognized for their long and significant contributions to SUNY Cortland athletics. New C-Club members have been added annually and this year's ceremony will bring the Hall of Fame roster to 244 alumni and 27 honorary members.
 
Nominations for next year's C-Club Hall of Fame voting will be accepted until January 15, 2016. The nomination form is available online at: http://www.cortlandreddragons.com/nominations. A person must be nominated in order to be considered for induction into the Hall of Fame.
 
Learn more about this year's inductees.