Campus Champion

As SUNY Cortland’s Title IX Coordinator, Nan Pasquarello spearheads programs, activities and a website that teach the important messages of sexual violence and harassment prevention and response available to students and employees. Nan’s success lies in her collaboration with others, sharing the common goal of making Cortland a safer and more responsive campus. She has provided Title IX trainings for more than 1,300 students during the first two months of the school year. She also educates College employees about their responsibilities. Nan champions the crusade that every person at SUNY Cortland recognizes this is no place for sexual discrimination.

Get ready to break out your best bellbottoms and tie-dye shirts. SUNY Cortland’s Performing Arts Department soon will bring the hit 1960s rock musical “Hair” to the stage for six performances starting Friday, Oct. 30.

The show, which is known for its portrayal of the anti-Vietnam War movement, the sex revolution and the lifestyles of “flower children,” will feature three evening performances at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30; Friday, Nov. 6; and Saturday, Nov. 7. Two Sunday matinee performances take place at 2 p.m. on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, as well as a 2 p.m. matinee show on Saturday, Oct. 31. All shows take place in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre.

Tickets may be purchased in advance online at cortland.edu/boxoffice or at the Dowd Fine Arts Center box office one hour prior to each performance. Ticket prices are $9 for all students and children, $16 for SUNY Cortland faculty, staff and senior citizens, and $19 for general admission. Audience members who wear a hippie costume to the Halloween performance will receive a special treat from the cast. 

“‘Hair’ can speak to a contemporary audience again in a similar way that it spoke to audiences in the late 1960s,” said Associate Professor of Performing Arts Kevin Halpin, who directs the show. “There’s this growing sense of unrest, particularly in youth culture, about where we are in the world and the choices we make as a nation and a society. 

“That’s what ‘Hair’ is all about — reexamining and rediscovering who you can be. It just seemed like a really good time to do the show.”

Written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni with music by Galt MacDermot, the former Broadway musical tells the story of a New York City-based “tribe,” a politically active group of young adults opposed to the Vietnam War despite living with conservative parents. A non-traditional storyline examines the complex relationships between members of the tribe as Claude, one of the show’s main characters, debates burning his draft card.

“The show’s about saying: think about the things we’re forbidding, about what we allow and what we don’t allow,” Halpin said. “It’s ok to send people off to potentially be killed in war, but it’s not ok to talk about sex. 

“It’s ok for people to feel lost and unconnected, but it’s not ok for two people to be together who happen to be the same sex. I think we’ve grown a lot since the 1960s but I still think there’s a lot that we can talk about.”

Halpin said the show is recommended for mature audiences given its profanity, brief nudity and adult themes.

The SUNY Cortland cast stars Ben Shimkus as Claude; Andrew Cuccaro as Berger; Sarah Shaiman as Sheila; Chloe Solan as Jeannie; Ja’Quawn Turner as Hud; Matt Spina as Woof; Tara Zebrowski as Chrissy; Alondra Hughes as Dionne; Kayla Arias as Ronny; and Sean Noonan as Margaret Mead.

The “tribe” includes Olivia Andrunik, Hailey Berkowitz, John Cavasano, Maggie Edelman, Zack Enders, Nikki Ferrara, Andy Kear, Camille Parlman, Hailey Pytel, Emily Wood, Caitlin Zuckerman and Noonan.

“Hair” will be the College’s first rock musical staged since The Who’s “Tommy” seven years ago, Halpin said.

“We try to create opportunities for students to give them as many different styles as is practical over their four years here,” he said. “We look at the type of shows we’ve done recently and what we haven’t done that we still need to hit.”

The show’s opening night also aligns with an Open House event on Friday, Oct. 30, for prospective students interested in the College’s Performing Arts Department. That event is intended to give future performers a taste of SUNY Cortland’s high caliber of musical theatre talent.

“This is the great music you remember performed by an amazingly talented, fresh-faced and energized cast,” Halpin said. “They were really excited to learn about who these people of the 1960s were, and then connecting that to the things they hope to do and change.”

When SUNY Cortland adopted a campus-wide, tobacco-free policy in 2013, the College was building on its reputation as one of the most health conscious public institutions in New York state. That reputation was endorsed recently when SUNY Cortland was recognized on the Tobacco-Free U: 2015 New York State Dean’s List as one of only 13 higher education institutions to receive an A-plus rating from the American Cancer Society (ACS).

The grades, which scored 201 colleges and universities across the state, were awarded based on surveys that reported how effectively tobacco- or smoke-free policies held up at different institutions. The highest scoring schools demonstrated a commitment to compliance beyond simply instituting policies on paper, according to the report.

The College was one of two SUNY institutions to receive an A-plus score, along with SUNY Fredonia.

“The last question on our institutional survey showed that nearly 16 percent of students have either quit or reduced their use of tobacco, or found it easier to not use tobacco because of the policy,” said Dr. Devin Coppola, the medical director of Student Health Services and the co-chair of SUNY Cortland’s Tobacco Advisory Committee. “To me this is huge, and shows the power of change that the policy is making.” 

When the College announced in 2011 its intention to become a completely tobacco-free campus on Jan. 1, 2013, it was just the second SUNY institution to do so, after Buffalo State College. Since that time, SUNY has adopted a system-wide tobacco-free policy, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

The Tobacco-Free U report specifically credited New York state’s public colleges for their smoking and tobacco efforts. Of the 84 public institutions surveyed, 54 of them — or 64 percent — either had a smoke-free or tobacco-free policy in place or were working on one.

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

In a 2014 survey conducted by the College, 65 percent of the 369 respondents agreed that they observed a decrease in tobacco use on campus, while 68 percent noted an observable decrease in tobacco litter. SUNY Cortland continues to offer support for campus community members who wish to kick their smoking or tobacco use habits through the annual Great American Smoke-out and other avenues. 

“In my opinion, there has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of tobacco use and smoking on campus,” Coppola said. “I used to see smokers several times every day on campus, and now that is a truly unusual case.”

Prepared by public relations intern Brandon Romagnoli

SUNY Cortland is prominently featured in a recently published index of the nation’s most sustainable college campuses – just in time for Campus Sustainability Month.

The campus index published by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) notes Cortland’s recent “green” accomplishments, its student and public engagement and the sustainable nature of the campus grounds.

SUNY Cortland is one of only 50 colleges in the United States, Canada and Mexico highlighted by the report, which looked at the top college performers in 17 different areas of sustainability.

The report was based on AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), a voluntary review of practices ranging from energy use to incorporation of “green” elements in the academic curriculum. Earlier this year, SUNY Cortland was one of only a few dozen colleges across the country to earn a “gold” rating under STARS.

The report was released last week to draw attention to Campus Sustainability Month, a 12-year-old national effort to recognize higher education’s role in addressing climate change.

“It is impressive to think how far we have come in such a short period of time,” SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “When it comes to our sustainability mission, rankings like this illustrate how truly committed the College is to reducing its carbon footprint, using all its resources effectively and raising awareness of environmental issues among our students and in our community.”

A downloadable copy of AASHE’s Campus Sustainability Index is available online.

All SUNY Cortland faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in a campus Webinar intended to help prepare them for the type of senseless gun violence that several colleges have experienced in recent weeks.

“Active Shooter Preparedness – A Commitment to Action” will be presented live at 2 p.m. on Nov. 5 in Sperry 309.

College community members People who are interested but cannot leave their office to go to Sperry Hall at that time can participate live through the Internet. A video of the Webinar will also be made available on the campus Website for people to view at their convenience.

Specific information about how to access the presentation and how to ask questions electronically during the event is not yet finalized. Please mark your calendars. Details will be shared as soon as they are available.

“In extremely dangerous situations, knowledge can sometimes mean the difference between life and death,” University Police Chief Steven Dangler said. “Although attacks like the recent campus shootings in Oregon are extremely rare, we want all students, faculty and staff to be as prepared as possible.”

The Webinar is one of a series of SUNY Cortland educational events aimed at preparing the campus community to survive attacks such as the Oct. 1 shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, during which eight students and an assistant professor were killed.

SUNY Cortland’s events include:

• “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 Distinguished Service Professor Robert 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.

By now the hand key access system added this semester to let students into food service areas of the College’s two large all-you-care-to-eat dining halls has become a familiar aspect of campus life.

But with the start of the flu season have come extra measures to prevent the spread of germs among those who must use this theft-prevention device.

Students entering Neubig Hall’s Neubig Dining and the Student Life Center’s Bistro now present their ID cards to a cashier and press their palms to a flat surface, which compares hand dimensions to a record that each meal plan participant set up at the start of the semester.

The device does not record fingerprints, merely the shape of the hand, which it converts to a number associated with the meal plan holder. Students have used the new system to reduce the time needed to sink their teeth into that salad, sandwich or slice of pizza.

With the return of colder weather, rain and snow, ASC has taken steps in response to several recent inquiries from students and staff about the infection potential of the hand key access systems:

• First, hand sanitizer is provided near each hand key station. 
• Also, sinks are available in both Neubig Dining and the Bistro. Students and staff are encouraged to wash their hands upon entering the dining hall. 
• Finally, plastic gloves are present at each hand key station. Students and staff are free to place a glove on the hand before using the hand key to avoid direct contact with the surface of the device. The gloves do not prevent the device from confirming identity and granting access to the dining hall.

The new equipment and a few other changes were needed because last year some students shared ID cards to let their friends eat for free.

“It’s about making sure the person presenting the card is the person who paid for the meal,” said Pierre Gagnon, ASC executive director. “You can’t tell from the ID card pictures reliably.”

Gagnon noted that the identification equipment — like other commonly touched objects — does present some risk for the transmission of colds, flu and other communicable diseases. 

He noted that while such concerns are understandable, a 2007 study conducted at Purdue University found that the bacterial survival and transferability associated with hand key access devices are no greater than one would find on a door knob or other contact surface.

In fact, the area where students touch is impregnated with silver by the manufacturer to reduce the risk of infection, he noted.

“We are all aware that during this time of year the best way to prevent the spread of disease is through good hygiene, including thorough and frequent hand washing,” he said. “Taking advantage of these options will help to ensure the continued good health and well-being of our campus community.” 

Gary Ellis, who currently serves as vice-chair of the Council on Accreditation for Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, will deliver the prestigious Metcalf Endowment Lecture at this year’s 65th annual SUNY Cortland Recreation Conference, which takes place Thursday, Nov. 12, and Friday, Nov. 13, at the College.

Ellis, who is head of the Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Department at Texas A&M University, will discuss “Experience, The Quintessential Product of Parks, Recreation and Tourism” at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, in Corey Union Function Room. The keynote lecture is free and open to the public.

His address is an outgrowth of current research on immediate conscious experience related directly to the recreation, parks and leisure services industry. Ellis is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed published articles. He has published software and won significant support for teaching, research and training through grants and partnerships.

	Gary Ellis

“Sixty-five Years Young: Celebrating a Lifetime of Leisure” is the theme of the two-day gathering, the nation’s oldest continuous collegiate-sponsored recreation education conference.

The theme aims to encourage participants to create a fresh outlook on recreation, and offer a rejuvenating experience in therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, recreation management, commercial recreation, tourism, special events planning and much more.

"We want to emphasize the importance of the past, present, and future of recreation and the timeless impact it has on us," said conference coordinator Rosemarie Tibball, a mathematics and recreation management major from Ozone Park, N.Y.

Presented by the College’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department and students in its Special Events Planning class, the conference receives additional support for the Metcalf Keynote Address from the Metcalf Endowment Fund and the Campus Artist and Lecture Series. The annual event hosts between 200 and 400 students and professionals in the fields of recreation, parks and leisure studies from all over New York state and the Greater New England area.

The conference features a research symposium, internship fair, professional networking social, special workshops and trainings, two days of professional development sessions, with catered luncheons, live entertainment, and raffles of local goods and services.

Registration is open to the general public. The registration rate for the conference is $50 for students and $110 for professionals. Registrations will be accepted at the door both days.

For additional information and to register for the conference, visit cortland.edu/recconf.

Fiery eruptions, titanic floods, the grinding of giant ice sheets and massive impacts from space all molded the North American continent. This week at SUNY Cortland, the public can take a sneak peek at a brand-new NOVA documentary that explores all of these major geological processes.

The College will host a partial screening of “NOVA: Making North America,” an exciting biography detailing the continent’s formation, on Thursday, Oct. 22, before the documentary airs in full on PBS in November.

A panel discussion that includes faculty members from SUNY Cortland’s Geology Department and College President Erik J. Bitterbaum will be held in conjunction with the event, which begins at 7 p.m. in the David J. Vittor ’67 Lecture Hall in Sperry Center, Room 105.

The two-hour event is free, but attendees are asked to register in advance online. 

WSKG Public Media, a PBS affiliate based in Binghamton, N.Y., selected SUNY Cortland to host the early screening due in large part to the strength of the College’s geology faculty members.

“We’re excited to partner with SUNY Cortland,” said Nancy Coddington, the manager of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) content, services and programming for WSKG Public Media. “The documentary will be spectacular, and we’re just as excited to highlight the College’s scientists, including President Bitterbaum.”

Other SUNY Cortland panelists include Professor and Department Chair David Barclay, Distinguished Teaching Professor Robert Darling, Associate Professor Gayle Gleason, Associate Professor Li Jin and Distinguished Professor Christopher McRoberts.

NOVA’s three-part mini-series tells an engaging story of how the continent formed, how life evolved and how the land continues to shape lives today. The series considers breathtaking landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park as well as the constant tug-of-war between creative and destructive natural forces. “Making North America” is hosted by paleontologist Kirk Johnson, who also serves as director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The SUNY Cortland event will screen excerpts from each of the three episodes before the series airs in full on WSKG three consecutive Wednesdays beginning Nov. 4.

Thinking of planning a caving, canoeing or mountain climbing trip? At SUNY Cortland, the new Outdoor Pursuits center housed in the Student Life Center has students covered on just about any kind of fun outdoor activity they can think of.

And this semester has brought greater vitality to one of the newest components of Recreational Sports.

The program opened last semester on a limited basis. This semester, the popularity of its fully developed programs has created a buzz around campus.

On average 62 campus community members visit the Outdoor Pursuits space daily to achieve the group’s first goal, which is to get students outside.

Participants can learn how to cook in the outdoors or repair a bicycle. They might train for actual mountain climbing or kayaking without ever leaving campus. Less experienced individuals might join a completely planned adventure organized by trained staff and seasoned student assistants. More intrepid students might rent the necessary equipment to take their own weekend escape.

“It’s a really nice program and it’s a great way of getting outside,” said freshman physical education major Casey Robibero of Mahwah, N.J.

“I loved discovering the mountains. It was fun and inclusive,” said Camille Nolosset, a first-year exchange student from France.

Outdoor Pursuits essentially gathered existing recreational programs that were scattered around campus and now houses them under one roof, with the goal of greatly expanding on the offerings.

“We had 60 students go on trips within the month of September and this semester has already greatly exceeded our expectations,” said Jason Harcum, who joined the College this year in the newly created position of assistant director of outdoor pursuits. “We hope to continue to inspire students to enjoy the outdoors and help direct that inspiration beyond our trips and into the daily lives of the students.”

Outdoor Pursuits is built upon the principles of health, craftsmanship, ethical and environment sustainability, growth and family, according to the office’s newsletter.

Outdoor Pursuits consists of the following six main components that fulfill an array of recreational development needs:

• The tripping program has 19 student volunteers leading an average of eight trips per month. These advertised trips consist of various outdoor activities including white water rafting, rock climbing and camping.
• The trip-planning area— not to be confused with the tripping program — has maps and staff to help students plan their own trips and answer questions.
• The workshop series educates students about new activities every week free of charge. Informational workshops take place at 5 p.m. every Monday. Bike workshops take place at 4:30 p.m. every Wednesday. Educational topics range from camp cooking to climbing techniques.
• The outdoor gear rental center allows for students and faculty to rent out items varying from backpacks to cross country skis and kayaks.
• The climbing wall, which measures 42 feet tall, allows for climbers to utilize top climbing, lead climbing and an auto belay system. The program also offers a 13-foot bouldering wall for rope free climbing.
• The community bike program offers more than 100 bicycles that are free to check out and 34 mountain bikes that can be rented out for a small fee. The community bikes were all checked out within two days upon opening this semester. This popular program also will participate in a bike parade on Thursday, Oct. 29.

Students leaving Outdoor Pursuits facilities appeared highly satisfied.

“It’s a great way to meet people with similar interest and it’s an amazing price for the equipment you get and the experience you take away,” said Robibero.

Stay current with the Outdoor Pursuits center by following @Cortland_op on Instagram and liking its Facebook pages: SUNY Cortland Outdoor Pursuits, SUNY Cortland Climbing Wall and the SUNY Cortland Community Bike Project.

Prepared by public relations intern Jenel Colon

Plans are taking shape for SUNY Cortland’s Nov. 14 Cortaca Jug concert, which will bring indie pop band Echosmith to campus after the football game, showcase the talent of a Red Dragon rock musician and give away four iPad minis to randomly selected attendees.

Concert tickets will be sold Monday, Oct. 26, through Wednesday, Oct. 28, from noon to 4 p.m. each day at the Corey Union Information Desk. They will cost $5 for SUNY Cortland students, $7 for students who do not attend the College and $10 for general admission.

In order to receive the student ticket prices, SUNY Cortland students must show their Cortland ID at the time of purchase.

Ticket purchasers will receive one raffle ticket for a chance to win one of four iPad minis or one of 15 band meet-and-greet passes at the evening concert, which will take place in Park Center Corey Gymnasium at a time to be announced. Additional raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the concert.

Local rock band Free House is expected to open for Echosmith after recently winning “Cortland’s Got Talent,” a talent competition put on by the College’s Student Activities Board (SAB) on Oct. 11.

The group’s drummer is Weston Button, a new media design major at SUNY Cortland. Free House is a trio of musicians who began playing together during their sophomore year at Homer High School and now study at three nearby colleges. In addition to Button, they include James McClorn, a Tompkins Cortland Community College student who plays guitar and provides vocals, and Evan Lewis, a Cornell University student who plays bass.

“I’d describe us as a rock band with a pop-punk sound,” McClorn said. “We’re inspired by bands like Nirvana, but some people say we have that Blink 182 sound.

“We were obviously stoked to win the talent contest and we’re just so excited to have the chance open for Echosmith. We love their stuff.”

Made up of four siblings who range in age from 16 to 22, Echosmith 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.

The concert marks just one of several campus events that will entertain students throughout Cortaca Jug weekend. A full schedule will be announced leading up to SUNY Cortland’s Nov. 14 rivalry football game.

Cortaca Jug game ticket information

Tickets to the game will be on sale for SUNY Cortland students, faculty, staff and Auxiliary Services Corporation employees Monday, Nov. 2, and Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 5 to 9 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 406. Sales will be limited to one ticket per person, while supplies last. Additional tickets will not be sold on these two days.

Tickets cost $10 each and only cash will be accepted. A SUNY Cortland ID also will be required to purchase a ticket.

Any remaining tickets will be sold on Wednesday, Nov. 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 406. These tickets are limited to two per person at $10 each, with only cash accepted.

All seating for the game, which takes place at Ithaca College’s Butterfield Stadium, is considered general admission.

Miniature Marvel superheroes, Disney princesses and assorted other trick-or-treaters and their families are invited to come knocking at two free SUNY Cortland events this week that offer safe and fun Halloween activities.

The first offers safe trick-or-treating inside selected residence halls on Thursday, Oct. 29. A “Halloween Extravaganza” party takes place at the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House, at 29 Tompkins St., on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Here’s more on each event:

Residence Hall Trick-or-Treating

This annual safe, free community event held by the students living in campus buildings runs from 4 to 6 p.m. in the following halls: Alger, Bishop, Casey Tower, Cheney, Clark, DeGroat, Dragon, Fitzgerald, Glass Tower, Hayes, Hendrick, Higgins, Randall, Shea, Smith Tower, and Whittaker. The parties feature games and refreshments.

Any child that participates must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Residence Life and Housing also will host an adult Halloween costume party from 5 to 7 p.m. in the community center at West Campus Apartments.

For information on the residence hall events, contact Will Ahern at 607-753-4154. A flier is available with details including a map families can use to find the participating residence halls.

Parks Alumni House “Halloween Extravaganza”

Sponsored by Alumni Engagement, the Parks Alumni House and Spark (formerly called the Student Alumni Association), the second annual event is free and open to the public.

Eight student interns assigned with the College’s Alumni Engagement office will do their spooky best to ensure the youngsters and their families enjoy the event, which features an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. featuring cider, donuts and house tours for the public. Later, from 4 to 8 p.m., the extravaganza will feature handing out candy, a costume contest, children’s dance contest, face painting and other children’s activities for youngsters and their families.

Spooky pumpkins will decorate the house and partygoers will compete for best Halloween costume. The first place costume contest winner will receive a $20 Shipwreck Golf Amusement Center gift card; second place winner, a SUNY Cortland clothing item; and third place winner, a Red Dragon stuffed animal. With parents’ permission, the Parks Alumni House will post pictures of their kids in their Halloween costume for their Facebook page.

Diamond Davenport, a senior communication studies major from the Bronx, helped organize this year’s “Halloween Extravaganza” on campus and in the community.

Davenport, an Alumni Engagement student intern and the president of Spark, designed fliers that are posted in many locations.

“I would like ‘Halloween Extravaganza’ to become an annual event for the Cortland community so that the children will have an opportunity to enjoy free candy, cookies and face painting,” Davenport said. “Also, so that the Cortland community will have the opportunity to view the Parks Alumni House.”

For more information on the Parks Alumni House event, contact Davenport.

Prepared by public relations intern Jessica McFadden

“Natural States,” a contemporary art exhibition exploring the various types of intertwined relationships between humans and nature, will be displayed at SUNY Cortland’s Dowd Gallery from Monday, Oct. 26, to Friday, Dec. 11.

The group showing of paintings, photographs, sculpture, mixed media work and digital animation by 15 artists will open with a reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29.

The exhibition is co-curated by Nati Hyojin Kim and Santiago Garcia of Mixed Greens gallery in New York City, who will present a curator’s talk at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Mark Mulroney, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based artist who is creating a site-specific mural for the exhibition, will give an artist’s talk at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19.

All gallery events are free and open to the public. The Dowd Gallery is located in the Dowd Fine Arts Center on the corner of Graham Avenue and Prospect Terrace. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.

Mixed Greens, located in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, specializes in conceptually driven and figurative work by emerging and mid-career American artists.

In addition to Mulroney, the Mixed Greens gallery-affiliated artists whose work will be included in the show are Kim Beck, Sonya Blesofsky, Rob Carter, Howard Fonda, Kimberley Hart, Scott Hazard, Keith Lemley, Joan Linder, Naomi Reis, Rudy Shepherd, Joseph Smolinski, Lee Stoetzel, Mary Temple and Leah Tinari.

“Natural States” aims to explore the definition of “natural state,” according to Dowd Gallery Director Erika Fowler-Decatur.

	Rob Carter's 2009 digital c-print, “Union Territory,” is shown. Above left is Joseph Smolinski's 2015 3D-printed PLA and resin, “Ghost Bee 1.”

For example, Reis’ stylized botanical garden in “Borrowed Landscape IV (Tropics of Africa, Asia and the Amazon via Brooklyn),” highlights the show’s overarching premise that even the most natural-seeming environments may have been manipulated.

Smolinski’s work addresses the alarming ramifications of human activity on nature with his examination of bee colony collapse disorder in “Ghost Bee,” a 3-D printed plastic and resin sculpture, and “Colony Collapse,” a digital animation.               

The photographic architecture in Carter’s “Union Territory” is culturally iconic yet alien to the landscape and plant life around and in it, pointing to how nature over time cannot be restrained in relation to urban development.

Mulroney’s exhibition mural focuses on the clichéd idea of tropical paradise and the human urge to fantasize about it as a means of escapism.

“We’ve arranged for some of our students to assist him with the painting of the mural over the College’s fall break,” Fowler-Decatur said. “I’m excited for them to have the opportunity to work with a practicing visual artist.”

Contact Fowler-Decatur at 607-753-4216 for more information or regarding group tours.

When it comes to educating students for real-world employment, SUNY Cortland is one of the most cost-effective colleges in the nation, according to a new survey that compares the success of graduates in the workplace against the cost of their education. 

SUNY Cortland was ranked 53 out of nearly 1,200 four-year institutions across the United States, placing it in the top 5 percent of the 2016 Educate to Career (ETC) College Rankings Index. Educate to Career is a California-based nonprofit research corporation that provides higher education, employment and salary information for business recruiters and students.

Earlier this year, Consumers Digest named SUNY Cortland one of the nation’s 50 “best values” among public colleges and universities.

“This new ranking underscores the incredible value of a SUNY Cortland education,” said College President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “Students today rightly want assurance that they are paying a reasonable price for an education that fully prepares them to start a career and earn a comfortable living. We are thrilled to be recognized nationally for something that we have always taken pride in doing well.

“Student success and affordability will continue to shape our campus priorities into the future.” 

The ETC rankings place an emphasis on career preparedness and the potential job prospects and earnings for graduates of individual colleges. Factors used in the rankings included net tuition cost, the percentage of graduates employed in occupations related to students’ fields of study and average salary of recent graduates.

SUNY Cortland ranked third among State University of New York institutions, behind SUNY Geneseo and the College at Brockport. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill topped the rankings.

“Users of the index will recognize that schools providing a practical education for a reasonable tuition rate are highly ranked,” said Michael R. Havis, president and founder of ETC. “Public, state colleges are particularly adept at graduating students who land good jobs, and are unburdened by excessive loan balances.

“In our view, this is how the college education system is supposed to function.”

The complete Educate to Career (ETC) College Rankings Index is available online.

A film that follows the Thompson brothers from the Onondaga Nation as they pursue their dreams of playing lacrosse at Syracuse University will launch SUNY Cortland’s Native American Film Series on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

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

“Medicine Game” (2014) tells of the story of Hiana and Jeremy Thompson from central New York. The obstacles in their way are frequent and daunting, but their love for the game, each other and their family’s unyielding determination, propels these youth towards their dream. The film is directed and produced by Lukas Korver and runs 70 minutes.

“Lacrosse is more than just a game — it's a way of life, it’s a heritage,” Korver said. “It’s being Iroquois. It’s being Native American. It’s a part of their culture, their religion, who they are.”

“Winter in the Blood,” (2013) is the story of a man who is having a hard time dealing with?the pitfalls of his life and the elements working against him, will be shown Nov. 3. Set partially on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana, the film is based on a James Welch novel. Directed by Alex and?Andrew Smith, the movie runs 98 minutes.

“Language Healers” (2014) will be shown on Nov. 10. This film follows the movement that is going across the country on the importance of saving Native American languages and introduces some of the people who are working hard to save these national treasures.

The series is sponsored by a grant from the Auxiliary Services Corporation, Native American Studies and Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies.

For more information, contact Technology Support Specialist Emerita Dawn Van Hall. vanhalld@cortland.edu

The 2015 Annual Service Awards Ceremony recognizing classified staff will be held on Friday, Dec. 4, 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 by email or phone at 607-753-5751.

35 Years

Julie LaPlant, Kinesiology Department

Denise Riley, Economics Department

30 Years

John Young, Maintenance

25 Years

Walter Anderson, Mail Services/Central Warehouse

Susan Bush, School of Professional Studies

Judah Currie, Maintenance

Carol Kanellis, Academic Support and Achievement Program

Mary E .Murphy, University Police Department

Mark Taylor, Custodial Services

Michael Zhe, Motor Pool

20 Years

Dawn Bulmer, Payroll Office

Vicki Clark, Custodial Services

Diana McGee, Student Disability Services

15 Years

Gregory Bliss, University Police Department

Connal Carr, Maintenance

Wayne Carroll, Grounds

Janice Eaton, Foundations and Social Advocacy

Bradley Holl, Mail Services/Central Warehouse

Nancy Kuklis, Admissions

Kathy McCracken, Custodial Services

Richard Metcalf, Maintenance

Phillip Miller, Grounds

Kerry Mincher, Division of Finance and Management

Anthony Petrella, Custodial Services

Joel Rice, Grounds

Russell Scott, Duplicating Center

Shirley Shepard, Custodial Services

Nadia Snell, Students Accounts Office

JoAnna Tobias, Geography and Philosophy

Debra Whitney, Library

Richard Zurell, Transportation Services

10 Years

Mary Guido, Custodial Services

Nancy Hartford, Custodial Services

Colleen Martin, Advisement and Transition

Greg McCartney, Maintenance

Patricia Ondrako, Biological Sciences

Eric Rabusin, University Police Department

Jeremiah Rawson, Maintenance

Michelle Ryan, Custodial Services

Dale Searls, Custodial Services

Julie Taibi, Residence Life and Housing

Marthajane Warren, Student Health Services

Anna Wilcox, Registrar’s Office