Forum Kicks Off American
Democracy Project
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| Present at a forum to kick off the American
Democracy Project on campus were (l. to r.) John Martone, associate
vice president and dean of student development, Christine Kelly,
assistant professor of political science, and Kevin Cappallo,
director of educational sales for the New York Times. |
Students, faculty and staff
filled the Cheng Library Auditorium on November 20 for a forum introducing
the University’s participation in the American Democracy Project,
a national initiative that seeks to increase civic engagement levels
of U.S. students attending public colleges and universities in the
21st century.
Christine Kelly, assistant
professor of political science and campus coordinator of the Project,
called on the students to consider the issues that affect them –
such as the rising cost of higher education," tight job market,
and environmental degradation – and get involved. "Let
your voices be heard," she said.
"We have more than 1,000 students on campus engaged in community
service and volunteer activities," said John Martone, associate
vice president and dean of student development. "Now we want
to turn that involvement into action."
Guest speaker Kevin Cappallo, director of educational sales for
the New York Times, a cosponsor of the Project with the
American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU),
cited a variety of surveys that indicate declining voter turnout
and community participation by young people. "The turnaround
will only happen with you students who are sitting here," he
said. "You are the future."
President Speert Honored by
City College as Esteemed Alumni
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| President Arnold Speert (left) at the
CCNY Alumni Association’s 123rd Annual Dinner with Reginald
Grier, professor emeritus of accounting and law at William Paterson,
also a CCNY alumnus, nominated Speert for the award. Speert
was one of six recipients of the 2003 Townsend Harris Medal,
given by the CCNY Alumni Association |
University President Arnold Speert, a 1966 graduate
of City College of the City University of New York, was one of six
distinguished recipients of the 2003 Townsend Harris Medal, given
by the City College Alumni Association for outstanding postgraduate
achievement.
Speert was honored during a dinner held at the Roosevelt Hotel in
New York City on November 13. The awards, established in 1933 by
a gift from the Class of 1906, are named after City College’s
founder, and are given each year to no more than seven alumni who
are selected from nominations by a special committee comprised of
former recipientsof the medal.
The other honorees were: Bernard Kalb ’42, a nationally acclaimed
journalist, author and television anchor who covers world affairs;
Dr. Ingram Olkin ’47, one of the country’s leading statisticians,
who has provided quantitative tools widely used by historians and
academics; Christopher O'Donoghue ’72, an Emmy-award winning
reporter for WWOR-TV’s UPN9 News and a recipient of the coveted
Edward R. Morrow Brotherhood Award; Juan A. Rodriguez ’66
EE, president and CEO of Exabye Corporation and co-founder of Storage
Tek, a $2 billion worldwide company; and Dr. Jeanne Mager Stellman
’68, editor of Women and Health and editor-in-chief
of the Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety.
Employees Play Vital Role in
Emergency Evacuation Procedure
As part of the University’s continual emergency preparedness
planning efforts, more than 100 William Paterson employees have
signed on as building evacuation wardens to assist with the safe
evacuation of employees, students and visitors should a crisis occur.
"The participation of employees in emergency planning, prevention
and preparedness is an essential element in the success of the University’s
emergency plan," says Michael Horvath, assistant vice president
for public safety and the University’s emergency coordinator.
"With 40 buildings on campus, our evacuation wardens fill a
critical role in ensuring the safety of their fellow employees."
The University has prepared emergency plans for each building on
campus. Raj Vohra, assistant director, physical plant operations,
and the University’s safety compliance officer, met with department
heads to discuss the individual building evacuation plans. Each
department was asked to provide a warden and a back-up warden, who
would be responsible for reporting an emergency, sounding the alarm
if necessary, assisting with an evacuation, and calling the roll
of employees in his or her area.
To date, 110 employees, ranging from administrators to support personnel,
have been identified as members of the Evacuation Warden Team. In
addition to group training on such issues as emergency escape procedures
and fire extinguisher use, Vohra has begun meeting individually
with wardens to review the procedures and address any concerns.
Additionally, building specific training is currently in progress.
Part of that training will include providing information to the
occupants about their wardens and the evacuation procedures.
"The wardens have accepted a tremendous responsibility and
we want them to be comfortable with the procedures they must follow
in an evacuation," says Vohra. The wardens have also been asked
to assist with prevention by notifying Vohra of any safety issues
in their buildings.
"I would encourage every department to have its own emergency
plan for protecting equipment and documents that are critical to
their operation," Vohra says. Individuals who have emergency
response skills or who are interested in serving as wardens should
contact Vohra at x3366.
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Faculty and Staff are Invited to Attend New
Sales Lab Open House on December 12
An opening ceremony for the new Russ Berrie
Professional Sales Laboratory on Friday, December 12 at 1:00 p.m.
at 1600 Valley Road. The reception will be held in Café 1600,
where the tours and the program will begin.
The sales labs, part of the Russ Berrie Institute, are located on
the ground floor of the Valley Road building. They are designed
to be a unique, interactive resource for students and professionals
to develop and enhance sales skills in a simulated real world environment.
The facility, which includes a control room connected to five labs
and a conference room, features state-of-the-art technology including
robotic cameras to record students practicing presentations to buyers,
plasma screens to display interactions on single or split-screens,
one-way mirrors to allow viewing by professors, an editing room
for creating DVD portfolios, distance learning and videoconferencing
capability, and computer-based stations for teaching telephone inside
sales.
Please RSVP by December 5 to Michelle Davidson at x3855 or rbisales@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson Students
Participate in National Chemistry Week Activities
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| University students Sejal Patel, Chris
Montes, and Jennifer Schutze assist Liberty Science Center visitors
with DNA experiments at the 11th Annual Chemistry Expo. |
William Paterson science
majors joined the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical
Society at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City on Saturday, October
25 to celebrate National Chemistry Week. They participated in the
11th Annual Chemistry Expo there, which brought together 1,400 visitors
and 300 aspiring scientists to celebrate chemistry. William Paterson
students included Jennifer Schutze, a chemistry and physics major,
Sejal Patel, a biotechnology major, and Chris Montes, Betsy Huerta,
and Michelle Geller, biology majors. Visitors to the William Paterson
table enjoyed making "marsh-molecules" from marshmallows
and toothpicks, and were instructed in how to isolate and observe
their own DNA. Assistant professors Anita Brandolini and Amber Charlebois
from the department of chemistry and physics also participated in
the event. In addition, Brandolini gave a presentation on the periodic
table which included quotes from her recently published children’s
science book, Fizz, Bubble and Flash.
Holiday Events at William
Paterson
This December, three holiday productions presented at the University’s
Shea Center for Performing Arts will appeal to a wide variety of
audiences. Comedian Kevin Meaney kicks off the season with a light-hearted
look at the holiday season on December
12. The Jazz Room Series presents a concert of jazz melodies
and a performance of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s
Nutcracker Suite on December
13. A computer-animated performance of Charles Dickens’
A Christmas Carol is scheduled for December
14.
Former
Senator George Mitchell Speaks at DLS
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| Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell (right)
greets Tim Durant, a political science graduate student, as
Andrew Poller, a political science undergraduate, looks on in
Hobart Manor. |
Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell met with
political science students in Hobart Manor for an informal session
before his presentation at last month’s Distinguished Lecturer
Series. During the discussion, the students asked Senator Mitchell
about his work as a peace broker in Northern Ireland and about his
negotiations for peace in the Middle East which echoed the topic
of his speech later in the evening. "I believe a resolution
is possible and will occur in the Middle East," he said. "But
the parties are incapable of reconciling on their own. It will only
happen with strong American leadership."
Achievements
Stephen Bryant,
music, sang at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation gala at Avery
Fisher Hall in New York on November 16 under conductor Placido Domingo.
The foundation is a non-profit organization designed to perpetuate
the memory of the great American tenor through the support and advancement
of promising and talented American opera singers. He also performed
The Water Passion After St. Matthew at the Macao International
Music Festival earlier that month.
Nisha Drinkard,
art, is among the artists currently exhibiting in the Montclair
State University Art Gallery. Her works, Blue Waterfall,
made up of eight panels of cotton cloth dyed indigo, is an outdoor
installation located in the gallery’s Sculpture Garden, and
White Waterfall, consisting of panels of silk dyed in indigo,
onionskins and madder, is on display inside the gallery. Both are
part of a site-specific installation called Earth, Sand, and
Water: The Garden State as Art Material. The exhibit runs through
December 20.
Holly Seplocha
and Janis Strasser,
elementary and early childhood education, presented a paper, "Improving
Quality in State-Funded Preschools: Examining Structure and Process
Variables," at the annual meeting of the National Association
of Early Childhood Teacher Educators in Chicago on November 3.
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Men's Basketball Look Ahead
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| Brandon Constantine |
The Pioneers (1-1, 0-1 NJAC) face a five-game
stretch that should help the team bond while establishing confidence
for later in the season. Seniors Brandon Constantine (11.5 ppg)
and Egbavwe Pela (6.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) lead the Pioneers into home
games against NJAC rivals The College of New Jersey and Kean (Dec.
10), as well as a game against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
at Continental Airlines Arena (Dec. 13). They will also take part
in the Mount St. Mary Tournament (Dec. 5-6), where they will face
Medgar Evers in the first round.
Women's Basketball
Look Ahead
Junior forward Adrienne Kopko (11.0 ppg,
8.7 rpg), senior guard Kat McPhail (13.7 ppg, 7.0 apg) and the rest
of the Pioneers (2-1, 1-0 NJAC) should have a better idea of how
they rank in the highly competitive NJAC after home games against
league powers The College of New Jersey (Dec. 3) and Kean (Dec.
10). William Paterson will also play non-conference home games against
Baruch (Dec. 6) and Hunter (Dec. 13). Watch for the continued emergence
of sophomore forward Barrie Quick (6.0 ppg).
Football Has 10 Named to All-NJAC All-Star Team
William Paterson University put 10 players
on the All-New Jersey Athletic Conference football team, including
sophomore linebacker Qaadir Majeed, a first-team selection. Five
Pioneers were named to the second team, while four others earned
honorable mention. (More
Information)
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Tickets Available for Men's Basketball
Game at Meadowlands
The William Paterson University athletic department is selling tickets
for the Pioneer men's basketball team's game against the U.S. Merchant
Marine Academy on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 2:30 p.m. General admission
tickets are $10, while William Paterson students can purchase seats
for $8 with valid student identification. For further details contact
the Athletic Department at 973-720-2356. (More
Information)
Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Look
Ahead
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| Jim Oriscak |
The Pioneer women (5-2) have won four consecutive
meets while the men have captured three straight. They will look
to continue their recent runs of success when they travel to Arcadia
(Dec. 6) and Adelphi (Dec. 11) before returning home to face NJIT
(Dec. 13). On the women's side, freshmen Tracy Dombrowki (freestyle/butterfly)
and Colleen Takamoto (freestyle/butterfly) have quickly established
themselves in the water, while senior Jim Oriscak (individual medley/butterfly)
and Chris Wirt (diving) have been instrumental in the men's winning
streak.
Field Hockey News
William Paterson University senior forward Krista
Hinshillwood became the fourth All-American in program history
when she was picked to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association's
(NFHCA) All-American third team. Meanwhile, Hinshillwood became
a four-time All-South Atlantic Region selection when she and junior
goalkeeper Kelly Harchetts were named to the all-region
first team.
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