SPRING 2007 magazineFOR QUEENS COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS Pursuing the Cold Facts of Global Warming Pops is Tops Jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis greets a cou- ple of young jazz fans at one of this year’s series of free Pops is Tops con- certs for local school children, held in the garden at the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Over 1500 students from Elmhurst and East Corona attended the event held over three days in May. Vol. XII, No. 2, Spring 2007 www.qc.cuny.edumagazineFOR QUEENS COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS Faddis led a group of musicians (below), which included renowned saxophonist and QC professor Antonio Hart ’93 (far right), in a series of performances fol- 4 Mailbag I attended Queens from vious day. I consider Coach lowed by Q & A sessions in which stu- In the News 1947–49. My daughter attended Salmons to have been a friend for- dents asked the musicians about their Queens for two years before ever, and a major influence on my 8 QC Friends Then and Now graduating with a BS from development during my tenure at instruments and music. The Write Stuff BY MARGO NASH In 1947 my best friend Frances SUNY Old Westbury. My son the college. Segall and I entered Queens Edward graduated from Queens My years at Queens produced 10 College as freshmen at the age of in 1994 with a BA in English lit- three memorable mentors: Elements of Style 16. Not only were our days as stu- erature. He and I own an engrav- Professor John Williamson, who BY LESLIE JAY dents an educational experience, ing and design business that has introduced me to the beauty of 12 but our lifelong friendship, which done some work for various beginning mathematics in a year Building Bridges Between began in high school, was cement- buildings on campus. Prior to of night school; Professor Banesh Muslims and Jews ed at the college. that, I had a career as a church Hoffman, who led me to the world BY BOB SUTER of advanced mathematics as an 14 adjunct to my study of physics; Bookshelf and Coach Salmons, who led me BY LESLIE JAY & BOB SUTER to the world of basketball, but 16 more important to the world of Team Player teamwork and training to use BY LESLIE JAY one’s skills within the limitations 18 imposed by nature. I always Global Warming “knew” that I was a poor student Comes to a Boil and a lousy basketball player BY BOB SUTER based on disastrous high school 22 experiences, but the three afore- Cupid on Campus mentioned directed me so that I BY LESLIE JAY could perform reasonably well On campus: Frances Segall (l.) and Beverly Lundy (r.) in 1947 and 2005 within my physical, mental, and 24 emotional limits, and I graduated Lost in World War II, Remembered on Campus Frances received her BA and organist and a choir director. in 1951 with a sense of self- BY BOB SUTER MA at Queens and her PhD at In July 2005 Frances and I respect and accomplishment not Georgia State University in went back to Queens to have our present upon matriculation. 26 Atlanta. Her 47-year career includ- picture taken on the steps of the I must have driven Bob Alumni Notes ed teaching in Brooklyn, NY, building where we were pho- Salmons berserk with my clumsi- North Carolina, Tennessee and last- tographed 58 years before. It ness, my limited ability, and my Maria Terrone ly 23 years in Georgia, and was the was wonderful to go back and inability to make a foul shot, but ASSISTANT VP FOR COMMUNICATIONS recipient of many honors. In 1989 see how much of the campus has under his tutelage I grew, and by John Cassidy she was one of five finalists for changed, and how much has my senior year was able to hold EDITOR Georgia Teacher of the Year; in remained the same. my own. Thank you, Bob, for all Dyanne Maue 1994 she was state STAR teacher; you did for me. I am grateful for CREATIVE DIRECTOR Beverly Lundy Dietrich and in 2005 she received the Jamaica, NY our relationship and will always Bob Suter Margaret Bynum Award for com- be in your debt. WRITER mitment, leadership, and demon- Bohdan (Dan) Kostyshyn ’51 Georgine Ingber strated excellence in educating Coach Bob Salmons DESIGNER Charlotte, NC Georgia’s gifted children. She and I was saddened to receive notifica- PHOTOS: Nancy Bareis 2, 4 (clocktower), 5 tion from Sue Salmons on January (Zubizarreta), 6, 7 (Misiano), 10-11, 12 (Muyskens- her husband Raymond Dubner are Send your letters to Q Magazine, Hamdani), 13, 16, 20 (Kimerling, Hendrey), 22, 23 world travelers. Frances recently 1 that Robert Salmons, former Queens College, Kiely Hall 1307, (Cannons), 25, 31; Dyanne Maue 10 (paisley swatch, coach of the early Queens College dress, shoe); Stephen Pekar 18-19, 21. COVER: retired after teaching teachers of Flushing, NY 11367 or email Stephen Pekar ‘86 in Antarctica (Photo by Pekar) basketball teams, had died the pre- [email protected]. BACK COVER: Paul Morse, The White House the gifted since 1997. Q MAGAZINE OF QUEENS COLLEGE 3 Laura Hunter Colwin, In the News 1911–2006 Manifesto Destiny: Students Laura Hunter Colwin, Speak Out on the Radio professor emerita of Armstrong House Museum Improves, Measure By Measure The burden of financing a college education. Inadequate sup- biology, died December port for victims of domestic violence. Lack of health care for An empty lot across the street from the Town Car, the model Armstrong drove. 6, 2006 in Miami. She undocumented immigrants. These are among the issues Louis Armstrong House Museum will be “We are deeply grateful to Senators was 95 years old and Queens College students raised in five shows aired earlier this the site of an 8,500-square-foot visitors John Sabini and Serf Maltese, Assembly- survived by three years year on local radio station WBAI. The thought-provoking series center, thanks to a $5 million award from men José Peralta and Jeff Aubry, and all her husband, Arthur. grew out of an assignment for a social theory course taught in Laura graduated from the fall by Sujatha Fernandes (Sociology). New York State. the other elected officials who worked so Bryn Mawr College in “We began the class by reading texts like Marx’s “The visitors center will provide sub- hard to acquire this essential funding,” 1932. Her early interest was in protozoology Communist Manifesto,” says Fernandes. “But sometimes, read- stantial benefits not only to our visitors, says Cogswell. and she did part of her graduate research at ing classical social theory is hard for today’s students. So I Because the total cost for design and Zubizarreta but to our community,” says museum direc- the Marine Biological Laboratories (MBL) asked them to write their own manifestoes.” Encouraged to pick topics they cared about, the students made no effort to avoid tor Michael Cogswell, who plans to hold construction is estimated at $9 million, in Woods Hole, MA. During this time Laura exhibitions, concerts, lectures, and other Queens College must raise $4 million for controversy. Natalie Ochoa protested increases in college tuition, while Nabila Chowdury met Arthur Lentz Colwin, a postdoctoral fel- cited the obstacles faced by people who lack legal residential status. Natalie Eugene events in the new space. In addition, the the center, slated for completion in 2009. low from Yale. There was immediate chem- described the impact educational inequality has on minority communities. Nicole Hunchik center will have room for the gift shop, cur- Lord Cultural Resources, one of the world’s istry between the two, but they decided to wrote about her relatives’ battles with drug addiction. And Alexandra Zubizarreta pushed Louis and Lucille Armstrong at home rently based in the house’s garage. When top museum design firms, and Hardy put off a wedding until Arthur found a per- for changes in the legal system to provide better protection for abused spouses. construction is finished, the garage will be Holzman Pfeiffer Associates developed the manent job. This happened in 1940, when he These papers were so compelling that Fernandes shared them with her sister, host of restored—and occupied by a 1967 Lincoln master plan for the center. The CUNY Department of Design, Construction, and was offered a position at Queens College. WBAI’s early morning program, Wakeup Call. Convinced that the student manifestoes deserved a wider audience, Deepa Fernandes and colleagues Mitch Jeseritch and Management will supervise the project. This job offer did not extend to Laura— Abdulai Bah arranged for the youthful authors to be taped reading their work aloud at Other museum needs will be addressed regulations on hiring family members made a Heroine of Hit TV Show Plays a QC Grad joint appointment impossible—so Laura WBAI’s studios in Manhattan. The recordings were integrated into Wakeup Call shows with the help of $100,000 from the estate broadcast in late February and early March. Queens College is back in prime time. of Peter John Willcocks. A London-born worked at Vassar. In 1948 hiring regulations “My sister said listeners were excited; they called in and sent in emails,” the profes- Having been consigned to the purgatory of syndication since fan of big band music, Willcocks loved were relaxed to allow Laura to be hired, but sor reports. “The students thought the experience was great, too.” only as an Instructor. It wasn’t until 1967— first-run episodes of “Seinfeld” stopped airing in 1998, the col- Satchmo’s work in particular: his funeral in by which time Laura and Arthur had co- lege can now boast a new sitcom character with claims to 2005 featured the Armstrong song “What a being an alum—Betty Suarez, better known as “Ugly Betty.” The authored 46 scientific papers, received major Wonderful World.” Benny Andrews, 1930–2006 series, which airs on ABC-TV, chronicles the unlikely pursuit of funding from the NIH, and co-chaired an The bequest will go toward the pur- a career at a fashion magazine by Betty (played by actress international conference—that the regulations Whether standing before his canvasses or in the classroom, Queens College art chase of software that will allow the America Ferrera, who won an Emmy for her performance), a were repealed and Laura received a one-step professor Benny Andrews struggled for social justice.