From Free Academy to City University

Matters A Newsletter for The City University of New York • Summer 2000 At a Glance From Free Academy New Chancellor Levy Honored by University 1at Lotos Club Reception To City University Just a day after his formal appoint- ment as permanent public schools ay 7, 1997 marked the 150th an- book please contact Margaret Noo- Chancellor, Harold O. Levy was hon- niversary of the passage and sign- nan at Fordham University Press, ored by CUNY at a re- Ming of the legislation that made 718-817-4780.) ception at the Lotos the Free Academy of New York a reality. The book tells of the growth and Club. Leading the cel- To celebrate this landmark date, three development of municipal higher ebration were Board archivists from Baruch College, Brooklyn education in New York City with ex- Chairman Herman Badillo and Chancellor College, and City College—Sandra tensive text and many fully anno- Goldstein, who recited Shoiock Roff, Anthony M. Cucchiara, and tated illustrations, commencing a very apt poem on the Barbara Dunlap, respectively—agreed to with the tiny Free Academy and occasion (see page 3). pool their efforts and curate a traveling ex- its first class of 149 students, hibition that would highlight the people, and ending with an overview of Trustees Set to Vote on events, students, and times which led to the largest urban university in Distinguished Professors the creation of the present City University the country. Activities both in- 2at June Board Meeting of New York. side and outside the classroom Interest in the creation of this exhibit in the last 150 years are de- Among the four new Distinguished Pro- was great, and support came from the fined by the same subject areas fessors to arrive from outside CUNY this PSC-CUNY Research Foundation, the H.W. as the original exhibit. fall will be Francis Wilson Foundation, the presidents of all Each chapter could have been a book Acad- M. Deng, a the CUNY campuses, in itself, but the three emy to maintain order renowned Su- and the Baruch Col- authors have sought among students. Webster also instructed danese-born diplo- lege Fund. Initially to make their book an the senior class in moral philosophy. He mat and scholar opening at Baruch engaging, colorful had a humane side, however, and the stu- who has written ex- College on May 7, overview of how the dents affectionately referred to him as tensivelely on 1997, the array of municipal system of “Pop” Webster. famine relief. memorabilia traveled public education Since 1992 he has to several other emerged, developed, served as U.N. Sec- he first CUNY Ph.D. candidates re- CUNY campuses over and took its place in ceived their degrees in 1965 from Chan- retary General’s special representative the next two years. the life of New York T for internally displaced persons. For cellor Alfred H. Bowker (below, left) and Beginning with City as well as the na- Dean Minna Rees (far right). The following more on him and others in the June items documenting tion. Featured here 2000 class of D.P.s, see page 6. year the Graduate School and University the early history of are just a few of the Center occupied redesigned quarters at 33 the Free Academy, 120 historic pho- The Many Faces and West 42nd Street, a building erected on the the exhibit then ex- tographs included in site of the old Aeolian Hall. Rees provided Facets of the University’s panded on such cen- From the Free Acade- the leadership and vision that spurred the 3 Class of 2000 tral topics as the in- my to CUNY, along development of doctoral programs soon When she arrived from Japan in 1989 creasing higher edu- with captions adapted after the municipal and community colleges with about 50 words of English, cation of women, the from the book’s infor- were federated into the University. The City Kanuko Okuda’s expertise was in growth of the city, mative annotations. University became official when Governor modern dance. The Lehman College student life, student Nelson Rockefeller signed the establishing he Free Academy graduate is now publications, the mu- bill on April 11, 1961. nicipal colleges in has seldom been headed for a First President: Strong on Math T Like other CUNY colleges established in free from controversy Master’s at Co- wartime, athletics, the 1950s and 1960s, since Townsend Harris first proposed it in lumbia in social and the growth of the municipal college The Free Academy Building, above, lo- 1846, and as it grew into a series of cam- work. For more system in New York. The curators traveled cated on the corner of 23rd and Lexington puses and later a university, new issues sur- on her and to each of the CUNY campuses in search of Avenue, was designed by James Renwick faced due to changing economic, social and other outstand- artifacts, meeting with archivists, librari- Jr., a promising young architect about to political forces. “We hope,” says Sandra ing graduates, ans, and many administrators and urging be awarded the commission for St. Roff, “this volume will spur additional stud- see page 7. the importance of preserving documents Patrick’s Cathedral. He took Belgian and ies, using the published and unpublished revealing their institutional past. Dutch town halls as his prototypes, with sources available, as well as the rich array Biography of a Flemish the windows being derived from King’s Col- elieving the exhibit should leave a of archival resources available at many Master of Motion lege Chapel at Cambridge. more lasting memory, the three cu- CUNY campuses.” (and Devoted Husband) B Gaslights, a warm-air heating system, 4 rators eventually began to entertain the The Free Academy’s first president from Paul Oppenheimer is well known on idea of publication. This spring the idea 1849 to 1869, Vermonter Horace Webster Continued on page 8 the City College campus, where he ar- became a reality, with the appearance (1794-1871), pictured rived in 1967, as a teacher of English of From the Free Academy to CUNY: Il- above, brought with him and comparative literature. On page lustrating Public Higher Education in strong ideas about the 11 the Editor of CUNY Matters inter- New York City, 1847-1997 (Fordham centrality of mathematics views him about University Press). to higher education, his “other” life as Interim Chancellor Christoph Kimmich as well as a keen desire an art historian provided a challenge grant for the pro- to instill discipline—the and his recent bi- ject, and this was met by contributions latter no doubt a conse- ography of Peter from former Baruch Interim President quence of his having Paul Rubens, Lois Cronholm, former City College Pres- graduated at the head of Rubens, A Por- ident Yolanda Moses, and former Brook- his 1818 class at West trait: Beauty and lyn College President Vernon Lattin. The Point, where he taught the Angelic. PSC-CUNY Research Foundation also mathematics until 1826. contributed, as did the Baruch College He even established a Fund. (For more information about the demerit system at the Doctoral Pioneers Flanked by Bowker, Rees

1 LaGuardia Trustees Master Plan Approved by Trustees Prepares for Round Up t its May meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a comprehensive long- range Master Plan on the organization, development, and coordination of Texan for A the University, a multi-year blueprint to transform CUNY into the premier Mellow national model for urban higher education. Board Chairman Herman Badillo and Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said the Presidency Kingsborough Plan, which was submitted to the New York State Board of Regents for approval, builds upon the University’s renewed focus on high academic standards and ex- n April 24 the Board of Trustees prominent educator from San Anto- panded educational opportunities. appointed Dr. Gail O. Mellow, a nio with three degrees earned at The plan appeared one year after a mayoral task force led by Vice Chairman Oleading educator on the national Athe University of Texas at Austin Benno C. Schmidt, Jr. described the University as “an institution adrift.” Badillo community college scene, as president of was appointed by the Board of Trustees stated that CUNY is now “a University on the move.” Among the examples of re- Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College, on April 24 as president of Kingsborough form and renewal at CUNY, Badillo cited the appointment of Dr. Goldstein as Chan- beginning on August 1. Community College, beginning on July 15. cellor, changes in remedial and admissions policies, a new exit test from remedia- Mellow, whose M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Dr. Byron N. McClenney, who succeeds tion, the expansion of “College Now” to the ninth grade in public high schools, and Psychology are both from George Wash- the College’s venerable, long-serving the recent naming of four new college presidents. leader, the late Leon M. Goldstein, will Chancellor Goldstein said, “We are committed to providing highly valued oppor- bring nearly 30 years of his own presiden- tunity throughout the University system. With the adoption of this Master Plan, tial experience at community colleges to CUNY is deliberately choosing a course that rests on raising and sustaining higher the Manhattan Beach campus. standards for all students.” Most recently, McClenney was president for 14 years at the Community College of he Master Plan calls for developing new academic programs, increasing the Denver, which has one of Colorado’s most T ranks of the full-time faculty, redefining core curricula, expanding the use of ethnically diverse student bodies. While the Internet and rebuilding the University’s physical plant. Highlights of the plan there he developed a nationally recognized include: system for developmental education, fos- tered numerous training collaborations with • Establishing a “flagship environment” with highly selective colleges the local business community, and conduct- and a University-wide Honors College. This will foster national promi- ed extensive fundraising while helping to nence in targeted undergraduate liberal arts and science programs as create a successful alumni association. well as professional and graduate programs, including such areas as for- His six Denver campuses served 10,500 eign languages, teacher education, photonics, structural biology, new students; the Kingsborough campus media and computer science. serves more than 15,000. Prior to arriving in Denver, McClenney, • Increasing the current slightly more than 50 per cent of courses whose master’s and doctorate are both in taught by full-time faculty to 70 per cent. education, also served as president of ington University, comes to the Long Is- Parkersburg Community College in West • Creating a new partnership between the University and New York City land City campus from a three-year presi- Virginia and the Alamo Community Col- public schools that focuses on preparation of high school students for dency at Gloucester County College in lege District in Texas. college study and the recruitment and training of talented people for New Jersey. Prior to her move there, teaching careers. Mellow served at LaGuardia as a senior • Improving teacher education, raising admission standards, improving administrator responsible for curriculum recruitment, offering scholarships and stipends, and establishing a tech- and pedagogy in 1996-97. nology link between CUNY and the New York City Public Schools for Earlier, Mellow served as Provost and “smart classrooms.” This will include video conferencing with master Vice President for Academic Affairs at teachers who are implementing exemplary programs in their classes. Rockland Community College, as Acting President and Academic Dean at • Advancing at least $355 million in capital construction over the next Quinebaug Valley Community-Technical four years to rebuild the University’s capital plant at all senior and com- College in Connecticut, and as Director of munity colleges. the Women’s Center at the University of Connecticut. • Expanding CUNY On-line, a consortium of 10 CUNY colleges that offers Mellow is currently chair of the Amer- courses over the Internet. ican Council on Education’s Commission on Adult Learning and Educational Cre- • Creating the Digital Library Initiative, a multi-year, University-wide dentials, and she is also a member of project that will provide state-of-the-art telecommunications, improve li- the Board of Directors of the American brary instructional laboratories, and create a digital core collection to in- Association for Higher Education. A fre- In addition to sitting on several educa- crease the number of reference and research resources. quent speaker on and author of articles tional commissions and blue-ribbon com- on community college issues, Mellow is mittees (notably President Clinton’s Steer- The Master Plan also calls for initiating a University-wide review of academic core also the co-author of Healing Technolo- ing Committee for America Reads/ Ameri- requirements. Approximately 40 speakers testified at a hearing on the Plan spon- gies: Feminist Perspectives and Double ca Counts), McClenney has authored or sored by the Board on May 15. Chancellor Goldstein scheduled two forums on June Jeopardy—The Precarious Status of co-authored many articles on community 15 and 16 to provide additional opportunities for further input and discussion. Women of Color. college management and governance. The full text of the Master Plan can be easily accessed at the CUNY Web site (www.cuny.edu) by clicking on the Web page ticker at “CUNY Approves Master Plan.” Gizis Interim Hunter President

r. Evangelos John Gizis assumes his third interim presi- Ddency at the City University—this time at Hunter Col- Near Sweep of Women’s Forum Awards lege—on July 15. He was recommended for the position by Chancellor Matthew Goldstein and appointed to the post by ach year the Women’s Forum presents several Educational Awards the Board of Trustees at its April 24 meeting, succeeding the Eto encourage mature women in their pursuit of career-enhancing departing President, David A. Caputo. undergraduate degrees. Residency in New York City, a full year of col- Gizis, whose fields are food science and biochemistry, has lege attendance, and current registration for at least 6 credits are re- been Hunter’s Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for quired for eligibility. Academic Affairs since 1998, and for the two previous years On June 15, the Forum, currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, he was its Vice President for Administration. granted a record eight Educational Awards, and seven went to CUNY Prior to arriving at the College, Gizis served in several top students. The honored scholars (and their campus and corporate positions at Queens College, including Deputy to the President sponsors) are: Waltrudis Buck (Hunter, Loews Hotels), Ngozi and Dean of Administration from 1977 to 1985. Gizis began Ugochi Eronini (Lehman, Tupelo Capital), Adrienne Ivory (Queens, his City University career at Hostos Community College, where Merrill Lynch), Joanne McDonough (Lehman, Goldman Sachs), he rose to Dean of the Faculty and served, in 1976-77, as its Susan Mirti-Fusco (Kingsborough, Chase Manhattan), Maria Mila- Acting President. In 1985-86 he also served as Acting Presi- gros Ortiz (Lehman, Ryland Homes), and Vonita Yvonne Vaughn dent at Borough of Manhattan Community College. (NYC Tech, Time Warner). 2 LANCES OF JUSTICE FOR THE POOR obtained a contract with a local hospital to assist people with CUNY Law School Network AIDS. For nominal re- imbursement, his firm Aids Public Interest Lawyers helped prepare wills, guardianship arrange- ments, and powers of saw that CLRN By Dorothy M. Zellner attorney. Arrange- could help other ments like this have lawyers avoid hen Fred Rooney, a member of carried over into what he had gone the 1986 inaugural graduating CLRN, which is always through and help W class of the CUNY School of on the lookout for them create fi- Law, received a job announcement in the ways Network mem- nancially viable mail in 1998 for the position of Director bers can augment and professional- of the School’s newly-created Community their incomes while ly satisfying lives. Legal Resource Network (CLRN), it expanding service to Rooney got the struck a chord. Center for Legal Resources director Fred Rooney, low- and moderate-in- job. Since Octo- The new project, the announcement left, and CUNY Law’s immigration specialist Miguel come clients. ber 1998 he has read, would provide resources, support, Negron, standing in front of his Bay Shore office. For example, Rooney divided his time and mentoring to new lawyers who and Negron set up a between New wished to establish viable solo- and CLRN’s Immigration Specialist partnership with Baruch College last Janu- York City and small-firm practices in underserved com- Miguel Negron, CUNY Law ‘94, ary to provide low-cost legal services one munities. And communities poorly served Bethlehem, runs a very successful practice day a week to students who need advice by the legal profession are numerous: ac- where he plays a with offices in Manhattan and on immigration-related matters. Fees of cording to the American Bar Association scaled-back role on Long Island. He was pro- $50 per hour (considered extremely rea- Commission on Non-Lawyer Practice, in in his firm. filed on the front page of the sonable in a profession where it is not un- 1995 as many as 70% to 80% of low-in- New York Law Journal last April under the common for lawyers to charge $250 or come persons were unable to obtain legal he idea for the network was conceived headline, “Indigent Clients Feel Welcome more an hour) are paid from student gov- assistance, even when they needed and Tin 1995. The then newly-appointed at this Firm.” Negron remarked in the ar- ernment funds. Since the service began in desired it. The ABA also estimated that Dean, Kristin Booth Glen, invited members ticle how scrupulous his poor clients were February, nearly 75 students have taken conditions were not too much better for of every CUNY Law graduating class to her about paying their bills, though they advantage of this assistance. Rooney has moderate-income families, 61% of whom home for a series of dinners, and she sometimes take a long time and their written to all Directors of Student Affairs could not find their way to the justice sys- heard, over and over, of their need for “payment” sometimes takes the form of and student government leaders in the tem in 1994. mentoring and support to survive in their barter. “I have never had to hire a collec- CUNY system, hoping to set up a similar Since his graduation, Rooney has be- practices for the underserved. Glen and tion agency.” service on all campuses. He reports that come familiar with the tribulations experi- Susan Bryant, Director of Clinical Educa- CLRN helps its members avoid the usual members of CLRN general practice groups enced by lawyers who choose public-inter- tion at the Law School, reached out to starting-from-scratch hassles of office also hope to set up educational meetings est practice. First he worked at a Legal three other law schools whose mission management, and it has also hired a part- at all CUNY campuses to provide general Services organization, earning so little they believed to be similar: the University time librarian and an e-mail network to information about various areas of the law. that he actually received public assistance of Maryland, Northeastern, and St. Mary's assist them in legal research. Mentors Rooney hopes that CLRN, which he benefits for his family. Then he hung out University in San Antonio, Texas. with many years of experience are also expects ultimately to have 200 CUNY his own shingle for low-income clients in After two years of brainstorming and available to work through more complicat- grad members, will be an "incubator" 1987, choosing for his base of operations discussion ed prob- for experiments in other modes of legal a Latino neighborhood of Bethlehem, among the four lems. The work. (Rooney and CLRN can be Pennsylvania. “When I first opened my of- schools and Shakespeare on Public Interest Law head of reached at [email protected] or fice, everyone expected me to know every- George Soros’ Plate sin with gold, CLRN’s men- at 718-340-4451.) thing. I didn’t!” Rooney had to “re-invent Open Society In- And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; toring pro- t the heart of the program is Rooney’s the wheel” each time he was called upon stitute (OSI), the Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw doth pierce it. gram, for new CLRN con- Ahope that "we've made a positive im- to deal with a new need of his soon-bur- King Lear example, is geoning practice, which was sustained by sortium received Kenneth I. pact on our members so that they can con- significant sums of borrowed money that an OSI grant of Greenstein, tinue to serve underserved communities." took him years to repay. $1.6 million to who was a partner at Nixon Peabody and He has seen members grow and their self- He longed for a community of mentors set up a demonstration model that would has 40 years of experience specializing in confidence improve as their economic and for a network of peers with whom he support law graduates in community-based environmental law and public financing. base has improved. He is convinced that could interact. practices, facilitate a rethinking of the role The groups discuss many management "the program saved people from giving up of community lawyering, and challenge issues, such as efficiency, billing, and how [on the law], since the pressures of being ooney’s career choice was, if not in- legal educators and students to work for to place a “fair and reasonable value” on a solo attorney are never-ending." Revitable, certainly predictable. He wider access to the justice system. “Most their work. As Rooney says, “You can’t ask "The common theme that runs among all had, after all, attended CUNY Law, which law graduates,” says Rooney, “never hear a person to engage in pro bono service if of us," Rooney reflects, "is our commit- since its founding in 1983 has made a from their law schools until they’re asked they can’t pay their Con Ed bill.” ment to 'serving human needs,' and, some- commitment to public interest law its for money.” He lauds Dean Glen for her Early in his Bethlehem practice, Rooney how or other, we're going to do it." prime focus. The School’s motto—which visionary concept of “longitudinal” legal is tellingly not in Latin but plain English education. This, he says, is “truly revolu- and which is taken very seriously on the tionary.” Play Ball! Flushing campus—is "Law in the Service Each school agreed to experiment with of Human Needs.” a different aspect of the project. Mary- t a long-planned recep- After a few rocky years, he not merely land’s CLRN created Civil Justice, Inc., a Ation at the Lotos Club survived but developed a thriving practice, demonstration law office to model “best on May 18, the University which now employs four attorneys and practices” aimed at unmet legal needs. honored Harold O. Levy. seven paralegals. The firm’s work, which Northeastern developed two CLRNs, one He is seen here with Board consists mainly of family law, bankruptcy, for domestic violence, the other for eco- of Trustees Chairman Her- real estate, workers compensation, and nomic development. St. Mary’s version, man Badillo and CUNY social security cases, was honored in called the People’s Legal Assistance Net- Chancellor Matthew Gold- 1994 by the Pennsylvania Bar Associa- work, initiated an Internet network that stein. The mood was par- tion’s “Pro Bono Award.” As time passed, provides services to small, isolated ticularly celebratory be- Photo, André Beckles. Rooney himself developed a specialty in South Texas towns. cause, by coincidence, Levy had graduated from interim to permanent Schools international child abduction. This heart- Chancellor the day before. Knowing of Levy’s penchant for verse, Goldstein breaking expertise was called on recently: UNY’s Legal Resource Network started marked the occasion by reciting a poem by Marge Piercy titled “To be of use.” Its Rooney was summoned by several televi- Cwith 28 lawyers in three “practice opening lines doubtless struck the audience of 150, which included many educa- sion news programs to comment on the groups.” Now there are 45 members in five tional leaders, as capturing the Levy style since arriving at 110 Livingston: groups. These are organized according to case of Elián Gonzalez. The people I love the best With 13 years of experience in his own professional focus: family law, immigra- tion, employment discrimination (a special jump into work head first small practice, Rooney saw the Communi- without dallying in the shallows ty Legal Resource Network directorship as three-month program mentored by CUNY the perfect way to “return the kindness” of Law Professor Merrick Rossein), and two and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight. those mentors who had assisted him. He general practice groups.

3 THE KILLENS LEGACY THRIVES Fifth Black Writers Conference Hosted by Medgar Evers College By Fred L. Price According to author Thulani Davis, MEC professor Elizabeth Nunez, in her novel Bruised Hibiscus resident Edison O. Jackson of (2000), “exposes the deep roots Medgar Evers College struck the and long-held taboos of a Papt Biblical note in his opening ad- caste-ridden society being dress at the Fifth National Black Writers churned up as if in a tropical Conference (NBWC), held on March 30- storm.” Its plot centers on April 2 on the College campus, when he the after-effects of two 12- said, “In the beginning was the Word.” Cit- year-old girls witnessing ing the gospel of John to a record-breaking (from behind a hibiscus bush) a 1,200 participants from across the country murder on the island of Trinidad. The and as far away as Germany, Japan, official poster for the Black Writers Conference Britain, Canada and the Caribbean, Jack- consisted of paintings of (clockwise from top left) Zora son proudly asserted that the sacredness Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Toni Morrison, and Richard and power of “the word” were ever-present Wright; they were drawn from Gilbert Fletcher’s collection titled among African Americans. Painted Voices (1998). “As the drum spreads ‘the word’ in President for the One-World im- voice of the hip hop generation was undeni- African civilizations,” he said, “the NBWC print at Ballantine/Random ably creating a new series of black “clas- fosters spirited dialogue among panelists House, which helped to fund the sics”—panelists cautioned that black writ- and a worldwide audience regarding the Conference reception. Standing- ers will thrive only when each generation contributions and current state of writers room-only readings and perfor- seeks to be attuned to the literature(s) of throughout the Diaspora.” mances were also presented at neighboring generations. The struggle over “The Impact of Literature by Black Writ- three collaborating institutions— the years has been for African American ers on Culture and Values in America” was the Public Theater, the Brooklyn writers to be taken seriously in their own the theme of this year's event, hosted by Public Library, and the Schom- voices—but, they reminded the audience, Medgar Evers and coordinated by the De- burg Center for Research in not to the exclusion of listening carefully to partment of Literature, Languages and Black Culture. At the Schom- the voices of others. Philosophy. Discussions ranged from the burg, cultural critic Kalamu Ya Though black writers seek to influence role of the Internet as the “great revolu- black authors, but all of us should be mil- Salaam enthusiastically ventured that per- popular culture, they do not wish to be la- tion” in 21st-century publishing, providing lionaires.” She asserted that good litera- formance poetry is “bigger than hip hop.” beled or to have their work judged deriva- unparalleled marketing opportunity for ture is the creator of sound social values, He told the audience “the page and the tive. Citing the pivotal impact on the liter- black authors to the impact of rap artists and she challenged her audience to sup- stage are not enemies” and “young writ- ary scene of the work of the young 19-year- and “performance poets.” port its writers and thus insure freedom ers, poets and rappers are still evolving, old poet Phyllis Wheatley, for example, pan- Noting that publication by black writers and voice for blacks in society. and are voracious readers.” elists pointed out that words, not wealth, al- is at an all-time high, panelists neverthe- Among the panelists raising similar is- lowed Wheatley to gain freedom—and an less warned that we should not be se- sues were asha bandele, Bebe Moore unding for the Conference came from international reputation as a writer. duced into believing that this greater Campbell, Maryse Condé, Stanley Crouch, Fthe National Endowment for the Hu- The audience agreed, many of them pas- presence means all is well. Too many de- Manthia Diawara, Junot Diaz, Trey Ellis, manities and the Nathan Cummings and sionately expressing their views on the serving writers still struggle to get pub- E. Lynn Harris, Terry McMillan, Walter the Reed Foundations, and it was en- importance of “being heard” and echoing lished, they contended, and there continue Mosley, Ishmael Reed, Tim Reid, Sapphire, hanced by the participation of QBR: The the famous Biblical declaration President to be serious questions about the control and John A. Williams. Black Book Review, the Open Book Com- Jackson chose for his opening address. In and representation of the writer's work, mittee of PEN American Center, the fact, they compared writing to giving testi- the responsibility of the writer to the he NBWC embodies the dream of the Harlem Writers Guild, and the Bedford mony in church: writing as a way to reveal community and, vice versa, the responsi- TConference’s founder–novelist and for- Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. Fur- one’s most private thoughts and, finally, as bility of the community to the writer. mer Medgar Evers writer-in-residence ther information on the NBWC can be a spiritual experience. Panelists pointed out that, for African John Oliver Killens–to create forums for found on the Web at www.blackwriters.net. John Oliver Killens would have been American literature truly to flourish, more discussions on issues and trends in black But—while it was acknowledged that the very pleased. blacks must buy, control, review emerging literature. In the 1960s, Killens organized works, and use the new technology to tap one-day writers' conferences at Fisk and into new audiences. Howard Universities. When he came to CHANCELLOR’S MEMORANDUM All previous National Black Writers Con- MEC in 1983, he sought to expand this di- ferences focused on the responsibility of alogue. Though he died just four years On the State and City Budgets the writer to the community. This time, later, his ideals and impact remain. poet Sonia Sanchez turned that axiom on Killens was a mentor to many African its head, challenging the community to as- American writers and poets who have re- hancellor Matthew Goldstein responded to the State and City Executive budgets sume some responsibility for the success ceived national acclaim, among them Wal- Cin a May 11 memorandum posted on the CUNY Web site. of its writers. “Every time a black person ter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez, and Ishmael publishes a book, we should go out and Reed, all of whom participated in the On the State Budget, Governor Pataki and the Legislature have provided criti- buy that book,” the celebrated poet Sonia opening panel discussion, moderated by cally important funding in order to help us implement University and college pri- Sanchez urged. “In fact,” she declared, Keith Gilyard, a former MEC faculty mem- orities. The true beneficiaries of the substantial gains and improvements made “there should not be a few best-selling ber. Maya Angelou and Terry McMillan are the students of the University. They will be the recipients of qualitative en- were also students of Killens, as well as hancements in their educational experiences at CUNY. They will repay this in- the Conference’s director, Dr. vestment many times over through their contributions to the City, State, and the Elizabeth Nunez. Nunez, a pro- greater society. fessor of English at MEC, is the On the City Budget, I am especially heartened by the proposed new support by author of three novels, including Mayor Giuliani for strengthened collaborations with the public schools, building the critically acclaimed Bruised on the assistance provided in recent years by the City Council. Hibiscus. At the end of the overall process, we will be able to continue reinvigorating the This year's NBWC also includ- ranks of faculty while moving in the direction of a flagship environment. As we ed a round-table with some of work to further strengthen CUNY and its constituent colleges, I want to express the country's top editors, includ- my personal appreciation for all the work of our elected officials, trustees, pres- ing Cheryl Woodruff, Senior Vice idents, faculties, students, alumni, and friends of the University who helped ob- tain these budgets. Elizabeth Nunez is rewarded for both her literary and organizing efforts by To access the full memorandum on the Web site (www.cuny.edu), click on the ticker Dr. Maurice Henderson, president of the at “2000-2001 State and City Adopted Budgets.” To access a detailed analysis of National Black Writers Tour, left, and the State and City budgets prepared by Interim Chancellor Sherry Brabham, click on Max Rodriguez, founder of the QBR. “Enclosure” at the end of the memorandum. Photo, Tony Akeem.

4 in a 3D scene means that time can be RESEARCH MATTERS added to the coordinates of space. This ability to create animations is now so ad- Bringing Art, Technology into 3D Focus vanced that it is no longer easy to see what is computer-generated and what is The Office of Research Development at the CUNY Research Foundation sued an interdisciplinary research path by mechanically modeled. asked Lehman professors David Gillison and Robert Schneider to re- periodically teaching joint classes. We This ability is not limited to Hollywood port on a major graphics/imaging consortium at Lehman College. two, for example, began by sharing cours- and films like Jurassic Park and The Termi- es in 3D imaging and the World Wide nator, since 3D imaging is now being used ehman College’s Fine Arts Web. Since then, other art faculty have throughout manufacturing, the arts, and so- Building was designed by joined in a teaching exchange. Last year, ciety in general. Among the other driving Lthe eminent architect Mar- in a move evoked by the enthusiastic re- forces propelling innovation in 3D modeling cel Breuer, whose work clearly sponse from students taking the Comput- and animation have been Hollywood and descended from the Bauhaus er Imaging program, a Lehman scientist NASA. The most recent aircraft built by style. This style represented a whose specialty was quantum physics was Boeing, the 777, was designed entirely at union between art and technology, asked to work with a Lehman studio artist 3D imaging work stations. Increasingly, and it is thus very appropriate whose focus was art and natural history. starting more than 15 years ago, automobile that the Bronx campus’s Fine Arts The course they taught was on environ- makers have employed 3D modeling pro- Building is now the principal site mental sculpture. grams in design and manufacture. for a remarkable new academic Prosecutors are now presenting complex research initiative joining art and scenarios using 3D animation programs to technology: the Computer Imag- allow juries to understand their reconstruct- ing and Graphics program (CIG). ing of events in criminal trials. One piece of In 1996, several of us on the software in particular, Maya, is so good that Lehman faculty from the depart- a group of defense lawyers recently request- ments of Art and Math and Computer Sci- Shown here are two examples of work produced ed that its use be limited or “dumbed down”: ence began to collaborate in research on by CIG students. Edward Henery’s work, titled they did not want jurors to mistake anima- an advanced computer graphics and “Claw,” was based on the claws of a Raggiana bird tions for actual video footage. imaging program on campus. The nexus of paradise and used the Power Animator pro- we had in mind—between computer sci- gram. Chryselle Martinez created “Couple,” a ren- t is not only manufacturers and re- ence and studio art—would be unique for dering based on Brancusi, with the Maya program. Isearch scientists who have seen the fu- both disciplines. ture, however. Visual artists are now in- The result was CIG, which rests on the history, studio art, calculus, computer pro- creasingly able to exploit the new soft- belief that, as art and technology converge, gramming, three-dimensional modeling, ware in their work. Many commercial there is a pressing need to rethink the way animation, multi-media and web design. artists now build magazine covers using classes are prepared for the field of com- For graduation, seniors take on either a 3D software, and, with the dramatic fall in puter imaging. CUNY graduates eager to special project, or an internship with an prices of software and computer hard- enter the burgeoning fields of new media appropriate company. ware, they are now also creating work on can no longer graduate thinking they are At present, four full-time faculty are en- 3D workstations. just art or just computer science students. gaged in CIG (a fifth and sixth are antici- Clearly, with the arrival of fast cable Indeed, many students who take this “nar- pated this fall): George Chaikin (Art and and DSL modems, Web software manufac- row focus” approach find that once they Math/CS), David Gillison (Art), Robert ne of the core concepts guiding CIG turers, who in the past were content with reach a certain level of expertise, they are Schneider (Math/CS), and Terry Towery Othinking has been that the worlds of 2D imagery for their Internet applications, at a distinct disadvantage. (Art). Five adjuncts are also participating. art and media must inevitably focus on are now turning to 3D and are rebuilding Funding and support for the program has three-dimensional imaging. Even where their web applications to exploit web pro- ehman’s Computer Imaging and Graph- come from the National Science Founda- the end product of this multi-dimensional tocols such as Virtual Reality Markup Lan- L ics initiative is designed to give stu- tion, the Graduate Research Technology approach is merely two-dimensional, hav- guage, or VRML. For these reasons, we at dents a broad understanding of the human- Initiative, Lehman College, and CUNY’s ing the ability to see a scene in three di- Lehman have made 3D modeling and ani- ities, the arts, and relevant aspects of com- Computer Information Services office. mensions allows its creator remarkable mation the end focus of our Computer puter science. They take courses in art From the outset, CIG faculty have pur- freedom. Being able to move the “camera” Imaging and Graphics program.

DISTANCE LEARNING FOR FEDERAL WORKERS transmission of conversational exchanges via the monitors. “You can’t have overlap- Kingsborough Marches on Fort Totten ping conversations.” In spite of the diffi- culty of reading nonverbal clues, however, ith only a few sessions left in of three video cameras, five video moni- jects printed material onscreen, and pro- she felt she got to know her students. “In her Kingsborough Community tors, “beetles” (hand-held remote con- fessors are also able to download visual distance learning, as in any classroom sit- WCollege accounting course last trols for the screen), and a 42-inch mon- sources from the Web, DVDs, and videos. uation, there are some students who dom- fall, Professor Margaret Conway thought itor or “smartboard” that is used as an A “smartboard,” representing a large com- inate a discussion, and some who will it was about time to give her class the electronic blackboard. The classroom at puter monitor, can be used as a black- avoid it,” she said. personal touch. So she actually walked Fort Totten has two monitors. board and for presentations created by “It takes some adjustment,” said busi- into the room on the Fort Totten military PowerPoint software. The monitors allow ness law Professor Norman Adise. “I like base in Queens where her students had rofessor Michael Rosson, the Director teachers to watch themselves teach as to observe the reactions of my students, been meeting. Pof the Media Center, prepared faculty well as observe the reactions of students and the monitor reduces the size of a stu- She was a bit surprised at how comfort- on the best ways to adapt to the new in the off-site classroom. dent, so it makes reading a student’s body able they had become with her virtual technology. “I think instructors in this en- Besides the professor, the only other language harder. But with experience, I’m presence. “I thought they would prefer vironment have to be comfortable,” he person in the room is a technician. The sure this can be overcome.” He noted being taught in person. As it turned out, said. “Students as well as teachers have technician aims the camera appropriately, that the students have adapted very well. their class personae were fairly consis- different styles of learning.” adjusts the volume, monitors the feed- “They pick up things very quickly and I tent,” she said, in response to her actual In the video-conferencing room, profes- back, and is on hand to remedy any tech- cover more topics in less time.” and virtual selves. sors must remain within the range of the nical problems. When a student asks a Conway was teaching the first course in camera’s gaze. A document camera pro- question, he or she can press a “look-at- rofessor Amy Haas, who teaches ac- a new Kingsborough program that provides me” button on a remote- P counting, noted that a distance learn- distance learning to civilian and military controlled “beetle,” and the ing course is more structured and re- personnel at Fort Totten. Its accounting camera will zoom in, bring- quires more planning. Documents have to and business law courses are being trans- ing their faces close-up. be ready for the professor to present on- mitted to approximately 20 Federal em- Conway recalls how she screen. “I like walking around a room and ployees via interactive video-conferencing adapted her teaching style looking over a student’s shoulder to see technology that employs video cameras to distance learning, de- the work being done,” she remarks. and computers to allow people in different scribing, for example, the “However, the camera does give me a locations the face-to-face interactions they occasional difficulty caused view of all the students at once.” would perform if all participants were in by a slight delay in the The personnel at Fort Totten are the same room. pleased with how video-conferencing saves Kingsborough’s video-conferencing Professor Amy Haas making people time, money, and energy. Warren room is located in the College’s Media her presence felt for govern- Continued on page 9 Center Library, and its hardware consists ment workers at Fort Totten. 5 hat the City University is nothing if DEFLATING TRUTH, SOLVING 4,000-YEAR OLD PUZZLE, not even-handed will be superbly REASONING REMBRANDT & OTHER STELLAR PURSUITS Tdemonstrated this fall, when Paul Horwich comes from University College in London to join the faculty of the Graduate Center’s Philosophy Program. But first, recall Oscar Wilde’s observa- Distinguishing Features: tion, in The Importance of Being Earnest, that “the truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Among philosophers these days, Nine New Top Scholars two views of truth have been debated: the inflationary and the deflationary. Earlier al meeting this coming year). in his next book, which appears from the this year philosopher Michael Devitt ar- Fluent in five languages, Schwartz stud- Princeton press this fall, Heidigger’s rived in the Program as Distinguished Pro- ied at the University of Buenos Aires, Children: Philosophy, Anti-Semitism, and fessor, and he counts himself an “infla- Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, German-Jewish Identity. Just completed Lehman’s Pan, Math Leader tionist.” As Executive Officer for Philoso- and received her Ph.D. from the University is a study titled The Seductions of Unrea- phy, however, he was delighted to urge the of Illinois. Her familiarity with New York son: The Persistence of Counter-Enlight- major research sites as the IBM Research hiring of Horwich, whose 1990 book Truth City is considerable: she maintains a home enment in Modern Thought. Center, Princeton’s Institute for Advanced (now in its second edition) represents the here and taught at Fordham for nearly two Notable among Wolin’s prior books are Studies, the University of Pisa, Stanford, decades, beginning in several other Heidigger studies and Wal- Columbia, and Berkeley’s Computer Sci- 1971. CUNY Vice ter Benjamin: An Aesthetic of ence and Mathematics Institutes. His re- Chancellor for Acade- Redemption. He is a frequent contributor search has attracted a remarkable mic Affairs Louise Mir- to several periodicals, notably The New amount of grant support: since 1989 he rer, herself a His- Republic, Dissent, and Common Knowl- and his research teams have received no panist, notes that edge. A graduate of Reed College in Ore- fewer than 11 PSC-CUNY awards, and Schwartz’s “back- gon, Wolin earned his Master’s and Ph.D. since 1980 he has participated in seven ground in classics has at York University in Toronto. He has NSF grants. provided her an unusu- taught at Rice since 1983, rising from as- al grasp of the Spanish sistant professor to holder of the D.D. fter studies at Syracuse University, Golden Age. Her pres- McMurtry Chair in History. AOberlin, NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts ence will add further and Columbia University, Leonard J. luster to CUNY’s high- mitav Ghosh, who has been a Visit- Slatkes’ interest in Dutch painting took ly-ranked program in A ing Distinguished Professor of Com- him finally to the University of Utrecht, Hispanic and Luso- parative Literature at Queens College where he earned his Ph.D. in 1962 with New CUNY Philosopher Horwich in the Foothills of India Brazilian studies.” this past year, becomes a permanent a dissertation on Dirck van Baburen (c. The Graduate Cen- presence this fall. Known around the 1595-1624), a Dutchman who painted in only sustained defense of the opposing de- ter’s Political Science Program is celebrat- world for his fiction, journalism, and Utrecht and Rome. Since he arrived on flationary view. This, Devitt explains, “is ing the fall arrival of the renowned inter- human rights activism, Ghosh cuts a wide the Queens College campus in 1966, the the view, roughly, that, although ‘true’ is a national scholar and diplomat Francis M. swath among languages, cultures, liter- new Distinguished Professor of Art has very useful predicate, it does not refer to a Deng. Currently a Senior Fellow at the ary genres and disci- become an interna- substantive, explanatory property.” (Re- Brookings Institute, where he has focused plines. A speaker of tionally recognized member: never simple.) Truth, clearly, is on conflict management, human rights, Bengali, Hindi, Arabic, expert on 17th-centu- in for a tussle at 365 Fifth Avenue. and the role of law in nation-building, and French, in addition ry Dutch and Flemish Horwich, though a native Britisher, re- Deng has also served, since 1992, as the to English, Ghosh has painting, especially ceived his advanced degrees from Cornell U.N. Secretary General’s special represen- taught anthropology, those who worked in and taught at MIT from 1973 to 1994. His tative for internally displaced persons. sociology, and creative the style of Caravag- affinity for breathtakingly large topics has A native of Sudan, Deng earned his law writing or served as a gio. He is frequently also been demonstrated in his earlier degree, with honors, at the University of fellow at universities in sought for his opin- books Probability and Evidence and Asym- Khartoum, studied at King’s College, Delhi, Charlottesville, ion on works from metries in Time, the most important work Cambridge,and eventually received an Cairo, Calcutta, and this period by Sothe- on time, Devitt says, since Reichenbach’s LL.M and a J.S.D. at Yale. He has served New York City. by’s and Christie’s The Direction of Time (1956), one of the as Sudan’s ambassador to Canada, the Forthcoming this year auction houses, as classics of logical positivism. His recent U.S., and the U.N., as well as Sudan’s is Ghosh’s most recent well as dealers and book Meaning, also deflationary in its ap- minister for foreign affairs. Deng is the novel, The Glass Palace, collectors. proach, just appeared and is expected to author or co-author of 27 books in fields and his international re- Individual artists generate considerable controversy. ranging from law, anthro- portage includes In an with whom he is par- pology, political analysis Antique Land and Danc- ticularly identified are orwich is one of four to fiction and poetry. ing in Cambodia & At Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hextramural and five in- Among his titles are Tradi- large in Burma. His Ghosh, Writer on Cultures, and Georges de la tramural candidates for the tion and Modernization novel The Calcutta Syn- at Queens College Tour, and several of his position of Distinguished and Masses in Flight: The drome, is soon to be current works-in- Professors that, as Global Crisis in Internal filmed by the Oscar-winning director of progress concern the diaspora of the car- CUNY•Matters went to Displacement. Deng has Mediterraneo. He has been a regular in avaggesque style. Doubtless the grandest press, were awaiting final also taught courses regu- such journals and periodicals as The New project on his palette is a study and cata- Board of Trustees approval larly at Columbia and Yale Republic, Kenyon Review, Granta, and The logue raisonné of Rembrandt’s entire at their June 24 meeting. Law Schools, enjoyed sev- New Yorker. Ghosh was born in Calcutta painted oeuvre, and he has a very specific The honor carries with it an eral prestigious grants and eventually earned a D. Phil. in anthro- date for its completion: July 15, 2006, the added $21,850 annual (Ford, Rockefeller), and pology at Oxford University. 400th anniversary of the artist’s birth. stipend. Including this has received several pro- Lehman College’s new D.P. is professor Ask Queens College historian David “class of June 2000,” there fessional awards and hon- of mathematics and computer science Syrett what he thought about the recent are now a total of 115 ac- orary degrees. Victor Pan. A specialist in the areas of submarine film thriller U-571, and you tive D.P.s at the University. The Graduate Center’s design and analysis of algorithms and sev- could get a very detailed answer. Among Coming to the Graduate New Hispanist Schwartz rom Rice University in eral methods of computation (polynomial several books on naval history by this new Center’s Program in Spanish FHouston, Richard and matrix, algebraic/numerical, and dense Distinguished Professor—who, like and Luso-Brazilian Literatures from Dart- Wolin will bring to the History Program structured matrix), Pan arrived on the Leonard Slatkes, arrived at the College in mouth, where she served as Department at the Graduate Center a reputation as Bronx campus in 1988. Among his nearly 1966—are two on the subject: The Defeat Chair and held an endowed chair in one of the leading authorities on modern 170 research papers are several on solving of the German U- Boats: The Battle of the Spanish, will be Lía Schwartz. The Ar- European intellectual history. According a polynomial equation, a four-millennia-old Atlantic and The Battle of the Atlantic and gentine native is renowned in the field of to History Program Executive Officer problem having important practical appli- Signals Intelligence: U-Boat Situations and renaissance and baroque Spanish litera- David Nasaw, Wolin’s principle focus is cations, particularly in computer algebra. Trends 1941-1945. ture, and she is especially well known for “the political history of ideas. This is Pan served as Senior Researcher at the But it is principally for his several her expertise in the genre of satire and not so much the history of political theo- Institute of Electronic Control Machines books and numerous articles on American for books and essays on the poetry of ry, but the political implications of the and the Academy of Science in Moscow and British naval history in the 18th cen- Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645). work of leading 20th- century European from 1965-76, then immigrated to the tury—with particular focus on the Revolu- Schwartz was also elected to the presi- philosophers.” What Nasaw calls Wolin’s U.S., where he became a citizen in 1982. tionary War—that Syrett has established dency of the International Association of “impressively high level of analytical He has over the last 20 years sojourned his leading reputation (especially in Great Hispanists in 1998 (CUNY hosts its annu- rigor and sophistication” will be on view as visiting scientist or professor at such Continued on page 12 6 Stirred (Not Shaken) By Ford and Mellon TALES OF THE MORTARBOARD

ot long ago, a question on the mind N of Lia Lynch was whether her mar- tinis should shaken or stirred. Bartend- ing was her job while maintaining a 4.0 The Faces of June GPA at Hunter granted a scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii College as an (taking courses at Manoa and Hilo), then came to Hunter honors English College as an exchange student. He hopes to return to major. Now Tonga and become a researcher or professor after gradu- Lynch is facing a ate school. Among several independent studies Kuluni Valedictorian more momentous pursued while at CUNY was a demographic study of the dilemma: which Tongan population in Hawaii. He also researched the on Bass of two presti- worldwide Fijian diaspora and completed an internship at gious fellowships hree years ago Pamela the Fijian mission to the U.N. Of the CUNY BA he says, for graduate Margid came to a fork echoing countless previous graduates of the Program, “its T study—from the in the road. Unlike Yogi self-directedness, interdisciplinary nature, and versatility Ford and Mellon Berra, she made a choice: to have made my graduation a possibility.” Foundations—to Photo, Daniel Shure. devote more time to her dou- accept for her doctoral studies at Princeton, which begin ble major in English and His- this fall. A high school dropout from the Bronx who tory at City College and absent herself from the Pon- worked at a variety of jobs before earning her GED, Lynch, A Dancer Leaps into Caring toons, a successful group for which she was an accom- who is of Puerto Rican heritage, became fascinated at plished bass player (see above). The decision proved Hunter “by the representations of the colonial mentality in fter arriving from Tokyo in 1989 with 50 words of brilliant: Margid, whose GPA is 4.0, became the Valedic- the late Renaissance.” She intends, while at Princeton, to A English in her vocabulary, Kanuko Okuda danced torian of the Class of 2000 and has received the most explore how British literature of this period “reinforced for four years with several New York companies, eventual- prestigious graduate fellowship offered by Cornell, where the established racial and social hierarchies that continue ly becoming coordinator and principal dancer of the she will study under Pulitzer historian Michael Kammen. to affect people of color.” Lynch is seen here being inter- Omega Liturgical Dance Company at the Cathedral of St. In addition to honors in history, Margid has won several viewed at her June 2 commencement by New York Times John the Divine. While there she met and cared for many awards and scholarships while at CCNY, including two reporter Anemona Hartocollis. dancers and others with HIV—and her world expanded. General Tremain Prizes in Civil War History and the Deciding she needed “more knowledge and skills in help- Cromwell Prize, the College’s top history honor. She is shown here delivering her hail-and-farewell at CCNY’s commencement ceremonies. Vacation in Trinidad? Soca to You he new Marriott Renaissance Plaza in Brooklyn is “Come, a passionate speech” Tjust one block from the New York City Technical Col- lege campus. Not surprisingly, the hotel and the College —Hamlet have been in cahoots: some City Tech grads work there isplaying admirable shrewdness and loyalty to their and the College Foundation’s “Best of New York Award” own CUNY students, the last three Chancellors have dinners have been held there. Last year J.W. Marriott D several times gone to an obvious well of eloquence for Jr., the Chair and CEO of Marriott International, was their speechwriters: the English Program at the Graduate honored, and this year, on May 24, Kweisi Mfume, presi- Center. Over the last decade, five doctoral candidates dent of the NAACP was fêted. Still, the thoughts of ing people,” Okuda came to Lehman College, where she have served in the position, and, in a splendid coinci- Colin Mohammed are thousands of miles away, in his graduated this June with a degree in social work. She has dence, four of them received their Ph.D.s at the Center’s native been accepted with advanced standing as a Master’s can- commencement ceremony on June 1. Marybeth Trinidad. The didate at Columbia and hopes to work with cross-cultural McMahon, now serving in the office of the President of Hospitality families within the immigrant population. “Emigration is a Georgetown University in Washington D.C., wrote her dis- Management destabilizing factor,” she says, “that can trigger certain sertation on Willa Cather. Elizabeth Rosen’s focus is honors gradu- forms of mental illness.” She is seen here on stage before on the interactions between literature and the law (she is ate is deeply her career change and on the Lehman campus after. involved in establishing a travel and tourism busi- Touching on Midas ness, Soca Photo, George Lowe. Tours, in col- ichel Kama Galante is understandably fascinated laboration with the government of Trinidad and Tobago Mby his ethnic backgrounds: his Sephardic Jewish fa- that, he and his cousin hope, will ride the crest of the is- ther, a doctor, met his Japanese mother, a nurse, when land’s rapidly expanding resort industry. Mohammed they were working in San Francisco. He is finding himself gained his experience for the project by helping to start particularly drawn to his family’s musical heritage. “I’m up such a Web site for New York City feeling a strong attraction to the dance and music of Oki- No photo by André Beckles (bookonlinenow.com). “My experience, he says, “is that nawa, the home of my Internet shoppers prefer to finalize all arrangements grandparents.” an attorney and taught law for several years before be- now. Socatours.com will enable them to plan every facet Galante, a piano and ginning her graduate studies). Her dissertation com- of their visit to the islands.” Mohammed leaves the im- composition student pares the concept of nature in early American law and pression his summer will not be spent lying on a Trinida- with a 4.0 GPA, re- literature. The dissertation of Peter Taback examined dian beach sucking brew. ceived his Master’s in the American middle class’s response to the atom bomb music from Queens in the writings of Trilling, Cheever, Bellow, Mailer, and College on June 7. DeLillo. Chancellor Goldstein’s current writer is James He is seen here with Werner, who earned his degree with a study of the in- composer/conductor Tania Leon after a recital at Brooklyn Island-Hopping fluence of the literary type of the flaneur, a strolling College (part of an all-CUNY tour Galante organized). urban observer, on Edgar Allan Poe. The Editor of Though the piano has been important in his life, his focus Demographer CUNY•Matters sought to arrange a photograph of the has increasingly been on composition—mainly chamber four but was firmly rebuffed, the speechwriter’s code of riginally from the Island of and orchestral pieces. Currently, he is working on a can- anonymity prevailing. Also present on June 1 was the OTonga, an independent tata based on the King Midas legend. Galante is eager to first speechwriter, Dan Porterfield, who received his monarchical Kingdom in the point out that he has been phenomenally fortunate to South Pacific, Leonaitasi study with three distinguished City University composers: CUNY English Ph.D. several years ago and went on to Kuluni entered the CUNY BA the eminent doyenne among women composers, Thea write speeches for Health and Human Services Secretary Program in 1998 and this June Musgrave; Bruce Saylor, the prolific composer, especially Donna Shalala and, as he does now, direct public rela- received his cum laude with a dual area of concentration for grand public occasions (papal visit, presidential inau- tions for Georgetown University. in International Affairs and Demography. Kuluni was guration); and Academy Award-winner John Corigliano. 7 By Maria Bennett SECOND ANNUAL BOOKFEST AT HOSTOS Keynote speaker at the con- ference, Carolivia Herron, striking a classic pose. agdalena Ramirez pushed a stray Controversy, Censorship lock of wavy, chestnut hair from Mher forehead nervously and In Children’s Literature book's story line is il- fanned herself, despite the fact that it was lustrated with the thirty degrees or so and the streets out- Saturday morning to share her enthusi- had not taken the time to loveliest abstract side were awash in a bone-chilling rain. It asm with the educators, librarians, par- read it. It’s really not about artistry, which was was Saturday, April 15, however, the day ents, and students on hand, noting: the hair—it’s about the likened to Picasso by of Hostos Community College's Second “We're delighted to offer books for chil- sheer poetry of our tradi- the School Library Annual Multicultural Children's Litera- dren that reflect contemporary multicul- tion.” Greeted by thunder- Journal. ture Festival, and she was hell-bent on tural issues.” ing applause and a huge getting it right. "La-dies and gen-tle-men, bouquet of irises and yrd’s co-panelist, I would like to pre-sent to you. . ." she re- ince everyone has been made aware daisies, she mused, “I won- BBarbara Kiefer, hearsed her introduction slowly and delib- Sof the issue of censorship in children’s der if I'll ever be asked to Professor of Chil- erately in a corner of the College's main literature via the Harry Potter books (cer- speak in Mississippi?” dren's Literature at lobby, in between stints of welcoming par- tain religious groups objecting to their su- Her ideas were echoed by Columbia, concluded ticipants with an irrepressible grin. pernatural content), the conference theme Bobby Byrd, who founded with her definition of Ramirez was one of 16 student volun- could not have been more timely. Keynote Cinco Puntos Press in El a censor as “some- teers assisting conference organizer, Pro- panel presenter Carolivia Herron, looking Paso, Texas, and who was Thumb’s Up for Children’s Lit one who thinks he fessor Rosemary Benedetto Stimola. like a glorious santera in her long white also at the center of contro- alone can recognize Highlighting the event, titled “Reading the cotton dress, spoke of her own brush with versy when funding for his company's book, evil and should protect others from it.” Millennium: Controversy, Censorship, the powers of political correctness after The Story of Colors, was pulled by the NEA She urged all to consider the power of lit- Choices,” were six workshops and a the publication of her Nappy Hair ignited after it was discovered that the book's au- erature in the development of a child's keynote speech by the famous Southwest- heated debate: "My book started as part of thor was Subcomandante Marcos, the Chia- consciousness: “Books help kids to enter- ern poet and author Pat Mora. a lecture at Harvard dealing with the epic pas revolutionary. “It's really just a story tain ideas they never thought of before. The 200 participants were treated to ex- tradition in African-American literature, about how the gods created the world, and They show feelings rather than facts, and hibits featuring a dazzling array of the lat- and the Nappy Hair story sprang from a thought it was boring without colors. It’s a let readers explore possibilities, illumi- est children's books from publishers such story-telling contest with my uncle. Peo- traditional Mayan legend, and it’s impera- nating the human condition. Books don’t as Harcourt Brace and Cinco Puntos ple loved the story and told me to publish tive that indigenous peoples maintain these teach, they reach, and students have a Press. A senior editor from Lee & Low it, so I did. But, curiously, the only people stories. It's a children's book, but kids’ right to read them.” Books, Louise May, gave up a rare free who protested the book were people who books are for the whole society." The Continued on page 12

CUNY History, continued from page 1

ing The Collegian at field.” Webb Medgar Evers College was housed in a the Academy, and in served as College variety of temporary facilities before 1866 pioneered the president for a as- achieving a permanent campus. The Col- establishment of the tonishing 33 years, lege admitted its first class in 1971 and first democratically from 1869 to elected student 1902. council on any American campus. s around the The strict discipli- Anation, stu- narian President Ho- dents on City Uni- race Webster was versity campuses not amused. rose in protest Bowker was also against America’s instrumental in gar- military-industrial nering a chapter of powers and, later, Phi Beta Kappa for against the war in the College of the Vietnam. On Octo- City of New York (as The Perils of Student Activism ber 19, 1967, a it officially became New York Times in 1866). Webster was elected the chap- headline read “Brooklyn Students Battle in ter’s first president and saw to it that Peace Protest . . . 40 Arrested on Cam- Bowker’s application for membership was pus.” The melee erupted over the pres- The Height of Luxury, 1848 blackballed! ence of two navy recruiters on the Brook- The College of the City of New York’s lyn College campus. Later, in the spring and drinking fountains made the building second president, Alexander Stewart 1970, came the Kent State shooting, and very modern for 1848. Real slate black- Webb (below), was, like Horace Webster, campus demonstrations proliferated. Typi- boards and cherry-wood desks with stools a West Pointer (class of 1855) and cal of these mass public protests was one that had backs impressed the first stu- teacher of mathematics. Civil War heroes at which Jane Fonda, below, one of the dents as the height of were popular antiwar icons of the time, addressed stu- Brownstone & Storefront U luxury. Total cost for choices for college dents on the South Campus of City College. the building and its presidencies, and The old Finley Student Center stands in the was administered from the Crown Heights furnishings came to Webb won his mil- background. brownstone, above, for several years. It $68,000 ($2,000 itary fame as a was named for the under budget). This brigade general of civil rights activist photograph was taken volunteers during Medgar Wiley around 1900. the battle at Get- Evers, who was tysburg. He and killed in 1963. hen Charles his men occupied During its early WRogers Bowker the “Bloody Angle” days, the College (at right) died in and withstood was located in 1933 at the age of Pickett’s charge eight different 85, a long obituary in on July 3, 1863. sites, including the the City College Wounded himself, former Brooklyn Alumnus stressed his he saw half his Preparatory School lifelong empathy for men killed. Gen- and three store- the problems and eral Meade, his fronts near the in- ideals of students. commanding offi- tersection of Bed- He began what would cer, wrote that his ford and Nostrand become a distin- bravery was “not Avenues. guished career in surpassed by any publishing by launch- From Bloody Angle to Presidency general on the Political Attitude: Jane Fonda in Protest at City College 8 motional, inspiring, unforgettable— A BUDDHIST “ART OF DYING” (& DYEING) precept that all living creatures and ob- such was a talk on Buddhism, tex- jects—rocks, flowers—have souls, and Etiles, and a philosophy of dying In the Bardo with Eve Sedgwick that the supreme goal is enlightenment of given by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick last ALL beings, not just humans. March 31 at the Graduate Center. Maggie Nelson, a doctoral candidate in English at the Graduate The professor of English at the Center— Center, reports on a moving lecture by a renowned CUNY writer on lit- feel tempted to call Sedgwick’s discus- who has made public and written about erature, gender, and sexuality—and cancer patient. Ision of her illness “brave,” but that her long experience with cancer, which word, often used to declare triumph over was discovered to be incurable three years or denial of fear, doesn’t seem quite right. ago—offered a three-tiered presentation: bardo: “the disorienting and radically de- we cast around frantically for identity. Is there a word for the kind of bravery as she talked, she showed slides from her nuding bodily sense generated by medical Sedgwick spoke from a podium in the that incorporates fear, vulnerability, and recent travels through Asian countries; imaging processes and illness itself” on rear as we in the audience faced the radical doubt? Perhaps the better word she also presented an installation of her the one hand, and “the material urges to screen. This increased the effect of her is “generous.” fiber art, in the form of a dozen or so dress, to ornament, to mend, to re-cover, voice coming from a strangely suspended Sedgwick reminded us that, in Bud- large stuffed figures hanging from the ceil- and heal” on the other. She ranged wide- place and evoked a sense of meditation dhism, human being-ness is a privilege in ing, clothed in different kinds of cloth, ly, comparing Buddhist thought with criti- rather than scrutiny. The large stuffed that it is a good place from which to make paper, felt, and soie mariée, in varying cal theory, pedagogy, and psychoanalysis, bodies dangling in the room both ob- spiritual progress. Throughout “In the shades of indigo blue. Sedgwick did not pointing out how these are all different scured and framed one’s vision. When I Bardo” I was overwhelmed by her gen- talk about the slides, which were mostly of ways of knowing that can sometimes col- tried to look at Sedgwick, for example, I erosity in revealing what making use of statues, prayer flags, and temples (I par- lapse into “things known.” would see her torso, but a translucent this privilege might feel like. To conceive ticularly remember a bronze deity wearing blue shawl hanging from one of the fig- of death as a moment of “potent opportu- a pink cap, and five beautiful squares of n talking about the forms of academia, ures covered her face. nity” demands a reorientation and re- green fabric flying against the sky), but ISedgwick related the habit of taking Latecomers bumped into the figures on training of our minds. As she points out, rather let them drift by as she spoke. down others’ arguments with the need to their way to sit down. The effect was both this practice prepares us for the moment The lecture connected her interest in cover up or call attention to the patchiness comic and eerie, as the swinging figures of death, even if we suffer a more abrupt fiber art with her deepening interest in Ti- of our own. Further, she connected this seemed both alive and also lifeless, even bardo— say, we are thrown through a car betan Buddhism—a “wild and woolly” habit with the larger problem of how, in the lynched. This play between the window and killed instantly. strand of that religion, she says—and with face of real dread, anxiety, and self-doubt, animate/inanimate relates to the Buddhist Sedgwick’s emphasis is on how to re- her own experience of the “bardo of spond in a crisis—how to develop a mode dying.” She noted how the experience of of being in the world in which kindness, an alien, Eastern culture suddenly becom- open-mindedness, and liberation come ing very personal to her corresponds to naturally to us. Such a practice is, as she her suddenly intimate relationship with put it, “hard, chancy, and important.” The her own mortality. intention of “In the Bardo” is clearly stat- Sedgwick explained that the bardo (Ti- ed: to celebrate “coming to loving terms betan bar=in between + do=suspended, with what’s transitory, mutable, even thrown) is the space between contracting quite exposed and ruined, while growing a terminal illness and death itself. Given better attuned to continuities of energy, the present state of medicine and the na- idiom, and soul.” ture of certain illnesses like cancer and At one point Sedgwick noted in passing HIV, this space can be quite an extended that all the guidebooks to Asia she read one, as there are no “cures,” only early di- forewarned travelers to be sure to give agnoses. Sedgwick writes in a short and receive gifts with both hands. Her handout for her talk that the bardo of lecture was given in such a spirit, and it dying (like other bardos, such as rebirth, was an honor to be present for it. I thank falling asleep, or dreaming) is “electric her with both hands. with spiritual possibility as well as with pain and loss.” Several of Eve Sedgwick’s figural compositions The hanging figures Sedgwick created in fiber hanging were installed in the common represent aspects of her experience in the area of the English Program for her talk.

FOUR YEARS—NINE AWARDS Distance Learning, continued from page 5 A Pandora’s Box Rose, a marketing analyst for the U.S. Army Reserve, points out, “It takes over Worth Opening an hour to commute from Fort Totten to Kingsborough, so this is really convenient for people who work.” Without the hassle of a long commute, he found that he was “more focused in class, and at the same time, more relaxed.” Wisdom of a First Lady fter class is over, professors commu- Anicate with students via phone, fax, On Running for Office or e-mail, and assignments can be hand- All of them must finish their studies with “How I hate doing these things and ed in the same way. Office hours are lim- a 130-hour fieldwork course, and Lewis then they say that someday I’ll run ited to an hour, but a student who misses has consistently placed York’s students in for office. Well, I’d have to be chlo- a class can go back and review a video- dministrators in the early 1970s many of the leading media internships in roformed first!” -–Eleanor Roosevelt must have thought Pandora’s Box the metropolitan area. And most of them tape. The College keeps a master copy to Lorena Hickock, 1935 and sends copies of the classroom discus- Awas only too apt for the masthead have achieved careers in journalism. sion to Fort Totten. of York College’s rambunctious student Such rigor has been reaping spectacular Graduation Advice In the past, courses taught off-site newspaper, with its headlines screaming recognition for Pandora’s Box lately. Most tended to attract mostly adjunct faculty. at the top of their voice. recently, Pandora’s Box won the first-place “Don’t dry up by inaction but go out It is expected that full-time faculty will be However, since 1986, when he became 2000 Mark of Excellence Award of the So- and do things. . . .Don’t believe more often in the virtual classrooms of the paper’s advisor, Professor of English ciety of Professional Journalists for Best what somebody else tells you, but distance learning. Glenn Lewis has worked with his usual 35 All-Around College Newspaper in the know things by your own contacts “It’s beneficial to both students and to 40 students—either English majors em- Northeastern U.S. It also won this year’s with life. If you do that you will be teachers,” Conway sums up, pointing out phasizing journalism or journalism mi- first place award from the American of great value to the community and that she learned much about new digital nors—to turn the Pandora’s Box newsroom Scholastic Press Association for schools the world.” –ER to graduates of the technology in the course of teaching the into a very serious place. with more than 2,500 students. Todhunter School for Girls, 1938 Fort Totten course. “It has made my pro- “I’ve been emphatic about letting nothing So abundant has the good news fessional life more rewarding.” And she go in that is substandard. If it takes ten been—no fewer than nine awards for (from John Jay College historian adds, “Not only is it new and exciting for rewrites, so be it,” Lewis says. His writers excellence in the last four years—that Blanche Wiesen Cook’s Eleanor and investigators, he adds, “are not learn- the paper just might think of changing the faculty, but it gives us the opportunity Roosevelt, volume 2) to reach out to a population we haven’t ing to be student journalists; they are its name. Cornucopia would certainly been able to reach before.” learning to be professional journalists.” be appropriate. 9 NOT AVERSE: CCNY & PUBLIC SCHOOLS HUNTER’S DIRECTOR OF POETIC RELATIONS An Exaltation of Poets POETRY TALK OF THE CITY Star-Crossed Graffiti

f you were in City College’s Aaron Davis Hall on May 16, your chances of he good citizens of Ibeing struck by a flying metaphor or Verona do not mind at simile were about 100%. For students Tanya Thurman, T all if tourists choose from more than two dozen New York City top prize-winner to believe the balcony shown at right is the very one public schools were gathered there for the at the Spring from which a real-life Giulietta Capelletti wondered College’s 28th annual Spring Poetry Fes- Poetry Festival, wherefore art her Romeo Montecchi. The dubious is a student at tival, an all-day efflorescence of verse that site memorializes the famous tale of “death-marked Susan Wagner has come to be known as the city’s “Wood- love” invented and refined by several Italians named High School. stock of the Spoken Word.” Masuccio, da Porto, and Bandello (and much later This gathering of metropolitan poets ripped off by the stage’s greatest thieving magpie). from seven to septuagenarian was orga- Never mind that, in Shakespeare, Juliet appears at a nized by CCNY’s Poetry Outreach Center, window, not a balcony. Below the balcony stands a and its featured speaker this year was for- bronze statue of Juliet, her breasts worn smooth by mer Queens College Professor of English high school strangers’ hands, and the storied walls have been and award-winning poet Marie Ponsot, the poetry awards visited by the magic markers of couples not yet subject of a feature in CUNY•Matters last were given— stymied by fate. fall. Speaking of the Center’s director 19 honorable Maria Terrone has, since 1990, Barry Wallenstein and his colleagues, Pon- mentions, four foreign-language poetry The House of Juliet sot enthused a few days afterward: “They awards, and five top prizes. been Hunter College’s are doing wonderful work, and the range Then, in a veritable maelstrom of met- Director of Public Of questionable authenticity and taste sneers of talent I heard was remarkable.” rics, faculty, alumni, invited published and Community Rela- the art guide to Verona. But love’s pilgrims Professor of English Wallenstein makes poets, and students shared the micro- tions, but for much don’t care. They spring eternal in the courtyard no effort to conceal his pride over the par- phone from 2 to 5. Among these were longer has been writ- of the medieval palazzetto—an empty tomb ticipants in this one-of-a-kind event in the CCNY’s own award-winning poet and di- ing poetry. Most re- except for me and some bored guards. The action city: “The Poetry Festival celebrates the rector of its Creative Writing Master’s pro- cently, she had work is all down there. From her mullioned window I watch freed voices of the gram, Marilyn published in Poetry the play, the blithe extras jostling young people in our Hacker, as well as and was honored in for a chance to rub the pure, untarnished breast public schools. At On Discovering Cornelius Eady, 1998 by the poetry of bronze Juliet, graceful as a dancer Elaine Equi, and magazine Wind with on her pedestal stage. Here come the young every grade level, the Victoria’s Secret Closeout in every borough, Wayne Koesten- its Allen Tate Memor- Romeos, lips caressing the mouths baum. The Festi- ial Award. these kids have Warm afternoons we ran of cell phones. Broken off from a tour group’s knot, val is sponsored by One of Terrone’s natural creativity.” down Columbus two Asian girls weave towards her, the College’s Divi- poems was published like four sticky ribbons hair streaming like black banners sion of Humanities on the important Web n morning ses- of melting ice cream. Thirteen, above the silk sails of their jackets.An old woman and English De- site for poetry Web- Isions, poets as and we had just discovered steps up and pats the breast as if wise partment, and is DelSol (www.webdel- young as three 2nd- underwear, its colors, to the ways of rising bread. also supported by sol.com) as an “Edi- graders from P.S. its dangerous smell. Not done yet, her cupped palms say, several local foun- tor’s Pick” in 1999. 50 read their Holding our newfound flags forgetting the end and its taste of ash. dations and the It is titled “The poems, followed by to the light, we sat under the racks Her husband’s shaky hand spirals CCNY Alumni Asso- House of Juliet” and middle school and and swore our allegiance, in slow motion, a last wish ciation. records with wry, bit- high school contin- watching fat women walk by he can’t stop making. After every homage, Featured here is tersweet humor her gents. In the after- with legs tinted turquoise. the crowd cheers, a faith in love natural as breath, a poem by one of observations during a noon, after greet- We were the queens of the city, and I too sigh for love’s outpouring: all the undying the prize winners, visit to the site of ings from CCNY our matching Maidenforms declarations, the bright, heart-to-heart names Sara A. Newland, a what the Veronese president Stanford glowing so bright, written over cobble and brick, trash can and telephone, student at Hunter call “la più famosa Roman Jr., city-wide we thought ourselves the source. blanketing these walls almost to the balcony, College High storia d’amore del —Sara A. Newland where they lie together, School. mondo.” a field of buds forever suspended in April.

Changing Tires, Sampling Broadway: ity University students who this CUNY at the Whitney Biennial ping audio narratives, ambient sounds, spring took up the Whitney Mu- texts, and QuickTime movies.” Cseum of American Art’s offer of African motifs used in fabrics. . .and the for Graphic Arts and Communications For a future issue of CUNY•Matters, free admission—which extends to De- patterns of body decoration,” and even Design at CCNY. Her project created a Weintraub promises an overview of the cember 31—would have seen works by in their symbolism: “We spin our wheels series of virtual urban spaces inspired remarkable graphic feats being per- two of CUNY’s own in the “Biennial smooth. . .the circular form also implies by cross-sections of New York City that formed at the Robinson Center, which 2000” exhibition that closed on June 4. how we keep going around in circles, intersect its great thoroughfare, Broad- in 1999 received approval for a B.F.A. Pictured here is still bound; still way. “Elements of the real, historical, in Graphic Arts and Communication “It’s So Hard to be chained to old ideas, and imagined Broadway emerge in a se- Design, as well as highlights of the as- Green,” the work of attitudes, behavior.” ries of visual narratives and QTVR tonishing diaspora of its graduates Chakaia Booker, a And in the seemingly (QuickTime Virtual Reality) spaces re- into numerous major corporate media City College M.F.A. never-ending burn- constructing five positions. from the class of ing of tires once ig- different specific 1994 who describes nited Booker also locations,” herself as a narra- sees a suggestion of Weintraub ex- tive environmental “the smoldering in- plains. “This pro- sculptor. Her medi- ternal fire of ject is an experi- um here is the old Africans” and “the ment in develop- automobile tire, smothering, the ing multi-layered which, she explains, is most versatile in killing of creativity, of spirit through the environments on helping her to express her African stranglehold corporations have on us.” the Web. Each American heritage. “The designs and Also shown here is a screen capture QTVR region cre- patterns of tires are abstractly African,” from a Web installation titled “Sampling ates an environ- Booker says, in their blackness, in their Broadway” by Professor Annette Wein- ment inhabited by tread patterns, which “are similar to traub, Director of the Robinson Center multiple overlap-

10 experience of beauty knew no prop- er bounds,” Oppenheimer writes. OTHER LIVES “Garbage, cockroaches, and mould could appear beautiful if one found Illuminating a Quest for Beauty oneself leaping free of context.” his occasional feature in CUNY•Matters introduces a staff or faculty mem- till, taking on Rubens was daunting, T ber whose extramural accomplishment or avocation is strikingly different Sand not only because he had been from his or her “day job” at the University. Paul Oppenheimer perfectly ex- the subject of 17 biographies (three of emplifies the species. He arrived at City College as poet-in-residence and these appearing in the last dozen years). comparative medievalist in 1967 and has served Oppenheimer also candidly grants, in his there since as professor of comparative litera- introduction, that Rubens’ reputation is ture and English. But then, last fall, he re- now “in a shambles.” He’s “profoundly vealed an entirely new identity—that of art his- unfashionable” and “miserably out of torian—when his Rubens, A Portrait: Beauty synch with the times.” and the Angelic appeared from Duckworth, in I ask why. “We’re prejudiced against fat London. The Editor met with Oppenheimer in women,” for starters, and “Rubens is per- early spring in Central Park, near his apart- ceived as a subservient propagandist for ment, to discuss the project and discovered that kings. Rembrandt the democratic; Rubens this biography was the natural result of one of the royalist—that is the common misper- his firm beliefs: “boundaries between the disci- ception.” Oppenheimer argues strongly plines are artificial and actually prevent under- otherwise, even venturing that “the quintes- standing.” (If you know of a likely candidate for sence of Rubenism is democracy.” He also a future “Other Lives,” let the Editor know.) considers ill-advised the perception of an “absence of intimacy” in Rubens’ extant oeuvre of about 3,000 works. And Oppenheimer might well think the irst, some not-so-trivial questions. Above, one of the Met’s time is now ripe for Rubens’ great theme. In what city was the world’s first great possessions: Rubens’ huge The Wall Street Journal recently reported Fcarillon constructed? The invention portrait of himself and his wife on the debate as to how many wars are Helena strolling in his Antwerp of what substance, apparently first used now being fought on the planet (views garden with the artist’s name- by the Fleming Jan van Eyck in the early range between 24 and 30. . .down from sake boy, Peter Paul (born in more than 60 in the early 1990s). We 15th century, revolutionized the power of 1637), safely leashed. At about painters to represent light? Finally, what should embrace Rubens now, Oppenheimer the same time, the doting hus- suggests, because his great theme was “the was the profession of the man who, about band made Helena his inspira- political energy of peace,” and he adds that 1230, invented the sonnet form? tion for all three goddesses in a “no artist has delved as deeply as Rubens If you take my word for it that the an- Judgment of Paris; a detail from swers to these questions become pertinent the painting, now in the Prado, is into the psychology of war and peace.” in the course of Rubens, A Portrait, you seen here. Also shown in detail, This is epitomized in Rubens’ spectacu- will have one good reason for agreeing below, is the first of several lar ceiling for Inigo Jones’s neo-classical with its author that he has produced a appealing Rubens self-portraits, Banqueting Hall in London, near Parlia- “rather unconventional” biography, draw- this one circa 1605 (Wallraf- ment. It is the most beautiful architectur- ing as it does from very far-flung materi- Richartz Museum, Cologne); al space I have ever encountered, and so I als. Rubens, for instance, doesn’t get born Oppenheimer argues that the fig- found exactly right Oppenheimer’s remark until page 83—in 1577, the same year, ure at left is Galileo, well before that the room “seems the white immacu- Oppenheimer tells us, that Shakespeare uttering his heretical astronomi- late brain of heaven.” The ceiling’s nine was studying his “small Latin and lesse cal ideas. panels, he says, are a “great celebration of Greeke” in Stratford. And the book’s con- And the first sentence of the the possibilities of harmonious union be- clusion, aptly labeled “Apotheosis,” offers introduction certainly rivets at- tween nations and cultures.” This certain- an elegant correspondence between the tention: “When Peter Paul ly has the ring of pertinence. Rubens style and Albert Einstein’s “unveil- Rubens died in 1640 at the age I ask how Oppenheimer would make a ing of the fact that all mass has energy, as of 62, he was unquestionably the case for Rubens if given one shot at a lec- all energy carries mass.” most popular artist in the world.” ture hall full of CUNY undergraduates. He Context clearly means much for Oppen- extemporizes a perfect gambit for our heimer, but he is quick to say that his un- ut why Rubens, fascinating film-besotted age: “The paintings of his conventional attack was due in large part Bthough he clearly is? I near-contemporary, Rembrandt, always to his subject: “Rubens was a spectacular- ask and get three replies. move in the direction of a frozen slice of ly unconventional man” and was pos- The first takes Oppenheimer life—toward the still photograph. Rubens’ sessed of a “rambunctious, brilliantly out- back to a London lunch, with slices of life always lead on somewhere reaching mind.” his editor at Duckworth idly else—they’re movies. Rubens was, to use Oppenheimer’s superlatives suggest asking, “What would you like to a term of Picasso’s, painting’s first cine- Rubens was, as a polymath, virtually in the do next?” He says he mulled a matographer.” (Oppenheimer also con- same league as Michelangelo or Leonardo little and blurted out, “a biogra- trasts Rembrandt and Rubens by observ- Da Vinci. “He was the best-read artist who phy of Rubens,” and the editor said “go do strous Behavior, now available in paper- ing that the former was a great professor had ever lived—had amassed a huge book it!” “Afterwards, I was flabbergasted and back from NYU Press. of darkness, Rubens a professor of light.) collection for that time.” He was a learned horrified,” he recalls, realizing a gauntlet He is quick to agree that the segue was classicist and read deeply in diplomacy (he had been flung down and that years of natural, indeed inevitable, since he believes ppenheimer is reluctant to anoint a fa- often performed diplomatic and espionage reading about and around Rubens now had that beauty, not goodness, should be the Ovorite painting, even among the dozen services across war-torn 17th-century Eu- to be organized and chiseled into prose. precise counterpoise with evil. In this pre- or so in the New York City area—though he rope). He followed the sciences closely, More atmospheric, perhaps, was Op- vious book, Oppenheimer says he attempt- does warmly allude to the Met’s “marvelous especially optics, and may have counted penheimer’s memory of his seminal ed to “analyze evil as a form of behavior landscape” A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Galileo among his friends. Oppenheimer, Rubens moment, which took place when rather than as a religious or philosophical Hunt, which, he writes, shows Rubens’ “ea- in fact, argues strongly that the soon-to-be- he was nine years old. “My father took me question” and to discuss evil—which reach- gerness to meet nature untamed” and ex- controversial scientist is included in one of to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I es beyond the mere criminal or even geno- plore the “shadowy no-man’s-land between Rubens’ self-portraits. remember being unable to take my eyes cidal—in order to discover the environ- civilization and the wild.” “He could also have been a fine writer, off those giant, plunging pictures of hors- ments in which evil is able to thrive. And he clearly counts as brilliant and il- to judge from the 250 letters that survive; es, deer hunts, and buxom women. Sub- He employed examples from painting luminating Rubens’ several versions of The they make fabulous reading.” He was ca- consciously, I recognized that those pic- (the works of Goya and Renaissance im- Judgment of Paris that span 40 years. In pable of five languages, but wrote mostly tures were moving, while everything else ages of the Tower of Babel—evil often en- the last one, painted just before Rubens in the international language of diplomacy seemed static.” tails the falling apart of language), film died and now in the Prado in Madrid, Op- then, Italian. Finally, he was a very good Finally, though, one cannot help feeling (Orson Welles’ The Trial and A Touch of penheimer has discovered one of history’s businessman and became, as Oppenheimer that the turn to Rubens and his career- Evil, also some Clint Eastwood westerns), most charming feats of uxoriousness. For says, “one of the richest artists who ever long quest for an understanding of beauty drama (Shakespeare’s Richard III and Mac- here Rubens made his beloved second lived.” He built a massive house that still grew out of a deep need to address some- beth), and evidence from law, history, and wife, Helena Fourment, his model for all exists. It was painstakingly restored, sur- thing completely different from Oppen- psychology (notably the Nuremberg trials). three of the rival goddesses Hera, prisingly, during the Nazi occupation of heimer’s previous book, which was Evil From all of which Rubens served as Aphrodite, and Athena. She is also fea- Antwerp and is now a Rubens museum. and the Demonic: A New Theory of Mon- ideal, ennobling relief. “For Rubens the Continued on page 12 11 Distinguished Profs, continued from page 6 ry at Rockefeller University (where she has Alzheimer’s Association Honors maintained an association), Luine came to Britain, which is preeminent in military Hunter in 1987, and for the last 10 years Trustees Chairman Badillo scholarship). A book of his that focuses has participated in the Hunter Center for on the Seven Years’ War, which pitted Gene Structure and Function and the t a black-tie benefit on June 7, CUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Herman Graduate Center’s Biolo- A Badillo received the New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association annual gy and Biopsychology Humanitarian of the Year Award. He is seen Programs. here with actress and recording star Lainie Funding from the NSF, Kazan, who emceed the event at the American National Institutes of Museum of Natural History. Also honored were Health, and several the author Kenneth Lonergan and actress major foundations has Eileen Heckart, who just closed a much- enabled Luine and her praised run of The Waverly Gallery, a play colleagues to pursue re- about an Alzheimer’s patient. The local chap- search on the influence ter of the Association serves nearly 200,000 of gonadal and adrenal people with Alzheimer’s, their caregivers, and hormones on central family members. neurotransmitters, on the characterization of Childrens Lit, continued from page 8 Other Lives, continued from page 11 the aging process in the tured in the Rubens family portrait Oppen- brain and the deleterious fter small-group workshops given by heimer chose for his book jacket—one of effects of stress on mem- A local educators covering topics in- those “moving pictures” he first saw at Queens Naval Historian Syrett ory, and on the manipulation of mice volving literacy, Internet use, and multi- the Met as a nine-year-old. on Board New Jersey genes to model aging and dementia. cultural offerings for K-8 classes, came Oppenheimer’s other other lives should Luine received her Ph.D. in pharmacology lunch and then a quick walk through the also be briefly mentioned. Earlier this Great Britain and Prussia against France, from SUNY Buffalo’s School of Medicine. book displays, which offered such titles year he became, for the first time, a nov- Austria, Sweden, and Saxony in an effort as Alice Walker’s Finding the Green elist with the appearance of Blood Mem- to topple Frederick the Great (1756- arlier this year, in January, the Board Stone, a sensitive tale about a boy's oir (Marsilio), about a hypnotic woman 1763), is forthcoming. Syrett, who earned Eof Trustees approved four Distin- coming of age, and Brian Swann's House who creates a “geography of desire” in his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia and a guished Professors: the aforementioned with No Door, a collection of African rid- present-day New York City. And for sev- Ph.D. from the University of London, has Michael Devitt, Raquel Chang-Ro- dle-poems. The favorite of all, however, eral exchange professorships in London also just completed an 800-page magnum driguez (City College, Foreign Languages for 10-year old Selina, daughter of Hos- and Germany, in the 1990s, Oppen- opus on the Royal Navy’s world-wide oper- and Literatures), Fred Naider (Graduate tos student Wilfredo Dubon, was the fes- heimer has assumed the disguise of a ations during the Revolutionary War. Center, Chemistry), and Neil Smith (Grad- tive artwork from students at Jane professor of German (he has translated When asked if a photo of himself on a uate Center, Anthropology). Adams and Grace Dodge High Schools the adventures of Till Eulenspiegel). At naval ship might be available, Syrett adorning the lobby walls: “Maybe when I this moment, however, he is a political replied, “No. . .I never go near them!” grow up, I'll make pictures like that, scientist, his current project being a Syrett, incidentally, comes from strong Board of Trustees too!” she enthused. book on the possible resurgence of na- CUNY stock: his father Harold C. Syrett The City University “Two per cent of children's books are by tionalism in contemporary Germany. was an interim president of Queens Col- or about Latinos,” Mora noted, and then lege and president of Brooklyn College. of New York asked: “What does it mean to grow up nd now down to serious business. A principal investigator for no fewer reading books that don't have people like The first carillon? In Antwerp, than five current research projects in the A Herman Badillo you in them? And what does it mean when Rubens’ home base from the age of 10. people die and stories die with them?” What substance enabled painters to Chairman She then urged the creation of “collabora- capture light on canvas more brilliant- Benno C. Schmidt Jr. tive learning communities, where students ly? Turpentine, which allowed the ap- Vice-Chairman can feel safe and we can affirm these plication of successive glazes. And the Satish K. Babbar books that have so much to do with our fu- first poem in sonnet form? It was ap- John J. Calandra ture.” With many a smile and abrazo, the parently produced (one hopes not dur- Kenneth Cook day ended with a raffle of display books to ing billable time) by a lawyer named Michael C. Crimmins a group of happy librarians, a reception Giacomo da Lentino who was attached

Photo, Richard Brown. Alfred B. Curtis, Jr. and book-signing in the elegant Hostos Art to the court of Frederick II of Hohen- Ronald J. Marino Gallery, and a lilting performance of “Peter staufen, King of Sicily. and the Wolf” by the Bronx Arts Ensemble. Perhaps Shakespeare’s deathless Randy M. Mastro And Magdalena Ramirez’s introduction? line—“Let’s kill all the lawyers”—will be John Morning Every consonant found the right place. quoted more judiciously from now on. Kathleen M. Pesile George J. Rios Nilda Soto Ruiz he 25th Evening Readings’ season at Queens College kicks Jeffrey Wiesenfeld off on October 18 with a celebration of Arthur Miller’s 85th QUEENS T Hunter Neuroscientist Luine birthday led by Frank McCourt, Grace Paley, and Peter Bernard Sohmer READINGS Matthiessen. Filling out the season will be Norman Mailer, areas of neuroendocrinology, aging, and Chairperson, University Faculty Senate Susan Sontag, John Updike, Derek Walcott, Edward Albee, behavioral genetics is professor of psy- Mizanoor Biswas SEASON W.G. Sebald, and A.S. Byatt. For season tickets, which sell chology Victoria N. Luine, Hunter Col- Chairperson, University Student Senate out fast (one for $40, two for $69), call 718-997-4646. lege’s newest D.P. After working for 13 years in the neuroendocrinology laborato-

The Office of University Relations Letters or suggestions for The City University of New York 535 E. 80th St. future articles on topics of New York, NY 10021 general interest to the Jay Hershenson CUNY community should be Vice Chancellor for addressed to University Relations CUNY Matters Michael Arena Director of Media Relations 535 E. 80th St., 7th Floor New York, NY 10021 Editor: Gary Schmidgall CUNY Matters is available Managing Editor: on the CUNY home page at Rita Rodin http://www.cuny.edu.

12