“Open the doors to all – let the children of the rich and the poor take their seats together and know of no distinction save that of industry, good conduct, and intellect.” — Townsend Harris, founder cuny.edu/news THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK • FOUNDED 1847 AS THE FREE ACADEMY S UMMER 2005 Graduates are Advised to Show Passion; AT A GLANCE A Top Bush Appointee Honors College Students are Called ‘Pioneers’ Speaks of Years at York Gerald A. Reynolds, York Class of ’89, At CUNY campuses around the city, students was appointed by marched in graduation cer- President George emonies and heard speakers W. Bush as the — U.S. Senators, human chair of the U.S. rights activists and others — Commission on who told them to continue Civil Rights. He their mission of self-discov- says he welcomes ery and to live lives of pas- the controversy surrounding his sion and commitment. appointment. See page 4. Latest estimates are that 31,700 students received Expansion of Middle East diplomas from CUNY Studies is Underway colleges in the 2004-2005 academic year. A prelimi- Professor Beth nary statistical profile from U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke to the first graduating class of CUNY Honors College. Photos by Monica Jones. Baron says demand the Office of Institutional for Mideast courses Research shows the latest medical and law schools or travel to for- — a 1962 alumna — told her audience at has grown since the baccalaureate graduates reflect increasing eign countries in pursuit of historical and Brooklyn College, “Don’t be afraid to take terrorist attacks of levels of immigration to the city, with 50.9 scientific studies,” she said. a stand.” September 11, of them foreign-born. There was a changing-of-the-guard at At Queens College, the presidential 2001. Having Some ceremonies echoed the some colleges. At the Graduate Center, medal was awarded to Jerry Mitchell, recently won a University’s focus on the sciences, as at speaker Bill Moyers, the renowned journal- reporter from The Clarion-Ledger of federal grant, the York College where President Marcia V. ist, paid tribute to retiring President Frances Jackson, Mississippi, whose articles led to University is meeting that growing Keizs spoke of Fiona Smith, one of two Degen Horowitz. the arrest of a man now being tried in the demand. See page 8. CUNY students selected to intern at the “My heroes are people like her who 1964 murders of three civil rights workers. prestigious Salk Institute for Biological make public institutions work. These are One of the murdered workers was Alumnus is on Mission to Studies in La Jolla, California, where fragile contraptions and their leaders are Queens College student Andrew Goodman. Nobel Prize winners have worked. always vulnerable to the fashions of the Mitchell told the graduates, “I encourage Save Parks and Birds Hunter College handed a diploma to time, the perils of politics, and the pre- you as you leave Queens College, just as Biologist Robert the other Salk scholar, Irina Chaikhoutdinov. sumptuous judgments of the uninformed.” Andy did 40 summers ago, to follow his DeCandido, who History was made this season. For this At CUNY Law School, outgoing Dean example: to notice others’ needs, to live for earned his doctor- was the first graduating class of the CUNY Kristin Booth Glen wept as she presided someone other than yourself....” ate from CUNY Honors College, where students are called over her last graduation, saying of her 10- One almost ubiquitous figure at exercis- and has taught at University Scholars. Speaking to the year tenure: “I have been blessed to send es around the University was Chancellor CCNY, passionate- Scholars was U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, about a thousand graduates into the profes- Goldstein, who spoke at Baruch, John Jay, who called them “pioneers” and said they sion.... You are our best hope for the Kingsborough Community College, CUNY ly monitors the were “living reminders of why we, as a city, future.” Honors College and New York City flora and fauna of a state, and a Glen has been College of Technology. New York City. He nation, must con- PROFILES OF THE CLASS OF 2005 succeeded by Mary Lu The CUNY graduates were overwhelm- laments the losses, and says not all the tinue to keep faith On pages 10 and 11 are stories of Bilek, the Interim Dean, ingly — more than 63 percent — female, gains have been good. See pages 6 and 7. with the promise of graduates, who hail from 175 countries. a graduate of Harvard University data showed. higher education.” Whether born in Bangladesh, Romania, Law School who “This is reflecting a (nationwide) trend The Business of Colleges, Chancellor Jamaica or the Bronx, they are, previously served as which is more pronounced in urban areas,” Increasingly, is Business Matthew Goldstein Associate Dean for said Queens College demographer Andrew collectively, a quintessentially American Yoav Barth, of Queens College, is described the Academic Affairs. A. Beveridge. tale of ambition and achievement. Honors College as At John Jay College, “It’s true particularly among African- among the growing number of young “a bold experiment new President Jeremy Americans,” he said. men and women choosing to major in that has been enormously successful, as Travis gave an installation address noting At Bronx Community College, valedic- business administration. One by one, well as a symbol of the academic renais- how the college has expanded from its ear- torian Kirk Morrison, a computer science colleges have been seeking and receiving sance that has transformed CUNY into a lier narrow focus on criminal justice. Today and math major who had a 3.986 average, approval to grant business degrees. first-choice University.” John Jay students deal with international advised graduates to continue their studies. See pages 2 and 3. Dean Laura S. Schor recalled that the and national issues, using literature, science “I am hoping that my degree and future class was forged in the cauldron of and technology. career will enable me to contribute to the September 11, 2001, when the students “Our challenge today is to accelerate education of the people of Jamaica and were suddenly “faced with a tragedy that the process of adapting to a rapidly chang- help them bridge the digital divide that shook the country and the world. The ing world,” Travis said. exists between them and other countries,” events of September 11 were formative for At Baruch College incoming President he said. Morrison plans to go to Rensselaer everyone in this hall, but perhaps especial- Kathleen Waldron told graduating students, Polytechnic Institute or Clarkson University. ly so for young students in their first weeks “Make your own opportunities, but also fight Many graduates overcame personal of college.” to ensure opportunities for those who will hardship, as did Ebony S. Francis, a Student Elizabeth Depasquale, who was follow you.” At Kingsborough Community 25-year-old single mother of two who also affiliated with Brooklyn College, spoke College, President Regina S. Peruggi also graduated from Kingsborough Community of the unique opportunities offered to the presided over her first spring graduation. College with a 3.97 average and will be 189 graduating Honors College students. Other colleges honored the accomplish- attending Brooklyn College in the fall. “We will take these experiences with us ments of students from past generations. as we move on to prestigious graduate, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California Continued on pages 10 and 11 © FROM THE CHANCELLOR’S DESK A Capital Future Long-Term Forecast is for a will provide the ness and management rose 24 percent Get out your hard hats — and prepare center with almost Long before he enrolled in college, Yoav around the University, from 2,878 to yourselves for a period of building and 5,000 feet of Barth had a passion for business and 3,579, according to data from the Office of restoration that will transform The City additional space, finance. He knew that a BBA degree would Institutional Research. Office data also University of New York as we know it. enabling it to be a ticket to the life he wanted, of an entre- show Business/Management is the most At the conclusion of this year’s city bud- increase its exhibit preneur, the owner of his own business. popular degree major, followed by Social get, the University is hopeful that it will have programming, accommodate larger tour Now he’s on his way. Sciences and Psychology. the largest capital program in its history, groups, and expand its library collection. An Honors College student, Barth was Here are some key developments: almost $2 billion for much-needed building Other community college projects will among the first to take advantage of Queens • Lehman and Queens Colleges have added and renovation projects across the University. address long-deferred renovations and College’s new program leading to a bache- BBA’s to their degree lists, and in April This anticipated multi-year investment upgrades. lor’s degree in business administration. Brooklyn College received approval to do so. in CUNY and its students is evidence of An enhanced public investment in There was a time, just two years ago, • Hunter College is preparing to offer an strong support from our state and city lead- CUNY’s physical facilities also provides an when the only route to a CUNY degree in MS in accounting. ers, and I am very grateful for their recogni- opportunity for greater private investment. business administration was through • The College of Staten Island plans to tion of CUNY’s critical educational mission. A public-private partnership can often Bernard Baruch College. While Baruch is offer its first master’s degree in business Though substantial capital needs remain, make possible building projects that could still the flagship in business education — adminstration. especially given the lack of adequate sup- not otherwise find adequate funding. For with a strong and growing national reputa- • Medgar Evers College is looking to expand port in decades past, this proposed program example, New York City College of tion — demand for degrees in business business offerings. represents welcome progress. Technology’s planned academic building is administration has • Baruch is planning The new funding would address needs at a mixed-use facility that will address the been like a bull mar- to grant a new BBA in every CUNY campus, including the con- college’s acute space needs with class- ket, and other real estate. struction of new buildings, renovation of rooms, an auditorium, labs, and a dental CUNY colleges have Students at Baruch existing structures, and fulfillment of health hygiene clinic, among other things. been receiving are very much aware and safety code-compliance requirements. Leveraging available real estate resources, approval to grant of the value of a busi- These substantive changes were necessitated such as air rights, would reduce the business degrees. ness degree from there. by our growing enrollment, a shortage of amount of state funds needed for the pro- At Queens For Priya Shah, the research and classroom space, and public ject. We will continue to pursue public- College, enrollments business of education safety concerns. The funding is earmarked private opportunities for collaboration to in the BBA programs started all the way for a broad range of projects—from the meet our campuses’ need for space. “are booming back in high school replacement of Fiterman Hall at Borough of In addition to our state- and city-funded because employers when, as part of an Manhattan Community College, to a new projects, City College broke ground in are looking for busi- assignment, her class academic building at the New York City May for its first-ever residence hall, which ness degrees,” says took turns playing the College of Technology, to the CUNY Small is being built without public funds. The Betsy Hendrey, “The Stock Market Business Incubator Network and roof new facility will provide accommodations chairman of the col- Game.” replacements at Kingsborough Community for about 600 students starting in the Fall lege’s economics “We had to buy and College. It would also begin to answer our 2006 semester. It offers students an alter- department and sell securities, and that need for investment in the sciences, with native to late-night commutes after labs or director of the BBA piqued my interest,” funding to build new facilities or modernize design-studio work, and an even greater program, adding that the newly minted BBA existing science buildings at Brooklyn, connection to the city itself. 15 students have from Baruch College’s Hunter, Lehman, Queens, and City Colleges, I am indebted to CUNY’s students, graduated since the Zicklin School of as well as funds for the new University-wide faculty, and staff for their support of program began in Business says. Advanced Science Research Center. These improved city and state budgets, including 2003. “We have a Alan Liang’s path improvements to our physical plant are not increased capital funding, through steady stream of Yoav Barth graduated with a bachelor of to a BBA from Baruch merely decorative touches; they are integral www.supportcuny.org. During the recent alumni who are business administration degree from Queens wasn’t so early or so to our ability to provide an environment state budget process, more than 400,000 going into the busi- College's new business program. Colleges clearly defined. He conducive to learning at a high level. e-mails were sent to state legislators by ness world, and they have been creating and expanding business made it his business CUNY’s six community colleges and members of the CUNY community, which tell us they really programs throughout the University. to go into business Medgar Evers College are funded through was very helpful to our efforts to achieve a need this.” because he realized matching appropriations from the city and better budget. Thank you for bringing that From academic that earning a Baruch the state. This year’s budget offers an message to your public representatives. year 1999-2000 to 2003-2004, the num- BBA would “allow me to get my foot in the unprecedented opportunity for enhance- With the proposed capital program, we ber of bachelor’s degrees awarded in busi- door” in a “very competitive market,” where ments to these campuses, which, of course, can truly build the University’s future, the “trend is toward specialization, and the will lead to substantial improvements in enabling CUNY to one day serve the chil- the services they provide. For example, a dren of the thousands of students graduat- new instructional building and library at ing this month. Through continued public Through Alumni, Bear Stearns Bronx Community College will offer class- support, our physical spaces will inspire the room space, open study areas, and learning next generation toward higher learning. Madison Avenue headquarters. centers to replace classrooms located in Minikes began to broaden his support what were once dormitories, ill suited to t is no surprise to find CUNY grads at I to the University as a whole and over the teaching and learning. And a new some of the city’s most prestigious compa- past several years has played an important Holocaust Resource Center and Archives nies, or among their top executives. But a role in Chancellor Matthew Goldstein’s at Queensborough Community College reception hosted by Bear Stearns revealed something that was, perhaps, surprising to drive to reinvigorate CUNY. Among other many: more than 550 of the firm’s nearly things, Minikes nurtured the development 11,000 employees are CUNY graduates. of a mentoring and internship program for Board of Trustees The recent gathering gave the CUNY Honors College students at Bear The City University of New York University a chance to renew ties with suc- Stearns. Chancellor “This mentorship and internship pro- Benno C. Schmidt Jr. Matthew Goldstein cessful alumni, and to create a partnership that hopefully will be copied at other pres- gram placed our students in very presti- Chairman Secretary of the Board of Trustees and tigious firms around the city. gious positions,” noted Laura Schor Valerie L. Beal Randy M. Mastro Vice Chancellor for University Relations University Dean, CUNY Honors College. Jay Hershenson The story of how CUNY and Bear John S. Bonnici Hugo M. Morales Stearns forged a connection goes back 40 “Working with our Honors students, John J. Calandra Kathleen M. Pesile University Director for Media Relations [Bear Stearns] found them to be every bit Michael Arena years, to 1965, when Mike Minikes, trea- Wellington Z. Chen Carol Robles-Román surer of Bear Stearns, graduated from as good as students from Cornell and Editor Ron Howell Wharton.” Six students participated last Kenneth Cook Nilda Soto Ruiz Queens College. Writers Gary Schmidgall, Rita Rodin In the 1970s Minikes decided to summer, the program’s first year, and seven Rita DiMartino Marc V. Shaw Photographer André Beckles become “reacquainted” with his alma have been accepted for this summer. Joseph J. Lhota Jeffrey Wiesenfeld Graphic Design Gotham Design, NYC mater and eventually joined the board of The Bear Stearns-CUNY reception was styled after similar events done for a few Lauren Fasano Susan O’Malley Articles in this and previous issues are available the Queens College Foundation. “I had a at cuny.edu/news. Letters or suggestions for future great education at a great price that gave other colleges, including Columbia, Yale Chairperson, Chairperson, stories may be sent to the Editor by email to Student Senate Faculty Senate [email protected]. Changes of address me the foundation to learn,” he said at the and NYU. Two Bear Stearns executives should be made through your campus personnel office. April reception held at Bear Stearns’ involved in the creation of the Honors

2 CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 La Guardia-Wagner Booming Market for Business Degrees Photos are a Big Hit Students like Shah, you on an even battlefield with students Barth and Liang — from Wharton, NYU and Columbia.” After being profiled in The New York who are all 21-year- The Baruch experience, they say, has Times and Daily News, the La Guardia old Honors College persuaded them to further their business and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia students — say that education: After working for a while, Shah Community College had millions of web- earning a CUNY BBA wants to earn her combined JD/MBA, and site “hits” from people eager to see a col- makes good business Liang plans to go back to school to get an lection of Housing Authority photos, sense. “It’s an incredi- MBA. many dating to the 1930s. ble education for half Alan Zimmerman, associate professor The photos are of interest because, the price,” says Shah, and area coordinator of the international among other things, they show New who is from Wood- business program at the College of Staten Yorkers inside tenement buildings that side. “Four years at Island, says that enrollment in CUNY’s later were razed to build housing projects, Baruch is the same business programs will continue to rise said archive director Richard K. price as one semester because “business continues to make the Lieberman. at NYU.” news. This will be a long-term trend, espe- “Not since Jacob Riis have we gotten Shah says cially in our school, where many of the that kind of look inside homes,” Baruch’s focus on students need to make a living even when Lieberman said, referring to the muckrak- liberal arts, small they are going to school.” Priya Shah and Alan Liang received their bachelor of business ing journalist who died in 1914. classrooms and per- And he says that his field — internation- administration degrees from Baruch College, which retains a national Lieberman calculated that during two sonalized attention al business — will be a constant draw. “I try reputation as a flagship for business studies. They are photographed weeks in May, the web site received about from professors to get my majors to do double majors in at Baruch’s “virtual trading” area, officially the Bert W. & Sandra two mil- made her decision international business and finance, account- Wasserman Trading Floor of the Subotnick Financial Services Center. lion easy. “I turned down ing or management,” he says. “This will give “hits,” a scholarship to them an edge in the job market.” repre- BBA is a distinction that companies are NYU,” she says. “At NYU, I would have Barth, a Great Neck resident who stud- senting increasingly recognizing.” been a Social Security number, a small fish ied in Israel through the Honors College, about Phyllis Zadra, associate dean of Baruch’s in a huge ocean.” says that understanding the business 34,000 business school, speaking of the business Liang, a Briarwood resident who got world, which his BBA and the diversity of people, or degree, says, “The students feel that this is offers from Brandeis and Stony Brook his Queens College classmates helped him website the most direct route to Universities, says Baruch’s do, will be invaluable for his plans of “visitors.” being employed.” $3-million Subotnick starting his own business. By studying with Interest John Flateau, dean of “We’re bursting Center, a state-of-the-art students from many different countries, “I remains the school of business at virtual trading floor, was learned to challenge my assumptions and high. Medgar Evers College, at the seams. one of the things that learned about things from different van- Thou- says the college has put in Enrollment has tipped the balance in tage points.” sands of a proposal for a master’s Baruch’s favor. “Less than As for Liang, he’s looking forward to photos of professional studies in increased in 10 schools have a facility working in the hedge funds division of can be leadership degree the last two to like this,” he says. “I have Bear Sterns in downtown Brooklyn. And viewed at program. The central talked to people in other he says that the Baruch BBA made all the www.LaGuardiaWagnerArchive.lagcc.cuny.ed Brooklyn college is also three years and is now schools, and we have the difference. “After working on the college’s u. From there just click “How Public looking to broaden its biggest and best one.” virtual trading floor, I knew trading wasn’t at an all-time high… ” Housing Transformed New York.” four BS degrees in busi- Shah, who has been an for me, but it gave me a feel for those who Pictured above is a woman identified ness, accounting, comput- — JOHN FLATEAU, intern at JPMorgan Chase do, and I’ll be working directly with people as Mrs. Theodore Wurthmann in the er information systems DEAN OF THE MEDGAR & Co. for four years, and who do trade.” kitchen of her tenement apartment on and applied management Liang, who interned at Regardless of which job he chooses, EVERS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS September 2, 1941. The exact location is by adding majors in Bear Stearns last summer, Barth, who was an intern at Morgan not given, though it was probably in advertising and other say that Baruch has given Stanley Dean Witter, says that he’ll always Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. After fields, he adds. them hands-on experience that will make have his eye on being his own boss. “I may demolition of their building, the “We’re bursting at the seams,” Flateau the transition from classroom to office create my own hedge fund after working Wurthmann family was moved into the says. “Enrollment has increased in the last seamless. for a couple of years,” he says, never newly opened Kingsborough Houses, in two to three years and is now at an all- “In my opinion, Baruch is on a par with hedging in his ambitions. Bed-Stuy. time high with the business school.” NYU and Columbia,” Liang says. “It places s Forms a Strong Partnership With CUNY Colleges

College internship program, Tony Brown grateful for the opportunity to become The partnership with and Maureen C. Corbett, helped orches- acquainted with alumni, many of whom Bear Stearns is one the trate the event. had not been in touch with their colleges University hopes will At the reception, Minikes and since graduation. serve as a model for rela- Chancellor Goldstein made brief presenta- Queensborough Community College tionships with other busi- tions to the broad array of alumni. The President Eduardo Marti was pleased to nesses in the city. employees included some who joined Bear meet a senior managing director of the Chancellor Goldstein has Stearns straight from community colleges, firm who graduated in 1962. “He stated recently initiated a con- a good number who went there from four more than once that Queensborough is versation about partner- year colleges, and others who hold CUNY where he got his start. He could be a ship opportunities with diplomas and advanced degrees in busi- wonderful spokesperson for a community Verizon Communications. ness, law and other areas. college,” Marti said. The final speaker at the evening recep- Kingsborough President Regina Peruggi tion, Ikhtiar Allen, a member of the Honors learned that 59 of her alumni work at Bear College class of 2005 and a City College Stearns, and met some of them. Chancellor Matthew economics major, described his transforma- “We were delighted to meet them and Goldstein received an tion from insecure teenage immigrant from bring them up to date, and have invited award from Mike Minikes, Bangladesh to a self-confident Honors them all to Homecoming,” Peruggi said. a Queens College alumnus College student and intern at Bear Stearns. For Baruch President Kathleen Waldron, and Bear Stearns officer. Allen said he was looking forward to the event presented an opportunity to The award reads: “Bear embarking on his career with the firm. deepen bonds with the college’s many Stearns Honors our partner Alumni who attended said they were alumni at the firm. Waldron summed up City University of New pleased to discover that so many of their the reaction to the evening, saying she and York for Developing colleagues were fellow CUNY grads. And others were touched by the personal Business Leaders of college presidents who attended were encounters. Tomorrow.”

CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 3 STUDENT HONORS Learning from Disasters A Colleague and Friend Recalls the In 1998, Wandaly Rentas got a crash Fighting Spirit of Kenneth Clark course in class differences as Hurricane 1940s, and George hit her native Puerto Rico and they contin- wiped out the shacks of the poorest Although newspapers around the ued to work people. “It made me think about the world published hundreds of laudatory together on way other people live and how they are paragraphs about Kenneth Clark, who died various pro- affected by the location and the class on May 1 at age 90, a former colleague jects through they happen to be born into,” says the and friend says one word sums up Clark’s the 1980s Lehman College sociology major. character: fighter. after they This summer, Rentas will get a Lawrence Plotkin, professor emeritus of retired. chance to analyze the sociological psychology at City College, sat for a “He never effects of natural disasters during the University Relations video interview and gave up his Research Experience for Undergrad- recalled his times with Clark, whose pio- struggle to uates, a program run by the Disaster neering research played a pivotal role in improve the Research Center. The program is based the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown condition of at the University of Delaware. v. Board of African- Education, which Americans, A Ticket to Diplomacy toppled the “sep- particularly young children spiring diplomat Natalie Waugh, who arate but equal” A in schools,” earned her bachelor of arts degree in doctrine and Plotkin says. Kenneth Clark did research showing many black children believed white international studies from City College in required the “And he lost dolls were better than black ones, paving the way to 1954 Supreme Court June, was one of 10 students in the coun- desegregation of more battles decision banning school segregation. This photo is courtesy of Northside try to win the 2005 Charles B. Rangel public schools. than he won. Center for Child Development, founded by Clark. Fellowship in International Affairs. Clark was the After many The fellowship offers up to $28,000 first black to earn defeats and at the end of his life, he felt he to support master’s degree studies. a doctorate in had not succeeded in changing things that Even after he retired from City College Waugh is mulling acceptances from the psychology from much. He kept coming back. … [Toward the in the 1970s, Clark maintained a special University of Denver’s Graduate School Columbia end,] he said, ‘I can’t change things, you bond with CCNY. “There was no City of International Studies, the Monterey University, the know,’ and he stopped fighting.” University when we started. His identifica- Institute of International Studies and first black If Clark’s research had an impact on tion was with City College,” Plotkin says. Columbia University’s School of tenured professor education in the American South, he also “He did all of his important work at City International and Public Affairs. at City College and the first had much to say about the school system College and at the research institutes he here in New York City. For example, he was In Salk’s Footsteps Lawrence Plotkin, a black elected to set up afterwards.” an early advocate of creating powerful com- CCNY professor the New York Plotkin says that one only need look in munity school boards. Inviting controversy, It was the death of his father that set emeritus, collaborated State Board of any public-school classroom to see Clark’s he accused the city of having a dual school Oladapo O. Yeku, who graduated in biol- on scholarly work with Regents. He and legacy, which literally is written in black and system — one for whites and one for ogy from Medgar Evers College, on the his late friend and Plotkin met while white. “This man, for what he’s done, out of blacks. path to a medicine. colleague, Professor they were stu- his life experience, has shown how to live an Yeku watched helplessly as his once- Kenneth Clark. dents in the honorable life in a dishonorable country.” vibrant dad deteriorated and died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He vowed he would use the death to stop the suffering of others. Top Bush Appointee is York Grad Yeku, who will be an M.D./Ph.D. student at SUNY Stony Brook’s School of Medicine in Who Says He Welcomes Controversy the fall, was one of eight CUNY predecessor, Mary Frances Berry, a Civil Republican. pre-med stu- The attorney appointed by President Rights-era activist and scholar whom York College’s official student newspa- dents, including George Bush to head the U.S. Commission President Bush declined to reappoint. per, Pandora’s Box, ran an article in its Fiona Smith of on Civil Rights recalled his years at York Reynolds said he believes the civil rights April issue, written by Daniel Cuevas, York College College, saying the experience engendered “problems that existed in the 1940s aren’t about Reynolds. and Luz E. in him a love of philosophy and history. the same problems we face today.” While As for those who complain about the Liriano of City “At York, basically I had a small circle of racial discrimination may occur in isolated new conservative direction of the commis- College, award- friends, and they were mostly history and instances, “Now the largest barrier to sion, Reynolds said, in effect, Bring it on. ed Salk Scholar- philosophy majors,” Gerald A. Reynolds progress is the lack of a quality education,” “Whatever topic we pick, there’s going ships in May. said in a telephone conversation from he said. That same line of thinking led to be controversy. And since I know I’m President Bush to press for the No Child going to piss somebody off, I might as well The scholar- Oladapo O. Yeku Kansas City, where he is on the legal staff ships, started a half century ago by City of Great Plains Energy, a provider of elec- Left Behind act. do what’s right.” College alumnus and polio vaccine dis- tricity to the Midwest. Reynolds’ conservative positions have coverer Dr. Jonas E. Salk, carry a $6,000 “I had good relationships with my pro- led critics to say the commission is turning stipend toward medical school tuition. fessors,” the 1989 graduate told CUNY its back on its original mandate to protect Matters. rights of minorities. “His appointment is Of Feasts and Fulbrights “At the time there were not many stu- less about civil rights oversight than dents who were very interested in philoso- remaking the commission in the image of t is folk culture that fascinates CUNY I phy and history and it was me and my the [Bush] administration,” said Wade alum Stephanie Trudeau, and her merry band of warriors. We could monop- Henderson, executive director of the research is leading to Italy, where, thanks olize the professors’ time and they did not Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, to a 2005 Fulbright Fellowship, she will mind our monopolizing their time.” who was quoted in the New York Times. study three religious feasts: Giglio in His mentor at York, he said, was the late Reynolds told CM the criticism only Nola, St. Joseph’s in Caltabellotta and philosophy professor Barry R. Gross, who encourages him. Being treated fairly in Festa dei Ceri in Gubbio. was an early opponent of affirmative employment is mostly about understand- In her project, “Festa, Family and action and in 1978 authored the book ing “the market” and preparing oneself to Food,” Trudeau, a January 2004 graduate Discrimination in Reverse: Is Turnabout Fair meet its needs, he said. “Market forces are of the CUNY Baccalaureate Program, Play? published by New York University impersonal. Market forces want to know if will study the way the feasts allow Press. you have a deep knowledge base, and if families in Italy and America to celebrate Reynolds, who went on to earn a law you don’t, the market forces won’t have their culture through music, art, food and degree from Boston University, was named much use for you.” religious ritual. chair of the civil rights commission in The website of the civil rights commis- Gerald A. Reynolds December. He replaced his long-serving sion lists Reynolds’ political affiliation as

4 CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 NANOD TED Colleges Rank High in QUOTED Graduating Hispanics Reynolds’ Book on John Five colleges of the University were Brown Draws Huge Media ranked tops in the Northeast in granting Attention bachelor’s degrees to Hispanic students in such high-profile studies as architecture, It’s rare that a scholarly work draws the business and marketing, computer science, kind of attention David Reynolds’ book English literature, protective services and has been receiving. psychology, according to a major educa- His latest book, John Brown, Abolitionist, tional journal. was recently the subject of long articles in In an annual survey of the “100 Top The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Colleges and Universities for Hispanics” by New York Times Book Review and numer- The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education ous other publications. Not to mention Magazine, John Jay ranked No. 1 in the The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education Class of 2007, at the White Coat cere- airtime on National Public Radio, CSPAN nation in awarding degrees in protective mony celebrating its entry into medical studies. It is the first class from which graduates and elsewhere. services and No. 3 in psychology degrees. will enter Dartmouth Medical School. “This kind of coverage is both a testa- The college also ranked No. 7 in public ment to the strengths of the book and to administration degrees. the fact that John Brown continues to be a Lehman was ranked No. 3 in computer A Match Made in Heaven: fascinating, relevant, controversial and science; Hunter was No. 4 in English litera- important figure,” said Gabrielle Brooks, ture; Baruch was No. 5 in business and Dartmouth Med and Sophie Davis promotion director with the publisher, marketing; and the City College of New Alfred A. Knopf. artmouth Medical School recently entered into an arrangement with the York was No. 8 in architecture. D Reynolds, Distinguished Professor of Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education at City College, allowing Sophie In master’s degree programs, Queens English and American Studies at the Davis graduates to enroll at Dartmouth as third-year medical students. College was ranked 65th and Brooklyn Graduate Center and Baruch College, says Dartmouth, located in Hanover, N.H., thus became the first school outside New 79th. in his intro- York State — and the first Ivy League school — to have such a partnership with CUNY’s Graduate Center was No. 18 duction that Sophie Davis. in the nation in awarding of doctoral it was John “This is generating a lot of excitement among our students,” said Dr. Stanford degrees to Hispanics. Brown who Roman, dean of Sophie Davis — and a Dartmouth College grad. “Not only will they The magazine’s survey was based on placed the now have an opportunity to complete their studies at an out-of-state medical 2003-2004 data from the U.S. Department United States school, but Dartmouth’s curriculum complements our interest in primary care.” of Education’s National Center for on the road to Sophie Davis offers a five-year curriculum for academically talented but often Education Statistics. the end of economically disadvantaged students, combining undergraduate studies and the first slavery — and African Art at two years of medical school. After completing the program, its graduates transfer to to the modern Queensborough a partner medical school for their last two years of clinical training. civil rights era. Other medical schools that partner with Sophie Davis are: Albany Medical For it was African art is dynamic, powerful and College, New York Medical College, New York University School of Medicine, the John Brown, expressive. So says longtime collector Gary State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn and SUNY Stony long portrayed Schulze. Brook School of Medicine. by historians “It’s not art for art’s sake,” Schulze says. Dr. David Nierenberg, Senior Associate Dean of medical education at Dartmouth as a crazed “It was made for specific purposes like Medical School, said his institution is excited about having this opportunity “to have fanatic, who secret societies and royal ceremonies.” this infusion of talented and diverse students transferring into the third year to in 1859 put Author David Reynolds Schulze is exhibiting his collection, enrich our student body.” the slave- reflecting 30 cultures, 15 countries and 2000 Sophie Davis students transfer into a medical school through a match process holding South on notice that slavery would years of history, in his first solo show, which that offers the best fit for both students and programs. The Dartmouth match for not be tolerated by a justice-loving people, is at the Queensborough Community Sophie Davis students is slated to begin this fall when interested candidates for the and its continuation would inevitably lead College Art Gallery through Sept. 30. summer of 2007 will visit for interviews and prescreening. to violent confrontation. “Artists and Patrons in Traditional Brown’s twenty-two man raid on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia ended in his African Cultures,” a display of more than tion and organization, the City Tech team City Tech Takes The Cake hanging, but it was also, in a sense, the first 150 objects from Schulze’s 400-piece would not have fared so well.” sounding of the bugle that announced the collection, comprises everything from at Hotel Show Founded in 1947, the hospitality manage- coming of the Civil War. terra cottas—hailing from the Nok area of ment program at City Tech was the first in Students, faculty and alumni of City Tech In the April 25 issue of The New Yorker, Nigeria and dating from 500 B.C. to 200 the metropolitan New York area to offer a took the cake — and much more — at the writer Adam Gopnik said of the 500-page A.D.—to Benin ivory and cast-bronze degree in restaurant and hotel management. 136th Salon of Culinary Arts, organized by biography that “almost every page forces objects created in the 18th Century. Its students are proficient in all areas of the the Société Culinaire Philanthropique. you to think hard, and in new ways, about “There are quite a few pieces that have diverse hospitality industry, including the culi- For the first time ever, City Tech’s hospi- American violence, American history, and never been seen before, like the metal nary arts, lodging management and all aspects tality management team won the coveted what used to be called the American chief’s masks and the ancient stone figures of travel and tourism. It remains one of the Marc Sarrazin Trophy for the most points. In character.” from Sierra Leone,” Schulze says. college’s flagship baccalaureate programs. “Hopefully, when people see them, they previous years this award has been won by the Culinary Institute of America or Johnson will begin to develop an appreciation for Chemical Biologists Seek Answers That May Lead to Cures African art.” & Wales (of Providence, Rhode Island). For more information, call up City Tech also won a first prize in www.qccartgallery.org or call Pastry, first prize in Culinary and first prize The emerging field of chemical biology holds keys that may unlock doors to the understand- 718-631-6396 in the Marc Sarazin Competition for ing of cell activity, which in turn may lead to cures for a host of common yet serious diseases. Complete Buffet. At a daylong conference at Hunter College recently, a CUNY expert in chemical biol- The International Hotel, Motel & ogy, Akira Kawamura, explained how he is using DNA technology to screen compounds Restaurant show, which sponsored the in traditional Japanese Kampo medicines. competitions, was held recently at the “Nobody understands how or why these herbal remedies work,” says Kawamura, assis- Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. tant professor of chemistry at Hunter College and of chemistry and biology at the A City Tech sugar piece, named Graduate Center. “Hoffman’s Playland,” earned the Best of “If we study how they interact with cells and discover which pathways the molecules Show award. Professor Louise Hoffman take in the interaction, we will get the answers to the how and the why and will be able oversaw the production of that scrump- to use the answers to solve other problems.” tious looking work of art, though the The symposium was organized by Kawamura and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Maria actual creation of it was done by students Tomasz, and it featured internationally recognized speakers from around the world. More than Catherine Angore and Nichola Hall, 400 students and faculty from more than a dozen area universities attended, along with repre- working with alumna Monica Ng, who is sentatives from biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. now employed in the pastry section at “The interface between chemistry and biology allows chemists to modify molecules and Café Des Artistes in Manhattan. do biological research,” says Kawamura. “The molecules are the words that allow us to Hoffman said that Professor Jean communicate with biology or nature, and by changing the molecules and throwing them Claude deserved special credit for the vic- into biological systems, we can understand biology better and that could lead to the devel- tories — saying that “without his dedica- opment of new drugs and therapies.”

CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 5 It Takes the Patience of a Scientist, and the Zeal of a By Judith Watson birds and mammals n a crystalline day in late May, also change. And 50 Years of Flora Lost and Flora Gained O once they leave, it is Robert DeCandido stood in the middle of Robert DeCandido documented how the flora of Pelham Bay Park has difficult to get them a dense woodland more reminiscent of the changed over the past 50 years. back.” Adirondacks than the Bronx. White Oaks Lost were more than 100 species, Added were species that crowd towered above while green lilies thickly The Bronx native knows of some of which fed and provided out old native plants and are not carpeted the ground, providing a lush sanctuary for birds that have since hospitable to many native birds and setting for weary urbanites. DeCandido, what he speaks. For five years, from gone elsewhere. Among the losses: mammals. Among those added: however, was scowling. • Ragged Fringed Orchids. • Asiatic day lilies. He pointed an accusing finger at the 1994 to 1998, he and a colleague • Blue Marsh Violets. • Garlic mustard plants. nearest bunch of Asiatic day lilies.. The • American Columbines. • Pineapple Weeds. ecologist — who earned his Ph.D. from methodically criss- crossed the 2,700- • Rhizomatous Reed, a type of grass. • Mugworts. CUNY and taught biology at City College • Canada Wild Rye, a grass. • Phragmites. while doing his doctoral studies — pro- acre park taking nounced them the plant equivalent of ver- plant samples and min, a non-native species that is fast recording what rare or uncommon because so few were wildlife in their backyards in Pelham Bay crowding into oblivion dozens of native they saw. For five hours a day, for 200 found. Meanwhile, non-native species had and other city parks. wildflowers from this setting, Pelham Bay days, the duo tramped the park — the moved in at a rate of almost three species Although one of the least known parks Park, and other parks across the city. largest in the city system — sampling all per year, rising from 187 to 298 — an in the city, Pelham Bay has a storied past The next piece of green that got the areas at least every other week. increase of 40 percent in 50 years. and a unique combination of ecological evil eye from DeCandido was a wispy stalk Cuttings of each flower, bush and tree DeCandido has been sounding the alarm habitats, ranging from meadow to freshwa- with several side shoots yielding minute specimen found, along with collection bells ever since, through guided nature ter and saltwater marshes, to woodland, white buds. Poking intermittently up from notes, were sent to the New York State walks, interviews, scientific papers and mag- rocky coastline, recreational fields and the woodland floor, this garlic mustard Museum in Albany. Findings were then azine articles. “Part of New York’s natural landfill. Its coastal location, combined with plant hardly looked the part of a killer. “At compared to those from a survey of heritage is being lost at a disturbing rate, and temperate climate, means a lot of wildlife least it doesn’t crowd the other plants out Pelham Bay Park flora conducted between only a small minority of scientists and inter- still moves through the park en route to like the lilies, but it doesn’t belong here,” 1946-47 by botany enthusiast Harry Ahles, ested persons are taking notice,” DeCandido elsewhere. Forget the herons and egrets — he said unhappily. who had donated his 1,531 specimens to warned. “Pretty soon you’ll have to go to a DeCandido has seen 60-70 seals swim by They are among a handful of invading the State Museum. herbarium to see these plants because you in winter and several hundred Monarch flora that are taking over the park like the The findings formed the basis for won’t find them in our parks. Yet they’re as butterflies alight on their way south. blob that ate New York — species that DeCandido’s doctoral dissertation at the much as part of New York and of us as Seated on a slab of Bronx gneiss that include the porcelainberry, pineapple CUNY Graduate Center. While DeCandido Nedicks, or Nathan’s or the Yankees.” dates back 450 million years, DeCandido weed, mugwort, Asiatic bittersweet and and his colleague, Howard Becker, a City The lanky 46-year-old Bronx native motioned at the sparkling waters of Long phragmites. They are as green as what they College alumnus and retired engineer, iden- takes the intrusion personally. He grew up Island Sound stretched out before him and replaced, but the birds and mammals that tified 101 native species that Ahles had on Morris Park Avenue and played baseball demanded, “Isn’t this great? And it’s only a depend on ground plants for food and missed, they discovered that 26 percent of on the Harris fields in Pelham Bay Park. No. 6 train or No. 12 bus ride away for shelter know the difference — and many the 474 native species he had identified had When he took up running, he logged 60-80 New Yorkers.” have left town. disappeared from the park. Gone were miles per week on the paths that snake More than 1,000 years ago, the Siwanoy “There used to be 400-500 species of wildflowers like the American Columbine, through the park. After earning his B.A. in Indians settled in the area because of its native wildflowers in this park. In just 50 the Ragged Fringed Orchid and Blue Marsh journalism at Syracuse University and his abundant supply of wild game, fish and years, that has been reduced 30 percent. Violet and grasses like the Rhizomatous M.S. in biology at Fordham, he joined the crustaceans. In 1654, they sold 10,000 That’s a loss of two to three native species Reed Grass and Canada Wild Rye. New York City Parks Department as an acres to Thomas Pell, an English doctor, per year — a very significant rate,” explained More ominously, more than one in five Urban Park Ranger and spent countless who built a manor house in what is now DeCandido. “As you change these species, the of the natives identified were considered weekends introducing New Yorkers to the the heart of the park. During the 100 Nights of Watching Birds Fly, and Sometimes Die By Judith Watson not simply to tally, but to document what State Building. and concern. types of birds migrated at night. DeCandido in his research found that “Whether it was seeing a quarter-ounce On a few nights, the skies became a busy the landmark building did indeed present kinglet in its mad rush across the black sky, ver wonder how many birds pass E interstate of flapping wings. On October some risks to the feathered travelers. While or hearing the flight chirps of hundreds through Manhattan on long migratory 11, DeCandido and his cohorts counted he did not see any birds crash into the more emanating from the darkness above, flights each spring and fall – and whether 1,578 migrants, mostly small species such as building, seven feathery corpses were people stopped to watch and listen,” they crash into tall buildings? warblers, sparrows and woodpeckers. found near the building’s base after a night DeCandido reported. “This gave me hope: For years, Robert DeCandido wondered. DeCandido learned something else: of heavy rain. He also discovered that once people were aware, they cared.” But it wasn’t until the Empire State migrating birds of a feather do not usually peregrine falcons used the building’s lights Indeed, in August 2004, building man- Building began keeping its lights on all flock together. to aid in their nocturnal hunting expedi- agers began turning off the structure’s night, in post 9/11 show of defiance, that he “We generally saw small birds migrating tions. One falcon netted seven birds one lights at midnight. Furthermore, they decided it was time to find some answers. in loose associations, and not tight flocks,” evening. began shutting them off even earlier on For almost 100 evenings during the he reported. Meanwhile, DeCandido and his fellow foggy or rainy nights, if large groups of spring and fall of 2004 – and then again Yet another curiosity DeCandido want- enthusiasts drew a little attention themselves, birds begin circling the building. this spring – he spent dusk to midnight on ed to satisfy was whether urban lights on from building employees and other visitors. They And so it seems that his many nights of the building’s observation deck counting tall structures posed dangers for migrating would freely pass around their binoculars to their watching and listening have had some birds speeding north or south. birds. Bird enthusiasts have long believed new friends and offer brief lessons in the art of impact, after all. And maybe there is more He and a band of rotating volunteers so. On a foggy night in 1948, some 750 bird-watching. to come. counted 3,500 such birds in the spring and birds of 30 different species were found It gave DeCandido pleasure to know “We hope these policies are instituted at 10,500 in the fall. His aim, however, was dead or injured at the base of the Empire others were beginning to share his interest tall buildings throughout the world,” he said.

6 CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 Missionary, to Try to Save a New York City Park

Revolution, a small band of Americans Preserving open park areas today held off 4,000 British Redcoats at Pell’s requires understanding what they Point, giving George Washington’s troops contribute ecologically and then time to escape north from Harlem. using appropriate methods to pre- In the mid-1800s, the area filled with serve them, DeCandido said. country estates for wealthy Manhattan The departure of birds that families. The most fabulous was built by a make their homes in meadows is merchant named John Hunter on an island truly troubling to DeCandido, just off the mainland, which he outfitted who rarely ventures outside with- with Turkish carpets, wine cellars, Rafaels out binoculars dangling around and Rembrandts. As the cachet of these his neck and a camera stuffed into estates waned, interest in creating healthy a backpack. Because Pelham Bay public retreats like Central Park grew. In Park lies along a natural migration 1888, New York City bought hundreds of route, it is a spectacular location acres of Westchester County along Long for bird watching in spring and Island Sound and annexed it to create fall months. But during other Pelham Bay Park. parts of the year, The ecological trouble began with it is primarily Robert Moses. He filled in marshes for play- home to hardy ing fields, meadows for golf courses and, on species like a frigid day in January 1934, stood on the robins, blue jays southern shore of Hunter’s Island, waved and sea gulls his arm and ordered Pelham Bay filled in. (“weed” birds Orchard Beach opened 30 months later, on among the three million cubic yards of sanitation land- cognoscente) Biologist Robert DeCandido, who did his Ph.D. studies at CUNY, has been on a mission to docu- fill and tons of white sand from the and, increasing- ment how the environment affects flora and birds in Pelham Bay Park. The park’s predominant rock Rockaways and New Jersey. ly, raptors. formation is gneiss. Geology classes from City College and Queens College have been coming to Moses’ legacy didn’t end there. He cut “The warblers, study the rock formations of the swaths through the park with two high- thrushes, vireos, park for at least a half-century. ways. And after a federal court barred New and tanagers have York City from dumping garbage into Long turned into tropi- the diversity of students Island Sound, Moses began the practice of cal migrants — there as exhilarating as in filling salt marshes in city parks with they’re no longer breeding in many parks in any woodland. He is cur- garbage. In 1964, it was Pelham Bay Park’s New York City,” DeCandido lamented. rently working on a book turn and the city began dumping tons of “Bobwhite quail and night hawks are very focusing on the natural his- refuse into a marsh and adjacent meadow. rare.” Canada geese, though, are more com- tory of New York City. The practice was halted in the 1970s and mon than 50 years ago, and so are raptors like Of concern to him is the the dump was capped in the 1990s. the red tailed hawk, because migrating rap- increasing tendency of col- Much of the park’s transformation had tors find rodents and the resident park birds lege biology departments to taken place before Ahles, a self-taught easy prey, he reported. “It’s like walking into shift focus from the field botanist, undertook his study of Pelham McDonald’s with no one minding the store.” sciences to the health sci- Bay Park’s flora. The cumulative impact For much of the last century, bird ences because that is where over the ensuing years was documented by enthusiasts from around the world traveled grant money increasingly is DeCandido. More current urban threats to the Bronx to view the six species of found. Instead of studying that DeCandido observed include salted owls living in Pelham Bay Park. An abun- genetics and evolution in roads in winter, off-trail biking, herbicides, dance of owls, including long-eared owls, the natural environment, intensified mowing, and introduction of great horned owls and saw whet owls, scientists today are studying non-native earthworms. made the park home. Only a few owls it in the lab through DNA. The greatest cause for the reduction in remain and they are elusive, despite “There are a lot of impor- herbaceous species — non-woody plants of DeCandido’s studied imitation of an east- tant things remaining to be 24 inches or less — is the loss of open ern screech owl territorial call. learned out here in the meadow. Many open areas have been tak- Two sections of the park have been des- field,” he said, his voice ris- en over for recreational uses; others have ignated wildlife refuges, the northern side of ing to emphasize the point. grown naturally into woodland. Only one Hunter’s Island and the Thomas Pell One such lesson, he not- large meadow remains in the park. Wildlife Sanctuary bordering the park’s two ed wryly, is that man-made golf courses. Venturing through Hunter’s ecological disturbances can For much of the last century, bird Island marshland on wooden planks, it is carry inadvertent silver lin- enthusiasts from around the world difficult to remember that this is Gotham. ings. Orchard Beach, traveled to the Bronx to view species DeCandido admits to occasional dis- despite its very unnatural of owls in Pelham couragement, but he does not shrink from beginnings, draws Bay Park. An the challenge of protecting this and other thousands of visitors to the abundance of city parks from further loss of natural Photos by Robert DeCandido. park. “Without people, you owls made habitat. “Most people like the environ- natural habitat. lose the reason for a park.” A beach habitat the park ment, but that often does not translate Some of DeCandido’s recommendations of sorts has been added to the park’s mix. home. Only into protecting the park... With care, are disarmingly simple. “Perhaps New York The massive parking lot, while an eyesore, a few owls foresight and good management, we can City biologists can start revitalizing the has its plus side — the warmth radiated remain. have development and keep our remaining park by planting native wildflowers,” he from the pavement creates wind thermals natural areas — but people need to pay suggested. “We can propagate seeds and that draw hordes of migrating raptors. attention.” have a planting field where we can restore Even the scourge of the landfill holds Convinced that educating the public is the native habitat. This could be a win-win promise for recapturing part of the park’s the surest way to raise attention levels, situation.” ecological past. Since the landfill was DeCandido spends his days leading bird DeCandido believes that getting to capped and encircled with fencing, the tours in Central Park and his evenings in win-win is not just about New York, since “meadow” thus created sometimes attracts the fall and spring documenting bird it is estimated that two-thirds of the flocks of migrants such as Bobolinks not migrations across New York City. His web- world’s population will live in cities by seen in residence for decades. While the site, www.birdingbob.com, reports on 2025. “How we strike a balance between vegetation in this meadow is a far cry from upcoming outings and features photos of development for people and the needs of that harvested and hunted among by the rare birds he has spotted. For four years, wild things,” he said, “will determine the Siwanoy Indians, its less disturbed condi- while he completed his doctorate, he future of wild things and the quality of life tion offers an opportunity to recreate its taught biology at City College, and found for the rest of us.”

CUNY MATTERS — May 2005 7 FACULTY HONORS Courses Being Added in Arabic and Mideast Studies

Honor for Gay Studies Scholar demic years,” said University and the American University in Dr. Ammiel Cairo,” said Esposito. he’s been dubbed the “soft-spoken hanks to a S T Alcalay, a Middle Baron said she understood Esposito’s queen of gay studies” and the “mother of recent $192,000 East specialist in frustration, and said that perhaps as early as queer theory,” and now Eve Kosofsky award from the Queens College’s the summer of 2006 an intensive course in Sedgwick has another title as well — U.S. Department Classical, Middle Arabic will be offered at the Grad Center. fellow of the American Academy of Arts of Education, the Eastern and Although the burgeoning interest in the and Sciences. University will Asian Languages Middle East is largely related to the trau- Sedgwick, a distinguished professor of begin expanding its Department. ma of 2001, students have varying motiva- English at the Graduate Center, was offerings in Middle While stu- tions. Some are children of immigrants among 196 fellows and 17 foreign hon- East studies. dents can already who desire to learn more about their orary members elected to the academy, The demand for study Arabic at Mideast heritage. Others, very simply, “are whose ranks include more than 150 Nobel courses in those Professor Beth Baron, co-director of CUNY's a number of looking for job opportunities,” Baron said. laureates and 50 Pulitzer Prize winners. subject areas — Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center. CUNY campuses “The [federal] government has set She was cited for her pioneering work including the — including Arabic language training as a priority,” on gay and lesbian studies and queer intensive study of Queens, Brooklyn, John Jay, Hunter and Baron noted. theory. Arabic — has increased markedly since the CCNY — courses will become more Botman, who holds a doctorate in “When my first book — Between Men: terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, English Literature and Male Homosocial University scholars say. intensive and more widely available, Middle East studies from Harvard, has University administrators say. written extensively on the region. Her Desire — came out in 1985, there were “We’re delighted to receive this very In September at the Grad Center, Baron, recent work includes Engendering only about a half-dozen academic books competitive award. It will give us the who also is a CCNY professor of Middle East Citizenship in Egypt, published by on lesbian or gay topics in any field,” opportunity to expand, strengthen and history, will teach a new class, “Approaches to Columbia University Press, and Egypt from Sedgwick said. institutionalize Middle East studies at the Study of the Middle East.” The co- Independence to Revolution, 1919-1952, “Mine was written out of a feminist CUNY,” said Professor Beth Baron, co-direc- instructor will be Executive Vice Chancellor published by Syracuse University Press. impulse to begin with. It was the first tor of the Middle East and Middle Eastern for Academic Affairs Selma Botman, a widely Baron’s book, Egypt as a Woman: Nation- book that tried to integrate anti-homopho- American Center, known as MEMEAC, published Middle East scholar. alism, Gender and Politics, was released in bic work with feminist work. Feminists which is located at the Graduate Center. One recent Honors College graduate, February by the University of California had been assuming that feminism only Starting this fall, the CUNY Baccalaure- Diana Esposito, said the expansion is a Press. had to do with what men did to women... ate Program will offer a concentration in good and overdue idea. For intensive Baron said the University, in its applica- That book may have been the first exam- Middle East studies. And students at Queens Arabic classes, she had to go outside the tion for the federal grant, also proposed ple of a deliberately anti-homophobic College soon will be able to major in it. University, said Esposito. to strengthen its work on the Mid East analysis applied to texts that weren’t “We hope to have it [the new Mideast “My Arabic courses were at Columbia diaspora residing in the New York area. specifically gay.” major] in place in the next one or two aca- Her latest project? She’s just begun writing a book on Proust that explores the “sexualities, family formations and A Not-So-Modest Goal: Writing the Future of College Education gods and goddesses” in his work. cultural” as they What constitutes a meaningful college move from class- Mathematicians Love Birthdays education in the 21st century? room to class- That’s the question that representatives room, said Leading mathematicians from around from 15 CUNY campuses set out to study at Knefelkamp, a the world attended a conference on the “Making Connections General Education senior fellow of “Combinational and Additive Number Conference on Integrative Learning” at the Association Theory,” held in honor of the 60th birth- LaGuardia Community College. of American day of Mel Nathanson, math professor at The goal was to come up with ideas Colleges and Lehman College and the Graduate that make it easier for undergraduates to Universities. Center. connect the dots that inform their college Panelists at “There were 60 speakers — that’s a and life experiences. the daylong con- huge number for a conference like this — Judith Summerfield, University Dean ference discussed and one of them even joked in his lecture for Undergraduate Education, told more a host of issues, that it was one speaker for every year of than 200 graduate students, faculty mem- including the my life,” said Nathanson, a leading num- bers and academic deans packing the con- importance of Professors from CUNY and other universities packed a theater at ber theorist who has been with Lehman ference that “we as a group will write the students having LaGuardia Community College, listening to ideas on how to make a since 1986, when he served as provost. future of general education.” access to elec- college education more meaningful. For Nathanson, the beauty of the The model for doing this is “integrative tronic and digital conference, held May 18 through 21, learning,” a collaborative effort of the cam- learning tools, of the Coordinated Undergraduate was that it highlighted his beloved spe- puses that seeks to create infrastructures the need for interdisciplinary educational Education, or CUE, initiative, which aims cialty. “Numbers that enhance liberal education. experiences not available in standard col- to provide students with a more coherent have magical prop- The keynote speaker at the “Making lege curricula, and the power of critical learning experience from admissions to erties,” he said in Connections” gathering was Columbia thinking. graduation. an interview. University Professor Lee Knefelkamp, who “Making Connections” was intimately Next year, everyone will have another “Mathematics said colleges like CUNY have a duty not linked with “Writing Across the Curricu- chance to exchange ideas and propose helps you think rig- only to teach from textbooks, but to lum,” a conference that took place a week answers about the future direction of col- orously to try to impart “the capacity for associative living.” later at the Graduate Center. Writing lege education. That’s when Queens- get an idea of why Students must be “intellectually inter- Across the Curriculum and General borough Community College hosts the something is true, Education are the academic cornerstones annual conference. and then you have to prove it’s true,” Professor Mel he said. Nathanson How to Think Like Einstein: Let the Creativity Flow Nathanson said form well on tests. author of The Stigma of Genius: Einstein that number theory has aesthetic quali- Kincheloe expounded on his thoughts in and Beyond Modern Education, published ties akin to great works of art. “One of hen Professor Joe L. Kincheloe was W April at the Graduate Center where he gave in paperback in 1999. the amazing things about math is that a in high school in Tennessee, his guidance a talk titled “How to Think Like Einstein.” His April 6 talk was part of the Grad beautiful proof is still beautiful even cen- counselor recommended he become a “Einstein serves as an example of a Center’s Science & the Arts series of turies after it is proved. Math has pat- piano tuner. brilliant student who did not do well in lectures and events commemorating the terns and properties and makes beautiful Kincheloe says the counselor failed to school,” Kincheloe said in an interview at annus mirabilis, or “miracle year” of 1905 statements that you can conjecture about recognize the spark that later led his office at The Grad Center. “They [his when Einstein published his ground- and then prove.” Kincheloe to author 39 books, including teachers] were interested in low level breaking papers. Nathanson said that while mathe- one on Albert Einstein. functions, like memorization. Einstein The organizer of the series was Brian maticians tend to love all numbers, he Today Kincheloe has a message for edu- was interested in new insights....” Schwartz, a Grad Center physics professor and others developed a special affection cators: learn to recognize and nurture cre- Kincheloe, along with Shirley R. and co-producer of a musical, “Einstein’s in May for one in particular: 60. ativity in your students, and realize that some of the most creative ones don’t per- Steinberg and Deborah J. Tippins, is co- Dreams,” based on a novel by Allan Lightman.

8 CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 BOOK TALK Rebalancing the Scales of Criminal Justice with DNA By Gary Schmidgall almost become of “dog advancements in both reaction, or PCR; Y-chromosome or mito- In 1983 a Massachusetts 23-year-old bites man” familiarity. science chondrial analysis) and the ways it can be named Dennis Maher was convicted and The 50th anniversary and tech- compromised by contamination, degrada- imprisoned for two rapes and an attempt- of the discovery of nology... tion, sunlight, genetic glitches, or human ed rape. Maher never ceased to proclaim Mother Nature’s elegant The tech- error. Chapter 4 deals with the genetics, his innocence, but it was not until 2000 double helix, by James niques that statistics, and databases involved in identi- that the Innocence Project — founded in Watson and Francis are used in fication. Among the numerous topics here 1992 by lawyer Barry Scheck at Yeshiva Crick, was widely cel- today’s are: population genetics, the need for qual- University’s Cardozo Law School — took ebrated in 2003. forensic labs ity control, likelihood ratios, paternity on his case. The Project succeeded in fer- DNA: Forensic and are quite dif- determinations, and lab accreditation. reting out two boxes of long-misplaced Legal Applications ferent. They Several examples of real-life Certificates of clothing evidence in a Cambridge court- appears as the sci- are more sensi- Analysis are included. house basement and a rape kit in an Ayer, ence of DNA fin- tive, more rapid, Liotti and Oeser-Sweat take over in the MA, police station. gerprinting cele- more specific, last three chapters. Chapter 5, “Litigating a A new guide to the cutting-edge science brates its 20th more reliable, DNA Case,” begins aptly with a quotation and jurisprudence of DNA testing, DNA: anniversary. The more economical, from Thomas Jefferson (whose descen- Forensic and Legal Applications (Wiley- explosive and less labor dants have learned a lot about DNA Interscience), tells us what happened next: advances in the intensive. Science is recently): “Laws and institutions must go “The genetic profile [of semen on the reliability and not static.” hand in hand with the progress of the clothing] was not that of Mr. Maher,” and sophistication The thrust of the human mind.” Then follows an overview of testing of sperm cells on the rape kit slide of DNA iden- book, therefore, is to recent landmark court cases on admissibili- “excluded Maher as the source. At the age tification have help lawyers and ty of DNA evidence. Chapter 6 discusses of 42, more than 19 years after his arrest, been identi- judges “not only how to attack or defend DNA evidence. he was cleared of all charges.” fied as start- understand what is The seventh and last chapter, The book’s authors — John Jay College ing with the advantageous about the “Exonerating the Innocent through DNA,” Associate Provost and Professor of Science publication in 1985 science of DNA but is perhaps the most intriguing for the lay Lawrence Kobilinsky and lawyers Thomas of an esoteric paper by Alec what can go wrong and reader, highlighting as it does several F. Liotti and Jamel Oeser-Sweat (who Jeffreys on a curious DNA sequence in the how to detect and pre- shocking cases of long-delayed gratification practice on Long Island and in New York myoglobin gene. vent procedural errors.” of the innocent. New York and Illinois, the City, respectively) — point out that When Jeffreys applied his science to a They add, “This book guides attorneys and authors note, were the first two states to “Dennis Maher is ‘number 127’ of 144 notorious murder case in 1987, crime judges through the complexities of the enact laws providing for post-conviction individuals (as of this writing) who were scene investigators and defense counsel biochemical sciences to help them under- DNA analysis. convicted of various felonies and served around the world began to pay attention. stand the methodology of DNA analysis.” Among the seven appendices are a sum- lengthy prison sentences [and] . . . thanks At a 50th DNA anniversary gala at the The book unfolds rather like an install- mary of pertinent case law, a list of all to post-conviction DNA testing, these peo- Waldorf Hotel, Jeffreys was embraced by a ment of TV’s “CSI: NY” — heavy first on Innocence Projects nationally (only ple were eventually exonerated.” man who was exonerated by DNA from a the science, then focusing on how the judi- Hawaii, and North and South Dakota have If editors at Time magazine or 210-year prison sentence, of which he had cial system handles the data. The first of none), and a list of enacted or pending Newsweek were to choose a law enforce- served 15 years. four science chapters, all obviously under state laws on post-conviction DNA testing. ment Celebrity of the Year (or even the Kobilinsky and his collaborators have Kobilinsky’s purview, offers a short course There can be no more fitting last words last decade), they could well put on their good reason to open on a celebratory note: on the “Biochemistry, Genetics, and on the book than those of the Nobel covers an image of the mitochondrion, a “In recent years our legal system has given Replication of DNA.” The second, on Laureate James Watson himself and his power-producing constituent, or organelle, forensic DNA analysis the credibility that “Biological Evidence,” covers crime scene Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory colleague of every body cell. Its DNA, unlike nuclear nature has given it as the blueprint of life.” investigation, serology (the analysis of Jan Witkowski. At the end of their preface, DNA, is maternally inherited and thus But their main concern, clearly, is to blood, semen, saliva, urine), and the proper they sum up: “DNA: Forensic and Legal becomes, for complex reasons only a keep scientists and attorneys up-to-date in chain of custody for biological materials. Applications is a comprehensive and geneticist could love, a vital player in DNA a field that is not standing still. Looking to Chapter 3 describes the varieties of invaluable guide to the field. . .We are sure testing. Thanks to mitochondrial DNA, the future, they observe: “The develop- DNA analysis (Restriction Fragment- it will play its part in promoting this most stories in the media about such tests lead- ment of forensic DNA techniques in the Length Polymorphism, or RFLP, which is powerful tool in the forensic scientist’s ing to the freeing of innocent parties have mid-1980s was followed by constant falling in popularity; polymerase chain armamentarium.” Gender Policy in Japan and U.S. Framework for Prisoner Reentry

during a 1987 summer exchange profes- five-year journey for me,” Travis writes. City sorship at Tokyo Metropolitan If the title of Jeremy Travis’s new book— The resulting book charts the debilitating College and University. A long-time student of But They All Come Back: Facing the consequences of “mass incarceration,” “incon- Graduate comparative feminist politics—she is Challenges of Prisoner Reentry (Urban gruous sentencing,” and the crush at the Center politi- also the author of Feminism and Institute Press)—is grim, it is because the prison “exit” door (in 2002, 1,700 inmates cal scientist Politics (1989)—Gelb began to focus author is not happy with what he sees, and left federal and state prisons every day). Joyce Gelb’s early on Japan’s Equal Employment his unhappiness is vigorously expressed. The heart of this reform-minded study Gender Policies Opportunity Law of 1985. Regular Travis, John Jay College’s new president is Part II, “Defining the Policy Challenges in Japan and the trips over the last 15 years, she says, (and former director of the National of Prisoner Reentry,” in which Travis offers United States: “have provided me with a unique Institute of Justice in Washington), begins lengthy chapters on Public Safety, Families Comparing opportunity to learn more about his short Afterword: “We have ample rea- and Children, Work, Public Health, Women’s and study Japanese politics and son to be pessimistic about the state of Housing, Civic Movements, Rights, society.” justice in America. We currently imprison Identity, and and Politics The three major areas com- record numbers of our fellow citizens. We Community. (Palgrave) is the pared by Gelb are equal have constructed systems of supervision Travis closes by first comprehensive employment opportunity, and extended sanctions that severely inhib- proposing a comparison of gen- domestic violence policy, and it former prisoners’ ability to regain their multifaceted der policy processes reproductive rights policy. Particular place at society’s table.” “reentry between the two attention is paid to the Japanese Basic Law Travis’s study of the prisoner reentry framework” nations. It is also intended, Gelb writes, “to for a Gender Equal Society, passed in miasma began in 1999 when then for strength- remedy the relative lack of attention by 1999, which does not have a direct U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno buttonholed ening the scholars to examination of the Japanese equivalent. him and a colleague and asked them: “concentric women’s movement” and to draw atten- In her conclusion, “Assessing Policy “What are we doing about all the people circles of tion to Japan’s political system, which “has Change,” Gelb applauds increased access coming out of prison?” Dissatisfied with support” for been slow, indeed extremely reluctant,” to by Japanese women to the political process their answer, she asked them to report the newly press for women’s rights. but notes that access to the labor force back in two weeks with a better one. “The released. Gelb’s interest in the subject was born “remains problematic and lags behind.” two-week assignment has turned into a

CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 9 Behind Diplomas are Stories of Struggle, Sacrifice,

Continued from page 1 alumna with a marrow trans- a devastated local economy. “I, like many degree in den- plant. One others, was forced to take a long look at Turning 9/11 into Triumph tal laboratory day when she my life and re-evaluate the choices I had technology, was ready to made,” says Toure, who was in her mid-30s When Sara Cuya was in third grade, suggested it. give up, she and recently divorced at the time. her class took a trip to the Empire State “My goal is had a conver- It was that moment of crisis, for her and Building. Standing on the observation deck, to become a sation with for her city, that changed her life. Toure a thought popped into her head. Maybe professor at her nurse who enrolled in Queens College, hoping to find one day she would design a building that New York City revealed that a niche in a health profession. would be part of that majestic skyline. College of she, too, had She graduated with a BA in anthropolo- Now, 13 years later, Cuya is helping to Technology and leukemia. gy and a scholarship to attend Columbia design not only one building but also a open up my Strengthened, University’s Mailman School of Public whole village. She is one of three New own architec- Alicea decid- Health. She also was admitted to the high- York City College of Technology students tural firm,” ed that she ly selective Summer Medical Education working with Daniel Libeskind to help she says. had a purpose Program at the Yale University School of rebuild Unawatuna, Sri Lanka, a small in life: to Medicine. beach resort and fishing village decimated A War become a “I still want to heal the sick,” she says, by December’s tsunami. Vet’s nurse. but her focus now is on “lessening the Cuya, whose parents emigrated from Dream Alicea degree of disparity between the poor and Peru, is the first graduate of City Tech’s enrolled in their access to quality health-care services.” Hunter Coll- “Many people asked me how I managed baccalaureate degree program in architec- et’s just L ege and in to go to school full time, prepare for grad- tural technology. She was selected for the say that before June, several uate school admission and maintain good Sri Lanka project because of her three- enrolling at years after grades, all while raising three children dimensional and computer-assisted design John Jay, Jose her battle alone,” she says. Her answer: the college’s skills. Interning at Studio Daniel Barlow had with cancer, Adult Collegiate Education Program for Libeskind—the famed architect’s firm— quite a bit of she graduated students age 25 and over, through which Cuya was assigned to create a 3-D model life experience. from the she initially returned to college. for one of the proposed community build- He was a war Jose Barlow Hunter- In her Queens College studies, Toure ings in Sri Lanka. veteran, who Bellevue brought her own cross-cultural experiences “In the first week, I worked on mapping had worked as a School of Nursing. to bear, having lived and worked in Mexico out components for the master plan of the paralegal and later as a corrections officer. As she looks forward, Alicea sometimes and the Cayman Islands. She conducted village, which gave a rough idea of all the But his dream was to earn a college degree. finds inspiration in looking back, to the ethno-botanical research with immigrants large structures to be designed—a commu- This spring, at 70, he earned a Bachelor time when her life seemed to be slipping in Queens, observing that “immigrants nity center, medical center, crafts center, of Science Degree in Legal Studies. away. While confronting cancer, she had often rely on traditional medicines from hotel and restaurant,” she says. Making his accomplishment even more been told she could not live long without a their country because they lack access to Another City Tech student, Bala inspiring is the fact that Barlow is visually bone-marrow transplant. Her spirit sank as culturally sensitive medical care in the U.S.” Balsubramaniam, who is from Sri Lanka, impaired, suffers from diabetes and has she learned that no one in her family was a After receiving her MPH, Toure plans helped draw up plans for private homes. difficulty walking because of an accident match. either to become a doctor of public health Balsubramaniam also translated letters sent that occurred when he was a corrections However, Alicea didn’t give up. While or an M.D. Whatever path she chooses, she to Studio Daniel Libeskind from residents officer. ill, she spoke out at Hispanic-associated says she will combine her interest in heal- of Unawatuna, where about 150 were “This was the dream I had that I thought community functions and organizations to ing with improving the quality of life for killed by the tsunami. wouldn’t happen and finally came true,” increase awareness of the importance of underserved communities. Wendy James, Studio Daniel Libeskind’s Barlow says. “The Disabled Student Services bone-marrow donation and transplanta- project manager, says that Cuya and her Office helped me tremendously. If it wasn’t tion. When almost all hope was gone, Learning to Start Over fellow City Tech students have been for them, I would have dropped out.” Alicea found a donor. “incredibly helpful.” Born and raised in New York Alicea won a scholarship from the hen Relu Adrian Coman came to “In their first City, Barlow’s journey to a higher W National Association of Hispanic Nurses. this country in 2002, he already had a week, they were education took many detours. At The $2,000 award was from a grant from college degree in chemistry. But, signaling thrown into the 18, he joined the Army and the AETNA/National Coalition of Ethnic the direction he would take in his adopted deep end of things, served in the Korean War. He was Minority Nurses Associations Scholarship city of New York, he also had a reputation preparing presenta- assigned to the stockade and was Program, which aims to increase the num- as a leading human-rights activist for gays tion materials that a “prison chaser”—apprehending ber of nurses from ethnic-minority groups and lesbians in his native Romania. I took to Sri prisoners that had attempted to and to encourage them to go into research. When Coman realized that he needed Lanka,” James says. flee. After six years of service, he Now that Alicea has realized the first an American degree to continue his “We’ve given them returned to New York and part of her life’s mission, to graduate with human-rights work at a high level in the a huge range of worked as a legal stock transfer a nursing degree, she will embark on the United States, he enrolled in the CUNY assignments— clerk—which today would be second part: to continue studying and Baccalaureate Program, which allows high- drawings, model called a paralegal—for 14 years. making contacts so that she can work with ly motivated transfer students to work building, etc. and He briefly worked as a 911 opera- cancer patients, giving them a reason to with faculty mentors to design their own they’ve been very tor and then in 1974 decided to live, as that nurse once did for her. majors and choose courses from the uni- productive. I’ve become a New York State correc- versity’s 19 campuses. been very tions officer. The injury that dis- Another Victory out of 9/11 Under the guidance of George impressed by what abled him occurred while he was Andreopoulos, director of the Center they’ve helped us Sara Cuya on duty at Sing Sing. fter watch- for International Human Rights at to accomplish so Over the years, Barlow has A ing the destruc- John Jay College, Coman designed far.” been a volunteer for the Boy Scouts of tion of the Twin his own major in human rights. “I’m In volunteering to help at Studio Daniel America, serving in East Harlem, and he Towers from very pleased with my education in Libeskind, with work that will run through has received several awards for positions her window the U.S. for its flexibility and individ- the summer, Cuya turned down two full- he has held within the organization. He is and, with it, the ually-tailored approach,” he says. time job offers. She intends to earn a mas- also a volunteer with the American Red loss of her job “At the time I went to college in ter’s degree in architecture after working Cross and is the co-district leader of the teaching English Romania [right after the fall of the in the field for a year. Republican Party in East Harlem. as a Second communist regime of President “I’m picking up ‘tricks of the trade’ . . . It’s been such a long time coming that Language in Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989], stu- and making models that build upon what I Barlow is not sure what he will do next downtown dents were treated as a group, not as learned at City Tech,” Cuya says. “Also, I’ve now that he has his degree. learned so much in a short period of time Manhattan, individuals who have different inter- about how to present a project to the Passing the Healing Torch Sonia Toure ests and needs. The outcome then client.” suddenly found was an equal preparation in the herself an given field. At CUNY, with its large Cuya decided to attend City Tech elanie Alicea was 22 when she was L unemployed offering of courses, I could really because her older sister Esther, who is an diagnosed with leukemia and had a bone- single mother in Sonia Toure make choices to ensure a basic

10 CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 Risk-Taking and Ultimate Victory MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED She Found Herself Kathleen Burke loves to figure out A Selected Profile of Spring 2005 Baccalaureate Graduates how things work, and when life wasn’t • Percentage of graduating students foreign-born: 50.9 working out as planned, she enrolled at Baruch College. • Number of countries represented: 176* “Baruch changed my whole life,” says the 27-year-old Burke, who just graduat- • Number of languages spoken: 127* ed with a 3.98 grade-point average and a • Most popular Baccalaureate degree major: Business and Management BBA in economics. It took Burke over a decade to get to • Graduating students who are female: 63.4 percent Baruch. She left home at 16, followed the Grateful Dead and got married at 18 to a • Median age of all Baccalaureate graduates: 25 man who loved alcohol and drugs more • Top countries of origin for foreign-born grads: Dominican Republic than her. Living in poverty in Vermont, Jamaica she decided to change her life. She got a GED, divorced and joined the Army. China Her first week at Baruch, she met Russia her future husband, a fellow student. Guyana Burke’s new interest is international law. • Second and third most popular Baccalaureate degree majors: Social Sciences A Long Journey Psychology It took Mia Mia Thi, who received her Source: Projected Spring 2005 graduates, Office of Institutional Research diploma from the Grad Center, a little *Includes associate degree graduates Terence Mulvey longer than others to finish her doctor- ate in engineering. A native of Myanmar, the former preparation in tution, including The Wall Street Journal Burma, she left her homeland in 1988 the field of Achievement Award, the Ward Medal for when a political uprising closed down human rights.” Outstanding Graduating Senior from the local schools. But things are looking up. Coman’s “I felt I wanted Economics Department and The Byron She is a research fellow at the Albert interest in David Award for Excellence in Einstein College of Medicine, and was human rights to be an active Entrepreneurship. just awarded the Ruth I. Kirschstein emerged as the Music has been central to his college National Research Award, a post-doctor- political and part of the experience. al fellowship, from the National social climate He learned to play the guitar on a whim Institutes of Health’s National Heart, in Romania changing society, in his freshman year and mastered the Lung and Blood Institute. shifted seismi- instrument enough to perform at weddings “It was a long journey,” she says. cally. “I felt I not just bear witness and parties. “My whole college experience wanted to be was accompanied by my guitar playing,” Disabilities Don’t Stop Her an active part from a distance.” he notes. “ of the changing Then there’s the athletic side of him. The mind is the most powerful tool society, not just Allen, an opening batsman, was a founding of all,” declares Madeline Gomez, a recent graduate of Queensborough bear witness Relu Adrian Coman member of the CCNY cricket team, whose from a dis- upset defeat at the hands of Brooklyn’s Community College. tance,” he says. newly formed Shobuj Bangla club was A native of Puerto Rico, Gomez has on the prestigious brokerage firm that he little use of her hands and no use of her His way of getting up close to the was offered a full-time position upon covered by the New York Daily News, with important issues was to start working at an accompanying photo of Allen batting. legs. Wheelchair-bound, she had enrolled graduation. in The External Education Program for the grassroots level, eventually becoming Plans for an MBA on the back burner, the first executive director of a national Making Grade, Decades Later the Home-bound. As chair of the Allen begins a prime brokerage analyst Coalition for Students with Disabilities, Romanian human-rights group whose lob- “ training program this month at Bear she heled pass legislation making text- bying helped spur the repeal of the laws Stearns, where he serves as a conduit If at first you don’t succeed, try, try that outlawed sodomy and that discrimi- again,” goes the saying — even if it means books available in alternative formats for between the firm and hedge fund man- the disabled. nated against gays and lesbians. agers, while he learns about the wider trying again some two decades later. Those Coman plans to earn a master’s degree were the words that guided Terence Gomez has enrolled in CUNY’s world of financial analysis. Baccalaureate Program. in human rights from Columbia University. The 21-year-old Allen is excited about Mulvey, a retired New York City Police his first job and the big changes it will detective, who returned to Lehman Counting on a Math Career Musical Notes to Bank Notes bring. After four years of commuting three College in 1997 to finish what he had amal Barley, who just earned his BS hours daily from his Bayside, Queens, started. K in math at Medgar Evers College, has Guitarist, cricket ace and financial ana- home to City College’s Harlem campus, When he began his studies in 1977, everything — well almost everything — lyst all rolled into one. Some would call he plans to move close to his job. Mulvey was not exactly eager. He felt a all figured out. him a renaissance man. “The first thing I’ll do when I get my need to earn steady cash, and so he The St. Lucia native will study math Ikhtiar Allen immigrated to the United first paycheck is move to downtown dropped out after just three lackluster at Arizona State University, where he States from his native Manhattan or semesters. Now, after eight years as a has a full scholarship and where he plans Bangladesh just six years ago, Brooklyn,” he says. part-time student, he’s a June magna cum to earn his doctorate. He then hopes to full of talent and ambition. “I want to keep my laude graduate. Mulvey also received the join the faculty of a leading research Now he is embarking on a commute under 30 Thomas Hunter Prize, awarded to the university. He wants to specialize in career in high finance. minutes.” graduate with the highest G.P.A. in history, differential geometry. The City College Honors Despite the long his major. student was a 20-year-old commute, he says After leaving Lehman in 1977, Mulvey Life After Vietnam upper junior last summer he’ll miss his alma quickly found a job working for Conrail, when, during a 10-week intern- mater, where he start- now Metro North. Five years later, he Hoang Do, an immigrant from Vietnam, ship at Bear Stearns, he ed in September joined the New York City Police Depart- is excited about beginning doctoral studies designed a model to predict 2001. He was in the ment. In August 2003, he retired after a in engineering science at Brown University. passenger traffic in the airline first class of the 20-year career on the force that included Hoang had been tapped for the industry by studying revenue Honors College at service in several Manhattan precincts and CUNY Honors College program from previous quarters. CCNY. the drug enforcement task force as well as through a College of Staten Island Applying knowledge gar- “I’m totally nostal- on the executive protection unit for then- outreach program, and graduated at the nered from a financial math gic on leaving City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s family. top of his class there and at CSI. class he took with CCNY College,” says Allen, Now, he’s thinking about going into His mother, who speaks no English, Professor Jay Jorgenson, he who received several teaching, which would add yet another traveled from Hanoi for the graduation made a big enough impression awards from the insti- aspect to his varied and productive career. ceremony. Ikhtiar Allen

CUNY MATTERS — Summer 2005 11 At Slam Poetry Competition, Students Speak and Act ‘From the Heart’

freshman at City Tech from At the May 6 Intercollegiate Poetry Brooklyn who also is a rapper, says Slam Finals — where fast-talking bards that “I do a lot of public speaking, spoke their minds as they got things off and it helps me.” their chest — the Queensborough team The slams are part of a growing emerged the winner. And for 19-year-old resurgence of the popularity of Queensborough sophomore Xavier Smith, poetry on college campuses and in it was also a victory of a personal kind. He the mainstream culture, says Billy won top honors for reciting his piece, Collins, a former poet laureate of “Enter the Mind of a Young Black Male.” the United States and a distin- “Everything I say is real, it’s what I’ve guished professor of English at been through, it’s what I’ve seen,” says Lehman College. “Poetry is the only Smith of his performance that night at The history available Bowery Poetry Club in Greenwich Village. to us of a “It’s from the heart, it’s what I feel. I like human emo- the audience to feel what I feel.” tion,” he says. Getting students like Smith to compose “There’s only and perform is what slams are all about, one history of says George Guida, associate professor of the human English at New York City College of heart, and that’s Technology, who was one of the organizers poetry. The grief of the monthly intercollegiate competi- of absence, the tions that started in October 2004. joy of experi- “This is a tremendous self-esteem boost- ence and the Xavier Smith of Queensborough Community College won the individual award at the er for them, and it gives them a communi- community of slam poetry competition held at The Bowery Poetry Club in Greenwich Village. ty of people who support them, and it’s an emotion make intellectual endeavor.” you feel like The recent war of words was a three- you’re not break the stereotype of the young “Poetry is another tool for studying the way affair involving Queensborough, City alone.” black male who sells drugs and world,” says Lori Anderson-Moseman, an The slams, Tech and SUNY’s Westchester City Tech Professor George plays basketball and show that assistant professor in the English Community College. which trace they have something to say.” Department at Queensborough and the their roots to Guida is the organizer of the slam For Gabriel A. Huallanca, an 18-year- competition. For the collegiate poets, the coach for the Queensborough slammers. old Queensborough freshman from Allen Ginsburg’s slams really aren’t about winning; “The team has people from all majors. Queens who was “born again on stage,” “Howl,” the syllable by syllable, they’re all There is no set content. You can write the slams are in sync with his “life goal to 1955 Beat poem heard round the world, about wordplay and having one’s say. “It’s about everything from botany to racial be remembered as a great writer through began in the 1980s in Chicago, when Marc about me being heard and touching peo- politics.” the ages like Shakespeare.” Smith set up competitions judged by peo- ple. One person came up to me in tears,” If all goes according to plan, next The experience also has proved eye- ple off the street. Smith says. semester, the City Tech and Queens- opening for aspiring novelist Stephanie In the 1990s, slams went nationwide. Rolon says it’s about having a good time borough Community College poets will Rolon, a 19-year-old City Tech freshman With the 1998 film “SlamNation,” the and bonding with peers. “We do it for fun,” have a little more competition: In a grand from New Jersey. Standing before the genre entered the mass-market and pene- she says. “Even though it’s a competition, slam, Guida recently sent out challenges to microphone is the “scariest thing,” says trated even deeper with the advent of we give tips to each other and talk about more than 50 colleges in the metro area. Rolon, who performed “Thirty Days,” Russell Simmons’ hit HBO series “Def our poetry.” Abdush-Shahid, Rolon, Smith and which detailed her breakup with her Poetry Jam,” which is in its fourth season. Queensborough and City Tech are hop- Huallanca say they are more than ready to boyfriend, at the May 6 slam. “I had never “I try to give the audience a mental pic- ing to get more students, especially ones spread the word, rhyme by rhyme. really read my poetry to anyone before.” ture because I can’t put them on the cor- who are working in different disciplines Says Rolon: “I say to anybody who Jabril Abdush-Shahid, an 18-year-old ner with me,” Smith says. “I’m trying to like math and science, to participate. wants to perform: ‘Come to a slam.’” Professors are Called Possible ‘Saviors’ of Polluted Canal a neuroscientist and assistant professor of She is also working with another student Gowanus is through CUNY. Last year, They are being hailed as the sisters who biology at New York City College of on a survey of genetic profiling, and has Brooklyn College hosted a daylong confer- may someday rescue the contaminated Technology, and Nasreen, a biochemist been a mentor to a Brooklyn College stu- ence to explore ways of restoring clear waters of the Gowanus Canal. who teaches at Barnard College – are scien- dent in a stem cell research project. water and wildlife there. Professor Martin Niloufar and Nasreen Haque – Niloufar, tific advisers to Urban Divers, a nonprofit Nasreen says there is not enough Schreibman, director of the college’s that provides updates to the Environmental research being done on the waterways, and Aquatic Research and Environmental Protection Agency on the Arthur Kill and hopes what she finds out about the “white Assessment Center, has been overseeing Gowanus waterways and area marshlands. stuff” in the Gowanus can be used in the student research that could have positive Last summer the sisters, who are natives canal’s rehabilitation. A column about the impacts on the canal. of India, helped collect samples of the Haques by Daily News writer Clem Though much work remains to be done, fabled “white stuff” that floats near the Richardson bore a headline saying “Sisters Schreibman expressed optimism about the bottom of the Gowanus, one of the city’s May Be Saviors of Canal.” future of the Gowanus, saying that scientists most polluted waterways. The lab results Much of the work being done on the are paying more attention to it. are due in the coming months. In this, their latest collaboration, the sib- lings want to know which microbes thrive in the contaminated Gowanus, which Non-Profit Org dumps into New York Harbor, and whether U.S. Postage PAID the chemicals are causing microbes to The City University of New York Utica,NY evolve and become harmful to people. Office of University Relations Permit No. 79 In May, at City Tech, the Haques 535 East 80th St. presented “What Lies Beneath the New York, NY 10021 Underwater World,” a mix of lectures and graphic presentations on pollution in area waters. They are getting City Tech students immersed in the subject by having them Sisters Niloufar Haque, right, and Nasreen monitor various waterways. Haque, left, are doing research on the Niloufar furthermore oversees two Gowanus and other waterways. Niloufar, of City Tech students who are doing research City Tech, also does brain studies that may on Pick’s Disease, which is similar to reveal more about Alzheimer's. Nasreen Alzheimer’s in the accumulation of tau teaches at Barnard. protein in the cerebral cortex of the brain.