State University of New York at Fredonia The Issue No. 9, Volume XXV LeaderWednesday October 30, 2013 Ethos presents the A Cappella groups gaudete brass quintet sing for a cure b-1 B-3 VANM accelerating with accreditation West Valley CARL LAM home of Staff Writer When discussing something that has nuclear been “accredited,” chances are that whatever is being referred to has gone through some waste extensive process of review that lead to its ALEXIS FORES actual approval. SUNY Fredonia is accred- Special to The Leader ited by Middle States, a higher education commission that provides quality assurance Imagine living near a nuclear through accreditation and peer review. The waste dumping zone with the pos- Department of Visual Arts and New Media sibility of contamination of the local is working towards the accreditation by the water that is used daily to eat, drink National Association of Schools of Art and and bathe with. Design (NASAD). Believe it or not, Fredonia is closer Liz Lee, professor of photography, men- to such a facility than one might think. tioned that NASAD was founded because The Friends of Reed Library many private colleges of art and design had hosted a presentation on Thursday, no answering body. Oct. 24, about West Valley and its “State universities have to answer to nuclear waste. Joann Hameister, from legislators, governors, taxpayers, boards of the Coalition on West Valley Nuclear regents or whatever. The art and design col- Wastes, was a guest speaker for the leges didn’t, so the accreditation body was melissa rechin / photo editor presentation. actually started to give them some authority,” Student artwork floods the halls and galleries of Rockefeller Art During the presentation, the audi- Lee said. “State institutions weren’t a part of Center to prepare for the accreditation. ence was able to get an understanding them because we have all these other bodies of the history of the Coalition and to answer to. So when you read the list of the what is happening with the nuclear accredited institutions, they’re primarily art waste at West Valley. and design colleges of private schools.” The Coalition is a group of indi- Bob Booth, chair of the Department of viduals who believe that nuclear waste Visual Arts and New Media, said when a should be dug up in order to prevent department decides to go through the work to further problems and to protect future begin the accreditation process, it isn’t some- generations. thing that happens overnight — it takes years. The non-profit organization began “It came about two-and-a-half years ago in the 1960s when the Nuclear Fuel when we were scheduled for a campus depart- Services began dumping nuclear mental review and there was also movement waste and reprocessing nuclear fuel in towards creating this new College of Visual West Valley. Located in Cattaraugus and Performing Arts,” he said. County, West Valley is approximately Booth said that the decision was a depart- 48 miles away from Fredonia (by car, mental one. He also realized that now might that is roughly a little over an hour be the time to work towards accreditation drive from campus). since sister departments within the new Due to accidents, mishandling of College of Visual and Performing Arts either the high-level wastes and bad planning already completed or were nearly done with at West Valley, the Coalition on West their reviews. Valley Nuclear Waste was formed to be “We figured in as much as the theater "watchdogs" for the local citizens. Continued on page A-2 Continued on page A-2 Mardi Gras arrives early in Fredonia JOSEPH DRAKE was hosted by Fredonia’s Black Student culture which is extremely prominent in Special to The Leader Union. Students snatched up the free New Orleans. Curry taught the audience tickets quickly, according to the BSU’s about Creole clothing, dances, music and Students who walked into the Public Relations head Antonio Regulier. cooking. Attendees were able to try some Williams Center’s Multi-Purpose Room “We sold out all the tickets within of the cuisine Curry described. The FSA Tuesday night found themselves whisked the first week of actually putting up provided dinner which included gumbo into the thick of a New Orleans party. posters and flyers and promoting, so I over rice, chicken Creole pasta and other Vibrant masks, green and purple beads, think it had a really good turnout tonight,” authentic dishes. and feathered centerpieces covered the Regulier said. Several of Fredonia’s musically tables. Glittering gold and silver stars The evening included a mix of live talented students performed songs that and colorful balloons were scattered entertainment, education and tasty food. fit the evening’s theme. Rocio Gosende melissa rechin / photo editor throughout the room. Students and faculty were welcomed by played the well-known tune “When the The Black Student Union supplies guests The decorations set the mood per- Jamilla Adams, co-event chair. Tieliek Saints Go Marching In” on the trombone. with materials to create their own masks fectly for “Mardi Gras: Creole Culture Curry, the BSU’s Student Association rep- in honor of the Mardi Gras theme. Night” at SUNY Fredonia. The event resentative, gave a presentation on Creole Continued on page A-3 A-2A-2 TheThe LeaderLeader,, WednesdayWednesday AprilOctober 11,2 201230, 2013 Adjunct Spotlight: Musically and technically speaking, Yuen has it all CARL LAM With her performance degrees, Yuen didn’t ground was difficult. What I’ve noticed a lot Special to The Leader have any expectations of becoming a professor. in this country is the elitism of academia and “I didn’t ever expect to be teaching at all. I I think that’s an unfair disadvantage,” she said. Many who are not familiar with Mason sort of fell into it, and I think I have something “For me, that was the most difficult obstacle, Hall could attest that all that can be seen are to offer,” Yuen said. “I’m grateful to be teaching being isolated geographically and not neces- doors. Gray doors, green doors, wooden doors at this level, but I would be just as happy teach- sarily having the money to go away to music — any type of door, really. And then there ing at an intermediate level as well.” festivals, or to afford a really nice instrument, or are the red doors, often filled with reminders, Yuen’s teaching philosophy is more than to even afford private lessons in the summer. So lesson schedules, concert information and a just getting the student to play at a high level; the upside is that it’s still possible to succeed.” nameplate of a professor with many years of she’s teaching students to value the education Senior music education major Giovanna music training. they’re getting. Ruggiero studied with Yuen and was introduced Inside an office with thank you cards hung “The main goal I have is for the students to many new technical concepts towards the end on the board and a humidity level that’s just to really love and appreciate music. I think an of high school and didn’t have time to improve right for string instruments is Maureen Yuen, education in music is something that is under- upon them. With Yuen’s help, Ruggiero will be an adjunct professor of violin. She earned her valued in today’s society. So I want to provide applying those fundamental techniques to her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin per- that to my students and have them develop a graduation recital this weekend. formance in five years from the University of love for music and also a respect for the kind “Ms. Yuen's emphasis on building a solid British Columbia in Vancouver and graduated of work that goes into succeeding in music,” technique in her students has truly transformed at the age of 21. Yuen said. my playing … I entered Ms. Yuen's studio “I started university when I was 16. My In addition to teaching at Fredonia, Yuen with little knowledge on proper shifting, posi- family traveled a lot when I was young and we is a member of the College of Examiners for tions, scales, and double stops” Ruggiero said. Courtesy of Maureen Yuen moved around a lot,” Yuen said. “So every time the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. “Throughout my lessons with Ms. Yuen I have we started somewhere new, I would start slightly She kept up with her music exams when she developed an understanding and confidence in from the students and, in my view, the strings ahead of where I left off in the previous city.” was growing up and in 2007, was able to join all of those aspects of playing. The skills she area would not have grown as quickly as it did Yuen has studied with Nancy Di Novo, the team of examiners. has helped me build upon tremendously helped without her presence.” Nancy Luttrell, Jean Ter-Merguerian and The sheer amount of teaching and perform- to create a solid foundation in my playing. I am Sung has been at DePaul since 2010 and worked extensively with her primary teacher, ing can be tough to balance; however, Yuen has very grateful for everything she has taught me.” away from Fredonia but one thing remains Gerald Stanick, who was also a teacher for one a discovered routine that works for her. Dr. David Colwell, assistant professor of even though they may be nearly five hundred of Yuen’s colleagues, David Rose, assistant “At this point, it’s difficult to prepare for a violin, is a member of the faculty string quartet miles apart.