he experiment is to be tried… whether the children of the people, ‘Tthe children of the whole people, can be educated; whether an institution of learning, of the highest grade, can be successfully controlled by the popular will, not by the privileged few, but by the privileged many.” — Horace Webster CUNYMatters Founding Principal, The Free Academy cuny.edu/news • THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF • FOUNDED 1847 WINTER 2015 REPORT GRANTS&HONORS FROM ALBANY Recognizing Faculty Achievement

Mogulescu he University’s renowned faculty Tmembers continually win professional- achievement awards from prestigious organizations as well as research grants from Jones government agencies, farsighted foundations and leading corporations. Pictured are just a few of the recent honorees. Brief summaries of many ongoing research projects start here Small and continue inside. John Mogulescu, Senior University Dean for Academic Affairs and Dean of the School of Professional Chancellor James B. Milliken with 2015 CUNY Educational Leadership Award winners Studies, has received two Arva Rice (right) and David Banks (left). Nomura grants from the NY State Office of Children and Family Services: $1,619,750 for the “CUNY School of Professional Studies, to Provide Online Chancellor at the Legislature Education, Training Management Systems Mirkin Development, Training Needs High-Quality, Full-Time Faculty a Priority Assessment and Evaluation,” and $703,401 etaining and recruiting high-quality, full-time faculty to keep programs such as expansion of online programs, digitalization of for the school to “Provide pace with record enrollments and maintain the University's libraries, and critical maintenance of aging classrooms and Information Technology Rcompetitive advantage is a top priority, Chancellor James B. buildings. Training to Social Services Milliken told the New York State Legislature as he made his first Returning to Albany in mid February four days later on Feb. 14 Staff throughout NY State”; swath of budget-related appearances in Albany. for the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Latino Richen as well as a $121,740 award At the Joint Budget Hearing on Higher Education of the State and Asian Legislators weekend conference, Chancellor Milliken from the NY City Office of Senate Finance Committee and the State Assembly Finance stressed CUNY’s historic commitment to educational opportuni- Emergency Management for Committee, Chancellor Milliken called for state support to help ty at the CUNY Educational Leadership Award luncheon, which the school to “Revise Online provide a new and fair collective bargaining contract for faculty this year honored New York Urban League President Arva Rice Courses to Inform Emergency and staff citing the University’s importance to the state and city. and Eagle Academy Foundation President and CEO David Banks. Responders on the City He emphasized the case for increased state investment in critical Continued on page 2 ‰ Weitz Incident Management System.” “Computing Cluster for Basic Research,” INSIDE a project under the direction Non-Profit Org PAGE of Roman Kezerashvili of CUNYMatters U.S. Postage Your Fellow Subway Office of University Relations PAID 2 Riders You Never See College of 205 East 42nd St. Permit # 153 Technology, has received a New Haven, CT New York, NY 10017 Gupta $204,370 grant from the U.S. PAGE Stunning Art Army. 6 Exhibits Not Cynthia Jones of Hostos to Miss Community College has been selected as the 2014 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching PAGE and New Deagan New York Professor of the 9 York City — Compared Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. PAGE Colleges Offer a Range of Pamela Mills, Sarah 10 Health Services to Bonner, Janet Liou-Mark Employees Crouse Continued on page 3 ‰ COVERSTORY

High-Quality, Full-Time Faculty Is a Priority for the University Continued from page 1 The luncheon was attended by Assembly lic affairs program hosted by Doug Speaker Carl Heastie of the Bronx, a Muzzio. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re Baruch College MBA, who had only days talking about K-12 education or university prior been appointed to the powerful post. education,” Milliken said. “A fundamental Ebrahim Afshinnekoo collecting a swab of “I’m a proud product of public educa- principle is that the quality of teaching, organisms from a subway map. tion,” Heastie noted as he outlined his the quality of the faculty, makes the most higher education-rich Assembly agenda, difference. There is no such thing as a which includes passage of the state Dream great university without a great faculty. Act, providing state tuition aid to undocu- “We haven’t had a contract in years for Our Subways Are Teeming mented students; funding for CUNY’s suc- our faculty,” Chancellor Milliken contin- cessful and expanding ASAP program to ued. “It’s a difficult position at CUNY improve community college graduation because we have city and state support for With Microscopic Life rates; and for the CUNY Leads academic the University. In some ways that’s a great program for students with disabilities. advantage. In some ways, to try reach an "I want all of you to know — particular- agreement there are additional challenges ITH EACH SWIPE of his MetroCard and every In the study, the research team sought to define ly the students — where our hearts are: It to get everybody on the same page. … No ride on the New York City subway, Macaulay the microbiome in New York City’s subway system, is really the utmost important thing for us one wants to do this more than I do. WHonors College student Ebrahim which is used by about 5.5 million riders every day. to provide a foundation for you to have a “I’ve been in this business for over 25 Afshinnekoo envisions a trip into an underworld In addition to Afshinnekoo, four other CUNY students quality education,” he said. years, and first among my priorities — teeming with mysterious microorganisms and live were part of the research team, Shanin Chowdhury Other luncheon speakers at the CUNY whether it was in North Carolina or bacteria. and Sofia Ahsanuddin, who are enrolled in Macauley program included State Attorney General Nebraska or New York — we need to be Until recently, few researchers ventured to find Honors College, and Sean Dhanraj and Tanzina Eric Schneiderman, State Comptroller competitive for faculty. We need to retain out more about those microbes. But a new study Nawrin who attend College. Tom DiNapoli, Public Advocate Tish the best faculty. To do that, we need to released by a team of investigators at Weill Cornell Over the past 17 months, the team boarded sub- James, City Comptroller Scott Stringer reach an agreement with the PSC. We need Medical College has produced the first genetic pro- ways, armed with swabs and collected DNA samples and Conference Chair and Assembly to be in a position to have a fair agreement file of New York City’s subway system, uncovering a from the surfaces of 468 stations on 24 lines across Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes and with them. And so that’s a high priority for vast ecosystem of bacterial, fungal and animal five boroughs. They swabbed turnstiles, wooden and Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Aubry. me — investing in people.” species. metal benches, stairway hand railings and trash- In speeches, interviews and testimony He pointed to the “amazing statistic” After collecting DNA samples from all 468 sub- cans. The team also swabbed the inside of trains, in February, Chancellor Milliken repeat- that years ago, (CUNY) “had far more full- way stations, researchers detected 15,152 types of including seats, doors, windows, poles and edly touched upon the value of CUNY’s time faculty than we have today, with far microorganisms including traces of germs that can handrails, often drawing stares from riders. faculty to the University and the critical fewer students. We’ve added tens of thou- cause bubonic plague, anthrax and meningitis. Other Mason said the PathoMap provides a baseline importance of retaining and attracting sands of students and we’ve actually samples told the life stories of the subways revealing assessment that could be used for long-term, accu- accomplished full-time professors. reduced the number of full-time faculty. bacteria from foods like cucumbers and cheese, rate disease surveillance or tracking disease out- But he noted that these goals cannot be That’s unsustainable.” house pets, plants and rats. breaks. achieved without a new contract for facul- The FY2016 state Executive Budget for The pathogen mapping project, dubbed While news reports hyped the traces of bubonic ty and staff who have been without an CUNY’s senior colleges totals $2.329 bil- PathoMap, was led by Dr. Christopher Mason, an plague and anthrax, Afshinneko said their presence agreement since October 2010. “Our abili- lion, an increase of $70.7 million, or 3.1 assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College isn’t substantial enough to pose a health threat. ty to attract and retain talented faculty is percent, over this year, according to the and involved dozens of professors, researchers and “The subway system has been around for over a compromised by our inability today to University Budget Office. The Executive graduate students in New York City and across the century and there has never been reported cases of reach a collective bargaining agreement Budget does not provide funding for nation. Afshinnekoo, 21, a senior at Macaulay, began outbreaks or any sort of disease,” he said. “So it’s with appropriate salary and benefit mandatory needs including employee working on the project as a summer intern and even- really a testament to our immune systems and our increases,” he said. fringe benefits. For CUNY’s community tually took on a leadership role that led to his title as capabilities to interact with this environment. I take At the same time, he noted that colleges, which receive more than half of co-lead author of the study that was published the subway every day. You take the subway. We’re not resources must be identified. "We cannot their funding from the city, the Executive online in the journal Cell Systems. getting sick. This isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s make an agreement we cannot pay for,” he Budget proposes $221.6 million, a decrease For Afshinnekoo, the most surprising discovery something to embrace, this whole idea of the micro- said. “It’s essential we get state support for of $3.4 million from this year’s level. was not the trace amounts of harmless bacteria. He biome and discovering the world beyond us.” an agreement that will be in alignment In his budget testimony in Albany, was more intrigued by the finding that 48 percent of Afshinnekoo, who plans to attend medical school with those of other state unions, including Chancellor Milliken emphasized: “CUNY’s the DNA collected from subway surfaces matched no after receiving his undergraduate degree, said he retroactive increases that would recognize core priorities remain: the retention of known organisms. hopes to find more areas where environmental sci- the commitment our faculty and staff have talented faculty and staff, the recruitment “It’s really amazing because it just shows there is ence and medicine intersect in the field of public made over the last six years.” of more full-time faculty, increased aca- so much left out there to discover,” Afshinnekoo said. health. The Chancellor elaborated in an demic support and broadening our stu- “At the end of the day, a lot of this has to do with our For now, every subway ride reminds him of the appearance on CUNY TV’s City Talk pub- dent services. Over the last decade, we databases. There is not even a genome of a cock- unknown richness inside the subway’s DNA. roach yet, which you would expect there would be.” “It’s fascinating to me,” he said, “and it’s incred- “So, this is really the beginning of a revolution in ible to see this whole world that’s basically hiding metagenomics and microbiomes.” right in front of our eyes.”

BOARDOFTRUSTEES The City University of New York CUNYMatters Benno Schmidt Philip Alfonso Berry James B. Milliken Jay Hershenson Chairperson Vice Chairperson Chancellor Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations Valerie L. Beal Hugo M. Morales Michael Arena University Director for Communications and Marketing Wellington Z. Chen Brian D. Obergfell Rita DiMartino Peter Pantaleo Kristen Kelch Managing Editor Freida D. Foster Carol Robles-Román Rich Sheinaus Director of Graphic Design Judah Gribetz Barry F. Schwartz Charles DeCicco, Margaret Ramirez, Neill S. Rosenfeld Writers Joseph J. Lhota Charles A. Shorter Miriam Smith Issue Designer André Beckles Photographer Joseph Awadjie Terrence F. Martell Articles in this and previous issues are available at cuny.edu/news. Letters or suggestions for future stories may be sent to the Editor by e-mail Chairperson, Chairperson, to [email protected]. University Student Senate University Faculty Senate Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl E. Heastie addresses the CUNY and Black, Puerto Rican, Changes of address should be made through your campus personnel office. Hispanic and Asian Caucus Conference Luncheon in Albany.

2 CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 GRANTS&HONORS

have achieved a 23 percent net Continued from page 1 increase in full-time faculty. and Leslie Keiler of Hunter College have However, these gains have been received a $2,266,637 grant award from the countered by an unprecedented National Science Foundation for growth in enrollment during the “MSPinNYC2: A New Partnership to Transform same period, slowing our ability to Urban Secondary School Mathematics & increase the percentage of classes Science Experiences.” The U.S. Education taught by full-time faculty. This Department/Office of Postsecondary year we are working to hire 325 Education has awarded a $324,558 grant to new faculty members. And through John Graham of Borough of Manhattan our FY2016 budget request, we Community College for an “Educational hope to hire 500 more. Opportunity Center Project.” “On-Campus His testimony added, “While the Discoveries in Science,” a project directed by Governor’s executive budget pro- Loretta Brancaccio-Taras of Kingsborough posal provides a relatively stable Community College, has received $299,933 budget for CUNY in fiscal year in grant support from the National Science 2015-2016, there remain many Foundation. areas that we hope you will address in order to provide our students Steven Markowitz of Queens College with the higher education experi- has received a $3,177,500 grant from the ence they deserve, and to ensure U.S. Department of Energy for a “Former that employers are being served At the CUNY and Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus Conference, in the back row, left to right, Worker Surveillance Program”; as well as with skilled graduates that are David Banks, Nana Smith; Chancellor James B. Milliken; and far right CUNY Vice Chairman of the Board of $1,435,000 from the U.S. Department of ready to enter the workforce.” Trustees Philip Alfonso Berry, with students from the Eagle Academy. Energy/Steelworkers Charitable and Chancellor Milliken told the Educational Organization for “Medical Legislature the University is “Our libraries must be redesigned to Because of rising enrollment, he said, an Surveillance of Former Department of Energy requesting additional funding to expand support a variety of instructional modes,” additional 56,000 students over the last Workers”; and $334,601 from the its online programs, which “offer many he said. “However, our libraries continue decade are now using CUNY facilities. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for benefits” to students “juggling multiple to be challenged by the price increases that “Not surprisingly, our classrooms and a “New York City Community Air Survey.” Eric roles” and can prepare students “for a outpace inflation, and students continue common areas are experiencing significant Delson of Lehman College has received a competitive future since many of them will to struggle to purchase necessary wear and tear.” Additional funding is need- $649,963 grant from the National Science need to refresh their skills through online textbooks and course materials. CUNY’s ed, he said, for critical maintenance and Foundation for a project entitled “IGERT: learning.” He said CUNY is also seeking libraries have the capacity to help students for key capital projects including the Integrative Evolutionary Primatology.” funds to provide students with opportuni- in this regard, and sufficient funding Roosevelt Hall Science Complex at Allan Wernick of Baruch College, the ties for international study and faculty would enable us to invest in costly text- Brooklyn College, the Academic Village director of CUNY’s Citizenship Now, received with “opportunities to work collaborative- books for use by students and to purchase and Conference Center at York College, a special award at the Somos El Futuro ly with international colleagues. electronic texts, together with the means the College of Staten Island’s High Conference, Entre Nosotros Luncheon in San “To compete and thrive in the transna- to display and catalogue them.” Performance Computational Center and Juan, Puerto Rico from NYS Assemblywoman tional environment, it is no longer a luxu- The Chancellor thanked the Legislature Hostos Community College’s new Allied Carmen Arroyo and NYC Council Member ry, but a necessity, to bring CUNY to the for “your continued attention to our facili- Health and Sciences Building. Maria del Carmen Arroyo for his “outstanding world and the world to CUNY,” he said. ty needs, which remain urgent. We are “Projects like these,” the Chancellor and devoted service in immigration on behalf CUNY also needs “sufficient funding” to thankful for the more than $3.8 billion that said, “are critical to our academic growth, of the Hispanic Community.” transition its libraries to the digital age,” the state has provided CUNY since 2008 in helping to improve classroom instruction the Chancellor testified. “Many of our support of our academic mission. This and research capacity and create good pay- The National Science Foundation has most important resources are textbooks funding has allowed us to open new facili- ing jobs. … CUNY is a public university in awarded $227,623 to Sebastien Poget of the and books that are not digitized. But the ties as well as maintain our 24 campuses. every sense of the word and one in which I College of Staten Island for “CAREER: new generation of learning and scholarly Despite this strong support, much more hope you will continue to make wise Structural and Mechanistic Analysis of materials are being produced online. needs to be done.” investments.” Potassium Channel Modulation by a Novel Activating Snake Toxin.” Queens College has received a $207,823 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research/Northwestern University for “Electrochemical Imaging and Banks and Rice – Educational Leaders for 2015 Mechanism Studies on the Nanometer Scale,” directed by Michael Mirkin. n 2004, David C. Banks established the Eagle Academy for Young Men in the president and CEO of the Eagle Academy Foundation, an organization with the Bronx, the city’s first new public school for boys in 30 years. A decade schools in every borough and Newark that has educated thousands of boys Babette Audant of Kingsborough Ilater, Banks leads an organization that educates 2,000 students in six from sixth to twelfth grade. Community College has received two grants schools across the city and sends 80 percent of them to college, including “We started with about 100 students in ninth grade in one school in the from the U.S. many CUNY campuses. South Bronx,” said Banks, who earned his education, administration and su- Department of Labor: In 2012, Arva Rice, president and CEO of the New York Urban League, had pervision certificate by attending Baruch, Brooklyn and City Colleges simulta- $6,816,947 for “CUNY an idea for promoting college attendance by making the application process neously. “We’ve grown to a network of six schools, grades six to 12, with 2,000 PATH”; and less daunting for parents. Her organization students. We’re the only educational reform or- $1,285,217 for the partnered with CUNY and the Daily News to ganization in every borough.” “Northeast Resiliency publish “A Parent’s Guide to College” and to Banks recently authored Soar: How Boys Consortium.” David use it in workshops throughout the city. Now Learn, Succeed, and Develop Character. Kennedy of Audant Rice and the Urban League have just pub- Arva Rice’s personal experience as the child College has been lished a second guide, again with CUNY and of a teenage mother was her inspiration for awarded $600,000 from the John D. and the News plus Time Warner, U.S. News and publishing guides to the college application Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for “A World Report and the New York City Depart- process for parents of secondary students who Proposal to Address Violent Crime in : ment of Youth and Development –“A Parent’s might think college is beyond their reach. “My Years Three to Five”; and $450,000 from the Guide to STEM” – to encourage the city’s siblings and I were the first generation to go to Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation for young people of color to pursue degrees and college,” she said. “I can’t even imagine how “National Network for Safe Communities: careers in science and technology. difficult that must have been for my mom. But Outreach and Support for Chronic Violent Banks and Rice are the recipients of the we all went and we all graduated, and she told Offenders.” Sunil Gupta of Borough of 2015 CUNY Educational Leadership Awards, recognized for their “exemplary us to give back. I feel like our parent’s guide is my opportunity to give back to Manhattan Community College has won a dedication to education.” my community.” $265,382 grant from the Wadhwani Foundation Banks, a former New York City teacher and principal, was among a group Since 2012, more than 250,000 copies of the guide have been distributed for a project entitled RACE TO A JOB (RTA).” of educators, parents, community leaders and corporate philanthropists that throughout the city in conjunction with workshops called “parent academies” The Empire State Development opened the first Eagle Academy, an academically rigorous school for boys in that seek to demystify the college process, especially for parents of students Division of Science, Technology and the South Bronx. The model featured parental involvement, extended school in nontraditional family structures such as foster care who might not think days and enhanced programming. Banks was the school’s principal; now he’s college is for them. Continued on next page ‰

CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 3 GRANTS&HONORS NEWSWIRE

Continued from page 3 AVE YOU HEARD? Afro-Latin jazz composer and bandleader Arturo O’Farrill, a professor at Brooklyn College, Innovation (NYSTAR) has awarded a won his third Grammy at the 57th awards ceremony … A statue of John Jay, one of our Founding Fathers and the $921,200 grant to David Crouse of City H College and Gillian Small, CUNY’s Vice first Chief Justice of the United States, was unveiled at his namesake school, John Jay College of Criminal Justice … Chancellor for Research and ASRC Three Queens College students won top honors in the CUNY IBM-Watson Case Competition with the creation of a new Executive Director, for the “CAT: Center for app to aid in preventing child abuse … Advanced Technology.” Denise Deagan of Borough of Manhattan Community College has received $316,742 from the NYS Education Department/Office of Adult Career & Continuing Education Services for “Workforce Investment Act.” The NYS Education Department/VATEA-Carl D. Perkins has awarded two grants to LaGuardia Community College: $231,913 to Beth Lord for the “VATEA – Job Placement & e-Career Plan,” and $179,047 to Loretta Capuano for “VATEA – Student Information Center.” Jesenia Paoli of Bronx Community College has been awarded $129,860 from the Pinkerton Foundation for “Student Support.” Sherryl Graves and Robert Thompson of Hunter College have been awarded $1,959,215 by the National Science Foundation for a “Mathematics & Science Teacher Education Residency.” Queens College has received a $785,626 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project directed by Yoko Nomura, entitled “The Infants of Super Storm Sandy: The Epigenetic and Development Impact of Natural Disaster.” Brooklyn College has been awarded a $504,535 grant from the National Park Service – Department of the Interior for Hunter College alumnus Rishi Singh, speaking, was one of the undocumented immigrants who met with President Obama to push for immigration reform. “The Jamaica Bay Observing System: Process Studies and To assist students, faculty and staff in understanding two programs that benefit undocumented immigrants. The Groundwork for President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigra- first is an expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Long-Term tion, CUNY Citizenship NOW! has launched a new initiative Arrivals, or DACA, for qualified persons who came to the U.S. Ecosystem Research that includes a series of free legal clinics, a new Web page and before age 16; the second, Deferred Action for Parental and Resilience,” an information hotline. Last year, President Obama Accountability, or DAPA, is for qualified undocumented par- under the direction announced the executive order to defer the deportation of ents of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who was of John Marra. millions of undocumented immigrants and grant them work born on or before Nov. 20, 2014. CUNY citizenship Now! is Clarence Stanley of authorization for three years. The presidential order is expect- holding free legal clinics in February and March on CUNY Marra Lehman College has ed to impact scores of CUNY students who may now become campuses for applicants seeking to apply for DACA. received $304,804 eligible for in-state tuition, internships, job opportunities and Undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent resi- from the State admission into degree programs requiring licenses, such as dents are also invited to attend so they may gather information University of New nursing and law school. Although a federal court judge has and obtain a free and confidential consultation on the DAPA York: Research temporarily blocked the president’s deferred action order, program. Citizenship NOW! is also making plans for its 13th Foundation for a CUNY Citizenship Now! Director Allan Wernick said his staff annual call-in event co-sponsored by the New York Daily “New York State would continue with plans to help people prepare for the pro- News. The weeklong hotline will operate at Guttman Small Business grams. “Deferred action or no, immigrant New Yorkers need Community College from April 27 to May 1 and provide immi- our help,” Wernick said. The Administrative Relief includes gration assistance to thousands of callers. Stanley Development Center.” New York City College of Technology has received a $1,400,000 grant from The John Jay was one of our Founding Fathers, the second governor of New York and career as a patriot, jurist, elected official, National Science Foundation for a five year the first Chief Justice of the United States. diplomat and essayist. “You can’t help but partnership program with Borough of But until recently, at John Jay College of be impressed” by what Jay accomplished, Manhattan Community College “Noyce Criminal Justice in Manhattan, there were President Travis noted, calling him “our Explorers, Scholars, Teachers (NEST): few memorable images that honored his forgotten Founding Father, one of the Fostering the Creation of Exceptional important legacy. That changed in greatest New Yorkers, who helped create Mathematics and Technology Teachers in December when President Jeremy Travis our democracy.” The statue, he said, pro- New York City,” under the direction of unveiled and dedicated a life-size bronze vides “a way for us to reconnect with an Fangyang Shen. Dan McCloskey of the statue of John Jay in the Lynn and Jules important part of our nation’s history.” College of Staten Island has received a Kroll Auditorium at his namesake college. Ivan Schwartz, one of the co-founders of $191,615 grant from the National Science The statue, created by StudioEIS in StudioEIS, detailed the yearlong process of Foundation for “CAREER: BCSP: Network Brooklyn, stands creating the likeness, speaking of his Level Analysis of Oxytocin Regulation of at 5-foot-10 and team’s “forensic pursuit of evidence” that Naked Mole Rat and Hippocampal Neuron weighs 670 included examining portraits and busts of Interactions.” pounds. Jay is Jay, measuring his only surviving judicial wearing a judicial robe, and having a model photographed in Louise Hainline of Brooklyn College robe with one hand different poses at the installation site to has received two grants from the National outstretched and provide alternative approaches to the Institutes of Health: $414,873 for “RISE the other hand eventual statue. “We had to be meticulous Option 2: Increasing URM Student Success holding the about what John Jay looked like,” said in Science and Science Careers”; and justice’s oath of Schwartz, whose studio has also created $287,012 for “MARC: Biometrical Research office. A nearby statues of such historical figures as Training for Minority Honor Students at plaque describes , , Continued on page 8 ‰ John Jay College President Travis takes a ‘selfie’ many of the and other signers of with the unveiled statue of the college namesake. highlights of Jay’s the Constitution.

4 CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 Arturo O’Farrill at the The CUNY Games Festival at the Graduate Center 57th Grammy Award Ceremony. Afro-Latin jazz composer and bandleader Arturo O'Farrill ’96, a professor at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music and a two-time Latin Grammy- Award winner, became a triple award winner at the 57th Grammy Awards ceremony earlier this month. The Offense of the Drum, his first album with Motema Music, won in the Best Latin Jazz category. “This award is special because The Offense of the Drum represents a departure from ‘typical’ Latin jazz. It is pan-American, contemporary — it even The Pathways curriculum is in its second includes the first recorded example of academic year and has been implemented reggaetón jazz — and features 37 different across all undergraduate campuses. Here Game-Based Learning for Higher Ed University, Dartmouth College and the types of drums,” says O'Farrill, who joined are some of the findings so far: Nearly 200 college educators, students, University of Arizona. The Jan. 16 event the Brooklyn College faculty in Fall 2014 as • Preliminary data show that in Fall and independent game designers joined was organized by the CUNY Games the director of its jazz ensembles. 2014, 135,510 degree-seeking students at together at the CUNY Graduate Center for Network, a diverse group of faculty and the University (61 percent of all degree the 2nd annual CUNY Games Festival, a staff from across the University who use seeking students) were following the one-day conference that highlights how game-based learning in a wide range of Pathways curriculum. Approximately academic fields, from psychology and com- 13,900 of these students were enrolled at game-based learning is transforming high- Executive Vice er education. Though much attention has puter science to English literature and CUNY prior to implementation of Chancellor Allan Pathways and thus could have continued focused on game-based learning for K-12 history. Presently, they estimate that more Dobrin puts on in their original curriculum, but chose to students, the CUNY Games event has than 160 CUNY professors use games the gloves. gained recognition as being one of the only either in their college classrooms or men- switch to Pathways. conferences devoted to both “digital and tor students on designing games that will • Preliminary data also show that in Fall nondigital” game-based learning at the potentially impact the public. The CUNY 2014 approximately 419,607 seats were college level. In addition to CUNY, other Games Network also serves as a resource filled in Pathways courses. universities that attended the conference for faculty who are interested in using • Over the three semesters of Pathways included New York University, the game-based learning, but aren’t sure (Fall 2013, Spring 2014 and Fall 2014), stu- University of Pennsylvania, Columbia where to start. dents have transferred Pathways courses from one CUNY college to another on Students’ Innovative Apps Offer Technology to Improve Services more than 418,500 occasions. • More than 1,660 courses have been CUNY students are tackling some of New spending a lot of time filing paperwork so approved for the Pathways Common Core York City’s biggest challenges and creating they’re left with less time to sit down with by the Common Core Course Review apps to solve them in the CUNY IBM- the children and families. This app is all Hoping to give New York boxers an Committees, composed of CUNY faculty. Watson Case Competition, hosted recently about preventing abuse as opposed to educational boost, the University is team- Additionally, more than 500 “STEM vari- at Baruch College. Students used IBM’s reacting to abuse,” said Queens College ing with the New York State Athletic ant” math and science courses (courses Watson cognitive technology — processing senior Kimberly Sy, who along with class- Commission to launch a pilot program colleges require for majors in STEM fields) information more like a mates senior Nekita that provides professional and amateur are offered in the Common Core. human, Singh and junior Lizeth boxers with academic opportunities to • The Common Core Course Review understand- Mejia, pitched Watson help them succeed outside the ring. The Committees (CCCRC) will con- ing natural LMSW. The next step is initiative, “Fight for Your Future,” allows tinue to language, to work with the CUNY boxers to pursue their education by generating Center for Student obtaining a General Equivalency Diploma hypotheses Entrepreneurship at (GED) or enrolling in a CUNY based on Baruch College to undergraduate or graduate program and evidence, develop their app. be awarded scholarships based on aca- and learn- They will also demic merit to help them graduate from a ing as it have the oppor- CUNY school. Through this program, box- goes — to tunity to pres- ers will now have educational opportuni- pitch ideas ent their ties much like those afforded to other for apps winning pitch athletes. Currently, there are approximate- review and that would to leadership ly 2,500 registered amateur/professional approve courses on an ongoing help improve in the boxers in New York State. At a conference basis. Currently, there are 55 faculty mem- city services and Administration to launch the program at Kingsway Gym in bers serving on these committees. higher education. for Children’s Manhattan, CUNY’s Executive Vice • Faculty committees have identified “The partnership Services. The Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer common entry-level courses into 10 popu- with IBM offers second-place Allan Dobrin said the point of the program lar majors — Biology, Business, Criminal students the Winners Nekita Singh, Kimberly Sy and Lizeth Mejia proposal, is to take all the attributes that boxers have Justice, Economics, English, Nursing, opportunity to SmartCall, in the ring and use them to create success- Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, look into the future and the way society uses Watson to improve the city’s 311 ful careers in other areas. “For genera- and Teacher Education. A total of 639 does business and provides services. It helpline. And Advyzer, the third-place tions, ambitious young people have sought courses have been identified by colleges empowers students to shape the future pitch, is an app that integrates academic to make a place in the world for offering these majors and are guaranteed that they will inherit,” said competition goals and user preferences to provide per- themselves through boxing, but too often, to transfer for credit toward the majors. director Stan Altman, a public affairs pro- sonalized academic advisement to under- without an education, it led to a limited fessor at Baruch. The first-place pitch, graduates. The CUNY-IBM tech challenge future,” said Dobrin. “CUNY is proud to Get Daily Newswire reports at Watson LMSW — Licensed Master Social attracted more than 300 students from 18 provide the opportunity for an education cuny.edu/newswire. To download the free app Worker —proposes a new statewide child CUNY campuses. The top three teams that can lead to options for these young for your mobile device, search The welfare information system that would act were awarded a total of $10,000 in cash people.” CUNY will administer the pro- City University of New York at the as a virtual caseworker assistant, integrat- prizes donated by the Shelley & Donald gram, while NYSAC, USA Boxing Metro Apple or Android online stores. Or ing information across all agencies to iden- Rubin Foundation. The first- second- and and the Daily News will assist in recruiting snap the nearby box with your tify child abuse and maltreatment cases third-place teams were awarded $5,000, applicants from the state’s boxing commu- smartphone to subscribe to quickly and accurately. Caseworkers are $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. nity and help promote the program. Newswire.

CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 5 ART ART AND MORE ART

ing David Mbele, Velaphi Mzimba and Winston Saoli. ACROSS THE U Payne singles out a mixed media work by Cecil Phiri showing students running in a field — presumably from police. “That piece is very rare. The artist didn’t TUNNING EXHIBITIONS sign his last name, just his first. If police are filling galleries across The City Uni- had known, he would have been arrested versityS of New York, provoking thought, because Africans weren't allowed to take enriching the life of the University com- photos or depict the uprising. If they munity and adding insight into cultures found artists were doing even drawings, close to home and far away. police would raid their houses and Among the most thought-provoking destroy the art.” works is the small but powerful bronze Complementing the Payne collection by South African artist Percy is “Next Generation: Emerging Konqobe that depicts a student carrying Photographers from South Africa,” a a dying schoolmate. Based on a show of younger photographers who renowned image by photojournalist Sam highlight the political and social shifts Nzima, it dramatizes the aftermath of that have taken place since the Soweto the police fusillade that launched the uprising. 1976 student uprising against apartheid “So much of what we know of South in the Soweto ghetto of Johannesburg. Africa is filtered through the often-sen- Police had opened fire on youngsters sational news media,” says Elizabeth who were demanding better education Hoy, the museum’s collection curator, and protesting having to take classes in who organized the show with museum Afrikaans, the language of their white director Amy Winter. “By looking at oppressors, rather than Zulu. South Africa’s history through the lens of This and the other artwork shown at artwork, the audience is able to see the Queens College’s Godwin-Ternbach course of events through the eyes of the Museum as part of a campus “Year of participants — artists involved in the South Africa” were collected by Les anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s Payne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning and young artists who will help shape Newsday reporter. the future of South Africa.” “I was covering the Soweto uprising, Sharply different in tone and media with all the gore and blood, and it was are the colorful and energetic quilts and pretty bleak,” Payne recalls. “And then I related works on paper from Gee’s Bend saw a picture called ‘The Breakfast in rural Alabama that are on display at Table’ [by Hargreaves Ntukwana], which the Lehman College Art Gallery. Gee’s quilts include wild, improvisatory ele- says “The Faces of Islam” exhibition was warm and inviting and made me Bend quilts, made by generations of ments: broken patterns, high color con- portrays a diversity of community col- homesick. It spoke to me.” That started African-American women descended trasts, dissonance, asymmetry and lege students, their families and their Payne’s passion for collecting works by from enslaved people, have become syncopation. Aesthetically similar to communities. “These teachers, artists, South African artists, many of whom famous in recent decades for their modern geometric and West airline pilots, community activists, gained international reputations, includ- intrepid designs. African textiles, the quilts came into attorneys and myriad others joined with As an enthu- being alongside gospel, blues and jazz.” our students and alums to share the siastic New York Quiltmaker Mary Lee Bendolph mix- bond of creative photography. In the Times review of es camouflage fabric and denim to evoke process they met as human beings work- this exhibition the hunt. Loretta Bennett’s quilts mix ing together for a common cause: to be put it, “What strips of fabric in sometimes eye-pop- seen as individuals and not as stereo- makes this tra- ping colors, creating invigorating visual types,” he says. dition so com- rhythms. Leola Pettway riffs on more LaGuardia students Gianni Sanchez pelling is that traditional approaches with repeating Cruz, 27, and Jorge Rodriguez, 21, took unlike most starburst patterns, but each burst strives many of the portraits. “We had Muslims quilts in the to outshine the others. from around the world; Iranian, European- In another exhibition at the Queens Pakistani, African-Americans, Whites, American tradi- Museum, LaGuardia Community Salvadorian, and Mexican,” said tion, which College students have turned their cam- Rodriguez, who is from the Dominican favored unifor- eras on the borough’s Muslim commu- Republic. “Seeing so many people from mity, harmony nity. so many parts of the world that follow and precision, Scott Sternbach, director of the same religion was a beautiful expe- Gee’s Bend LaGuardia’s photography department, rience.”

Faces of Islam at LaGuardia

6 CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 CULTURE

EVERYWHERE, SOMETHING TO SEE!

Baruch College - Sidney Mishkin Gallery Hostos Community College - Lehman College Art Gallery World of Shojo Manga: Longwood Art Gallery Linda Day Clark: Mirrors of Girls’ Desires Lasting Legacies The Gee’s Bend Photographs This exhibition of shojo (girls’) manga is the Ellsworth Ausby, Xenobia Bailey, Honey Kassoy Closes April 24 first to focus on the unique genre of Japanese and Olga Kitt – the work of four artists from cuny.edu/gee UNIVERSITY manga. BCA’s Creating A Living Legacy (CALL) Queens College Closes Feb. 27 Program. House cuny.edu/manga Closes May 6 cuny.edu/legacy To Jack Bradley, the Greatest’ Photo Taker: Borough of Manhattan Community College - Treasures from the Jack Bradley Shirley Fiterman Art Center Hunter College Collection At this Moment: 205 Hudson Street Gallery Celebrating the legacy of Louis Armstrong Recent Artwork by BMCC Faculty Robert Barry: All the things I know … through the private access of longtime Closes March 24 1962 to the Present friend and photographer Jack Bradley. cuny.edu/bmccart This exhibit examines the art of Robert Through March Brooklyn College Library Barry, an American artist widely regarded cuny.edu/armstrong as one of the founders of American The World Knew: The Godwin-Ternbach Museum Conceptualism. Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity Closes –April 4 Year of South Africa Karski carried information from the Polish Next Generation: Emerging Photographers underground to the government in exile, and Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery from South Africa; Mezzanine Gallery in 1943 met with FDR to inform him about the Robert Motherwell and the Closes March 21 genocide in the concentration camps. New York School cuny.edu/southafrica Closes April 19 A selection of works by Motherwell and the cuny.edu/karski artists he brought to Hunter College. Queensborough Community College Art Gallery City College – The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Closes May 2 cuny.edu/hunterexhibits Windows of Inspiration School of Architecture Acknowledged Taiwanese painter and QCC Sagrada Família - John Jay College of Criminal Justice - student, Lisa Chin-Jung Baw, displays a Gaudí's Unfinished Masterpiece Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery selection of her already impressive career as An exhibition of La Sagrada Familia, the Of Human Bondage an artist. magnum opus of Antoni Gaudí, the father of Also subtitled Strength of Emotions, it is March 11 - April 9 Catalan Modernism that includes about humanity’s lack of control that results cuny.edu/baw architectural models and casts used in in a sort of slavery or bondage. construction and 3D computer imaging Closes April 3 software. cuny.edu/bondage Closes May 8 The Year of cuny.edu/sagrada Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery South Africa at Return to Tomorrow: Queens College College of Staten 3D Printed Sculpture for the Posthuman Age Island Art Gallery Using 3D printing technology, Ashley Zelinskie Creative Connections: School of Paris Prints creates sculptural forms composed of the from the Staten Island Museum computer code that describes them. The exhibition is on loan from the Staten March 11- April 14 Island Museum with works by Picasso, cuny.edu/zelinski Matisse and Chagall, among others Closes April 2 LaGuardia Community College – cuny.edu/parisprints Queens Museum The Faces of Islam The Graduate Center: A collection of photographs of LaGuardia The Amie and Tony James Gallery students, staff and their family members, as Specters of Communism: well as New York City politicians and Contemporary Russian Art community leaders who practice the Islamic The exhibition includes the works of artists faith. from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and New York, Closes March 1 including Alina and Jeff Bliumis, Keti cuny.edu/faces Chukhrov, Chto Delat, Anton Vidokle, and Arseny Zhilyaev. Closes March 28 cuny.edu/russianart Lisa Chin-Jung Baw at Queensborough Community College Gee’s Bend quilts at Lehman College

CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 7 GRANTS&HONORS RESEARCH

Elizabeth Gorodetsky, undergraduate Sage Honors Scholar, working in the lab Hunter’s new Continued from page 4 home for research Brooklyn College.” Hunter College has scientists at the received $435,481in grant support from the Weill Cornell Institute of International Education for “A Medical College Domestic Chinese Language Program Under center at East the Language Flagship,” directed by Der-lin 69th Street and Chao. “Research Experiences for York Avenue in Manhattan Undergraduates,” a project directed by Reginald Blake of New York City College of Technology, has been awarded $199,614 in grant support by the National Science Foundation. President William J. Fritz of the College of Staten Island received the Effective Leadership Award on behalf of CSI at the 22nd Annual Golden Age Awards Banquet held by the Latino Center on Aging (LCA) for CSI’s significant contributions and exemplary commitment to the betterment of the Latino/Hispanic communities throughout the world. The Board of Trustees has named five outstanding scholars as Hunter Opens New Home Distinguished Professors, CUNY’s highest faculty rank. Cathy N. Davidson of the Graduate School and University Center is a for Research at Weill Cornell leading theorist of using social media and digital technologies in education; Jeanne Theoharris of Medical College Brooklyn College specializes in new home for Hunter College sci- genomics, bioimaging and nanotechnology. mitment to attracting and retaining the American race entists — the product of an unusu- Just as important as the space itself is its best and brightest science faculty, building relations and al partnership between Hunter location inside Weill Cornell’s new $650 state-of-the-art facilities and competing authored the and Weill Cornell Medical College million research building, a center devoted with the nation’s top institutions for gov- prizewinning and — is the latest entry to translational bench-to-bed- ernment and foundation research dollars. best-selling A in CUNY’s decadelong emer- side medical research. From Elevating research and education in biography, The Theoharris gence as a leading research this base, Hunter researchers advanced disciplines and emerging tech- Rebellious Life of university. “A truly will collaborate with Weill nologies — being an exemplar of science in Mrs. Rosa Parks; Eric Weitz is a leading In January, Hunter Cornell scientists — a step in the public interest—has since become ele- human rights historian and Dean of City incredible opened its floor of the med- CUNY’s drive to forge partner- mental to CUNY’s mission as the nation’s College’s Division of Humanities and Arts; ical school’s new Belfer partnership…” ships with leading institutions largest urban public university. David Waldstreicher of the Graduate School Research Building at East and play a key role in New Twelve Hunter faculty researchers — and University Center specializes in U.S. 69th Street and York — Hunter York’s fast-growing science and from the biology, chemistry, physics and political history though 1900, particularly Avenue, a 21,000-square- technology economy. medical laboratory sciences departments the struggle over slavery; and Anthony President Raab foot space where Hunter The move is part of an ambi- — have moved into the new Belfer build- Tamburri, Dean of the John D. Calandra faculty scientists and their tious expansion of science ing. It’s a move that marks “a truly incredi- Italian-American Institute at Queens students will conduct research and education at ble partnership” between a great public College, is a leading scholar of modern research in cancer biology, infectious dis- CUNY that began in 2001, when the college and a great Ivy League institution, Italian literature and culture. eases, bioinformatics, computational University set in motion a long-term com- said Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab. Ta-Nehisi Coates, Journalist-in- Residence at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and Yoruba Richen, the School’s Documentary Program Director, have been named to The Root 100 list of African Americans 45 years old and younger who are Coates responsible for the year’s most significant moments and themes: Coates for his cover story for “The Atlantic,” “The Case for Reparations”; and Richen for her award-winning documentary, “The New Black.” Dennis Sullivan, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the Graduate School and University Center, who also holds the Chair in Science (Mathematics), has won the 2014 Balzan Prize for his major contributions to topology and the theory of dynamical systems and his exceptional results in many fields of mathematics, such as geometry, the theory of Kleinian groups, analysis and number theory. Half of the $800,000 award will finance research projects by young scholars and scientists.

8 CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 BOOKTALK Big Apple & La-La Land Compared

By Gary Schmidgall notably toward immigrants (especially those in New York are more than under mayors Bloomberg and double those in Los Angeles. AM THE PERFECT READER for Villaraigosa). Another point of similarity — A chapter on the cities’ two New York and Los Angeles, a compen- and perhaps the source of the editors’ police departments tries to dious sociological thumbnail analysis “uncertain” future —is inequality: “both account for the historic declines of the nation’s two largest urban cen- New York and Los Angeles are among the in crime in both cities over the Iters—“the two iconic US cities of the most unequal US cities and have shown a last two decades, but also shows twenty-first century.” My first 20 years clear trend of growing the entire book’s will- unfolded in the LA basin, though I fled inequality over the past ————————————————— ingness to tell it like it north for a decade to study at Stanford. three decades.” New York and Los Angeles is. Thus, we learn that After teaching a decade in , I Both cities fit the defini- The Uncertain Future “While the LAPD has have for the last 30 years been a happy tion of “global,” that is, Edited by David Halle emerged from a period of resident of New York (don’t get me started they have command-and- and Andrew A. Beveridge crisis and deep institutional on sirens or tourist helicopters). So I am in control functions and asso- Oxford University Press reform to build an umbrella spirit perfectly bicoastal. ciated investments in ————————————————— of legitimacy, the current The subject, of course, is huge, and so is property development, posture of the NYPD and its The reader gets to relax a bit in the the thumbnail — it’s nearly 600 pages long along with cultural production and a dis- resistance to outside monitoring and Culture section with a charming off-the- and has been edited by Queens College and tinctive industrial base. Both are major internal reforms suggests a less clear wall essay on “Los Angeles, Where Graduate Center sociologist Andrew ports for shipping traffic, and so an entire future.” Architecture Is At,” in which (among other Beveridge and UCLA sociologist David chapter is devoted to the Port Authority Another chapter on housing notes that things) the new Alice Tully Hall is juxta- Halle (Oxford). Their very and the Port of LA and Long Beach the two cities are virtually the only large posed with Gehry’s Disney Hall. first paragraph in the (the busiest in the nation). ones that regulate rent, and there is a fasci- Another colorful survey — on how New jointly written first Even before the Bridge- nating few pages on how and why the regu- York, Los Angeles, and Chicago have been chapter explains closing scandal, the lation in the two cities differs. A chapter on depicted in hit movies — is co-authored by why they gave their authors of this chapter “Financial, Economic, and Political Crises” Halle and three others. Chicago was added study a rather lament how poli- is also co-authored by the editors, and it to the mix because any survey of “city” ominous subtitle, tics and patron- identifies all the evils that led to the 2008 films, the authors say, must include the The Uncertain age were recession. It ends depressingly with most popular city film of all time (judged Future: “The obstructing the thoughts about the implications of the by ticket sales): The Sting. Among the sur- direction of managerial effi- Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling: prises noted here is how rarely movies of New York and ciency of the Port “Finally, a long-standing concern is protect- iconic New York-centric directors Woody Los Angeles, Authority. The ing democratic politics from plutocracy.” Allen, Spike Lee, and Martin Scorsese have the nation’s better news at the Did I mention New York and Los been hits. Another surprise is how rarely two largest cities LA Port is its recent Angeles, in good sociological style, is rich film noir—an iconic LA film genre — tri- and urban embrace of “green” in graphs and tables? These are particular- umphed at the box office — not even regions, is hugely principles. ly helpful in the chapter on the two cities Sunset Boulevard. Which happened to uncertain, more so than The editors have as immigrant destinations, co-authored by remind me of (in my view) the greatest LA it has been for decades.” divided their study into five Hunter College’s Nancy Foner, the chapter flick of all time, and a delicious noir spoof, They suggest there is a dark categories: Politics and on Government and Politics in the two Who Framed Roger Rabbit. side to the optimism of the Economics, Social and cities co-authored by the Graduate It is noted that New York has recently Frank Sinatra lyric: many peo- Urban Problems, Center’s John Mollenkopf, and in a chap- been a tempting venue for disasters films ple don’t “make it” in New York —or in Los Immigration and Ethnic Problems, ter on Chinese communities in the two (Godzilla in 1998, Dark Night in 2008), but Angeles for that matter. Planning and Environmentalism, and cities co-authored by Hunter’s Margaret this book left me feeling that — barring the Iconic cities inevitably have their defin- Culture. Within these are chapters, usually Chin. Chin gave me a new definition for apocalypse — the two cities have a certain ing characteristics. New York’s disasters with multiple authors, that focus on spe- my hometown, Alhambra, whose founders future. There is too much evidence here of are more likely to be floods, LA’s will be cific topics. One chapter is devoted to com- were crazy about Washington Irving’s practical and inventive responses to the earthquakes and wildfires. New York is paring the two public school systems (New Tales of the Alhambra. My high school was full array of massive urban problems to be legit theater; LA is film. But they have York’s is the largest, with Los Angeles in homogenously white in the 1960s; our anything other than optimistic. much in common. The two cities are tops second place); it reveals that in Los football team was the Alhambra Moors, in percentage of renters (NY is 70 percent, Angeles the mayor has to contend with a though there was exactly one black stu- LA 61 percent), both weathered the 2008 seven-person school board, while New dent in my class of 500! Now, Chin says, CUNY Matters welcomes information about recession, though NY fared marginally York’s mayor has more free rein. Another Alhambra is part of a huge Asian new books that have been written or edited better. Both cities have been in the fore- chapter is devoted to the non-profit sec- “ethnoburb” in the San Gabriel Valley. by faculty and members of the University front of the fight against intolerance, tors of the two cities; the budget totals for community. cuny.edu/booksandauthors NEWTITLES / CUNYAUTHORS Bronx Faces Iraq and Orphan The Rise of Beat Writers And Voices Back Scandal Sunset Park And More In the early 1980s, For Soldiers And Muslim With a $100 million Mayhem Lehman College Redeployment, Brotherhood investment from John Tytell, a longtime conducted interviews written by former Mayor Bill de Blasio professor of modern with hundreds of In her new book, The and the arrival of U.S. Marine Phil Klay, Orphan Scandal: American literature at Bronx residents — who served in Iraq artisanal businesses Queens College, in his latest book, public figures, community leaders and Christian Missionaries and the Rise of like Jacques Torres Chocolates, Sunset and is a Hunter College MFA, ’11, is a the Muslim Brotherhood, City College Writing Beat and Other Occasions of regular folks — for an oral history poignant and powerful collection of Park seems poised for a revival. But the Literary Mayhem, takes a new look back project about the borough before, during history professor Beth Baron recounts transformation of this Brooklyn neigh- short stories about war’s deep impact on the brutal beating of a 15-year-old at the Beat Generation. An author best and after its decade of arson, crime and soldiers in combat and when they return borhood won’t be easy, says Queens known as a preeminent historian of that abandonment. Thirty years later, Emita Muslim girl by Christian missionaries in College urban studies professor Tarry home. Klay recently won the 2014 1933 and tells how the incident spurred idiosyncratic period of postwar American Hill, a former Lehman professor, and National Book Award for Fiction. Hum. In her book, Making a Global literature, Tytell reflects on writers and Janet Butler Munch, a research librarian the growth of one of Islam’s most Immigrant Neighborhood: Brooklyn’s influential political organizations. writing from the perspective of someone at the college, have collected some of Sunset Park, Hum outlines challenges, who’s been doing it, and teaching it, for the project’s most enduring stories in including job development, environment, more than 50 years. Bronx Faces and Voices: Sixteen Stories gentrification and forging alliances of Courage and Community between immigrant communities. CUNY.EDU/BOOKBEAT

CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 9 FORYOURBENEFIT HEALTH CARE FOR STUDENTS — AND EMPLOYEES Colleges Offer a Range of Services for Staff

By Barbara Fischkin

OROTHY GALE, a registered at the helm of the health centers in their nurse known at Kingsbor- respective colleges, while wide-ranging, is ough Community College as not that unusual. What is different “Dottie,” says that when it though, is that at Kingsborough and comes to health, people Queens colleges, employees as well as stu- Dsometimes need “a little reinforcement.” dents can take advantage of the services So when a college employee, recently offered. diagnosed with diabetes, expressed a bit At many CUNY campuses these health of confusion concerning a new glucome- centers are funded by student fees and ter, Gale said: “Bring it in and I’ll work therefore for students only. with you on using it.” Employees should check with their At Queens College, Tsui-Fang Shen, human resources offices to find out what associate director of health services, has health services are available on campus. designated a private room For example, that nursing mothers can some health cen- use to express breast Employees should check with ters, even if they milk, in accordance with are not open to CUNY policy. On a far their human resources offices to employees, run grander scale, she has large-scale annual developed relationships find out what health services are or periodic health with over a hundred fairs to which the agencies and providers available to them on campus. entire college is who have expressed a invited. willingness to accept When it comes referrals. Some offer free services or to “walk-ins,” Queens and KBCC serve reduced and/or sliding-scale fees, and the employees as part of long-standing tradi- center has compiled a referral booklet to tions. “It goes back many years,’’ says help prospective patients negotiate the Shen. Gale, a Kingsborough alumna (’95) terrain. says it is her impression these services don’t feel well.” Same at Queens, where and my blood glucose level and sent me And now that it is winter and cold sea- have been available to employees for the director of the human resources to my primary care physician,” said son, both Gale and Shen remind everyone decades. operations, has been among those to take Oswald Fraser, who added that it was at their colleges to cover their coughs, Gale says that employees and students advantage of the services offered. “I had a reassuring to have this information wash their hands and get plenty of sleep. can come in “to have their blood pressure chest pain and they took my vital signs before that office visit. Much of what Gale and Shen are doing read or if they have a temperature and

ATYOUR Disaster Survival — New 2015 Tax-Deferred SERVICE Having a Plan to Keep You Safe Annuity Plan Limits UNY’s Work/Life program, available gratis to all employees, f you contribute to one of CUNY’s will be hosting another Webinar in March. And with the winter 403(b) Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA) Cthe Northeast has experienced this year, especially our urban IPlans, now is the time to submit neighbors in Boston, you could find some useful information in this deferral changes. Here are the Internal program. This Webinar makes the global personal — and speaks to Revenue Service’s new contribution the fears many of us feel in light of current events. limits for TDAs for the 2015 calendar It has a simple title — “Practical Strategies to Stay Safe” — but year: deals with complicated issues. The key to surviving a disaster is being •For those under age 50, the prepared, according to CCA, the company that runs the Work/Life maximum is $18,000 program for the University. • For those who are age “Whether your community is prone to hurricanes, vulnerable to wildfires, or 50 or older, the waiting for the next big earthquake, having a plan in place can make all the maximum is $24,000 difference for you and your family.” The March Webinar will illuminate, For a complete list of “strategies to keep you and your family safe in case of natural IRS contribution limits disasters, terrorist attacks or other emergencies.” It is scheduled for for 2015, Search.cuny.edu “IRS Contributions” March 17 at noon and again at 2 pm. If you wish to make any deferral percentage To access the Webinar please sign on to www.myccaonline.com with the changes to your TDA plan for 2015, please user name CUNY. And if you can’t participate but have questions complete the 2015 Salary Reduction Agreement regarding these matters, you can call the program’s 24-hour, seven-day-a- Form and return it to your HR Office for processing. week, toll-free number: 800-833-8707 Search.cuny.edu “TDA Plans”

10 CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 (More) On the Web at cuny.edu

CROSSWORD CUNY.EDU/CROSSWORD

hink you know about CUNY? Test your knowledge with the TCrossword Puzzle in each issue of Salute to Scholars maga- zine. The latest puzzle, “It’s an Honor,” focuses on the Macaulay Honors College. Here are some clues: Macaulay was the brainchild of Chancellor Matthew _____. Dean of Macaulay: Ann _____ More than 60% of Macaulay students are from families of _____. William Macaulay’s gift was _____ million dollars, the largest single donation in the history of CUNY. It’s fun and interesting. Give it a try.

FREE DIGITAL NEW YORK TIMES WWW.NYTIMES.COM

njoy 52 weeks of free digital access to the New York ETimes. CUNY's Office of Library Services and the Nurse Dorothy Gale campus libraries are pleased to announce that The New at Kingsborough York Times Digital is now available to all CUNY Community College students, faculty and staff. This means that anyone with an email address ending in cuny.edu (or cuny.tv) can sign up any time for an academic pass for free access to www.nytimes.com website and smartphone app. To begin your subscription, go to: https://myaccount.nytimes.com/verification/edupass

HOW ISIS KEEPS CONTROL CUNY.EDU/PODCASTS

o extremist group has been Nable to maintain control over a territory and its people like ISIS — the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq. At Hunter Col- lege’s Roosevelt House, a group Both Gale and Shen emphasize that they can provide. But they can, for exam- of experts, including NPR Middle the centers are staffed by registered ple, provide over-the-counter medicines East correspondent Deborah nurses — not physicians, nurse practi- and first aid. Amos and Hunter history profes- tioners or physician assistants — and are Gale is especially proud that although sor Jillian Schwedler, examine bound by law regarding which services she is the only full-time nurse at the cen- how ISIS, with its oil revenue, ter, she has 10 nurses working for her arms and organization, has part time. Shen, who has a master’s been able to dominate these degree in clinical nutrition and is a public vast areas. Into the Maze of Retirement health specialist, administers the many services offered and has a registered AVIGATING the complex maze of pensions, nurse on staff. She has also arranged for annuities, Medicare and retiree health health care navigators for the Affordable WE REMEMBER CUNY.EDU/MU/WE-REMEMBER Ninsurance can be daunting. And so last Care Act to be on campus several times a November, 75 University employees received help week to assist with the complicated Joseph Raben, 90, Professor Emeritus, Queens College, doing this. The University Employee Benefits enrollment process for those not covered member of the English Department 1954 to 1984. In 1966 Office hosted a “pre-retirement” seminar at John by CUNY or PSC insurance. he founded the journal Computers and the Humanities, Jay College of Criminal Justice. In a day-long “ I always wanted to be a nurse,” says which became the leading journal in the field, and went session, participants learned about applying for Gale, who started out working as a clerk on to start the Association for Computers and the Social Security, for a Wall Street firm and raised two chil- Humanities in 1978. Died Jan. 18, 2015. earnings dren. Her associate nursing degree is limitations after from Kingsborough and her bachelor’s, Timothy J. Dowd, 99, B.A. City College, MPA, Baruch retirement along which she earned years later, is from College, New York City police detective who led the with other matters CUNY’s New York City College of manhunt that captured serial killer David Berkowitz (Son and received Technology. “So my husband supported of Sam) in 1977. Died Dec. 26, 2014. professional advice me and I went back to school. I became a Bess Myerson, 90, Hunter College, first Jewish Miss on transitioning to nurse at 35. It was the right time. I just America, early 1960’s television game show personality, retirement. The liked helping people. It was something I former commissioner of two New York City agencies – University Benefits wanted to do. Consumer and Cultural Affairs, active in national and New Office will host For more information on these cen- York City politics. Died Dec. 14, 2014 similar seminars in the future — meanwhile, ters, their locations on campus and hours read more about your CUNY retirement options at: please visit Allie Sherman, 91, Brooklyn College, coach of the New Search.cuny.edu “Retirement” Search.cuny.edu “Queens Health” York Giants who led the football team to three consecutive and National Football League championship games, in 1961, 1962 and1963. Died Jan. 3, 2015 Search.cuny.edu “Kingsborough Health” Bess Myerson

CUNY MATTERS — Winter 2015 11 LECTURES/PANELS THEATER/FILM MUSIC/DANCE SPECIAL EVENTS March 1 March 1 March 3 Theatreworks USA: The Classical Connection Best-Selling Author Series: Fly Guy & Other Stories Series: Concert II Boris Fishman Hunter College College of Staten Island Hunter College 11 a.m. 3 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Regular: $20, $30/ Students & Groups of 4: $16, $24 March 7 March 9 American Showstoppers: >>Go to search.cuny.edu In the World & on the Web Women Writing CAT Your Theatre Presents An evening with Irving Berlin Women’s Lives: The “See-Saw” featuring Dorothy O. Helly Lecture ART/EXHIBITS Baruch College The Fred Barton Orchestra March 3, 2015 Roxana Robinson: The Graduate Center 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Kingsborough Community Bystander CPR training Emotion and Narrative 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. $15 adults / $10 students College provided by the FDNY When it comes to writing Justice Reflects 8 p.m. mobile CPR unit Kofi Annan fiction it often helps to listen March 4 Income Gap $35, $30 College of Staten Island Condemns to the words, “I deleted the National Yiddish Theater: "A InAmerican his new book,Injustice The in Divide: the Age 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. Free Exclusion first 300 hundred pages I Freylek Purim" Baruch College of the Wealth Gap In his keynote address at wrote — the voice was 7 p.m.– 9 p.m. , Media Studies Colloquium the event “New World wrong,” said author Roxana Free bestselling author Matt Series Presents: Disorder: Challenges for Robinson, referring to her Taibbi explores how the Dan Gillmor latest novel, Sparta, which Queens College the UN in the 21st income gap between the 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Century” at Baruch examines the Iraq war’s wealthy and the poor is also Free College, Kofi Annan psychological wounds on a reflected in who is targeted reminded the audience young man. Robinson, a March 24 for prosecution and Forever Freestyle 9 New York’s Legal Landmarks A reading and conversation Lehman College The Graduate Center that the way to build visiting faculty member in the with Harman incarceration. “I’m trying to 8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. peace between countries Through March 21 Department of English at Writer-In-Residence show the two different ways $100, $65, $60, $55 Free was through respect for Year of South Africa at the Hunter College, spoke at the Elif Batuman March 10 that the criminal justice Goldwin Ternbach Museum: Baruch College others. “When will we Collection of Violet and Les Creative Writing MFA John O’Keefe’s Ship of Fools system works for these two Momma’s Hip-Hop Kitchen: March 6 5 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Women Confronting ISIS: learn that identity is not Payne Next Generation: Distinguished Writers Fall Nobel Journey Queensborough Community different types of offenders,” Vol. 8: Enough is Enough Local Strategies and States’ Emerging Photographers Lecture Series. The prolific College Hostos Community College monolithic or exclusive, John O’Keefe (City College, said Taibbi at an event at Responsibilities From South Africa 1:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m. but multiple and author of five novels, three 1963) describes his Hunter’s Roosevelt House. CUNY School of Law Queens College Free Free overlapping?” asks the story collections and a Taibbi, who won a National 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 11a.m. – 7 p.m. discovery of the brain’s seventh Secretary- Free biography of Georgia O’Keeffe, “internal GPS,” which won March 13 Magazine Award for his Fuzjko Hemming Piano Solo The Gruffalo’s Child General of the United Robinson says that while her him a 2014 Nobel Prize, and columns in Rolling Stone in Concert 2015 in NYC March 7 Borough of Manhattan Baruch College Nations, who was the Through Dec. 23 subject may change, the 2008, was interviewed by Citizenship NOW! discusses his formative Community College 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. Application assistance event joint recipient, along with The New York motive remains the same. ProPublica president and That Never Was years as a CUNY 12:00 p.m. $35 with N.Y.S. Senator Kevin the UN, of the 2001 Nobel The City College of New York “For me, it’s always emotion March 30 undergraduate. The son of Free founding general manager Parker, C.M. Jumaane Williams, New Americans Prize for Peace. Time Varies that drives the narrative.” 8th Annual Pearls of Wisdom Irish immigrants, born in Richard Tofel on the inequity March 21 Dublin’s Irish Cabaret Campaign and Naleo Search.cuny.edu Free Search.cuny.edu Baruch College Harlem and raised in the of American crime and Soh Daiko With Andy Cooney LaGuardia Community (Brooklyn) 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. South Bronx, he transferred punishment. “Kofi Annan” Through April 12 “Roxana Robinson” College of Staten Island College The University 8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Creative Connections: School April 1 to CUNY from a private Search.cuny.edu 3 p.m. (Brooklyn College) of Paris Prints from the college that he had $40, $35 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Media Studies Colloquium “Justice Gap” Staten Island Museum Free Series Presents: attended at night while College of Staten Island March 15 Aaron Naparstek working to support himself 12:00 PM – 4:00 p.m. Moscow Festival Ballet: March 11 Queens College Free during the day. But at CUNY, Romeo and Juliet Public Square Live: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. he could afford the day Lehman College Women’s Human Rights Free March 11– April 9 program with far less time 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. CUNY School of Law Windows of Inspiration $45, $40, $25 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Why Study Conversion and devoted to outside work. Children 12 and under, $10 Queensborough Community Deeply curious, O’Keefe College Radical Assimilation? any seat March 29 Time Varies The Graduate Center explored philosophy and The Annual Holocaust Free 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. film courses, among others, March 21 Freedom Seder Free Todd Ellison’s Broadway Queensborough Community graduating with more than Moves to the Bronx: March 26 40 credits beyond the College 34th Annual Literary Arts Romance of Broadway 12:00 p.m. April 2 requirements of his Lehman College Festival Preventing Genomic $12 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. New York City College of Instability: Breast Cancer psychology major. $25, $20, $15 Technology and DNA Repair Search.cuny.edu Children 12 and under, 5:30 p.m. Brooklyn College “O’Keefe’s Journey” $10 any seat Free 12:30 p.m. Free

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