Volume 19 Number 14 CampusUpdate April 2, 2008 PUBLISHED BY THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR THE SUNY OSWEGO COMMUNITY Biggest Quest to date to fill Campus Center Oswego can expect the biggest and most diverse Quest yet, with around 180 contributions marking the college’s annual daylong symposium of scholarly and creative activities by faculty, staff and students on Wednesday, April 23. This year’s Quest also will be more centralized in location, with sessions expected to unfold throughout the Campus Center, said Jack Gelfand, Oswego’s di- rector of research and development. “We really value the experience of students work- ing with faculty members in various intellectual and creative activities that go beyond the classroom,” Gelfand said. “For an individual student to be able to give a talk about a research project is very exciting and could be a highlight of their time in college.” Gelfand has also encouraged strong faculty repre- sentation at Quest and has been pleased with the re- sults. “I clearly see it serves as a venue for the faculty to make presentations and have discussions on topics that are of interest to them,” he noted. “They get very excited to be able to do the kinds of things they can at Setting schedule — Freshman geology major Josh Valentino (standing), senior information systems ma- Quest.” jor Priyanka Desai and sophomore physics major Wes Laurion spent part of their spring break coordi- Of the 180 sessions, around 160 of them are talks, nating the schedule of Quest, which will be on April 23 this year. highlighted by keynote speaker Bruce Altschuler of Oswego’s political science department discussing activities as part of Quest,” Gelfand said. “Those are “Isn’t There a Better Way to Pick Our President?” at important intellectual activities we have on campus 1 p.m. in the Campus Center auditorium (see accom- and they also increase the festive nature of the event.” Popular political science panying story). Another topical feature will involve around 25 The overall diversity of sessions should be a strength students performing and displaying posters drawing professor to keynote Quest this year, Gelfand noted. Discussions from the world parallels between protests during the Vietnam and SUNY Oswego political science Professor Bruce of science, a School of Business symposium and pre- Iraq wars, organized by student Casey Accordino. Altschuler, an author and widely quoted expert on sentations on education are complemented by perfor- Gelfand said he envisions people walking through the elections, will ask “Isn’t There a Better Way to mances and interactive events. the Campus Center on Quest day to see presenters in Pick Our President?” as the Quest keynote speaker “We made a very specific effort to encourage people classrooms, poster presentations lining the halls and on April 23. to present activities that go beyond talks and beyond artwork on display. As he spoke, a small group of stu- Altschuler’s keynote, at 1 p.m. in the Campus topics we usually have,” Gelfand said. “We have a lot dents in the next room worked on the complex task of Center auditorium, is one of about 180 sessions more presenters from the humanities and the arts than finalizing the schedule, forsaking part of their spring for this annual celebration we’ve usually had for Quest.” break to pull together the day’s activities. “They have of scholarly and creative An example is a morning of film presentations in been doing a great job,” Gelfand said. pursuits of the campus com- the Campus Center auditorium. Participants will in- Daytime classes make way for Quest, with students munity. clude students working with faculty members Julia urged to attend a variety of events to learn more “I’ll be looking at the Offen of anthropology, Cynthia Clabough in the art about subjects of interest as well as what their col- current process of selecting department and Amy Shore of cinema and screen leagues are doing. presidential nominees — how studies. The auditorium will host musical presenta- The full schedule is expected to be available by it has evolved and what its tions in the afternoon. Monday on the Quest Web site, www.oswego.edu/ flaws are,” Altschuler said. “We’ve encouraged interesting visual and musical quest. — Tim Nekritz “I conclude that these flaws Bruce Altschuler have become so serious that it’s time to give another look Study: College has $326.3 million impact in CNY to a national primary which would solve many ex- isting problems.” An update of last year’s economic impact study Central New York, with a payroll of $86.5 million. He said while 50 years of polls have shown “a shows that SUNY Oswego had an economic impact The spending of the college and its students, fac- strong majority of the public favors a national of $326.3 million last year on the seven-county Cen- ulty and staff created an additional 2,881 jobs in primary,” the many bills introduced in Congress tral New York region and injected $169.4 million into Oswego County plus another 2,134 jobs in six neigh- — including one supported by Woodrow Wilson the Oswego County economy last year. boring counties — Onondaga, Cayuga, Jefferson, 95 years ago — have all stalled. “Prospering Together: 2006-07” goes beyond dol- Lewis, Oneida and Madison, the study found. Altschuler’s talk will draw on “Selecting Presi- lars to detail many of the effects the college has on The report cites other ways SUNY Oswego benefits dential Nominees by National Primary: An Idea the neighboring area in terms of economic develop- the economy, such as its Small Business Develop- Whose Time Has Come?,” which he presented at ment, educational and civic support, and cultural en- ment Center and programs for entrepreneurs, busi- the American Politics Group in London and ran richment. nesses’ employees, and individuals seeking career as an article earlier this year in The Chronicle of “We are proud to play a leading part in the Central advancement. Higher Education and The Forum. New York community and look forward to increasing The college adds to the quality of life in the area “My speech will be given the day after the cooperative efforts that will further spur its devel- educationally and culturally and enhances the area Pennsylvania primary, making it particularly opment and prosperity,” SUNY Oswego President through the research and volunteer activities of its relevant in light of this year’s very messy and ex- Deborah F. Stanley said in the report. faculty, staff and students. Among such items men- tremely expensive contests for the Democratic and Stanley took copies of the newly published report tioned in the report are Project SMART’s partnership Republican nominations,” Altschuler said. “We to Albany the week before spring break to share as to improve teaching in public schools; the dozens of owe the many students who have been excited she met with elected representatives and their staffs art exhibitions, concerts and plays available for com- enough to work for candidates this year a process as the Legislature and governor entered the final days munity people to attend; WRVO, one of the top pub- they can be proud to have participated in.” of budget negotiations. lic radio stations in the country by ratings; research Jack Gelfand, Oswego’s director of research and The college’s study notes that the campus had 1,760 to improve lake-effect storm forecasting; the college- full-time-equivalent employees last year, making it the based Retired Senior Volunteer Program; and faculty See ‘Quest speaker,’ page 4 top employer in the county and one of the largest in leadership in community organizations. Inside: • People in action, page 2 • ‘Simpsonology,’ page 3 • Arts announcements, page 3• Spotlight, page 4 • Police confer, page 4 • Calendar highlights, page 4 1 Vol. 19, No. 14 CampusUpdate April 2, 2008 College trends People in action PA alert systems “Colleges and universities around the country, ever more mindful of campus safety, are install- ing outdoor sirens. The systems can blast spoken messages or tone alerts of danger—and one of the preset messages on many of the public-address systems warns: “There is a shooter on campus. Seek shelter immediately.” At many campuses, officials decided to install outdoor public-address systems as they’ve reviewed their emergency- notification strategies in the wake of the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech last spring. One popular answer has been to install complicated digital systems that beam text messages, e-mails, or instant messages to thousands of registered us- ers. But many officials have come to realize that not everyone on campus would be at a computer or a cellphone at any given time. Students may be playing Frisbee on the quad or listening in- tently in class with their laptops closed and their cellphones set to silent. ‘Then you have athletes,’ said Richard W. Schneider, president of Norwich University. Many colleges have decided that the old-fashioned approach of using sirens should be part of the mix of emergency-response technologies. At least a dozen campuses have Windy work — Some meteorology students were able to take advantage of a recent mild day to use bal- installed sirens or announced plans to do so in the loons to test wind speeds and directions around Piez Hall. Stephanie Magin releases one of the balloons past year. The systems are expensive, often cost- while Mike Lanphier (right) uses a digital anemometer to check wind speeds. Dan Seymour and Ron ing more than $100,000 to purchase and set up.” Harris (partially hidden) record the information. — Academe Today, The Chronicle of Higher Julieve Jubin of the art department was awarded by Pierce and Anthony J.A.