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UAlbany Latina Sorority Raises $3,000 at AIDS Benefit to Honor the Memory of a Sorority Sister’s Loved One
By Greta Petry
Sorority sisters for Omega Phi Beta raised $3,000 last month at an AIDS benefit on the UAlbany campus in memory of the mother of one of their own sorority sisters.

UAlbany student Ana Verdejo lost her mother, Mirta Davila, to AIDS in 1994. Verdejo’s loss galvanized the Latina sorority.

“When AIDS came too close to home on our campus, we started putting more energy toward the cause,” said Cindy Batista, one of Verdejo’s sorority sisters, president of Omega Phi Beta, and a Bronx native. “Just from the chapter seeing what Ana was going through, we were looking for a way to bring awareness to the AIDS epidemic, and how it hit so close to our campus. She was not the only one who was going through this on our campus, but no one was really doing anything about it.”

Omega Phi Beta responded with an annual AIDS benefit, and has done so for the past six years. On Nov. 4, Batista and her sorority sisters raised $3,000 for the Family Center, a non-profit organization in New York City that cares for the children of parents with AIDS. Many of the children are orphans.

There was a special challenge for the sorority sisters this year. In previous years, they had enough members to host a banquet to raise the funds. “What was unusual is that this year when we started planning, we only had three undergraduates and two graduate students,” said Batista, who graduated earlier this week. “We came up with an idea that was fun - a dance-a-thon.” Instead of charging a flat rate at the door, the sorority sisters circulated pledge forms to solicit donations at school and at work.

“And that worked so well,” Batista said. “We also asked our alumnae for help. We have a very strong alumnae system. They came back with funding from local businesses, as well as from national organizations. We also received great support from all the Latino Greek organizations on campus.” Batista is also president of the Latino Greek Council, an organization of a half dozen Latino fraternities and sororities on campus. About 300 people attended the dance-a-thon in the Campus Center Ballroom, including about 100 UAlbany students.

“For the most part, our chapter alumnae came with their spouses, and sisters came from other schools. Price Chopper donated a buffet. We also had two student group performances, one from the Fuerza Latina dance troupe, and the other from our national step team,” Batista said.

Community service has always been a major part of membership in Omega Phi Beta, Batista said. The sorority was founded March 15, 1989 at UAlbany. There are also chapters across New York State, in Virginia, and in North Carolina.

“Community service starts from the beginning for our sisterhood, during the intake process,” Batista said. “Each sister is required to give a minimum of 12 hours a semester, but we encourage them to do more. Currently we have nine undergraduates and two graduate members.”

Vice President for Student Affairs James P. Doellefeld said, “Omega Phi Beta represents all the best qualities that a sorority contributes to a rich out-of-class experience. These sisters place high value on ‘community service,’ and that quality will continue as they graduate and invest in their communities. ‘Giving back’ is real to Omega Phi Beta.”

Over the years, the sorority has offered the campus information on AIDS and exhibited the AIDS Quilt. The sisters have learned a great deal about the illness even as they seek to educate others.

“As we are learning, we are passing down a legacy at the same time,” Batista said. “Every year we have had this benefit and it will continue to happen. We tell our sisters how important it was for Ana because she is our sister, too. We all know who she is. She comes back and visits the chapter. She left in 1997 to go to Puerto Rico and now she is back on campus, finishing up her undergraduate degree this year. She has three children and lives in New York City. She comes here once a week, on Wednesday nights, and takes all of her classes on Thursday.”

The end of Batista’s years at UAlbany marks just the beginning of her commitment to giving back. The human biology and English major is joining the Peace Corps, and hopes to be assigned to serve in South America by February.

UAlbany has a history of being a welcoming place for Latino scholars, according to Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Carlos Santiago. “In comparison with other research universities, the University at Albany ranks fourth in the nation in terms of the percentage of Hispanic faculty who are full-time faculty members, according to the publication Black Issues in Higher Education,” Santiago said.

sorority sisters

Faculty & Staff

Marino Appointed to CELA
The University at Albany’s National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA) has appointed Jacqueline L. Marino its coordinator of instructional and professional development.In this newly created position, Marino will oversee the work of a network of teachers, administrators, and instructional facilitators who will join CELA researchers in applying the center’s research findings toward boosting literacy among middle school students.

Marino, whose most recent position was as an associate in English Language Arts for the New York State Education Department, was praised by Judith A. Langer, director of CELA, for “a wealth of knowledge and experience.”

“Jackie Marino has worked with teachers and policymakers at all levels to improve students’ literacy learning,” said Langer. “She has also taught students of all ages, from elementary school to college. She understands teaching and learning, language development and use, and how to help teachers work with students to improve performance. We are very fortunate that she has agreed to join the center as we work with schools to implement what we have found to be the most effective practices.”

Marino recently received the New York State English Council’s 2000 Fellow Award for her statewide leadership in English Language Arts Education.

Fiess Serves as Panelist
Several UAlbany professors, administrators, and a doctoral student recently participated in Neighborhood Work, a recent conference held for residents, neighborhood associations, community leaders and elected officials, at the First Lutheran Church Hall, 646 State St., Albany.

Mary Fiess, director of communications for the Office of University Relations, was part of a panel discussion on the subject of Universities and Colleges: Partners in Progress. Thomas Gebhardt, UAlbany’s director of Personal Safety and Off-Campus Affairs, served as moderator.

Other campus officials who spoke at the conference included Helen Desfosses, president of the Albany Common Council and professor of public policy; and Todd Swanstrom, professor of political science, who acted as the moderator of a panel that discussed building on the input from the morning sessions. In addition, Jason Scott, a doctoral student in criminal justice, was part of a panel that discussed community policing.

Changes in Corporate, Foundation Relations
Vice President for University Advancement Robert R. Ashton has announced several changes in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.

Dennis Kennedy has joined the office as the third professional on Director Carol Bullard’s staff. Dennis, formerly assistant director of marketing in the Office of Marketing and Special Events, has assumed the position of associate director of Corporate and Foundation Relations.

Penelope Benson-Wright, who joined the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations a year ago as assistant director, has been promoted to senior associate director.

Jaqueline Marino

Master Plan
Fall Progress
By Christine McKnight


Life Sciences Building: Northland Associates of Syracuse is the apparent low bidder for the University’s planned life sciences building, which will go up at the east end of the academic podium. The $42,699,000 construction bid, part of an overall project budget of $67 million, is now being reviewed by the State University Construction Fund. Following a successful review, the Fund will formally award the contract for the 194,000-square-foot facility. The life sciences building, which is scheduled for completion in 2004, will provide laboratory and support space for 39 research groups from biology, chemistry, and bio-psychology.

Academic Computing: The University plans to begin demolition and asbestos abatement as part of a major project that will create new “help desk” space off the northwest corner of the lecture center level. The work will begin during the January intersession.

Undergraduate Studies: Renovation of offices for the Office of Undergraduate Studies is nearly complete. While the offices, in LC B30 and LC B31, are open and functional, the University is awaiting the arrival of fire curtains to complete the project. In case of a fire, the specialized curtains will automatically engage to cover glass windows that open up onto the Lecture Center level.

Capital Plan 2003-08: The University is at work developing a new five-year plan at the request of the State University Construction Fund. The goal of this rigorous capital planning process is to identify both critical maintenance and program-related needs, and then emerge with a prioritized draft list of potential projects for consideration by the state Legislature and the governor for the 2003-08 period. Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut and Kuhn (EEK) and Scott Page Architects are the consultants for the study. The Program Priorities Committee, along with the Quality of Life Committee, will review preliminary materials, comment, and suggest changes for review by the Steering Committee, and eventually, President Karen R. Hitchcock.

New Head of University Relations, Marketing Named
By Vinny Reda
Catherine J. Herman, former speech writer and public affairs assistant to the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, and communications director for the Albany Law School, has been named the University’s new associate vice president in the Office of University Relations and Marketing.

Herman will be in charge of developing, implementing, and analyzing University-wide marketing and communications strategies, and serve as UAlbany’s chief media spokeswoman. She will manage a 20-person office that includes media relations, marketing, creative services, communications, and community relations.

Arriving at UAlbany with more than 15 years of marketing communications experience, Herman served at the State Department of Health since 1997, where she advised on such initiatives as town hall meetings, New York’s Health Research Science Board, and the New York Spinal Cord Injury Research and Education Trust Fund.

From 1994-97, Herman was communications director at Albany Law School, and from 1984-94 served as communications/marketing director for the Metropolitan Opera Guild in New York City. There, she developed and implemented a national school merchandise program, and successfully launched a new family opera season and membership program.

Her work with the Metropolitan Opera Guild earned Herman an “Echo” leadership award from the Direct Marketing Association. She has also won the Nori Award from the northeast chapter of the Ad Club, and an Eclat Award from the Hudson Valley Marketing Association.

A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, Herman served as vice president of the board of trustees of the Claverack Public Library in Claverack and is a member of the Women’s Press Club in Albany. She is the author of The Cupcake Cookbook (St. Martin’s Press, 1993), the hardback edition of which was released by Random House publishers in 1997.

In the University Relations post, Herman replaces Mary Fiess, who served in an interim capacity since August of 1998. Fiess will now assume the role of director of communications.

Catherine Herman

New Faculty
By Tim Kelly

Paul Kottman received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley this year, and joined the University’s English Department faculty this fall. Kottman is currently revising, for publication, his dissertation called “Sovereignty and Community after Shakespeare’s Theater,” a study of the interrelation between theatrical practices and the formation of community. He is also working on a number of articles that deal with testimony and narration, voice and politics, and the work of Walter Benjamin, John Neihardt, Bernardino Sahagún, and Shakespeare.

Kottman has had articles published in journals such as the Oxford Literary Review and Shakespeare Studies. He translated and wrote the introduction to Relating Narratives: Storytelling and Selfhood, by Adriana Cavarero (Routledge 2000). His teaching interests include Renaissance literature and drama, critical theory, ancient and modern philosophy, and performance theory.

Kottman has received the Mellon Dissertation Fellowship, the Berkeley Summer Research Fellowship, the Comparative Literature Department Fellowship, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship.

Lotfi Sayahi became an assistant professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures this fall. He has taught at the University since September 1999 as a visiting assistant professor. Sayahi said he wanted to carry on his research and added that “the Spanish program has a great history.”

Sayahi’s research interests include sociolinguistics, bilingualism, code switching, language change, speech communities, conversational and discourse analysis, communicative competence, second language acquisition, and teaching methodology.

Sayahi received his doctorate in linguistics from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid in 1999. He is fluent in Arabic, Spanish, English, and French. Sayahi taught Spanish, English, and French to foreign students at the Universidad Complutense. He also coordinated student preparation for entrance exams at the Educational English Centre in Madrid.

Fernando Leiva joined the University as an assistant professor in the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies this fall. Due to his interest in global labor issues, Leiva is teaching a new course on Workers and Globalization in the Americas and gave a talk on “Monitoring and Enforcing Labor Rights” at a recent Sweat Free SUNY and University Task Force seminar on sweatshop labor.

Leiva received his doctorate in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1998. That same year, he surveyed 100 manufacturing firms in Paraguay as a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). His findings on the ability of firms to combine technological innovation with changes in the organization and management of production were published by the UNDP under the title: “Regional Integration and Competitive Strategies in Paraguay’s Manufacturing Sector.”

In his native Chile, Leiva directed a Santiago-based research center. He has researched the impact of structural adjustment programs in Chile for OXFAM-UK and the effects of the privatization of public utilities for Consumers International.

Leiva’s research focuses on how particular economic ideas and policies transform class and gender relations in economies undergoing sustained processes of internationalization.

Paul Kottman
Lotfi Sayahi
Fernando Leiva
UAlbany Wins NSF Grant to Balance Better Science Teaching, NYS Standards
By Vinny Reda
The School of Education has received a new $600,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to examine the way schools and teachers balance a local effort to improve science teaching and learning with state assessments and standards.

The award is a supplement to the $2.5 million NSF-funded Local Systemic Change Project that is supporting professional development for grade K-8 science teachers in the Capital Region Science Education Partnership (CRSEP). CRSEP is a collaboration between four local school districts -- Schenectady, Bethlehem, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, and Watervliet -- and UAlbany.

Sandra Mathison, associate dean and associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, will head this new study, which will try to understand the tensions involved in launching a local effort to improve science teaching during a time when state tests are becoming increasingly important. Improved science education in the high schools leads ultimately to better qualified students at the University level and a better prepared work force after college.

Last May, CRSEP received funding from the NSF to provide opportunities for the districts’ 430 teachers of science, grades K-8, to improve their science content knowledge and to strengthen curriculum and instruction in science. As part of this effort, three teachers from the districts are acting as professional development specialists whose job is to develop and deliver professional development to their colleagues.

During the summer and fall this group has been working with district officials and UAlbany faculty to examine science curricular materials and New York State Standards and Assessments, and to identify gaps in the current curricula in the four districts - such as content areas called for in the NYS standards but absent from packaged curricular materials. The group’s members are now preparing to work with their teaching colleagues through a series of workshops, classroom visitations, and summer institutes beginning in the spring.

Mathison’s role will be to analyze the current state climate regarding standards and assessment, study changes in teacher knowledge and classroom instruction as a result of ongoing professional development, and document the experience of a representative school in the partnership.

John Falco, superintendent of the Schenectady City School District, and Audrey Champagne, UAlbany professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, are the principal investigators of the Local Systemic Change Project. Vicky Kouba, associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, is responsible for developing materials from the local project that science educators across the nation will be able to use. Ann Crotty of the Schenectady City School District is project coordinator.

Search Committees Named for Academic Affairs Provost, Criminal Justice Dean
By Greta Petry

The University has begun searches for the positions of provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and dean of the School of Criminal Justice.

President Karen R. Hitchcock has asked Frank J. Thompson, interim provost of Rockefeller College, to chair the search committee for provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

“We are both committed to a thorough and open search, one that will maximize prospects for a broad and diverse pool of talented candidates,” Thompson said. “The new provost and Academic Affairs vice president will be expected to provide the leadership necessary to help us sustain and build upon our many strengths as a public research university.”

Nominations may be sent to Thompson at the Office of the President, University Administration Building 430, or to other members of the search committee. Internal, as well as external, candidates are invited to apply. All nominations will be treated in the strictest confidence.

The provost and vice president for Academic Affairs is the chief academic, budget and planning officer, and reports directly to the president. He or she is the chief operating officer for the campus and serves as acting president in the president’s absence. The new provost will fill the vacancy created last year when Judy Genshaft left to become president of the University of South Florida. Carlos Santiago has taken the helm as interim provost.

Other search committee members include the following professors: Jeannette Altarriba, psychology; Ronald Bosco, English; David Carpenter, School of Public Health; Sarah R. Cohen, art; James Collins, anthropology; James Jaccard, psychology; Timothy Lance, Department of Mathematics and Statistics; Judith Langer, Educational Theory and Practice; David McCaffrey, public administration; Al Millis, Biological Sciences; John Pipkin, Geography and Planning; S.S. Ravi, Computer Science; Glenna Spitze, sociology; Lynn Videka-Sherman, School of Social Welfare; and David Wills, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Also serving are: Meredith Butler, dean of the University Libraries; Richard Highfield, dean of the School of Business; Assistant Vice President Carl Martin of Student Affairs; Maritza Martinez, assistant dean of the Educational Opportunity Program; Ms. Rosann Santos, president of the Graduate Student Organization, and one undergraduate yet to be named. Richard Farrell of the president’s office is staff liaison.

Nominations are also sought for the position of dean of the School of Criminal Justice to replace Dennis Rosenbaum, who left last year to take another position.

Nominations and applications may be sent to Criminal Justice Search Committee, care of Jonathan Bartow, assistant dean of Graduate Studies, UAB 121.

The search committee for the dean of the School of Criminal Justice is chaired by Jim Wyckoff, professor of Public Administration and Policy. Members include professors Dana Haynie of Sociology and Robert Miller of the School of Social Welfare, as well as Alan Lizotte, Hans Toch, and Alissa Worden, from the School of Criminal Justice. Students Terrylyn Pearlman and Craig Rivera are also serving. Bartow is staff liaison.

Lillian Williams Honored
Lillian S. Williams
, director of the Insti-tute for Research on Wo-men and an associate professor of women’s studies, was the reci-pient of the Year 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed recently by the Niagara County Black Achievers at the group’s annual banquet in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Williams, a Niagara Falls native, was cited for her significant contributions to society in the areas of education, public policy, and human rights. Moreover, the citation further noted that “the example set by Black Achievers to excel has given motivation, desire, and pride to future generations of young people in the black community.”

Williams’ book, Strangers in the Land of Paradise: The Creation of an African American Community, Buffalo, New York, 1900-1940, came out in paperback this fall.

Lillian Williams

Counseling Psychology: 20 Years of APA Approval
In October, UAlbany’s doctoral program in counseling psychology celebrated 20 years of continuous American Psychological Association approval and 141 Ph.D.s. Alumni came from far and wide to see each other and to share their experiences and wisdom with students and faculty. The many accomplishments of graduates were celebrated. An added treat was the presence of a retired faculty member, Don Blocher, well-respected scholar and former Division 17 president, who traveled from Minnesota to join the merriment.

In addition to a reception and a banquet attended by more than 100 alumni, faculty and former faculty, and current doctoral students, the alumni offered 10 panel discussions for doctoral students. These discussions focused on employment opportunities (in academia, university counseling centers, medical centers, nontraditional settings) as well as topics of general interest (such as psychotherapeutic interventions with children and adolescents, health psychology and neuropsychology, getting published, balancing work and family, and so forth). A raffle was held to support student research and travel to conferences.

Grads

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