Oswego Alumni Association of the State University of New York at Oswego n Vol. 36, No. 1 n Winter 2010
n Growing
STEM
Oswego Cultivates Science, Technology, Engineering and Math n Rice Creek: A Place of Wonder ‌ and Learning n Newman Center Celebrates 75th
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Winter 2010
Oswego Growing STEM
Alumni Association of the State University of New York at Oswego Vol. 36, No. 1
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Oswego is poised to grow some of the best science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — graduates in the nation and world. They’ll have good company in alumni who are already making strides in cutting-edge STEM fields.
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PLUS: A summer institute and professional master’s track are big developments in the chemistry program. 22 ALSO: Possibility Scholars program will attract STEM students to Oswego. 24
Rice Creek: A Place of Wonder… and Learning 26 With acres of fields, miles of trails and a fertile pond, Rice Creek Field Station has been an Oswego gem for four decades.
Newman Center Nurtures Campus Spirituality 31 The second installment of Oswego alumni magazine’s “150 Years: Views and Voices” series explores the roots and lasting impact of one spiritual home for students.
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ALSO: The Rev. Robert Ketcham ’00 is glad he answered the call. 33 PLUS
Campus Currents Class Notes In Memoriam Sports Weddings
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O n T h e C o v e r : Oswego Chemistry Professor Fehmi Damkaci, center, experiments with liquid nitrogen in his Snygg Hall laboratory, along with Syracuse Academy of Science students Catherine Graham, left, and Faith Britt. Photo by Robert Mescavage.
from the
President’s Desks T
here’s something about opening a brand new calendar in January, and seeing the fresh, clean squares marking the upcoming days, that awakens renewed hope and enthusiasm for the year ahead. At SUNY Oswego, 2010 promises to be an exciting and busy year. We have a plethora of new programs and initiatives that evidence our dePresident termination to be innovative and Deborah F. agile in these challenging times. Stanley As life expectancies increase and baby boomers age, our population is changing. Our new graduate certificate program in gerontology and the gerontology minor established in 2008 will help train the professionals needed to work with an aging population expected to grow to 54.8 million Americans age 65 and older by 2020. Also filling a need for a well-trained workforce is our new professional science master’s program in chemistry. Developed with input from local businesses and industries, it incorporates business courses with traditional chemistry offerings to prepare
Oswego Alumni Magazine
students to succeed in some of America’s fastest growing fields. This month, our students are embarking on an exciting program to benefit those on the other end of the age spectrum — and halfway around the world. A group of our students will travel to India to teach some of that country’s poorest children and give them new hope for a life free of poverty. Another exciting international venture is our new partnership designed to deliver Oswego degrees in Dubai. Our collaboration with the United Arab Emirate’s National Academy for Research Development will offer a biotechnology degree to motivated UAE students who want to earn an American undergraduate degree. These are just some of the initiatives that illustrate how your alma mater is in tune with the times and constantly seeking opportunities to enhance the student experience and extend our educational reach worldwide.
Deborah F. Stanley, President
the Editor’s Pen
Elizabeth Locke Oberst Publisher Michele Reed Editor Shane M. Liebler Associate Editor Jim Russell ’83 Staff Photographer Kiefer Creative Graphic Design Lisa Potter Memorials Jessica Pascal ’11 Jose Terrero ’10 Interns
Julie Harrison Blissert Mark Coley Tim Nekritz M ’05 Contributing Writers Richard Baker Robert Bump ’10 Stephanie Campolo Diann Jackson M ’89 Jenna Cobello Kain ’06 Adrian Lang Deborah McGwin Robert Mescavage Tina Ruth Michael Salerno Xuan Vu ’09 Chuck Wainwright Contributing Photographers
The Oswego Alumni Association, Inc. Board of Directors William Schreiner ’92 President Steve Doran ’82 First Vice President Kay Benedict Sgarlata ’65 Second Vice President Jennifer Shropshire ’86 Past President Elizabeth Locke Oberst Executive Director *William Bacon ’59 Tim Barnhart ’02 *Norman Brust ’49 Michael Byrne ’79 Keith Chamberlain ’87 Lisa Court ’83 *John Daken ’66 **Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81
Maureen Flynn ’04 *Sylvia Muncey Gaines ’76 *David Kidd ’49 Ana Rodriguez King ’94 Judy Letvak ’83 Don Levine ’78 Linda Loomis ’90 Steve Messina ’91 Anchal Mohan ’05 *Davis Parker ’47 Karyn Rose ’96 Thomas Ryan ’74 Nancy Smith Salisbury ’93 **Deborah F. Stanley Chris Thuman ’06 * At large ** Ex officio
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State University of New York at Oswego
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Deborah F. Stanley President Dr. Susan M. Coultrap-McQuin Provost Nicholas Lyons Vice President for Administration and Finance
ll the while my children, now 28 and 24, were growing up, there was a running joke in the Reed household. They’d ask for help on physics homework or a science fair project and I’d send them to Dad. “Yeah, we know,” they’d say with a mock sigh, “You never took chemistry OR physics.” It was true. By fourth grade I knew I wanted to spend my life working on a newspaper or magazine, so why bother with science labs? By junior year in high school I was opting for creative writing and English literature courses instead. In college I continued the trend, choosing journalism over geology, magazine writing over meteorology, editing over earth science. So you can imagine my surprise — dare I say, even envy? — when I went to the photo shoot for this issue’s cover. Faith and Catherine, two young women who took part in Dr. Fehmi Damkaci’s summer science
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program, seemed to be having so much fun! Even I knew liquid nitrogen could produce fog, but who knew it could also generate smiles, even giggles? Our staff had a lot of fun putting together this issue, too: providing a snapshot of alumni in science, technology, engineering and math fields; showing how your alma mater is becoming a hotbed for these very STEM fields; and giving you a virtual tour of Rice Creek Field Station. We hope you have fun reading and remember the joy you may have encountered in Oswego’s classrooms and labs. And, if nothing else, use what you learned on campus to help your kids with their science fair projects!
Michele A. Reed, Oswego editor
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Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81 Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Dr. Joseph Grant Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Office of Alumni and Parent Relations King Alumni Hall SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126 Phone: 315-312-2258 Fax: 315-312-5570 E-mail: alumni@oswego.edu Web site: www.oswego.edu/alumni
Oswego is published three times a year by the Oswego Alumni Association Inc., King Alumni Hall, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. It is distributed free of charge to alumni, friends, faculty, staff and families of current students. Printed December 2009.
Thanks to you — 7,771 alumni, faculty and staff, parents
In our continuing effort to carefully steward
and friends of SUNY Oswego — The Fund for Oswego raised
donations to the college and our planet’s
$3,053,356 from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.
natural resources, the Oswego College Foundation has moved from a printed
Your donations to The Fund for Oswego are making an
honor roll of donors to an online listing.
immediate and positive impact on the lives of our students.
This switch will save $7,132 in printing
By supporting Oswego’s students during these challenging economic times, you have chosen to make a sound investment in
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Your gifts help meet the most pressing needs of SUNY Oswego
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and its students, who appreciate your support as they work hard to
Oswego educational experience for our students and faculty. These sav-
complete their education. When they go out into the world as Oswego
ings mean more books for the library, more computer equipment in labs
graduates, they will be empowered to make important and lasting con-
and more support for cutting-edge academic programs that will better
tributions to benefit society.
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On behalf of all of our students and faculty members, thank you
addition, by not printing 7,500 copies of our 40-page honor roll, we are
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Thank you for your generosity!
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Nonprofit US Postage PAID Oswego Alumni Association King Alumni Hall Oswego, NY 13126 If Oswego is addressed to a son or daughter who has graduated and no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please clip the address label and return it with the correct address to the Oswego Alumni Association, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, N.Y. 13126, or e-mail the updated address to alumni@oswego.edu
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Growing a new generation of energized leaders. For more, visit oswego.edu/core.
Dr. Raymond O’Donnell r. Raymond O’Donnell has three loves in his life: his wife, Marylou, and family; teaching chemistry and playing the organ. O’Donnell treated the interviewer and photographer to an impromptu concert on his Conn theater organ, as the former St. Mary’s Church organist and choir director confided that for him, playing the organ was like golf. “Some people wait for the weekend so they can get out on the golf course, I looked forward to playing the organ,” he says. He served as the first organist in the chapel at Loyola University, his undergraduate alma mater; put a choir together for the 1964 dedication of Oswego’s Newman Center chapel; and donned a white dinner jacket to play at Oswego’s City Hall rededication. He also played for the weddings of many former students. It’s evidence of the bond O’Donnell forged with students, both chemistry majors and non-majors alike. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he taught everything from large undergraduate survey courses to small seminars in instrumental analysis, his specialty. O’Donnell began his love affair with chemistry as a teen in Baltimore, where his chemistry teacher at a Xavarian Brothers high school was a huge influence.
The first one in his family to go to college, O’Donnell did graduate work at University of Minnesota and taught at St. Thomas College in St. Paul before earning a doctorate at Michigan State University. When he came to Oswego, excitement was in the air. The administration wanted a strong chemistry program, and no expense was spared to equip then brand-new Snygg Hall, including chemistry labs designed by O’Donnell. “We started from scratch,” he said. O’Donnell is proud that the program he helped found has achieved its goal of turning out graduates who are competitive in national labs, academia and industry. His students described him as “tough but fair.” The coordinator of the chemistry graduate program from 1970 to 2006 says, “All of my pride is involved with the students themselves, how they turned out.” He has worked on National Science Foundation grants and projects for Saudi Arabia, and served as a senior research fellow at the U. S. Army Chemical and Biological Research Center in Maryland. O’Donnell has been active in the American Chemical Society for decades, a service that earned him a national award: the Henry Hill Award, the highest honor in the Professional Relations Division, which he recently chaired. He helped create the organization’s career
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Dr. Raymond O’Donnell
assistance program, and as counselor and ACS’ longest-serving career consultant, he has given more than 100 programs all over the country. O’Donnell sponsored Oswego’s ACS student affiliate chapter and served as its adviser from 1964 to 2001. The former chair of the ACS Syracuse section, he was also honored with the section’s highest award. The 78-year-old maintains his ties with Oswego’s chemistry department, attends conferences and continues giving workshops. He and Marylou winter in Arizona, where Arizona State University has invited him to assist with the graduate program at the Electrochemical Research Center. “I’m trying desperately to learn to be retired,” the father of five and grandfather of 10 says with a laugh. “The problem is, I did exactly what I loved all my life.” l — Michele Reed
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Chancellor visits Oswego swego spirit was on display as new SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher visited the college’s main campus and Metro Center July 15. Oswego was the 27th stop in her tour of the 64-campus SUNY system in her first 100 days, but one, she said, she will remember for its “most enthusiastic welcome.” Hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered outside Culkin Hall, sporting Oswego colors as they cheered and waved to the state university system’s newest leader. The chancellor held a “town meeting” in the new Campus Center auditorium, addressing issues of the economy, collaboration between the university and business communities, diversity and access. “This is a moment in time for the largest system in America, if not one of the competitive largest systems in the world, to weave together the three concepts of accessibility, which the Possibility Scholarship is all about; quality, which I have seen at every campus I’ve visited . . . with affordability,” said Zimpher. “Our time has come because it is hard to get those three aspects in the portfolio of most other institutions where tuition is much more expensive.” At a reception at Shady Shore for all members of the campus community, the chancellor was treated to performances by students of the college’s new School of Communication, Media and the Arts, and she continued gathering the thoughts and impressions of students, faculty and staff. The chancellor began her day at the Metro Center in downtown Syracuse, where she was led into the festivities by an African dance troupe. President Deborah F. Stanley announced the establishment of the Possibility Scholars program (see story, p. 24) and awarded
Richard Baker
Education advocate Ginny Donohue ’88 and management expert/author Lois Frankel ’73, received Presidential Medals from SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley on July 15 during a visit by SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. From left are Chancellor Zimpher, Donohue, Frankel and President Stanley at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center.
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SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, center, visited Oswego in July.
Presidential Medals to two pioneering individuals who work to offer the benefits of education to all, Lois Frankel ’73 and Virginia “Ginny” Donohue ’88. The chancellor’s 64-campus tour was the first step in her goal to formulate a strategic plan for the university by spring. During the fall, she appointed President Stanley to the 17-member strategic plan steering committee. l — Michele Reed
Alumnae honored Two Oswego alumnae were presented with Presidential Medals July 15 at the Metro Center in Syracuse. On Point for College founder and executive director Virginia “Ginny” Donohue ’88 and author Lois Frankel ’73, founder and senior partner of Corporate Coaching International, were each recognized for their success by Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley. “Lois and Ginny are inspirational activists. They affect not only individuals, but our future for a just and vibrant society,” said Stanley. A former executive, Donohue left behind a corporate career to create the nonprofit On Point for College, which makes higher education accessible to lowincome high school students. The effort has earned her many honors, including the 2008 National College Access Network Executive Leadership Award of Excellence, 2006 Traditional Home
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magazine Classic Woman Award and Syracuse Post-Standard Achievement awards in 2003 and 2004. “Education is life-altering,” said Donohue, who called it “an honor to be in a position to change someone’s life.” Frankel’s Corporate Coaching International helps Fortune 500 and midsize companies improve performance and leadership. She is the critically acclaimed author of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office and See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work. In November 2006, Frankel was recognized for her volunteerism by Maybelline with the Women Who Empower Through Education Award. Frankel said she “truly was humbled” by the award for her work in helping women and minorities, and accepted it as “an opportunity to get the message out that there is so much more to do.” l — Shane M. Liebler and Michele Reed Oswego
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Opening breakfast previews future of higher ed JIM RUSSELL ’83
A leading voice in American higher education opened a discussion of how higher education is changing and what it means for SUNY Oswego’s future at the annual President’s Opening Breakfast Aug. 31. President Deborah F. Stanley said she invited Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, emeritus president at George Washington University, to speak because of the urgency of the challenges facing colleges like Oswego. The challenge stems from “the fierce competition for traditional students that we see on the demographic horizon ... coupled with the inertia so typical, unfortunately, of higher education,” Stanley said. Trachtenberg told the assembled faculty and professional staff that higher education can look to journalism to see a possible dismal future. In journalism today, removal of value from the system — with ads and news moving from print to the Internet — is threatening even venerable newspapers with extinction. In higher education, he said, costs are increasing faster than colleges can provide value, and for-profit institutions are growing their enrollments at non-profits’ expense. “Colleges do close,” he said, and more will not survive in the future, he predicted. Successful institutions, Trachtenberg said, have ambition and leadership that has an articulated vision and that stays in place long enough to “pile small victories on one another.” He expressed confidence in the continuing viability of the residential campus, despite distance learning innovations (because “17-year-olds are very annoying” and parents “will do anything to get their kids to go off to college,” he said).
This year’s President’s Opening Breakfast was Webcast live, then uploaded to http://oswego.edu/about/leadership/breakfast09.
His advice included: l “If you’re going to bet on anything, bet on faculty . . . invest in the best.” l “Give (state legislators) a reason why they should love you more than they love their other children.” l “Adapt the mission to the pocketbook.” l “Do what you do with the pride that the institution has always demonstrated and continue to care about students and learning.” — Julie Harrison Blissert
U.S. News flags Oswego as a ‘top up-and-coming school’
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UNY Oswego is among a select group of “Top Up-and-Coming Schools” for 2010 in the latest “America’s Best Colleges” issue of U.S. News and World Report. Only 28 public colleges and universities made the list nationally. In the northern region, Oswego is one of just two public master’s level colleges selected for the distinction, along with the College of New Jersey. The only other New York colleges on the list are Wagner College and Marist College, both private. In the article “Keep an Eye on These Schools,” the magazine said it used its annual peer assessment survey to identify “colleges
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and universities that have recently made striking improvements or innovations — schools everyone should be watching.” Recent improvements and innovations at Oswego include new academic programs conceived in collaboration with the area’s business community, like software engineering and risk management; unusual opportunities for students to engage in hands-on research in the field, such as the “Storm Chasers” course this summer; and half a billion dollars worth of campus renewal projects, including the recently opened Campus Center and new science facilities scheduled for construction next year. “This is an exciting time to be a member of the Oswego campus community,” said Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley. “Our
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faculty and students have been intimately involved in planning the initiatives that have won us this latest recognition from U.S. News. “Our improvements and innovations are attracting increasing numbers of applicants, and the incoming class this fall was among the most talented in the history of our college.” For the sixth straight year, Oswego also was included on the Princeton Review’s list of best Northeast colleges. Oswego is one of 218 institutions it recommends in its book The Best Northeastern Colleges: 2010 Edition, published in August by Random House/Princeton Review Books. l — Julie Harrison Blissert
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Mid-year budget cut $1.17 million for Oswego or SUNY Oswego, the mid-year budget news was relatively good, as budget news goes. When the SUNY board of trustees approved a plan for making the $90 million cut to the system necessitated by state revenue shortfalls during the current year, Oswego’s share of the budget reduction worked out to $1,167,700, college officials said. President Deborah F. Stanley convened a meeting of the Campus Budget Advisory Group to help advise on implementing the mid-year cut. “The campus has anticipated these reductions. We have reserves in place to mitigate their effects,” Vice President for Finance and Administration Nicholas Lyons noted. When implementing cost savings, he added, the college’s priority was to protect the instructional mission of the campus and the health and safety of students and staff. A meeting of the Campus Budget Advisory Group in early December identified sources for some of the mandated cuts. Energy savings and campus reserves will amount for $817,700 of the cut. Vice presidents and their staffs were given the task of identifying the remaining cuts of $350,000 in their divisional budgets to make up the balance of the reduction. These were not
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Student Senator John Hughes ’12, right, a political science major, was among those collecting signatures in the SUNY Oswego Student Association petition drive to protest continuing cuts to the State University’s budget. Signing the petition is Janelle Manning ’11, a junior majoring in adolescence education with social studies concentration. In back is Patrick Harnan ’10, an accounting major and SA senator.
available at press time, but administrators assured the group that cuts would have no impact on the integrity of the academic program. Both Stanley and Lyons are members of the system-wide budget committee that SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher assembled last fall. Oswego is the only campus in jim russell ’83
the system with two representatives on the SUNY budget group. Its first task was to propose a method to absorb the cut for the current year. The system-wide budget group will continue to meet to help prepare SUNY’s budget request for 2010-11, a time when the state is expected to continue to face revenue shortfalls. SUNY has submitted a budget request which includes an increase of $100 under the new rational tuition policy based on the Higher Education Price Index and is also seeking flexibility measures such as differential tuition to match program revenues to costs. “Once again we will need help from our alumni to support SUNY’s needs in the 2010-11 budget,” said Stanley. “As state support decreases, Oswego will continue to look for additional opportunities to seed pilot programs to increase revenues.” She added that Oswego will connect with alumni to assist with their continuing educational needs through online programs and extension sites to make sure the college is serving their educational and retooling needs. l
Leah McDowell ’12 and Jen Lombardo ’12 sign petitions during the budget rally in the Campus Center food court and activity center.
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JIM RUSSELL ’83
Kristin Gublo ’96 of the chemistry department received one of this year’s President’s Awards for Excellence in Academic Advisement. As advisement coordinator for chemistry and biochemistry students, Gublo matches some 100 students to faculty every year, advising around a dozen Kristin herself. Gublo ’96 “I make sure the students know my door is always open,” Gublo said. “Being available also means reaching out to students when I think they need some assistance. Sometimes students are hesitant to ask for the help.” Gublo brought new ideas to the role. Last August, for example, she coordinated a liquid nitrogen ice cream social for freshmen and new transfers to meet returning students, faculty and staff. Jody Fiorini of the department of counseling and psychological services earned the other President’s Award. l — Tim Nekritz M ’05
Students gain hands-on experience with Brazilian ecosystem A group of SUNY Oswego students spent part of their summer gaining hands-on experience with flora and fauna while helping chart the ecological future of the Brazilian Pantanal region. The Pantanal is like the Florida wetlands, “100 years ago,” before development encroached upon it, said Cleane Medeiros of SUNY Oswego’s biological sciences department. Medeiros teaches the Biology 393 international environmental studies class that allowed six Oswego students to spend 10 days in this vast, flat and ecologically vital region half the size of California. “At some point, Brazil is going to decide what parts of this region are going to be developed and which parts will be preserved as is,” Medeiros said. “We are paying a very heavy price to fix the mistakes” of modernized development in other parts of the world, she added. Medeiros said 95 percent of the region is privately owned. Anything researchers can do to let the region’s residents know about the biodiversity of species inhabiting the Pantanal can help raise awareness of the importance of preservation, Medeiros said. Lessons that began at SUNY Oswego focused not only on the ecosystem, but also Brazilian politics, culture, economy and history so the students were prepared.
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Alumna earns President’s Award for advisement
A half-dozen SUNY Oswego students spent the middle of June in Brazil’s Pantanal region interacting with native species while supporting a survey charting the ecological future of the region. Shown handling snakes during last year’s program are Brazilian professor and herpetologist Vanda Ferreira at left and SUNY Oswego zoology major Kyle Pursel ’08.
They know they are part of a larger effort studying wildlife’s place in the modern world. “The survey reinforces the importance of the environment and the need for education on the impact of development, all while allowing students to gain local ecological knowledge,” Medeiros said. l — Tim Nekritz M ’05
Oswego recognized by SUNYCUAD Oswego’s Alumni and University Development office earned top honors in two categories of the SUNY Council for University Advancement awards this year. The biannual Oswego Parents newsletter produced by the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations was Best of Category in “Newsletters: One- to Three-color.” The invitation to join the President’s Circle gift club was best in the “Effective, Efficient and Elegant Publications: One- or Two-color Publications” category. Alumni and University Development also earned recognition in two other categories. The Graduates Of the Last Decade, or GOLD, program earned a judges citation in “Alumni Programs.” SUNYCUAD issued another citation in “Fundraising Publications” for Oswego’s Annual Fund brochures (at left). l
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Tarandi Foundation supports Sheldon Institute he Tarandi Foundation has once again ensured that young students needing financial assistance could participate in the Sheldon Institute at SUNY Oswego this summer. The foundation begun by late Oswego physicians Dr. Manjula R. Shah and Dr. Ravindra F. Shah granted $3,450 to provide financial aid during the institute in its 31st year. The money was used to pay tuition for 14 students to attend the two-week educational enrichment program. “It’s a wonderful experience for those students and we are thrilled they were able to participate in the Sheldon Institute,” said Kathy Bartley, the institute’s director. Each year, more than 100 children in grades two through 10 are invited to campus to participate in writing workshops, science classes and cultural activities, among many other things. “We continue to believe that Sheldon Institute is an important part of continuing to push our students to excel at a high level,” said Neelesh Ravindra Shah, who serves as a trustee of the foundation along with his sister, Dr. Monica Ravindra Shah. “What I love about it is that it shows SUNY Oswego is reaching out and impacting more students in the community.” The Tarandi Foundation also extends financial support to ARTSwego, which presents professional performing artists on the SUNY Oswego campus and coordinates educational residency programs with public schools and other organizations in Central New York. Tarandi’s support funds visits by ARTSwego artists to perform at Oswego County schools and interact with students through programs such as music clinics.
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SUNY Oswego’s Sheldon Institute welcomed more than 100 second- to 10th-grade students to campus July 27 to Aug. 7. The 31st edition of the institute included writing workshops, science classes and cultural activities, among many other educational experiences.
The Sheldon Institute is sponsored by Team Sheldon and SUNY Oswego’s School of Education. The Tarandi Foundation was founded in the early 1990s and is dedicated to supporting and promoting education and community service in Central New York, the U.S. and India. l — Shane M. Liebler and Michele Reed
Grant to help build leaders for high-needs schools JIM RUSSELL ’83
An annual $300,000 grant will help develop teacher leaders for school districts in greatest need. Oswego’s School of Education received the largest of six grants awarded by the state. “The success of any student is always based on the quality of teacher he or she has had in the classroom,” said School of Education Dean Linda Rae Linda Rae Markert ’76. “Teacher qualMarkert ity is significantly impacted ’76 by exceptional leadership at the building level in our school districts.” The Educational Leadership Program Enhancement Grant through the state’s
Education Department and the Wallace Foundation will provide free tuition for eight teachers with leadership potential to take the first two educational administration courses in Oswego’s certificate of advanced studies program. The introductory courses prepare teacher leaders by exploring such topics as dropout rates, school violence, curriculum development and cultural diversity. Markert and Suzanne Gilmour, chair of the educational administration department, will use the grant to spur Project BLEND — Building Leadership Excellence for Needs-Based Districts — which dovetails with Oswego’s Project SMART and other ongoing collaborations to develop and support socially conscious teacher and administrative leadership. The grant is distributed annually for up to three years.
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“New York state is looking to tap teacher leaders who will become leaders in high-needs schools,” Gilmour said. “We’re looking to the districts to identify aspiring professionals with great leadership capability,” based on current and potential leadership involvement, demonstrated initiative and interest in this field of work.” To address the range of districts with highest needs, the cohort will include four from the Syracuse City School District, three from Oswego County districts and one from the Onondaga Nation School. The grant also is expected to support one full-time administrative internship in a high-needs district. l — Tim Nekritz M ’05
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UNY Oswego has launched the first bachelor’s degree program in risk management and insurance at a public school in New York state. It’s a program organizers say meets a key industry need. “The events of the past year to yearand-a-half brought a lot of attention to risk management and insurance,” and the field continues to hire and has been growing in some sectors, said John MacDonald, an assistant professor of finance and risk management at SUNY Oswego. “This program, the kind of student we get, the work ethic we see can provide a very professional employee for companies,” MacDonald said. “The industry is looking for good entry-level people, especially with the large numbers in the insurance industry ready to retire.” A few years ago, local businesses and the Metropolitan Development Association of Central New York approached SUNY Oswego about creating such a program to prepare students to enter what is a very active field locally, said Charles Spector, professor and chair of accounting, finance and law. Central New York as a region has the second-highest insurance industry employment east of the Mississippi River. “We have many insurance companies in the Syracuse area very interested in this major succeeding,” Spector said.
Jim Russell ’83
Oswego offering SUNY’s first bachelor’s in risk management, insurance Geographic location, the School of Business’ international accreditation and Oswego’s business network made the college a good fit for the degree program, MacDonald said. To introduce it, SUNY Oswego’s Metro Center in Syracuse hosted its first risk-management speaker series for local businesses. “We have a large number of alumni highly placed in the industry, and they have been very enthusiastic,” MacDonald explained, adding that initial discussions point to many good opportunities for internships. Those graduating with the new degree would be well-positioned for jobs as underwriters, insurance agents, claims adjusters, brokers, loss-control specialists and benefits administrators in human resources, MacDonald said. The major could also prepare graduates for work in risk management at entry levels or as a consultant. Risk management and insurance majors will also take core business courses in accounting, business law, finance, marketing and management, as well as math and economics. “We have good relationships with the math department and economics department, and their support is important,” Spector noted in explaining the interdisciplinary nature of the new major. l — Tim Nekritz M ’05
Lewis Turco, emeritus professor of English writing arts, left, and George O’Connell, emeritus professor of art, right, donated the last available copy of their portfolio of poem-prints titled “Bordello” to the Penfield Library Special Collections. The work was last displayed at a retrospective exhibition in Tyler Gallery in 1996.
Find the Founder!
Jim Russell ’83
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IN THE SUMMER 2009 ISSUE, the founder could be found in the Cathrin Mueller ’82 photo near her right arm on page 27. The grand prize winner of a bookstore gift certificate and Sheldon Hall print is Tammy Stock Lunkenheimer ’02. Winning Sheldon Hall prints are Scott Blum ’88, Bruce Kaiser ’69, Alexandra Ackerman ’07, Kristin Lesczynski Tedford ’93 and Barbara Palansky Cypes ’82. A tiny replica of the Sheldon statue pictured here is hidden somewhere in this issue. Find the Founder and send us a letter with the location and page number, your name, class year and address. We will draw one entry at random from all the correct answers and the winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Campus Store and a print of Sheldon Hall. The next five entries drawn will receive Sheldon Hall prints. Send your entry to Find the Founder, 219 Sheldon Hall, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. Entries must be postmarked by March 1. l
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wo SUNY Oswego faculty members in business and education, a technology operations professional and an administrative assistant received 2009 Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence. The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching goes to Harrison Yang, professor of curriculum and instruction, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities to Ding Zhang, professor of management. Robert Hageny ’86, ’99, M ’06 of Campus Technology Services has won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service, and Kristine Hyovalti Bushey ’72 in the office of the dean of students receives Oswego’s first Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service, a newly established honor. The awards were presented officially at Oswego’s December Commencement ceremony. l — Julie Harrison Blissert
JIM RUSSELL ’83
SUNY faculty and staff earn distinction
The Village townhouse community will house 350 upperclassmen beginning this fall. The state-of-the-art project located to the west of Glimmerglass Lagoon was built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, silver standards.
Oswego names MBA director
Metro Center recognized SUNY Oswego earned a Downtown Excellence Award from the Downtown Committee of Syracuse for its presence in the city. The Metro Center, which opened in fall 2008, was recognized for being an innovative high-tech outlet for graduate studies, workforce training, seminars, and corporate and community meetings. With a crowd of 250 people in attendance, Metro Center Director James Jerose ’71 accepted the award in June on behalf of the college. l
JIM RUSSELL ’83
Tammie Sullivan ’04, M ’05 of Fulton has been appointed director of the master of business administration degree program in SUNY Oswego’s School of Business. Oswego offers the MBA degree and two combined bachelor’s/MBA degrees, one that yields a bachelor’s degree in accounting plus the MBA and another leading to a bachelor’s in psychology plus the MBA. The school offers MBA courses on campus in Oswego, at the Tammie Sullivan ’04, M ’05 SUNY Oswego Metro Center in Syracuse and online. “The Metro Center is a perfect venue for working professionals who want to earn an MBA part time as courses are offered during evening hours,” Sullivan said. A 2005 graduate of Oswego’s MBA program, Sullivan has been a financial analyst with SRC in Syracuse and an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Syracuse. She also teaches accounting as an adjunct professor at Oswego. l — Julie Harrison Blissert
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Currents SPRING 2009 SPORTS
Men’s Lacrosse
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he Oswego State men’s lacrosse team finished the 2009 season with an 8-9 record, posting its best record in seven seasons in SUNY Athletic Conference play with a 5-2 mark. The team reached the conference playoffs for the first time in three years and third time overall since the conference reinstated men’s lacrosse as a championship sport. Playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, the Lakers dropped games to six opponents that were ranked among the top 25 in NCAA Division III throughout the season. Dan Witmer ’82, who completed his 27th season as mentor of the Lakers’ lacrosse program, was honored by the SUNYAC as Coach of the Year.
Women’s Lacrosse
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irst-year head coach Brandi Ostrander brought a new attitude and playing style to the Oswego State women’s lacrosse team in 2009, and it paid off big for the Lakers, who posted their first winning season since 2005 with a 9-8 mark, nearly doubling their win total from the last three seasons. While everyone on the 25-player roster contributed to the team’s success this
Sports season, no one stood out more than attack Rachel Ventresca ’09, who completed her three-year career with the Lakers as one of the top performers in the program’s history. In only 47 career games, Ventresca finished third on the all-time scoring list with 188 points (130 goals and 58 assists), trailing all-time leader Kat Stead ’05 and 2008 Oswego State Athletic Hall of Famer Kim Pace ’97. This spring, she was the team leader in every offensive category, scoring 58 goals to go with single-game school records of 36 assists and 94 points.
Softball
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ith only three seniors, the Oswego State softball team went through a rebuilding season. The Lakers finished with a 9-21 record and a 4-16 mark in SUNYAC play. Still, a number of players produced outstanding efforts, which are signs for a promising future in the years to come. Shannon Baker ’12 and Eileen Joyce ’12 were two of four players with a .300 or better batting average.
Baseball
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ead coach Frank Paino and his Oswego State baseball team came into the 2009 season looking to defend their Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Upstate Championship. While the Lakers finished with their eighth winning season in nine years, sporting a 20-14 record, they were not among the four teams receiving an ECAC berth. Sporting a 16-3 record in nonconference play, the team struggled in the always-competitive SUNYAC this season, finishing with a 2-10 mark. Eight players finished the season batting .300 or better, including infielder Mike Levy ’10, who garnered first team All-SUNYAC accolades. Levy started in all 34 contests for the Lakers, hitting .367 on 44 hits in 120 at bats, with team highs of 38 runs scored and seven doubles. He was also the team’s leading base stealer. Levy showed his success in the classroom as well, being named a Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award winner as the top baseball player in the conference with the highest cumulative grade-point average. A dual major in marketing and public justice, Levy carried a 3.69 GPA coming into the season.
Men’s Tennis Jenna Cobello Kain ’06
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he only thing tougher for the Lakers than their opponents was Mother Nature. With inclement weather hitting the area at the most unlikely times, the Lakers and their 12-player roster were able to squeeze in five matches in a rain-shortened schedule. Oswego saved its best effort for its season finale versus Elmira, playing even with the Soaring Eagles before dropping the final match of the day.
Outdoor Track and Field
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Rachel Ventresca ’09 was one of the top performers in Oswego State women’s lacrosse history. Oswego
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fter a productive indoor season, the Oswego State track and field team jumped straight into its nine-meet outdoor schedule on the first weekend of March in Salisbury, Md. For the women, sprinter Christine Ripple ’12 was the most consistent performer on the season, reaching the finals in every meet she entered at 100 and 200 meters as well as the 400-meter hurdles.
c a m p u s
Currents Jenna Cobello Kain ’06
JUNE 11-13
Reconnect… with good friends. Reminisce… about cherished memories with the people who helped make them. Reunite… on campus, where you can visit all your favorite places and discover new ones! Relax… with all the fun, food and festivities planned for you. Save the date for the biggest alumni party of the year. Don’t miss it June 11-13! For the most up-to-date information, and a list of classes and groups planning reunions, visit oswego.edu/reunion.
Mike Levy ’10 was a star on the baseball diamond and in the classroom.
Jim Russell ’83
Erin Kain ’09 was the team’s top performer in the throws, finishing among the top eight in the hammer throw in five meets during the year. She broke her own school record in late April at SUNY Geneseo, finishing sixth with a toss of 41.14 meters. The men’s squad featured a number of outstanding efforts as well, led by Mike Chamberlain ’12, who picked up where he left off from the winter season with top-five finishes in the long jump, triple jump and high jump in four meets. Among the sprinters, AJ Carapella ’10, Andrew English ’10 and Josh Galletta ’10 were key contributors in the sprint events, each posting top-five finishes throughout the season in events from 100 meters to 400 meters and the 400-meter hurdles. The trio joined Geoff Kobuszewski ’10 in setting a school record in the 400-meter relay at SUNY Geneseo with a time of 43.66 seconds. l — Mark Coley
The Oswego Alumni Association inducted a half dozen former athletes into the Athletic Hall of Fame Oct. 24. Former sports journalist and adjunct professor Jeff Rea ’71 hosted a ceremony attended by about 100 of the athletes’ family members and friends in Sheldon Hall. The 2009 Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame class are, back row, from left: lacrosse players Daniel Bartlett ’96 and Greg Peel ’94 with wrestler Ralph Pizzo ’71. Appearing front row, from left: women’s soccer player Melisa Verdoliva ’99; three-sport athlete John Canale ’47 M ’50; and pitcher John Wynne ’66, who also played basketball.
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Gosier Bequeaths $16K to Library Jim Russell ’83
photo provided
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Lester J. Gosier ’37
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ester J. Gosier ’37 loved Penfield Library. Six years ago, the retired physics teacher, who knew Lida Penfield for whom the library was named, helped make Penfield Library’s Lake Effect Café a reality. His generous support helped build the cozy environment used by thousands of library patrons each year. The 3,000 square-foot café is one of the largest capital projects ever undertaken at Oswego funded solely through private donations. Now Gosier, who passed away July 9, has also remembered Oswego in his will, leaving more than $16,000 in his estate to benefit the college library. “Those of us who met Les during his visits to campus were impressed by his warmth and humor. We were honored to find that our wonderful friend was once again lending us his support . . . We want to extend our gratitude to not only Les but also to his family for their generosity and for a gift that will help provide needed resources to students in a wide variety of disciplines across the college.” said Mary Beth Bell, library director.
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Piece of history Debbie Adams Kaden ’78 became a close friend of Gosier’s while the two served together on the Oswego Alumni Association Board of Directors, of which Gosier was a member for several decades. “What a treasure,” said Kaden of Gosier. She recalled that the native Oswegonian slid down the banisters of Sheldon Hall as a child and he could remember when President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the industrial arts building, now called Park Hall. “He was just a piece of history,” Kaden said. “He knew everybody the buildings were named after and he had stories about them all.” Kaden would drive Gosier from his home on Long Island to Oswego for board meetings. Before they left campus, they would go down to the lakeshore and pick one stone from the shore to place in his garden, one for each trip. The day of his funeral, Kaden and Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81, vice president for development and alumni relations, drove to Gosier’s home to place one last stone to symbolize a journey completed. His generosity to the library wasn’t Gosier’s only philanthropic effort on behalf of SUNY Oswego. He led his class in a fundraising effort to establish a scholarship for their 50th anniversary in 1987. Gosier retired in 1977 after 40 years of teaching, five in the Catskills and 35 in Bay Shore. When he retired, he was chairman of the science department. In 1978, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Oswego Alumni Association’s highest honor. After attending Oswego, he furthered his education at SUNY Albany, New York University, the Graduate Faculty New School of Social Research at NYU and Washington Square College of NYU. He served in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserve Corps. But no matter where else he roamed, Gosier remembered Oswego, where he got his start in teaching. Now he will be remembered by the grateful library patrons who use the materials provided by his generous bequest. l —Michele Reed
The Fund for Oswego
College Foundation Board Adds Member She was also tapped to give the keynote speech at last year’s Honor’s Convocation, which recognizes Oswego’s scholarship recipients. “When I went to Oswego, it cost $4,000 a year and there was significant aid available for those of us who came from homes with low incomes,” Sack said. “When you observe what parents and kids need to do today to pay for school, the public option is more critical than ever to preserve. “For me, it’s time to pay it forward — by giving back, both financially and with my time and effort, to keep a great thing going,” she said. A Long Island native, Sack has been married to her husband, David, for 20 years. They currently reside in Killingworth, Conn. She earned a master’s degree in organizational psychology from Columbia University in New York City. Her term on the Foundation board ends in 2011. l — Shane M. Liebler
Jim Russell ’83
Suzanne Castrigno Sack ’84 became the newest member of the Oswego College Foundation Board of Directors July 1. A wealth management and banking specialist, Sack has worked in the financial industry for 25 years. Her résumé includes leadership and management roles at such high-profile institutions as Smith Barney, Wachovia Securities and Bank of America, her most recent company. “Suzanne’s extensive experience in the finance industry is a great asset for the board,” said Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81, vice president for development and alumni relations. “She has a well-established history of exemplary leadership and exceptional work ethic.” As a student, Sack was elected the first female president of the Student Association. She remains active as an alumna, most recently helping with the successful Reunion 2009 fundraising efforts for the Silver Anniversary Class gift.
Suzanne Castrigno Sack ’84
LECET Continues to Support Presidential Scholars Program The Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust once again helped make the Presidential Scholars program at SUNY Oswego a success. The union-contractor partnership made a collective gift of more than $25,000 to the program this year. The group has contributed to the fund for the past 12 years — longer than any other donor. “For more than a decade, hardworking laborers have helped make academic hopes a reality for thousands of SUNY Oswego students,” Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81 said. More than 175 Presidential Scholars earned scholarships covering full tuition costs in 2008-09. “We believe in relationships with the community and certainly SUNY Oswego is a beloved part of the commu-
nity. Many of our members of the Laborers International Union of North America have worked on construction jobs on campus and we greatly appreciate the support,” said Bill Shannon, business manager of the Upstate New York Laborers Council and a trustee of New York State LECET. He noted that the Presidential Scholars program can provide an opportunity for members’ children to get an education that may have been difficult to obtain if not for the scholarship support. “Students who graduate are much better prepared to be successful in the world with a college education.” “Education is important in all walks of life,” Shannon added. “We train and educate our people in our line of business, which not only involves experience in the field but also classroom education.” l
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Murabito Bequest Shares Love of Learning
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G
reta O’Brien Murabito ’43 and her husband, Anthony Murabito, were dedicated to education. Both had spent their lives in the profession, Greta teaching in elementary school and Tony serving as a principal. So when they passed away in 2009, the couple left approximately $65,000 in their estate to the Oswego College Foundation to support scholarships for education majors. “They were lifelong educators, both of them, right until the end,” said Barbara Crellin, Tony’s daughter and executrix of the estate. “I think it was a lovely bequest for both of them.” Oswego State and the Oswego City Schools were extremely important to both Murabitos. When establishing the scholarship several years ago, Greta said, “I learned to make a living doing something I loved at Oswego. We had a wonderful faculty who cared about us and tried to help us in every way.” As an undergraduate, Greta participated actively in student government, the Oswegonian, the Ontarian and Alpha Delta sorority. As an alumna, Greta was a Reunion Committee member and the couple regularly attended concerts and other cultural events on campus. Tony served on the Oswego College Foundation Board and they were charter members of the Sheldon Legacy Society as well as loyal members of the President’s Circle. In recognition of his contributions to education in the city, the high school media center was named in honor of Tony last spring. “Greta and Tony dedicated their lives to education and were lifelong friends and active supporters of the college,” said Betsy Oberst, associate vice president of alumni relations and stewardship. “This generous bequest will perpetuate their love of learning and extend the benefits of a college education to countless generations of Oswego students to come.”
Elementary education major Marcus D’Urso ’11 received the Greta O’Brien Murabito ’43 Scholarship for 2009-10.
“I really am deeply grateful for the generosity of the Murabito family. With the scholarship, I feel that much closer to my goal of becoming an elementary school teacher,” said Marcus D’Urso ’11, this year’s winner of the Murabito scholarship. “It feels really great to work toward a goal in your life and be recognized for all the effort that you are putting in. No words could convey how honored I was to receive this award.” Anthony established the Greta O’Brien Murabito ’43 Scholarship for Greta, in recognition and appreciation for Oswego State and its dedicated, caring faculty. This scholarship is intended to inspire, encourage and stimulate active participation in the life of the college via the pursuit of a childhood education course of study. The bequest will augment the original scholarship fund, allowing
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more students to receive the annual award, according to Oberst. The Murabitos had a 37-year marriage full of learning and world travel, before passing away within a month and two days of each other last spring. “They had a wonderful life, traveled all over the world,” said Crellin. “My father once told me, if you totaled up all the days they traveled, it would total five years.” Despite visiting almost every country in the world and areas all over the United States, the Murabitos always returned to Oswego, Crellin said, because of their great love for the college and community. By their bequest, Greta and Tony Murabito continue that love for Oswego in perpetuity. l — Michele Reed
The Fund for Oswego
Chermack Honored with Weather Station
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eteorology students who use the college’s newest weather forecasting equipment will also be remembering the founder of the meteorology program, thanks to a generous gift from a former student who is a current faculty member. Professor Scott Steiger ’99 has donated funds to name the 30-foot weather tower on the lakeshore in memory of Dr. Eugene Chermack, who taught at Oswego from 1967 to 2000 and is credited with creating the meteorology program on campus. “He is the reason we’re here,” said Steiger, who called Chermack, “a very intelligent meteorologist.”
The equipment was installed last fall and can directly sample lake-modified air to help with lake effect storm research. Installed on a 30-foot tower 30 feet from the shore, it can measure temperature at two meters and 10 meters above ground, humidity at both levels, wind direction and speed at 10 meters high and can gauge visibility in a storm. “It is our first suite of state-of-theart equipment for measuring surface and upper air quantities,” said Steiger. It is part of three suites of equipment — including a radiosonde and tethersonde — that were paid for by a $156,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. In addition, the campus constructed the tower that holds the weather equipment.
Jim Russell ’83
Chermack was “very smart and brought a lot of passion to our students,” said Steiger. “A lot of students looked up to him, including me.” Steiger described Chermack as “very kind and intelligent,” stressing his patience and humor. “He called us ‘snow ghouls,’ because we would get so excited about extreme weather,” Steiger recalled. “He made us appreciate the difficulty active weather could cause people. That’s just one example of how he made us grounded.” Chermack, who passed away in 2006, earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Queens College, a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and climatology from the University of Washington and his master’s and doctorate in meteorology from New York University. He began his career as a weather officer in the U.S. Air Force in 1956. Although the college had earlier courses in meteorology, many of them taught by the late, legendary Professor Bob Sykes, it was Chermack who founded the major in 1971. Chermack’s research was focused on Lake Ontario, tracking thermal power plant effects and forecasting lake effect storms. “We are especially grateful to Scott Steiger for his generosity in naming this weather station in honor of a beloved professor,” said Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81, vice president for development and alumni relations. She noted that because the station was not a building, naming it did not require approval from the College Council. “Now generations of Oswego students will recall Dr. Chermack’s legacy when they study weather conditions using this station.” l — Michele Reed From left, Clint Chido ’10, Stephanie Magin ’10, Brett Rathbun ’11, Charles Matthews ’11 and Christina Faraone ’10 inspect data gathered by the weather tower named for Dr. Eugene Chermack. Meteorology Professor Scott Steiger ’99, far right, recently donated the funds to name the tower in Chermack’s honor.
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CARE Aims to Take Accounting Program to the Next Level Jim Russell ’83
Programs like Volunteer Income Tax Assistance are a large part of the CARE Mission.
The School of Business has a high-ranking accounting program, prestigious accreditation and an award-winning chapter of the national accounting honor society. The Center for Accounting Research and Education, or CARE, ensures it will only get better. The newly created center aims to financially support student and faculty development within the five-year accounting/MBA program, recently ranked among the top 15 in the country by the Princeton Review. “We have really good people doing really good things,” Professor Chuck Spector said. “We want to be able to highlight and support the work they are doing.” CARE supports the faculty research, diversity initiatives, continuing professional education, community outreach, social responsibility and ethical training that have been limited by budget cuts. One alumnus taking a leadership role is Jeff Gibbs ’80, who donated $12,000 to seed CARE.
Support for Summer Research Grows A new initiative will expand campus support for students working with faculty on scholarly and creative projects over the summer. Up to $50,000 — from unrestricted gifts to the Oswego College Foundation in 2008-09 from many private donors — will create a fund for summer student stipends. Out of the new fund, faculty members will be able to apply for stipends that will be paid to students working with them on projects over the summer. Investing donor gifts directly in the campus in a highly visible way has always paid dividends in the past, President Deborah F. Stanley said. “It resonates with our students, it resonates with donors and it resonates within our community,” she said. The president said that the program will be in effect for summer 2010 and that the Oswego College Foundation hopes to be able to repeat the $50,000 allocation in unrestricted funds the next year as well. “These summer stipends will serve a need we have to have vibrancy on campus in the summer and to have research endeavors go forward,” Stanley said. The Scholarly and Creative Activity Committee will be involved in helping to review proposals and will make recommendations about funding early in spring semester, Provost Susan Coultrap-McQuin said. — Julie Harrison Blissert
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“I think Oswego provided me with an excellent education and as a result I feel I’ve had a good career,” said the vice president - internal audit at Biogen Idec. “I wanted to give back. “As a state school in these tight economic times, Oswego probably faces greater financial challenges than a private school with a long history of private donations and endowments to fund programs,” he said. CARE would support community outreach programs like Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, which today files more than 300 returns for low- and middleincome individuals and families each year. That’s about five times the number volunteer accounting students filed in 1999 when the program began. With international accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Oswego’s School of Business supports an award-winning chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, a national accounting honor society for seniors and graduate students. A major CARE initiative would send more students to the Beta Alpha Psi national conference each year. Gibbs said he would also like to see CARE strengthen outreach to accounting alumni with professional development programming, a job-sharing board and regional networking events. “I think that the establishment of CARE reflects the level of faculty, student and alumni engagement in the accounting program,” School of Business Dean Richard Skolnik said. Donations may be made to CARE through the Development Office, 219 Sheldon Hall, Oswego, NY 13126. l — Shane M. Liebler
URI Communications/michael Salerno
Growing
STEM by Shane M. Liebler
As Oswego sharpens its science focus, alumni share their stories
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t’s smart, it’s strong, it’s green, it’s great. It’s science, technology, engineering and math — the STEM fields. With strong core programs in the sciences, a state-of-the-art science building in the works and new initiatives like the Possibility Scholars program, Oswego is poised to grow some of the best STEM graduates in the nation and world. They’ll have good company in some of the cutting-edge STEM fields. Oswego alumni are thriving in technology gardens, using the laboratories of renowned research universities to cultivate solutions, and caring for complex systems, both mechanical and social. continued on p. 18
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continued from p. 17 Modern science reaches far beyond white lab coats, sterile workspaces and tedious spreadsheets. Most STEM work starts with a creative spark, a big bang of sorts that draws many to the professions. “The start of a scientific idea is no different than an artist having an idea for a painting or a musician coming up with a song,” says Dr. Shashi Kanbur, associate physics professor. The Possibility Scholars program is poised to bring the next generation of STEM students to Oswego in the coming year. But, Oswego alumni have been making strides in the growing STEM fields for decades.
Practical plastics
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reativity drives innovation and innovative plastics are spinning the wheels of change. “Engineering and science are part of the fundamental core of what helps drive innovation in our business,” says Greg Adams ’82, global vice president of the automotive business for SABIC’s Innovative Plastics division (formerly General Electric Plastics). For a recent project, a SABIC design team joined with Hyundai Motors of Korea to create the QarmaQ, a lightweight, fuel-efficient vehicle showing the benefit of advanced plastics and composites. Adams was at the initial launch of QarmaQ in Geneva and the launches in
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Greg Adams ’82 at the National Plastics Expo in Chicago being interviewed by a journalist about Hyundai’s QarmaQ concept car (also seen below, left).
Washington, D.C.; Seoul and Los Angeles. The car was also shown in Moscow and Shanghai, and in India. A technology education major, Adams started out as a teacher before moving on to his plastics career. “All along I knew I was learning things that would be helpful in industry,” he says. In Oswego classes and field trips with technology Professor John Belt, Adams says he learned the fundamental understanding of materials as well as an understanding of industrial design process.
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Help with healing
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n the modern STEM industries, there are numerous ways to be involved with medicine without becoming an M.D. A psychology major at Oswego, Laura Pellegrino-Bremer ’90 went on to earn a nursing degree and work as a psychiatric nurse in the Syracuse area. Today she is an executive senior clinical specialist in the neurosciences division of GlaxoSmithKline, working with doctors and pharmacists in the mental health field. Because of her background in nursing, Pellegrino-Bremer is very familiar with the drugs she promotes that address epilepsy, bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease and attention deficit disorder. “I’ve always enjoyed working with people,” Pellegrino-Bremer says. “We all deal with challenges in our lives. “I want to help others overcome those challenges,” she says.
URI Communications
Satisfaction in safety
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onia Giglio Schaubroeck ’92 works frequently with medical devices as the supervisor of toxicology for Ethox International in Rochester. Her journey into STEM began with zoology, the program that drew her to Oswego. She spent her early career working in a veterinary clinic and later preserving animal skeletons for educational use before breaking into toxicology. Life science is an area seeing a lot of growth. Deborah Mcgwin
Albert Kausch ’78 works in his lab at the University of Rhode Island.
About 10 years ago, a lot more of the testing involved vaccinations and medicine, but now more companies are regularly inventing or improving medical devices, all of which have plastics in need of certification for industry standards, Shaubroeck said. “This is something that is needed and required so that when you go into a hospital you know that the products were tested and safe to use,” she said. “It gives you a sense of achievement.”
Seeds and solutions
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Tonia Giglio Schaubroeck ’92 is superviser of toxicology in the Life Sciences Division of Ethox International.
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niversity of Rhode Island cell and molecular biology Professor Albert Kausch ’78 finds his sense of achievement in taking a problem in a field of personal interest and matching it with a solution. He’s dealt with everything from modifying crops for biofuel application to building a better garlic. As someone involved in the biotechnology field since its early days, Kausch forecasts the sector will continue growing for the next few decades. “I’m fortunate that I got into it at its inception,” says Kausch. “I’ve been able to see [the field] going from the first genetically modified plants to what we have today. “When you go into the supermarket, 95 percent of what you buy probably
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from Iowa State University. “I think the professors I had were very in tune with plant biology. “The exposure I had with people at that time was really seminal for me,” he added. Professor James Seago and Professor Emeritus Sherret Chase were among Kausch’s major influences. Over the years, he has gained a lot of non-scientific experience in management, intellectual property rights and patents, licensing, regulatory affairs and marketing. “It’s less an extension of what I do and more a part of my work as a scientist,” Kausch says of his experience outside the lab. His roster of startup companies includes Ophios, launched to market and distribute a genetically modified Baby Green Garlic, and Plant Advancements, which will promote the switchgrass biofuel still in development.
Better Business
I Richard Kampas ’73 and his Malaysia business partner Subramanya Rao stand in front of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
contains a genetically modified ingredient. That’s a huge impact,” he says. Kausch is founder and president of lifeedu.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing DNA, genetics, and modern biotechnology education to elementary, secondary and undergraduate schools. Beginning his career in the early 1980s working with genetically modified corn, Kausch has worked as a research scientist with big companies like Pfizer. He was recently awarded a $1.4 million Department of Energy grant to make genetic improvements to switchgrass with the goal of developing a better biofuel. “I can attribute a lot of my progress and success in this to mentors I had at Oswego,” says Kausch, who went on to earn advanced degrees in molecular cellular and developmental biology
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t’s important to have some entrepreneurial muscle to push product out of the lab and into the hands of people, wherever the market may be. AT2A founder Richard Kampas ’73 spends mornings at his office in a Syracuse business incubator known as the Technology Garden on the phone with
Fast Facts: Science building l SUNY Construction Fund will cover the $110 to $120 million project. l The building will be constructed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, gold standards. l Groundbreaking expected in 2010. l The renovation would add about 132,000 square feet to Piez Hall for a grand total of 262,000 state-of-the-art square feet for the sciences.
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clients in India. For nearly three decades, Kampas made a living as an accidental entrepreneur with another venture he created called Photomedia. Kampas never intended to become a businessman — he became a technology education major because of his personal interest in photography, which had much more to do with chemistry in the era of darkrooms. “It allowed me to put together all kinds of creative and practical applications,” Kampas says of what was then called the industrial arts program.
His Photomedia company specialized in trade show displays for large companies like Carrier and Welch Allyn and eventually became a type of advertising agency for tech startups. “I do exactly the same thing now that I did before, I just do it for my own company instead of 250 others,” Kampas says. AT2A, short for American Technology to Asia, targets strategic partnerships with tech startups that take the products to places that can use them. For Kampas, it’s been places in Asia very conscious of green solutions.
In one of its 17 worldwide projects, AT2A is working on an eco-friendly mist that will quickly disinfect trains in India and help prevent the spread of H1N1 and similar viruses. No small feat on railroad lines that host more than 26 million riders each day. “For me, it’s just a passion. Now I find myself in an interesting position where I have 30 years of communications experience and now have this worldwide network,” Kampas says. “I’m able to use this technology to help so many people.” He believes in a triple bottom line of helping people, helping the planet and turning a profit for investors. As alumni with STEM jobs show us, there are plenty of possibilities in emerging fields and multiple paths to them. Oswego’s sharpened focus on the sciences promises only more success. For certain, more STEM professionals will boast Oswego roots in the very future they help shape for us. — Michele Reed contributed to this story
STEM careers routinely appear in “top jobs” lists from well-known magazines. Here’s a roundup of 2009 results: U.S. News and World Report 16 out of the 30 “Best Careers” are STEM-related, including physical therapist, veterinarian, audiologist, biomedical equipment expert, landscape architect, occupational therapist, systems analyst. Money magazine 65 of the 100 “Best Jobs in America,” including systems engineer, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, information technology project manager, CPA, pharmacist. Wall Street Journal 13 of the 20 “Best Jobs,” including mathematician, biologist, physicist, meteorologist, based on a study by careercast.com. Forbes 18 of 25 “Best-Paying Jobs” in America, including natural science managers and petroleum engineers.
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Oswego budding stem leader
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magine a premier Northeastern college that produces some of the best science graduate students in the country. Picture a model SUNY school supporting the regional economy with top young technology professionals and entrepreneurs. Envision an institution that invites local high school students to join this elite group of science, technology, engineering and math majors. Your thought, that image, your vision … is SUNY Oswego. Dr. Fehmi Damkaci is a part of moving these possibilities forward. Oswego is already a place where students get hands-on experience that qualifies them for graduate work at America’s small group — there are only 62 — of research universities, he says. That reputation will only grow with initiatives like the Possibility Scholars program. “We will be educating students who are capable of doing high-skilled research,” in emerging fields like materials science, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, Damkaci says. Drew Camelio ’09 just finished his first semester as a graduate student at University of Texas at Austin, the 11thranked chemistry program in the country according to U.S. News and World Report. His current organic chemistry research could someday yield a cure for Alzheimer’s. Camelio says the research can take years, but drug synthesis is something he’d like to pursue in post-graduate studies and as a professional. The Rochester native would like to move back to New York state for research at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute. “I got an excellent education at Oswego and I can’t say enough about it,” Camelio says. “Being in a class with 12 people, having a direct relationship with your professor is an awesome thing.” He chose Oswego over Arizona State because of its more intimate setting. With programs like Possibility Scholars,
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Professor Fehmi Damkaci, right, and David Zupruk ’10 work in a Snygg Hall laboratory. Damkaci envisions Oswego as a premier training ground for science students who go on to research universities for graduate studies.
“Every program is built in collaboration with a business advisory board . . . The idea is to attract and retain businesses that employ people with these hybrid degrees.” — Dr. David King, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Oswego may draw teens with similar preferences. Last summer, Damkaci hosted four Syracuse-area students in a pilot program designed to pique the interest of inner city teenagers in science fields. The month-long “early intervention summer program,” was open to students with two of three conditions: member of a lowincome family, part of a minority group underrepresented in the sciences or a first-generation college student. Participants will work with a teacher from their own school and an Oswego student in the full version of the program, which will begin this summer.
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“They don’t know real science, just textbook information,” says Damkaci, a chemistry professor who likens science to puzzle solving. “The more research they do, the more they get interested.” The program also introduced the high schoolers to the college environment and all the opportunities it presents. Residual goals include retaining science professionals in the Central New York region. “The idea is to expand this program to all sciences, not just chemistry,” Damkaci says. If early intervention is the introduction to Oswego’s STEM efforts, then the Professional Science Master’s initiative
jim Russell ’83
Robert mescavage
could be the finishing touch. Last fall, the chemistry master’s program began offering a professional track integrating business courses into the graduate curriculum. As coordinator of chemistry graduate studies, Damkaci collaborated with Central New York businesses to get an idea of what employers are looking for in science graduates. More than 30 professional science courses, tracks and certificates are being developed across the SUNY system, according to Oswego Dean of Graduate Studies and Research David King, director of the SUNY-wide Professional Science Master’s initiative. With the chemistry track and developing human-computer interaction professional master’s in the works, Oswego is the lead institution among the 12 SUNY campuses participating. The PSM is a hybrid degree that bridges a gap between science degrees and industry, King said. “Every program is built in collaboration with a business advisory board,” he said. “The idea is to be able to attract and retain businesses that employ people with these hybrid degrees.” Giving students the option for a STEM career without a Ph.D. or M.D. designation could reinvigorate regional economies across the state and reverse the “brain drain” of young professionals from New York. “I think it’s a convergence of the recession, job losses and the outward migration of technology companies that feel they are having a difficult time [recruiting],” King said of the timing for the PSM intiatives. “There’s an incredible disconnect given the number of colleges and universities in the state.” A $455,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant distributed by Oswego will raise the college’s profile among SUNY schools and in the larger Northeast region. Between 10 and 15 inner city high schoolers will arrive on campus this summer to get hands-on science experience. The professional chemistry master’s program is on track in its first semester. Imagine the possibilities. l — Shane M. Liebler
The Engineering Advisory Board is, front row, from left: Rhonda Mandel, Rameen Mohammadi, Ruth Baltus ’77, Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley, Rachid Manseur and Heather Erickson. Back row, from left, are: James Chatelle, Mark Abramski, Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81, James Holland ’82, David Smith ’87, Jim Kaden ’78, Antonio Chagas, Andrew Longacre, Ron Leski ’85, Doug Lea and Robert MacMurray ’02.
Engineering Board named
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swego’s Engineering Advisory Board met for the first time in November. This group, which includes alumni and community professionals working in engineering and related fields, will set the course for the new program at Oswego. “Right now there is a shortage of engineers in the country. The more we can create the better,” said Engineering Advisory Board member Jim Kaden ’78. “We have a good core traditional science program and engineering is a likely extension of that program.” “North America needs good engineering talent and more specific innovation. It is what drives businesses to succeed, and enables businesses to sustain and lead through times of change,” said board member Greg Adams ’82. “Oswego is early in a transformative process toward a program in engineering. This is a good example where Oswego, too, is looking to innovate and drive change.” Board member Ruth Baltus ’77, who daily prepares students to go into engineering fields in her position as professor and chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Clarkson University, says any new program should be designed to be attractive to women and other underrepresented groups. “Oswego’s strength is the ability to put an engineering education in the context of a broader education,” she added. “You need engineers these days that can address the profession within broader perspectives: cultural, ethical, regulatory.”
Engineering Program Advisory Board Mark Abramski, Sensis Corp. Gregory Adams ’82, SABIC Innovative Plastics Ruth Baltus ’77, Clarkson University Rich Buck, Lockheed Martin Antonio Chagas, Novelis James Chatelle, MIE Engineering Lori Dietz, Metropolitan Development Association Thomas Dorgan ’74, Miller Brewing Co. (retired) Heather Erickson, MedTech James Holland ’82, Syracuse Research Corp. James Kaden ’78, Lockheed Martin Andrew Longacre, Hand Held Products (retired) Robert MacMurray ’02, CNS Engineering
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Kevin McMahon ’78, Jacobs Engineering Group Joe Pacher, Constellation Energy David Smith ’87, DEW Electrical Kerry Casey Dorsey ’81, SUNY Oswego Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations James Early, SUNY Oswego Computer Science Department Rameen Mohammadi, SUNY Oswego Acting Associate Provost for Undergraduate & Special Programs Lorrie Clemo, SUNY Oswego President Chief of Staff Susan Coultrap-McQuin, SUNY Oswego Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rhonda Mandel, SUNY Oswego College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean
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Possibility Scholarship to support future scientists, engineers
Donor support Some of Oswego’s most loyal supporters have already rallied around the new initiative. Thomas E. Yates ’89 was one of the first donors to fund a Possibility Scholar. “We are investing in our people, ideas and creativity. It made me feel good to be able to help,” said Yates, who is a managing director of Wells Fargo Securities. This former scholarship holder knows first hand the impact of such support. “When I came to Oswego, I knew what the value of financial assistance meant to my family,” said Yates. Also supporting the initiative are Marcia Thompson-Young ’81, Scott King ’74, Gloria “Sandi” Olson ’51, William Spinelli ’84, and Douglas ’80 and Rose Cardamone Crane ’81. “The Possibility Scholars program inspires hope
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chuck Wainwright
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UNY Oswego’s new Possibility Scholars program aims to help high school students, who otherwise would not be able to afford pursuing degrees in science and technology fields, to fulfill their dreams. Supported by private donations, Possibility Scholarships assist promising students with tuition, room and board, as well as hands-on research and inter national service learning. “The Possibility Scholarship not only removes financial barriers for talented students looking to enter the sciences, but also provides the kind of meaningful experiences that will enable them to succeed after graduation,” SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley said in announcing the initiative. The scholarship program is designed to aid students from the Syracuse and Oswego City School Districts who meet SUNY Oswego’s admissions criteria; have an interest in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering or math fields; and have demonstrated financial need. Preference will be given to firstgeneration college students.
“dwell in possibility”
—Emily Dickinson
Possible future scientists of all ages gathered at Rice Creek Field Station for hands-on learning.
and opportunity in children, families and their community. In my view, President Stanley’s vision and leadership, coupled with the capable professionals that lead the Possibility Scholars program, makes this a sound investment. I am pleased to be able to make a contribution to such a worthy effort that will help make so much more possible for these talented and committed people,” said Spinelli.
“We are investing in our people, ideas and creativity. It made me feel good to be able to help.”
Transformative aid
—Thomas E. Yates ’89
The Possibility Scholarship will be applied in coordination with any other grants or scholarships awarded, to assure that each Possibility Scholar receives financial support for tuition, room and board for four years at SUNY Oswego. Supplemental academic activities critical to the overall development of students, such as a summer undergraduate research experience tackling a pressing issue plus a global service project, will be included in the scholarship package, making it one of the most comprehensive educational opportunities offered in the region, Stanley said.
“We’re designing a program that will transform the lives of our student scholars and the world,” Stanley said. “Our scholars can dream big and set high goals, while becoming the knowledgeable and active citizens capable of conquering the most important challenges facing our future. The initiative supports our vital mission to educate thoughtful, well-prepared citizens in our increasingly globalized society.” For more information, visit oswego.edu/possibility. l
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T h is c h e m is t r y c l a ss m a d e c o n n e c t io n s to how things in the world really work. Fermentation is not just yeast turning sugars into alcohol and CO2, but also it is a process in making bread, yogurt and cheese. In Belgium we toured three different breweries and each one reinforced what we had learned in class. I was more excited to learn how [the beers] were made, how the culture influenced the style, what kind of ingredients they used, more than the inevitable free samples. It was also a great experience to see what a different culture was like. — Jacob DeMarree ’11, who toured breweries in Belgium with the “Fermentation Science” class
O u r 10 d a y s s p e n t in B r a z il was an invaluable learning experience, both in the areas of biology and in a more broad sense: I now have a much better understanding of the phrase “citizen of the world.” The Pantanal is an area of amazing biodiversity that is constantly facing pressures of economic development. Having traveled to and worked in the Brazilian Pantanal, I now feel that I have a very personal stake in its conservation and protection in the future. This is no longer simply an abstract idea of a “biological paradise,” but one to which I feel that I belong, despite having spent relatively little time there. — Linda Snider ’10, who made friends with an armadillo
S t o r m C h a s e r s for me was an awesome hands-on experience being a meteorology major because you get to see weather phenomena first hand. For two weeks, my class and I went through different states, from Texas to Wyoming, to find potential storms to study data and analyze for our own research. We got to study several massive storms and even a tornado while experiencing the thrill of the chase and the camaraderie that is included. — Anne Steigerwald ’10, who got ‘up close and personal’ with this tornado
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Rice Creek: a place of wonder... and learning by Michele Reed
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Xuan Vu ’09
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here’s a place on campus where you can watch a deer graze placidly just a few feet from your nose or see a hawk glide majestically on a thermal air mass. You can hear the crunch of autumn leaves underfoot or smell the luscious
scent of mint. That place of wonder is Rice Creek Field Station, located on Thompson Road just over a mile from the college’s main entrance. It’s a home for science classes, faculty and student research projects, and programs for community children, their families and teachers. Oswego has a tradition of hands-on education. Ever since Edward Austin Sheldon introduced his object method of teaching, the college has championed learning by doing. That was the idea behind Rice Creek Field Station, which was conceived more than 45 years ago and is still going strong. It is a 300-acre jewel among the college’s holdings and it includes a pond, herb and flower gardens, and approximately 7.5 miles of nature trails. Herons and cranes gather around the pond, searching for the fish they love to eat. They share the waters with geese and ducks.
Xuan Vu ’09
PHOTO provided
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Professor C. Eric Hellquist, left, and Tom Burns ’10 examine vegetation at Rice Creek.
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Diann Jackson M’89
Squirrels and raccoons are observed regularly through the indoor viewing gallery at the station building, which includes two lab classrooms, a lecture room and exhibit areas. The fields and woods are home to rabbits, foxes and chipmunks. The skies are filled with bluebirds, cardinals, woodpeckers and mourning doves. Walking among the Virginia creeper, dogwood or wild grapes, a visitor can read the plants’ names on identifying plaques. On a sunny summer day the happy shouts of children resound as they chase butterflies with nets, wade into the stream to catch crayfish or identify wildflowers that line the trails. Spring and fall may see professors and their students trapping and releasing small animals to study their habits, observing turtles and fish in the pond or hunting for plants for a botany course. Even in winter, observers catch sight of the tracks of animals in the snow, while students and community members ski or snowshoe on the peaceful trails winding through the woods.
Jennifer Lee ’10 prepares to videotape birds feeding at a ground feeder during her study at Rice Creek.
“We can start doing something significant in science for Central New York.” —Dr. Lucina Hernandez Director of RCFS
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Mission of Research and Outreach “Rice Creek Field Station is very close to the campus and that makes it easier to make that link between the scientific studies, the education for our university and the education for the public,” said Dr. Lucina Hernandez, professor of biology and director of the station. “One focus I am interested in is monitoring the changes in vegetation or communities of plants and animals due to global climate change,” said
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Hernandez, who came to Oswego from Mexico, taking over the reins at Rice Creek a year and a half ago. “We can start doing something significant in science for Central New York.” Dr. Diann Jackson M ’89, assistant director, agrees. “I think any natural place that lets people learn about science and learn about their role in taking care of our environment, our earth and the stewardship of our resources is worth protecting, is worth maintaining,” she said. “You never know what you are going to find when you take a walk on the trail or look out at the birdfeeder and the ponds,” said Jackson, who has worked at the field station for 27 years. “There’s a sense of wonder that I feel every day that I come to work.”
Two Centuries of History
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From left, Shelda Dorsainvil ’10, Matt Mattson ’11 and Zach Meyer ’11 check instruments during a wetlands ecology class this past September.
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It’s just possible that the same sense of wonder welled up in Asa and Elizabeth Rice when the pioneers settled the area of the field station in 1797. The Rices and their eight children had made a difficult trip up the Mohawk River, across Oneida Lake and down the Oneida and Oswego rivers. While making their way down the shore of Lake Ontario they landed at the mouth of Three Mile Creek, now Rice Creek. There they made a new life for themselves and their family amid the forbidding terrain. The land they settled and the farming community that grew up around it would become Rice Creek Field Station. The area where students today learn and conduct research was devoted to grazing as late as 1955, and a horse pasture until 1963 is now a young, or pioneer, woodlot. A dairy farm, orchards and crop fields dotted the landscape. The Oswego College Foundation acquired much of the land between 1961 and 1963 from the Conway, Hilton and DeAmbra families. Science faculty members began to plan the research and instructional station. John Weeks, emeritus professor of biology, helped
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to design the field station and the fish ladder that is fed by the pond, along with New York state engineers. Boy Scouts cut up logs for the original boardwalk. Construction was completed in 1966 and the field station was ready to welcome students, researchers and visitors.
Hands-On Study “I remember my cell physiology project dealing with crayfish internal fluid sampling along the Creek — getting out collecting and sampling, then the lab work — ah, what memories!!” said Ed Currier ’68, who did the initial water quality study of Rice Creek from source to mouth in 1967 as an independent study directed by Professor Ron Engel. “I became a life sciences teacher and was able to bring my middle school classes there several years for some great environmental experiences. The station had such an impact on me that my master’s degree work later involved the creation of a nature study center at my
middle school — Wayne Middle School in Ontario Center, where I taught science for 37 years before my retirement in 2005.” George Maxwell was first official director and the longest serving. He was followed by Engel and J. Alden Lackey. Don Cox took over the leadership in the early ’80s and stayed 10 years. Sigurd Nelson was next, serving three years, followed by Andy Nelson, who held the director’s post for 14 years. Upon Nelson’s retirement, Hernandez took over. In 1972, a group of zoology faculty members named one of the trails the Carlita Snygg Memorial Trail in honor of their colleague, who was well known as a naturalist, through her popular columns in the Oswego Palladium-Times. She was the wife of Professor Donald Snygg. There have been many changes over the years, and Jackson has seen most of them. “The biggest part of our facilities is the outdoors and over the almost 30 years I’ve been here the habitats have
changed greatly,” she said. “Forests and meadows have aged and led to new plants and animals.” She pointed out improvements like the covered pavilion used for outdoor classes and a picnic area for visitors. The addition of an herb garden, planted by Ruth Sachidanadan, the wife of emeritus faculty member Gubbi Sachidanadan, complements other flower gardens near the buildings. An extensive renovation is planned as part of the college’s effort to renovate and improve science facilities. Because it is a living space, Rice Creek Field Station will continue to change and grow. One thing will remain the same: It will always be a valuable resource for students and faculty to hold classes and conduct research and for community members to learn about science and nature in a hands-on way. Edward Austin Sheldon would be proud. l Editor’s note: Research for this article contributed by Matthew Urtz ’02.
Xuan Vu ’09
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Newman Center Nourishes Campus Spirituality
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ne organization has fed students’ need for spiritual sustenance for more than half of Oswego State’s history. The Newman Center commemorated its 75th anniversary with a special celebration at Reunion 2009, marked by hugs, laughter, music and prayer. Although founded for Roman Catholic students, the Newman Center strives to nurture the spiritual development of all individuals of the SUNY Oswego campus community, according to Michael Huynh ’98, M ’03, who was active as a student and is the current chaplain. In 1934, Catholic students banded together under the leadership of the Rev. Daniel Collins, pastor of St. Louis’ Church, to form the Newman Club, part of a worldwide movement of such organizations. That first year, the membership numbered 75 and even more came to the meetings, according to the Ontarian yearbook. The 1934 officers were President Charles Jamieson ’34, Vice President Berniece Daly Elliott ’35, Secretary Theresa Fitzgibbons ’34 and Treasurer Henry Clancy ’36. “Students recall the
extremely successful card party and dance held by the club and look forward to more such pleasant gatherings,” noted the yearbook, explaining that while the club was formed to help the students in their religious duties, it also provided “opportunity for social and intellectual contacts.” After Collins, the Revs. Robert J. Casey and Patrick Hartnett served the community. The club was active during the ’40s and ’50s, but had no permanent home. In 1953, the Rev. Robert Hall assumed the duties of the chaplaincy to the college. Under his guidance, an office existed in
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the Mackin complex for the Catholic chaplain. Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church. Later Hall opened the first Newman Center — a garage on Sheldon Avenue — in 1955. “And what a striking man he was: good looking, a nice guy, could speak well and very, very student orientated,” said Fred Parrow ’60, who with his wife, Mary Jane Quinn Parrow ’59 spent a lot of time with Fr. Hall and even invited him to their February 1961 wedding in Auburn. “We remember [the group] meeting down in St. Mary’s Church — down in the basement,” where they would have potluck suppers, Fred Parrow said. “The parishioners were being real charitable and generous to the students … we didn’t have cooking facilities.” In 1959, the Newman Foundation of Oswego, comprised of a group of laypeople in the Oswego-Fulton area, purchased a home at 282 Washington Blvd., across from the college. Hall said in newspaper reports at the time that the new home “was the fulfillment of a great need in the guidance and instruction of the students, who especially at this age level in life are in need of spiritual assistance.”
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Faith-Based Groups Offer Religious Experiences The Newman Club is one among many vibrant religious organizations at SUNY Oswego. These spiritually oriented groups allow students to explore their religion further. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, or BASIC, is a Christian organization. They hold weekly bible study sessions, prayer meetings and bimonthly Sunday services for anyone who shares the common interest. The Chabad Jewish Student Association promotes traditional Jewish heritage by offering students a “home away from home.” The organization aims to bring “yiddishkeit” or Jewish awareness to Judaic students. The Christian Campus Ministry is a part of the Outpouring Church, which was established in 2007 at Oswego to offer many ministries for people of all ages. The group focuses on community service activities including delivering meals to the elderly and sick. The IXTHUS organization looks into historical aspects of the Christian faith. The organization’s name is Greek for the word “fish,” the letters of which represent “Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Savior.” The Jewish Student Union advocates the culture of the Jewish faith by connecting the Jewish community. They educate a pluralistic vision of Judaism by celebrating holidays and performing community service. The Muslim Student Association was established to bridge the gap between Muslim and non-Muslim students through education. The association also provides space for Muslim students to practice and understand their faith. l — Jessica Pascal ’11
The Rev. James P. Lang, former Newman Center chaplain, gets a hug during Reunion Weekend 2009.
The Rev. John W. Lynch wrote of the renovation of the house into the Newman “clubhouse,” in his column, “The Side Aisle.” He noted that the enrollment at the college at that time was 2,200, with 875 being Catholic. At regular meetings of the Newman Club, attendance averaged more than 150. Lynch described the chapel as “the most important room within,” detailing the construction with pews, confessional and stations of the cross. The house also featured a chaplain’s office “nicely outfitted for personal conferences.” The first floor held a student lounge and three classrooms, while the second floor housed a library stocked with religious volumes. Syracuse Diocese Auxiliary Bishop David Cunningham officially dedicated the center. A newspaper report at the time noted that the center was completely filled, “with many others gathering outside the building and listening to the dedicatory talks by means of a public address system.”
A New Home for Newman In 1964, the Newman Center would move again, this time to its current location on New Street. A towering concrete cross was erected to mark the site that would house the purpose-built structure, which included a chapel, community room, and library. Bishop William Foery dedicated the new building Dec. 12, 1964.
In 1984, the building was named for the Rev. Robert Hall, in honor of his contributions to the Newman Center over the years. Through the decades, the Newman group has been active, teaching religious education to elementary, middle and high school students. Last year, the Newman members ran retreats for 400 local high schoolers, preparing them to receive confirmation. Food has always been a big tradition with the Newman members over the years, and scrapbooks show gatherings on the lawn and in the community room. It didn’t matter what the food was, the joy was in the sharing. Every decade had its food traditions. A Sept. 8, 1978, Oswegonian article called for “volunteers to test their abilities as chef and wine steward at Thursday night suppers. Food is provided. Any interest in baking is also encouraged.” For years now, spaghetti suppers have been a popular get-together.
Living Legacy At Reunion Weekend last June, the Rev. James P. Lang, who served as chaplain at the Newman Center from 1981 to 1991, said, “Here we became a community.” He noted that the student body is not “a mob of more than 7,000 but 7,000 individuals looking for love, hope, wisdom.” The Newman Center was there to help all students in their spiritual quest, he said. Some of those students and community members brought together by the Newman Center returned for the celebration, and shared their reminiscences. continued on p. 34
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‘ N o w I am H a p p y ’
Ketcham found his calling at Newman Center
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f you weren’t here, I wouldn’t be here,” the Rev. Robert Ketcham ’00 said, gesturing at his cassock, as he spoke to the Newman community at Reunion 2009. What he meant was — if the Newman Center were not adjacent to campus to feed his need for spirituality, he would not be a priest today. Ketcham came to Oswego from Long Island as a freshman with the hope of becoming an artist. He had always loved painting, especially acrylics. The first thing he did was go down by the lakeshore and pray the rosary. Like the Newman Center would later become, it was a way for him to stay connected to what he knew before coming to campus. Ketcham worked hard in his classes. But something was missing. He began searching at Oswego. He would change his major to elementary education — his parents and siblings were teachers. He played bass in a band, Vertical 8, which opened for many acts on campus.
Eventually he would become involved in the Newman Center, but even there his shyness prevented him from taking on public roles as lector or Eucharistic minister. Shortly after college, while working as a caddy by day and waiter by night and coaching youth soccer, his lung collapsed requiring a succession of surgeries. To slow his life down, Ketcham left his physical jobs and became involved with the youth ministry at his hometown church. It was there he began to feel a call to the priesthood. “I went to work in a homeless shelter for a year, to appease God’s call,” he said. It didn’t work. In 2002, he entered the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington. On June 14, 2008, he was ordained and received his first assignment — as associate pastor at Holy Name of Mary in Valley Stream, where he serves today. When he finally determined his vocation, Ketcham said, everything with which he had been struggling fell photo courtesy of Gregory A. Shemitz
into place. “The teaching, coaching, music, golf, waiting tables, all combined with church,” he said. But the church was “more than a piece of the puzzle. It was the table on which the pieces were laid.” He was able to do all the things he loved, but now they had a higher purpose. “My heart felt rested,” he said. He had been restless in youth, and as a student at Oswego. A priest friend he knew growing up told him, “You will not be happy until you are giving.” “Now I am super happy,” Ketcham said. “To be happy is to do God’s will. To serve the poor. To use my education degree and serve the children.” In addition to his pastoral duties, he teaches eighth grade and the confirmation class at his parish. “The long Oswego winters can make you go inside yourself,” Ketcham says. He was lucky to find true friends on campus to draw him out. Michael Gulluscio ’00, his freshman roommate in Funnelle and Michael’s wife, Elizabeth Campbell Gulluscio ’99, became longtime friends. John Deely ’99 played guitar at Old City Hall, and one day he invited Ketcham to join him. Later he would invite the future priest to the Newman Center, where he would find a spiritual home. “He was kind of cool and super charitable,” said Ketcham, “I saw in him what I could be — cool, and still be Catholic.” Ketcham was helped along the way by professors like Patrick Murphy, Tulio Garzone and Inez Alfors, “a charitable woman . . . like a mother to me.” “Oswego was able to nurture and develop who I was,” Ketcham said. “The college helped me become who I really was, by bringing out the things that were dormant.” l — Michele Reed
The Rev. Robert Ketcham ’00 gives communion to his mother, on the day of his ordination.
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continued from p. 32 Tina Panepinto Smeal ’89 served as a Eucharistic minister as a student and was very active in the Newman community. She remembered Lang fondly, saying, “Any time we needed guidance we went and talked with him.” The bond was so close that Lang traveled to her hometown to perform her marriage ceremony. He also officiated at the wedding of Mary Berrigan Davis ’89, another active participant serving as a lector and Eucharistic minister. She remembered groups of students sharing meals with Lang in dining halls or at a restaurant. Lynne Tompkins Merletti ’89 remembers eight or 10 students driving to local nursing homes as part of the Newman Center’s outreach program. The women agreed that missing Sunday Mass at the Newman Center was not an option. “On Sunday night, even if it was bitter cold, we were drawn to it,”
they said. “It was the group you saw at the same time, every week.” Sister Katie Effie ’71 was one of the Newman Center members to discern a vocation to serve in the church. The current director of religious education in the Diocese of Syracuse, she began her involvement with the Newman Center as a freshman. Her part-time job was to serve as the evening receptionist at the center for the chaplain, the Rev. Murray Elwood. She stayed involved with the center all four years on campus, and got to know Elwood and the Sisters of St. Joseph well. She felt her vocation was “encouraged and fostered here.” Students weren’t the only ones who felt drawn to the Newman community. When Kathleen Whitney moved to Oswego in 1980, her sister invited her to attend Mass at the center one week. “I was hooked,” she said. She had young
children at the time and the family grew up together in the Newman community. “It’s our home,” Whitney said. Kathleen Brooks Nyman ’74 stayed in town after graduation and married fellow alum, Edward Nyman ’93. Kathleen was involved in the Newman Center as a student. “I loved it enough that I stayed here. I loved Oswego, for ourselves and the kids.” She was an early member of the People Against Poverty Committee and was one of those involved in the first garage sale in 1992. Student donations are sold to raise money to help those in need. Whether it is a potluck dinner, community service project, religious liturgy or just a feeling of camaraderie, the Newman Center has had much to offer the Oswego campus community for 75 years. l — Michele Reed
Father Hall Honored with Scholarship
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ne Newman Club chaplain who had a big impact on people of all faiths is still affecting students’ lives today — thanks to a scholarship established by alumni who remember him fondly. The priest who served as chaplain from 1948 to 1966 is memorialized in the Father Robert E. Hall Memorial Scholarship, established in 2002. “He was just one of those clergymen who was available to anybody of any faith,” said Elizabeth Baker ’61, one of the group who started the scholarship. When he attended Reunion 1995, Hall said Mass at St. Mary’s Church downtown, and alumni of all religions showed up. “It was a genuine outpouring of people whose lives had been touched by this man because of his service to the community,” said Baker. “He always had time for anybody and I wasn’t the only Jewish person at Mass,” recalls Thelma Aa Taylor ’61. “You could always just sit down and chat with him.”
As an example of his After that Reunion, a inclusiveness to people of group of alumni banded all faiths, Baker recalled together to raise funds that at the time, student for a scholarship in Hall’s groups could not meet honor. on campus without a Because Hall was sponsor. When the Hillel a man of service, the group lost their sponsor, committee decided the Hall agreed to be the scholarship should recsponsor for the Jewish ognize students who had group. made a difference in both “He was always supthe campus and the local portive of any group and community or their own always willing to chat hometown. with people,” said Baker. “It’s not just about The Rev. Robert E. Hall “He would come into the education but also public student union and join service,” said Baker. people for coffee or discussion.” She noted that the scholarship has Hall, for whom the Newman Center been awarded to people of all religious on New Street was named in 1984, backgrounds, including one young man passed away Oct. 23, 1998, but he is involved with B’Nai B’Rith, who voluncertainly not forgotten, thanks to the teered with senior citizens through a generosity of former students who loved Jewish Center in New York. him. l “That was perfectly fitting,” Baker said. “Father Hall was this ecumenical person — Michele Reed before it was popular to be ecumenical.”
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Class Notes
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Call us at: 315-312-2258 E-mail us at: alumni@oswego.edu Fax us at: 315-312-5570 Visit our Web site at: oswego.edu/alumni
Seven Decades of Friendship JIM RUSSELL ’83
The last time they sat in the auditorium seats in Sheldon Hall as students, Cora Hughes Bura ’39 and Joyce Smith Parsell ’39 listened to lectures by the likes of Isabelle Hart, for whom Hart Hall on campus was named. Although Hart is a piece of Oswego history to many alumni, for Cora and Joyce she was a very real presence. They laugh as they remember Hart told Cora she75th was “too pale,” 1935 and advised her to go out and Cora Hughes Bura ’39 (at left) and Joyce Smith Parsell ’39 reminisced get some “nice, red lipstick.”JUNE 11-13about their undergrad days in the 1930s, as they toured the newly renoThe 1935 two 75th ladies, who have vated Historic Classroom in Sheldon Hall during Reunion 2009. remained1935 friends 75th during the has two grandchildren and seven decades since their grad1930 80th JUNE 11-13of Sheldon Hall. “We thought three great-grandchildren. uation, returned for ReunionJUNE 11-13we were pretty good,” they Cora spent 23 years at 2009 and sat once again inJUNE 11-13confided. Another time they General Brown Central School, took chess as an elective. the renovated classroom in 1930 80th where she taught first grade. While they had great Sheldon1930 Hall 80th as well as visit1935 75th Throughout the decades, ing the college’s beautiful new JUNE 11-13memories of campus, a field JUNE Cora and Joyce stayed in Campus Center. JUNE 11-13 11-13trip to Drumlins also stuck in touch, and even vacationed at their minds, as they visited the They reminisced about hills created by glacial remains. cottages across the road from their favorite classes, like each other at Knobby Knoll They remembered working English with Professor James 1930 80th near Sackets Harbor. in a rural school for a period, Moreland, and classes with They are looking forward Dr. Baer, Dr. Tower and JUNE 11-13teaching everything from to their next Reunion in 2014, science to music. Mr. Wagg, who taught history when 90-year-old Joyce Joyce taught for 40 years and social studies. reminds her friend with a altogether, including 13 in Since each graduate had wink that Cora will be 99 Beaver River School District to complete credits in some years old. l and 15 in General Brown sport, Cora and Joyce tried Central School. After her their hand at archery with — Michele Reed marriage, she substituted. outdoor targets and shooting 1965 45th at a rifle range on the top floor The mother of one child, she
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JUNE 11-13 JUNE 11-13 Members of the Class of 1959 gathered for this composite photo following the Golden Alumni Society Luncheon during Reunion Weekend 2009. The JUNE 11-13
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newest additions to the society joined members from the classes of 1939 through 1959 for the luncheon. A tea and remembrance ceremony hosted by President Deborah F. Stanley at Shady Shore kicked off the weekend for the golden anniversary class. Front row, from left, are: John Dalton, Heather Hardy O’Connell, Shirley Uplinger, Anne Dalton Croghan, Laura Kelly Scarpelli, Alice Baker Scandura, 1930 80th Roberta Rath, Glen Proseus, Allie Youngs Proud, Jean Glancy Poole and Anna Bronner 1945Baldwin 65th Sampson, William Roberts, Fritz Rath, Carmella LaMacchia 1950 60th Nuzzo. Second row, from left, are: Sheila Cosgrove Pedisich, Jerry Passer,JUNE Carol Barbatsuly Efthimiou, Mary Porter Elmer, Doris Lightfoot Hughes, William 11-13 Drinkwine, Helen Nachmias Davidson, Beverly Cubit Hansen, Alice Brockmyre Godfrey, Everett Godfrey, Thomas Elling, Barbara Brinen Glickman, Anna JUNE 11-13 11-13 Morgenstein. Third row, from left, are: Walter Steinhauer Giacobbe, Joseph Fratamico, Dianne Davies Levi, Gordon Levi, James Metcalf andJUNE Leonard Wheeler, Paul J. Zaidel, Ellen Dann Alsdorf, Linda Goldfarb Katz, Edward Nicholson, Priscilla Sanders Walsh, Sharon Weiner Narus, Judith Melberg Wollenberg, Eugene C. Stafford, William Seibert, William Bacon, Robert Nevin, Fred Rapple, Paul Burroughs, Richard Klein, Tim Leonard, Bill King, Irma Johnston Lent, Esther Elsey LaClair, Thomas LaClair, Teresa DeCastro Hastings and Dorothy Woodland Taylor.
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On Track for Friendship
“Strangers on a Train” may have been a popular movie when they were undergrads, but when Alma Brown Moses ’54 and Edna Henley Edwards ’53, met as strangers on a train to Oswego, it led to a lifelong friendship. The two young women met each other as they boarded the train to Oswego from Grand Central Station in New York City as freshmen: Alma came from downtown and Edna from uptown. And while it has been more than a half-century since they roomed together at Oswego, the years vanished when they returned to campus for Reunion 2009. “It was great to be here to see my old friends . . . not chronologically,” Alma said with a laugh. “I had a wonderful time. It was my first time back to see all the differences in the dorms,” recalled Edna, who traveled from Mount Vernon, N.Y., to attend. “We lived in the [old Army] barracks, eight people to a room.” The friends recalled that those barracks rooms included a chest of drawers for each girl and a huge shared study table “Miss Snell was the housemother, who ruled very strictly, but very lovingly,” remembered Edna. Later the girls would go on to live together in Sheldon JUNE 11-13 Hall, which is not the “Old Main” that now bears the founder’s name, but a house in town where coeds roomed. They would join the JUNE 11-13 same sorority, Delta Sigma Tau, which became Sigma Tau Delta when it went national. That “close-knit group of girls” even won first prize in the annual Alma Brown Moses ’54 and Edna Henley Edwards ’53 met “songfest,” Alma recalled. as students when they boarded Those years together a train in New York City to forged a strong friendship come to Oswego. that lasted throughout their long careers in education. Alma was Edna’s bridesmaid and later attended her 50th anniversary celebration. Alma married John Moses ’52 and Edna was there. Alma taught kindergarten for 45 years, two years in Syracuse and the remaining 43 in Eaton Township, N.J. “No words can express how much I enjoyed kindergarten,” she said. Edna taught for 30 years, taking time off to raise her children. She taught first and second grades in New York City, before becoming a reading teacher. In 1969, she was JUNE 11-13 one of the pioneers to use computers to teach reading, and later, math. She would go on to become an early childhood coordinator and assistant principal in an elementary school. “We were well trained at Oswego to become the best teachers,” Alma said. And to think it all began on a train. l — Michele Reed Jim Russell ’83
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Alumni Bookshelf This column celebrates the publishing success of Oswego alumni authors, illustrators and recording artists. Please keep us informed about new books and CDs by requesting that your publisher or distributor send a copy for the Oswego Alumni Bookshelf at King Alumni Hall. Veteran journalist Ken Auletta ’63 chronicles the rise of Google and its impact on traditional media in Googled: The End of the World As We Know It. Auletta takes readers inside Google’s closeddoor meetings and offers portraits of Google’s notoriously private founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as their friends and enemies. (See excerpt, p. 48). Penguin Press, 2009. Barbara-Jo Lucchine Kruczek ’67 chronicles the unusual circumstances in the lives of her impoverished immigrant parents in Play Me a Song. The “survival story” focuses on Kruczek’s father, a traveling musician, composer and arranger. iUniverse, 2009. William H. Quinn ’70 examines solutions for juvenile delinquency, truancy and behavior problems in Family Solutions for Youth at Risk. Quinn is a professor in the department of child and family development at the University of Georgia and an adjunct faculty member in the department of psychiatry and health behavior at the Medical College of Georgia. Brunner-Routledge, 2004. Fact and fiction collide in Al Roker’s ’76 debut novel, The Morning Show Murders. The murder mystery revolves around a fictional morning television program and its cooking segment host, Billy Blessing. The character
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is loosely based on Roker, who does cooking segments in addition to his duties as weatherman and co-host of NBC’s “Today” show. Delacorte Press, 2009. With Musket & Tomahawk: The Turning Point of the Revolution — The Saratoga Campaign, 1777 depicts the military, political, social and economic struggle of the Revolutionary patriots against a massive British onslaught through the early summer and fall of 1777. Author Michael O. Logusz ’77 covers activity in the Northeast with particular attention to what is now New York state. Casemate, 2010. Dr. Mickey Lebowitz ’81 offers an accessible, conversational autobiography of his career as a physician. Losing My Patience: Why I Quit the Medical Game provides a unique inside look at America’s “sick” health care system. Gegensatz Press, 2009. Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher details the benefits of action research by education administrators. Nancy Fichtman Dana ’86, M ’88 provides a step-by-step approach to exploring areas of interest for research, including staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, community/ culture building, leadership skills, building management and school performance. Corwin Press, 2009.
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Julia Rozines DeVillers ’89 gives her young audience a taste of what it might be like to live in the White House in Liberty Porter, First Daughter. The 9-year-old Liberty’s big plans often result in some humorous situations. Aladdin, 2009. Rob Podfigurny ’03 and coauthor George W. Curry offer a close look at the history of Syracuse’s Armory Square in Then & Now: Armory Square. The book breaks down the district street by street with historic and current photos. Arcadia Publishing, 2009. Emeritus Dean of Students Bob Rock offers tips and memories in 11,762 Words for Fly Fishers and Fly Tyers. Over the course of 49 short sections, Rock reveals the rewards and trials of angling. Seaber Turner Associates, 2009. l
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s I write this column, we are enjoying another beautiful fall day in Oswego and Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays, is only days away. It’s a wonderful season for me full of extended family and a chance to reflect on all the things for which I’m thankful in my life. Like many of you, those things include good health, my family, my close friends and doing work that I find fulfilling and meaningful. I’m thankful our three kids are all healthy, happy and headed down positive paths. They are all at somewhat seminal points in their lives. Caitlin graduated from law school in May and will begin her legal career with a law firm in Philadelphia in January. Megan is home with us briefly before heading off to Argentina on a Fulbright Scholarship — and then on to grad school. And Connor is a senior at SUNY New Paltz who will soon start on his post-college journey. Despite a continued tough economy that has touched all of us in some way, I’m thankful to the 7,771 donors who continued their financial support of Oswego last year. I’m thankful, too, to the nearly 500 alumni volunteers who supported our efforts in 2008-09 — from Reunion volunteers to ASK mentors to Alumni-in-Residence in classrooms. The continued support of our alumni and friends helps our current Oswego State students — who are still full of hope for their futures. We feel blessed every day to have such loyal and engaged alumni. We’re proud to announce the launch of our newly re-designed Lake E-ffect monthly e-newsletter in the coming months. Lake E-ffect keeps you updated with news from campus, alumni features, upcoming events in your local area and reunions, among other things. First launched in June 2006, we’re happily anticipating our fourth year with a new look and some new features. Look for it in your inbox typically on the first Friday of each month. We look forward to your comments and suggestions as we continue our efforts to keep you connected and informed about the great things happening at your alma mater. I’m thankful that planning continues for our sciences buildings — renovations and building will commence soon. You will read in this issue about the wonderful cutting-edge work our alumni in the sciences are already doing in so many fields. We are excited to imagine the possibilities for all the things our future graduates — trained in new state-of-the-
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art laboratories and programs — will be able to accomplish as they go out into the world. We’re happy to welcome to our alumni team a new staff member, Laurie Simpson. Laurie will work with our Reunion Weekend program, bringing alumni back to campus as Alumni-in-Residence and connecting alumni to students through various networking programs both on and offcampus. She will also help develop our growing scholarships and donor relations and recognition programs. As we go about our daily work here it is always memorable and gratifying to be a part of the many reconnections that occur on a regular basis. Keep your connection with Oswego strong and make it one of your priorities in 2010 to participate in alumni events or reunions, connect with your long-ago college friends, and utilize all the new technologies — from OsweGoConnect to Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn that enable us to help you stay in touch — with fellow alumni and with the college — and the wonderful things that continue to happen here every day on campus! And please know how thankful we are to you for your continued support and involvement!
P.S. You can’t receive Lake E-ffect or other alumni event e-mails if we don’t have your e-mail address! So send us your email address today at alumni@ oswego.edu so we can add you to the list. Better yet, log on to our exclusive online alumni community, OsweGoConnect, at http://www.alumniconnections. com/oswegoalumni/ and register. (Your initial log-in number is the 9-digit number located directly above your name on the address label of this magazine.)
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Members of the Class of 1984 enjoyed their Silver Anniversary Reception during Reunion Weekend 2009 at Shady Shore. Front row, from left, are: President Deborah F. Stanley, Patti Tower, Susan Eschbacher Mellina, Lori Dreifuss Nolan and Stacey Harari Beck. Second row, from left, are: Lori Golden Kiewe, Suzanne Castrigno Sack, Beth Gura, Tamara Naphtali Mudachi, Beth Kucker Timmerman, Leslee Altman Albalah, Dana Samet DiCapua and Jeff Webster. Third row, from left, are: Kelley Flood, Meleisa Lee Holek, Donna Ivancich Coto, Peter Rogers, Carey Loftus and Raymond Baynard. Fourth row, from left, are: Paul J. Olcott Jr., Fred Lefton, Steven Brem, Chuch Holek, Paul Pecorella, Steve Gaydorus and Yvonne Spicer. Fifth row, from left, are: Bob “West” Bebak, Pam Ebersol Weidel, Gregg Corrigan, Susanna Estrella-DeMott, Hal Rowley, Jeffrey Bush, Brenda Corlis Ferlenda and Paul Isaac. Sixth row, from left, are: Michael Belus, Paul Carey, Charlie Mitchell, Cathy Cox Nagle, Lisa Sellin, Joan Bardenett McDowell and Tony Ferlenda. Seventh row, from left, are: Jerry Chasko, Ann Greci Sullivan, Ross Belfiore and Joy Manis Piekunka. Back row, from left, are: John Sullivan, Bill DeMott, Brian Wiser and Sean Shevlin.
N e w s maker For just the third time in its halfcentury history, the Nassau–Suffolk School Boards Association honored a “Champion for Long Island Education.” The group recognized its outgoing president, Jim Kaden ’78 with the prestigious award. The N-SSBA had previously honored Kaden with its Distinguished Service Award. “It is fitting that the inscription on Jim Kaden ’78 the 2004 Distinguished Service Award reads ‘for your personal courage and unwavering commitment on behalf of Long Island’s public schools,’ for those words exemplify Jim Kaden’s tenure as President of the NassauSuffolk School Boards Association,” said Jay L. T. Breakstone, who succeeded Kaden as president. “Add experience, knowledge and articulate advocacy to the inscribed words, and you have an extraordinary leader.” Kaden served on the N-SSB board for several years, including two years as president. In his final President’s Corner column in an N-SSBA newsletter, he commented on the association’s impact: “We have nurtured coalitions with the leadership of education, business and the planners of Long Island’s future,” Kaden wrote. Jim is married to Debbie Adams-Kaden ’78.
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‘Tree’ Hug: Nonprofit Gives Hope to Galveston photo provided
Galveston was devastated. In September 2008, Hurricane Ike washed away homes, scattered thousands of city residents and claimed dozens of lives in Texas. Basic services like electricity, water and sanitation were unavailable for weeks. Now recognized as the third most costly hurricane in U.S. history, the storm also crippled the Galveston economy. Ted Hanley ’80 had to do something to give his community hope. On April 11, he and about 4,000 others lined up along the Galveston seawall to give the city a hug. Consider the hug an expansion service of the Jesse Tree, a faith-based nonprofit organization specializing in medical education and care that Ted founded about 15 years ago. “It’s just so emotionally overwhelming,” Ted remembers. The hug also kicked off the “One in a Million” campaign to get one million donors to contribute $1 to the Jesse Tree. “It was the most uplifting experience.” More than 50,000 hours of volunteer service connect the needy with a variety of social services with a big assist from technology for case management. Even in a storm where the Jesse Tree lost more than $2.5 million in equipment, volunteer case workers hit the street within a day of the storm. “We were able to take a wireless laptop, sit down on a curb and help them fill out a FEMA application, get treatment information or find out where their family members were located,” says Ted, who credits Oswego for a large part of his success. A student teaching assignment in Albany working with the deaf and blind seeded Ted’s interest in working with building design and accessibility. As a student he also crafted a pilot program targeted at administering driver’s education to adults of less-than-average intelligence. “The faculty was incredibly supportive. I think back now and they were way ahead of the curve,” says Ted, whose mother, Patricia Otis Hanley ’44, attended Oswego before him. “Oswego gave me an opportunity to experiment with accessibility design and education.”
Ted Hanley ’80 has grown his Jesse Tree nonprofit to include a broad variety of social services. More than 4,000 people gathered to help his organization give Galveston, Texas, a hug in April. He’s pictured with his son Ned, left, at the event.
The Delta Chi Omega brother went on to earn advanced degrees in architecture and special education, eventually utilizing technology in his professional aspirations. He reviewed building plans for accessibility with the state and county governments in Texas before founding the Jesse Tree to assist people with physical and economic barriers in 1995. Over the years, the Tree has grown to offer a broad variety of services, including homeless outreach, nutrition programs and financial assistance. The hug, which included a prayer and light-hearted rendition of the “cupid shuffle” dance, may be one of the Jesse Tree’s most visible services now. A second hug commemorated the first anniversary of the storm Sept. 13 with lots of media attention. l — Shane M. Liebler
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Representing America to the World Since leaving Oswego, Matthew A. Weiller ’84 has made the world his classroom, traveling the globe as a career diplomat and representing the United States in an array of international locales, including Armenia, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. After serving in the United States Information Agency, Matt joined the Department of State in 1991 as a foreign service officer. He is currently stationed in Jakarta, Indonesia. “It’s a very happening place,” Matt says. The childhood home of President Barack Obama has earned recent attention, and Matt was excited to work on logistics for the visit of Hillary Clinton to the city. While the arrival of a secretary of state is a high-profile part of his job, his daily duties in keeping American embassies running smoothly include some not-so-glamorous — even dangerous — chores. “I have cleaned floors and bathrooms, and dealt with rats,” Matt admits. “In Armenia, we lived in an apartment with no heat. We left the refrigerator door open in winter to keep the food cold.” In the embassy at Kabul, machine gun nests on the roof attested to the danger of his posting, and he had to be sure fuel filters on vehicles were changed regularly, because of the sand that seeped into everything. Oswego ingenuity helped him out, though. Dozens of abandoned shipping containers made temporary offices and
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living quarters, even becoming a sought-after commodity.1970 40th But for Matt, whose wife is also in diplomacy, public service is key. His most recent project is the JUNE 11-13 America Place. The brainchild of the ambassador to Indonesia, it is a mall-based, media-driven location where Indonesians can learn about American culture. “We1980 have30th to catch people where they go to play and shop,” Matt says. 11-13world, but He may be on the other sideJUNE of the this former R. A. loves Oswego, where as president of the Concert Band he dressed up as “Captain Carnation” in a sweatsuit and cape with wings, to 1990for 20th deliver flowers a band fundraiser. He fondly remembers trudging through the snow to Wade’s JUNE 11-13 Diner for Saturday morning breakfasts. But it was the academics that most impressed Matt. As a member of the then-new Honors College, he appreciated the “top-notch 2000small 10th seminar classes. Matt feels education” and Oswego prepared him well for a master’s degree JUNE 11-13 in foreign affairs at Georgetown University and a German government fellowship to the University of Bonn, so he is an enthusiastic supporter of Oswego. “In addition to the fact that giving back is the right thing to do, you get a tremendous bang for your buck,” he says, noting that Oswego has a real appreciation for alumni and even modest giving is valued. l — Michele Reed
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Matthew A. Weiller ’84, center, was honored with the Anniversary Class Award on a visit to campus last summer, presented on behalf of the Oswego Alumni Association by Executive Director Betsy Oberst, right. He was nominated by Emeritus Professor of German George Koenig, left, who praised him for his professional achievements and for being a “generous, warm-hearted and effervescent person.”
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Lt. Col. John Jacobsen ’86 recently met Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki while serving with the U.S. Army Reserve. As commander of the 343rd Military Police Detachment, John heads up a task force in charge of detainee operations in Iraq. He crossed paths with the country’s leader when al-Maliki, pictured at left, made a request for a specific detainee. John notes the photo was taken in the same room where an Iraqi reporter infamously threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush during a press conference. A member of the Oswego ROTC, John was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduating with a degree in technology education. The Zeta Chi Zeta brother has served in the Reserve ever since. “Oswego prepared me by providing direction in my life and leadership skills I use to this day,” said John, who works a civilian job as a police officer in Freeport on Long Island. l
It’s All Bus-iness for Marketing Alumna TINA RUTH
Susan Greiner Darby ’91 surprised marketing sales students when the guest speaker asked for résumés as she introduced herself. “If you take away one thing from our conversation, always be able to measure and prove the results of your marketing program,” Darby said during her visit last summer as part of the Alumni-in-Residence program. The national program manager for Cisco Systems has spent more than 10 years helping develop the computer networking company into a Fortune 500 competitor. After graduating from SUNY Oswego with a degree in communications, Darby found her niche in the field of sales and marketing. Today she manages Cisco’s mobile marketing team, which cruises around the country in multi-million-dollar buses loaded with the latest technology. She brought one of her vehicles to campus for the students to experience. Darby believes that bringing products to people for them to touch and feel instead of simply giving potential clients
Susan Greiner Darby ’91, far right, invited a marketing sales class on board one of Cisco Systems’ multi-million-dollar mobile marketing buses when she visited Oswego in July. Darby is national program manager for the technology corporation.
figures and images makes the mobile marketing strategy a success. “Our goal is not to sell [people] a router or an access point. It’s to help them solve their business problems,” Darby said. “This is a way for us to showcase how the solution can benefit the customer.” When it came time to decide on a college, it wasn’t difficult to make the choice to attend the alma mater of her mother, Thelma Aa Taylor ’61. She recalled the
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deeply rooted connections she had made while enrolled at SUNY Oswego — both with people and the lake — that last even today. “My college roommate is now my 12-year-old’s godmother,” said Darby. “One night we were walking back from The ‘Shed and I was kind of joking with her. I said ‘I’m going to make you the godmother of my firstborn child.’ Little did she know I really [meant it].” l — Jose Terrero ’10
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photo provided
Maggie Dolly ’07
10x10+10 1 Graduate Of the Last Decade, 100 words about her + 10 random questions Maggie Dolly ’07 measures her success by how few seconds it takes to see her name in the credits. After working in production of Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch” and more recent “The Colony,” it’s a scant three. Monitoring dozens of camera feeds can be tedious and the hours long, but Maggie savors every moment with Original Productions. She was drawn to California by the Hollywood POV program as a student. “That sealed the deal,” Maggie remembers. “I didn’t even know there were so many jobs and opportunities on top of it being sunny and 85 degrees all the time.”
shane M. Liebler
GOLD Update Hundreds of recent alumni attended GOLD events in Syracuse, New York City, Albany, Rochester and Washington D.C., making the Welcome to the City series a success once again. Check out photos and see upcoming events at oswego.edu/gold. Got a comment or idea for an event? Send e-mail to oswegold@oswego.edu.
More than 100 alumni attended the Syracuse Welcome to the City GOLD Party at Alliance Bank Stadium. Other parties included a beer-food pairing seminar in New York and networking socials in Albany, Rochester and Washington, D.C.
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1. What would be the title of a reality TV show about you? I would have to go with “O... Dolly,” ‘O’ being my middle initial. 2. Blackberry or iPhone? I am new to the Blackberry world and love it but must admit I have total iPhone envy. 3. No. 1 Oswego spot: The block between Bridge Street and Cayuga Street, between Second and Third streets houses all of my favorites: my house senior year, The Raven, The Brick, Enzo’s and Hong Kong. What more could you want or need? 4. Second best California hangout: By the waterside, beach or pool is all good with me. 5. Tastiest beverage: Mount Morgan — Captain Morgan and Mountain Dew (same ratios as a Captain and Coke). I know it doesn’t sound very tasty, but give it a try — it soooo is! 6. Nastiest food: Sushi. It’s all the rave but my taste buds say, ‘No way!’ 7. Smartest move: New York to LA. It has been the best decision of my life. 8. Dumbest catch phrase: “That’s hot.” It’s really not. 9. On your wall: In my room, pictures from home and Dennis The Menace cartoons. On Facebook, the following status update: Maggie Dolly is watching “The Duchess” and wondering how the carriage drivers knew how to get to these castles in the middle of nowhere without maps? No wonder it took them weeks to go places, they were probably traveling in a zigzag. 10. Best vacation ever: Living in SoCal feels like a vacation everyday. I love going home to see my family, but don’t really consider that a vacation. I’d have to go with Paris, sophomore year, spring break with C and Ralph as part of the GST 300 course. l
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PBS Doc Takes Alumni on Rare Arctic Adventure photo provided
Adrian lang
Amy Fields Manley ’96 has endured subzero temperatures and miles of icy cover on a forbidding landscape. Sure, Oswego can be difficult terrain, but Greenland’s pretty rough, too. Needless to say, Amy’s Oswego years prepared her well for a trek to frigid Greenland documenting the important job of the 109th Division of the New York Air National Guard and the fascinating work performed by its cargo. The 109th based in Scotia, just outside Schenectady, boasts the unique ability to fly and land climate-studying scientists and their fragile gear in the Arctic. Amy is producing a documentary about the 109th for WCNY-TV, Syracuse’s PBS affiliate. “It’s kind of like landing in the desert, but on ice and they’re doing it with all this delicate science equipment and hundreds of scientists,” Amy said. The specially designed C-130 plane often flies in blindingly white conditions. “The 109th allows [the scientists] to work efficiently and the work that they do is so important. The science that’s coming out of there right now is just amazing.” The scientists come from all over the world to collect valuable climate data — more than a century’s worth — trapped in the ice. Only about 15 percent of the massive island is inhabitable. It can take close to four hours to reach the data collection outposts for 45 minutes or less of work in the subzero temperatures. The small window of time left Amy and her one-man camera crew scrambling for shots and interviews during the weeklong stay this past June.
Amy Fields Manley ’96 produced a documentary in Greenland.
The once-in-a-lifetime trip north was unforgettable — not unlike her experience at Oswego, Amy said. “Oswego was a great opportunity,” the broadcasting major said. “WTOP was so transformative for me.” Professors like Vince Doody ’66 were very inspirational, Amy said. She was happy to meet fellow Oswegonian Victor Lopez III ’05, who was shooting for Time Warner’s Capital Region cable network on the Greenland trip. “I was pretty excited, it’s a place where not a lot of people have gone,” Victor said. “It’s not a tourist destination — and rightfully so. I’m a big traveler, so this was a great opportunity.” Still photos from his trip are on display in an Albany-area restaurant. A broadcast
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Victor Lopez III ’05
major at Oswego, Victor also produced a half-hour special for Capital News 9, his biggest project to date. Amy’s documentary is expected to air on WCNY this May. She hopes it will earn national distribution as well. l — Shane M. Liebler
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] Carl Meyer ’03 and Kayla Rathburn ’04 were married Sept. 29, 2007, in Syracuse. They currently reside in Liverpool. Pictured first row, from left are Randy Dudley, James Bushey ’04, the bride, the bridegroom and Sadie Vimislik ’03. Pictured second row, from left, are: Mike Baca ’04, Teresa Kinsky ’05, Mike Cummings ’03, Katie Failla ’05 and Kristy LaDuca ’03. Corey Brown ‘03 and Mike Marion ’03 are in the back row. Other alumni in attendance, but not pictured, included Drew Munz ’04, Eric Breindel ’04, Garrit Tallini ’04, Jim ’71 and Kris Hyovalti Bushey ’72, and Klarissa Byrnes Wake ’97.
Jennifer Bowers ’02 married Gary Sung July 5, 2008. Jennifer is a middle school math teacher in Jackson Heights, Queens. The couple resides in Sunnyside, Queens.
Michelle VanSlyke ’00 married Tyson Sloan Oct. 18, 2008, in DeWitt. The couple honeymooned in Aruba and currently live in Oswego, where Shelly is director of the campus Lifestyles Center.
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Kelly Wirth ’03, M ’05 and Ben Friedman ’03 were married Aug. 9, 2008, in Buffalo. Kneeling, from left, are: Sean Hartigan ’03, Pat Sweeney ’03 and Paul Hoff ’02. Standing, from left, are Melissa Gardner ’02, the bride, the bridegroom, Michelle Brehaut Hager M ’06, Amanda Miller Schlegel M ’05, Bill Schlegel ’02, MA ’03, MS ’05 and Becky Woodard Hoff ’02. Kelly teaches third grade and Ben is a law clerk in the US District Court in Albany.
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Marion Snow Signor ’27 of Spring, Texas, passed away July 6, 2007, at age 100. Hazel Murray Siegel ’37 of Jamesville died June 25. She began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse in Pompey, and taught in Valley Stream for many years. She was predeceased by her husband, Herbert ’40. They established the Herbert and Hazel Siegel Scholarship and were honored by the Oswego Alumni Association with an Alumni Service Award in 1996 for their longtime dedication and commitment to the college and to students. Ruth Alger Boyer ’37 of Naples, Fla., died Aug. 6. She did graduate work at SUNY Albany and SUNY Plattsburgh. Ruth began her teaching career in 1936 at Brookview School in East Greenbush. She taught in several districts before retiring from the Lake Placid Central School District. Surviving are three sons, Clark ’78, Robert and Richard; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Fred Durbin ’37 of North Rose passed away March 6. He was a teacher and administrator at North Rose Central School for 40 years. Fred is survived by three children, five grandchildren and two greatgranddaughters. Lester Gosier ’37 of Bay Shore died July 9. He retired a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve. Les taught for 42 years. He served as a longtime member of the Oswego Alumni Association Board of Directors, spearheaded the establishment of the Class of 1937 Scholarship and funded the Lake Effect Café in Penfield Library. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the OAA’s highest honor in 1978. Surviving are five children, including Margaret Gosier Hauptfleisch ’78; grandchildren; and great-grandchildren. Grace Urso Charney ’38 of Rome died May 26. She taught in Steuben Schools, Seifert Corners School and later in the Rome City School District, retiring in 1973. Grace is survived by three children, eight grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren. Donald Buck ’40, Professor Emeritus of Education, of Mexico, died June 14. He is survived by his wife, Marie. Ellis Eaton ’40 of Williamsville died April 28. He was a retired minister. Surviving are his daughters, Carol Chudy ’66 and Judith Fabregas ’68; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Mary Cavellier Guzewich ’42 of Dolgeville died June 25. She taught at Little Falls Junior High School, retiring in 1980. Mary is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Walter Snyder ’42 of Avoca died April 21. He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Walter earned a master’s degree at Alfred University. He taught industrial arts at Avoca Central School for 33 years. Surviving are three children and 13 grandchildren. Betty Wolford Bassett ’45 of Baldwinsville passed away Dec. 13, 2008. She taught in Phoenix Central Schools for more than 42 years, retiring in 1987. Betty is survived by a son, Daniel ’67; a daughter, Janet Moyer ’90; six grandchildren, including Nathan Moyer ’98; and four great-grandchildren. Albert “Ray” Connors ’46 of New Hartford died March 19. He served with the U.S. Army in World War II. Ray earned a master’s degree at Cornell University. He was appointed supervisor of vocational education in Newport News, Va. He published The Shop Handbook, a reference book for teachers, students and craftsmen. Ray was later employed by the New York state Department of Labor. He was predeceased by his wife, Helen Kitts ’45. Victor Repp ’50 of Maumee, Ohio, died Aug. 9, 2006. Betty Perkins Hacker ’56 of Valatie passed away April 17. She taught in the Ichabod Crane Central School District until her retirement in 1991. Betty is survived by three children and five grandchildren. Mary Wood Ocque ’56 of Williamson died Feb. 18, 2008. Samuel Goldych ’57 of St. Petersburg, Fla., died May 4. He served with the U.S. Air Force in the Korean Conflict. He enjoyed a long teaching career. Sam is survived by three children and five grandchildren. William Ackerman ’60 of DuBois, Pa., passed away Nov. 8, 2008. He is survived by his wife, Diane. Anne Paul Bouffard ’60 of Broadalbin died July 3. She taught in the Broadalbin-Perth Central School District until her retirement in 1998. Anne is survived by a son and a daughter. Richard Baker ’64 of Oswego died March 9. Prior to his retirement, he taught special education in Fulton. Lorene Hough Verny ’65 of Enfield, Conn., died March 15.
She taught history at Oswego High School until her move to Connecticut where she worked at Beacon. Lorene is survived by her husband, Calvin ’67; a son; three daughters; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. John Parker ’68 of Pulaski died June 11. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict and retired as a sergeant from the U.S. Army Reserve in 1991. He was employed with the New York state Department of Transportation, retiring in 1988. Surviving are his wife, Yvonne; two sons; three grandchildren, including Ashley ’06; and three great-grandchildren. Russell Harth ’72 of Vancouver, Wash., died Jan. 1, 2007. Ward Tarasek ’73 of Turin died July 26. He taught at Carthage High School before changing careers. He then worked for Snap On Tool Co. and Black Clawson. Most recently, Ward was a technician and supervisor in milk testing for Dairy One. He is survived by his companion, Amy Mehl; a stepson; a stepdaughter; and a step-granddaughter. Jarvis Jerome Verity ’73 of Anderson, Texas, died Nov. 24, 2007. Patricia Coates McIntyre ’90 of Gouverneur died July 18. She was employed at Gouverneur Central School for 40 years, retiring in January 2009 as an administrative assistant. Patsy is survived by her husband, Gary; two sons; a daughter; and two granddaughters. Shawn Matthews ’97 of Liverpool passed away May 23, 2006. Jamie DuPlessis ’04 of Fulton passed away Aug. 7. He was employed with Constellation. He is survived by his parents, Loreen and Robert. Gregory Hanna ’05 of Baldwinsville passed away Dec. 9, 2006. Surviving is his wife, Ann. Jennifer Knighton ’09 of Indianapolis died July 19. She is survived by her mother, Erin; her fathers, Joseph LaPoint and James Knighton; and three sisters. Rosemary Nesbitt, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Theatre, passed away Aug. 2. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theatre from Syracuse University. In 1953 she won a fellowship to study Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon in England. She taught at Wells College before joining Oswego’s faculty in 1965. Rosemary received many community and professional awards, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excel47
lence in Teaching in 1972. She taught speech and theatre at Oswego from 1965 to 1993 and played a major role in the establishment of the theatre department by introducing and teaching eight new courses on acting and oral interpretation. She went on to chair the department’s acting and directing sequences and directed the children’s theatre program. Surviving are a son, three daughters, and six grandchildren. J. Nathan Swift, Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction, of Palm Coast, Fla. passed away June 10. He earned degrees at Rutgers, Ohio State and Columbia University Teachers College. At Oswego he co-founded an educational research laboratory that is now international in scope and received numerous awards and grants for his work in teacher education. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; three daughters; and six grandchildren. Ernest Wise, Professor Emeritus of Zoology, of DeLand, Fla., passed away April 5. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was appointed to the Oswego faculty in 1948 and retired in 1977. Mary Wren Bivins, Assistant Professor of History, passed away Aug. 5. She earned her Ph.D. in African history from Michigan State University. Before coming to Oswego as a visiting professor in 2005, Dr. Bivins taught at Cleveland State University. Herb Hammond, former Oswego State hockey coach, passed away July 22. Herb earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Springfield College. In 1968, he came to Oswego, where he taught physical education, and coached hockey, soccer and baseball. Under his guidance, the hockey team won the Eastern College Athletic Conference West championship in 1980. Herb left Oswego in 1980 to coach at SUNY Plattsburgh. He went on to coach at Brown University before beginning a career as a National Hockey League scout for the Minnesota North Stars, the New York Rangers, the Montreal Canadians and the Minnesota Wild. He served as the general manager for the Port Huron Flags United Hockey League team in the 2005-06 season. Herb is survived by his wife, Patricia; two daughters; and seven grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to Coach Hammond Hockey Fund, in care of the Oswego College Foundation, Inc., 219 Sheldon Hall. Oswego
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Googled: The End of the World as We Know It
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n early 1998, Microsoft appeared impregnable when I visited Bill Gates in Redmond, Washington. What competitive challenge, I asked, did he most fear? Gates did not recite the usual litany of prominent foes — Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Apple. Instead, he said, “I fear someone in a garage who is devising something completely new.” It happens that in 1998 Larry Page and Sergey Brin were in a garage devising a new technology: search. They would become Microsoft’s worst nightmare. The company they forged, Google, would become the face of the Internet revolution. It would become a nightmare for traditional media businesses as well. Among the first “old” media executives to awaken to the threat was Mel Karmazin, then the CEO of Viacom. He visited Google in 2003 and remembers how Page and Brin extolled the value of being able to measure everything, including the effectiveness of advertising. This alarmed Karmazin, for it threatened how he sold advertising, which was based on salesmanship, emotion. Karmazin and the networks continued to charge steep rates because, Karmazin says, “advertisers don’t know what works and what doesn’t. That’s a great model.” But it’s a model, the Google executives told him, that is horribly inefficient. Karmazin, before departing, trained his eyes on his Google
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Ken Auletta ’63
hosts and blurted, only half in jest, “You’re f-----g with the magic!” Engineers don’t believe in magic. They question everything. Google fervently believes they are shaping a new media model that makes the process of selling and buying advertising more rational and transparent, and democratizes all media. They not only provide efficiencies to advertisers, but they also allow people to access online any newspaper, book, magazine, TV show, or movie, usually for free. At the time of Karmazin’s visit, few old media companies had yet lapsed into panic mode. They saw Google as an exotic search service with puny text ads and a cute corporate motto, “Don’t be evil.” But Karmazin glimpsed that Google was more than a search company. It was an advertising monster. And it was more. Companies like Google might dis-intermediate his sales force, might steal his advertisers by offering data Viacom could not match. Google might one day use Viacom’s content to build up its own traffic, yet refuse to pay for it. By May 2008, 220 million Americans had Internet access.
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While digital companies multiplied, between 2000 and 2007 traditional media companies lost 167,600 jobs — one out of every 6. The Internet ended the debate over whether content or distribution was king. The consumer was now king. l Excerpted from GOOGLED by Ken Auletta. Reprinted by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copyright (c) Ken Auletta, 2009 Ken Auletta ’63 has written the “Annals of Communications” for The New Yorker since 1992. He is the author of ten books, including four national bestsellers. These include Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way, Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman, and World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its Enemies. In naming him America’s premier media critic, the Columbia Journalism Review said, “no other reporter has covered the new communications revolution as thoroughly as has Auletta.” He lives in Manhattan with his wife and they have a daughter.