IN BRIEF

Faculty and Staff 

James Chambers, director of TCNJ’s Collegebound Program, last month was honored with an “executive award” from the Metropolitan Trenton African-American Chamber of Commerce at a program entitled “Building a Stronger Community...Together.” Jim was one of a number of local African-American leaders recognized for their work. Collegebound at TCNJ prepares underachieving students in grades nine through twelve from Abbott schools and highly distressed municipalities for college.  

Gloria Harper Dickinson, professor and chair of African-American studies, conducted Black History Month programs for the U. S. Department of State in Minsk, Belarus, February 17-22. She met with students and faculty groups at the Belarus Linguistic University English/American Studies Program, Belarus State University International Relations Program, and at the "American Corner" of the Minsk Public Library. She also presented a talk for faculty of several universities at the American Embassy's Cultural Center. 

Rebecca Goetz, design specialist in the Office of Public Affairs, announced two of the 2006 Astra Awards made this month by the New Jersey Communication, Advertising and Marketing Association were won for projects originating in that office. One was an admissions recruiting poster featuring a photograph by Don Hammerman. The poster was designed by Joe Maranzino, a sophomore graphic design major working under Rebecca. The other award was for the cover of the spring 2005 issue of TCNJ Magazine, showing a portion of an illustration by Tony DiTerlizzi, originally done for one of the volumes of The Spiderwick Chronicles. The cover was designed by T.A. Hahn of TA Design.  Both took silver awards in the annual competition.

Joe Hadge, coordinator of the Alcohol and Drug Education Program (ADEP), will speak in New York City at the annual meeting of the American College Health Association to be held at the end of May. His presentation on “The College of New Jersey’s social norms campaign,” will deal with the strategies and outcomes used in implementing the science-based Social Norms Model. Earlier this month, Joe was awarded a $57,000 grant from the state Department of Law and Public Safety to train peer leaders, implement harm-reduction strategies and interactive learning programs, and work with law enforcement and key constituents in the beverage industry. At about the same time, the New Jersey Law and Public Safety’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control annual grant to support LollaNobooza was recently renewed. That program is designed to foster community and collaboration among campus members and to welcome first-year students to the College with fun, yet informative, alcohol-free activities.

Eric Hamilton, head coach of football and a member of the Hamilton Township Board of Education, has decided to run for another term on the board. This time he has teamed up with Ron Tola, a college facilities manager, and Troy Stevenson, an investigator for the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department.  Hamilton and Tola both are politically unaffiliated; Stevenson is a Democrat.  They will be running for three vacant seats on the board without the backing of either political party in a community where, while the school elections are officially nonpartisan, party influence is nevertheless strong.

Blythe Hinitz, professor of elementary and early childhood education was a member of the steering committee involved in a 2004-2006 “Economic Impact Study: Benefits for All: The Economic Impact of the New Jersey Child Care Industry: Infant-Toddler, Preschool, and Out-of-School Time Programs,” published February 28. The lead agency for the study was the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy of Thomas Edison State College. The study found the child care and education industry in New Jersey annually generates $2.55 billion in gross receipts. Blythe contributed a chapter entitled “Historical Research in Early Childhood Education,” in the Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children, Second Edition, published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2006). It summarizes the methodology and content of historical research in early childhood education. In February, Blythe made three presentations to professional groups on issues of harassment, bullying, and peace education. On the 13th she participated in an international online conference in which educators from many nations discussed bringing such issues into the classroom. It was organized by the Mofit Institute and she was invited by a selection jury to participate. On the 16th Blythe presented on teasing and bullying to a group at the New York Public Library, and on the 23rd she spoke about a case study involving harassment learning in a college/community context to the Eastern Educational Association at Hilton Head, SC.   

Alejandra Irigoin, assistant professor of history and a specialist in Latin American economic history, took part in spring 2006 Workshop in Money, History and Finance organized by the Department of Economics at Rutgers University on March 6. Her topic was “Gresham on Horseback: The Monetary Roots of Spanish America Political Fragmentation in the Nineteenth Century.” 

Michael Kabbash, assistant professor of art, made a stir in the national press this month when the Associated Press distributed an article describing a board game he has designed and is distributing free on the Internet. Called “Patriot Act: The Home Version,” it is a parody on the famous “Monopoly” game, targeting for ridicule the controversial anti-terrorism law known as The Patriot Act. The object of the game is not to amass money or real estate, but to be the last player not to be sent to jail at Guantanamo Bay and to retain some civil liberties. 

Roman Kovalev, assistant professor of history, and Heidi M. Sherman, of the history faculty at the University of Wisconsin, recently edited Festschrift for Thomas S. Noonan Vol. 2, the second volume of the three-part compilation of articles honoring late University of Minnesota historian Thomas S. Noonan. The festschrift has been published in Russian History/Histoire Russe 32 (2005), a journal published by the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for International Studies. Professor Kovalev also contributed by writing the addenda and co-writing the introduction with professor Sherman.

Florence Moonan, administrative assistant in the Office of Public Affairs, has a life outside the office as an artist. Her new abstract work, The Italian Lesson series, will be featured at Rock Paper Scissors Gallery in Asbury Park for the next three months. Gallery owner Doug Forbes discovered Florence’s painting while searching the internet. An opening reception at the gallery will be held Saturday, April 1 from 7 to 11 p.m. The exhibit, called Endings and Beginnings, features contemporary work by artists from across the United States and will run through June. There’s still time to see two of Florence’s works at the Mercer County Artists 2006 show at The Gallery at Mercer County Community College. The juror was Julie Mellby, Graphic Arts Curator at the Firestone Library, Princeton University.

Annmarie Nicolosi, associate professor of women’s and gender studies, on March 28 will speak at  Kean University on "Heterosexual Privilege and Sexual Identity on College Campuses and in the Classroom." Her talk will be part of Kean’s recognition of Women’s History Month.

James Norfleet, a teacher and administrator at the college level for over 20 years, has been appointed to the position of vice president for student life effective August 1, 2006. Most recently Jim served as associate vice president for student services at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA, a comprehensive university with 20,000 students. In this capacity, he has been responsible for the strategic direction and line management of the university’s Career Center, Student Health Services, Disability Resource Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, Renaissance Scholars, and Student Support and Equity programs.  Earlier, he served at Cal Poly-Pomona as the executive director of educational equity services from 1999 to 2002, as director of Educational Opportunity Program from 1995 to 1999. At Nyack College, a small private institution in Nyack, NY, he served as associate dean of the college from 1990 to 1995.  A 1982 business administration graduate of Pace University, he completed graduate studies in higher education and developmental studies at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and Fordham University in Tarrytown, NY. Jim will present his oral defense this summer for his EdD in education leadership at UCLA. Announcing the appointment, President R. Barbara Gitenstein said, “His extensive background in student affairs and passion for working with students will serve us well in his new leadership position at TCNJ.” 

Jeffrey M. Osborn, chair of the biology department and a strong promoter of undergraduate research programs at Truman State University in Missouri, will become dean of the School of Science on July 1. At Truman, a 5,600-student, coed, liberal arts institution, where he has taught for 15 years, Jeffrey directs the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program, and chairs the university-wide undergraduate research committee. He is a recipient of the university’s highest award for recognizing outstanding faculty members who have contributed greatly to the success of Truman and its students in achieving the liberal arts and sciences mission of the university. After earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in botany at Texas State University–San Marcos, he went on to earn a doctorate from Ohio State University in plant biology. At Truman he teaches a full range of courses and routinely incorporates research projects into them. He has been quite successful in bringing financial support for research to the university, receiving over $3.65 million from sources such as the National Science Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, and Petroleum Research Fund – American Chemical Society. He has conducted research when on leave from Truman at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, University of Alberta, and Antarctica. On the national level, Jeffrey has served two terms on the executive board of the Botanical Society of America and two consecutive terms as the society’s program director. He has served on the Council on Undergraduate Research in a variety of roles, including chair of the biology division and member of the executive board, and is a member of Project Kaleidoscope, a national alliance devoted to strengthening the nation’s undergraduate science and mathematics community.        

Elizabeth Paul, interim vice president for student life and /associate professor of psychology, has authored an article on “Community-Based Research as Scientific and Civic Pedagogy,” which appears in the winter 2006 issue of Peer Review, a journal specializing in issues of undergraduate higher education. The article, based on her work with her psychology students, details Beth’s experience organizing research projects designed to help local non-profit community organizations and municipal agencies deal with actual community issues using student-faculty-agency partnerships.  

A proposal submitted to the SIGGRAPH Conference by a panel of TCNJ faculty has recently been accepted. The conference will take place in Boston from July 30 to August 3. Along with Kim Pearson, associate professor of English, the other panelists include Terrence Byrne, assistant professor of communications; Ursula Wolz, associate professor of computer science and interactive multimedia; Philip Sanders, assistant professor of art and interactive multimedia; and Christopher Ault, assistant professor of interactive multimedia. The panel will discuss a Microsoft games curriculum created at TCNJ to teach computer science concepts via video gaming. The project is supported by a $80,000 grant from Microsoft that required the creation and implementation of the interdisciplinary curriculum.

Monisha Pulimood and Peter DePasquale, assistant professors of computer science, presented academic papers at the SIGCSE 2006 Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education held March 1-5 in Houston, TX. Their paper, “A Model for Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences in Emerging Technologies,” was co-authored with Deborah Knox, interim dean of the School of Science. It followed implementation of the department's research experience for undergraduate students in the summer of 2005. Peter also presented a second paper, “Exploiting On-line Data Sources as the Basis of Programming Projects.” He detailed a number of real-world data sources he uses in his course projects rather than traditional fixed-data input files. 

Leslie Rice, RN, a colonel in the U. S. Army Nurse Corps Reserves and assistant professor of nursing, is the subject of an extensive article in the February 27 issue of Nursing Spectrum, a magazine serving the nursing profession. The article, written on the basis of e-mail interviews by the magazine staff this winter, reports Rice heads a nursing group that provides care to two groups of military detainees being held at a special facility inside the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and a second prison 350 miles south at Camp Bucca. It notes that detainees are not soldiers, but are being held as insurgents and suspected terrorists, but who receive the same nursing care as regular prisoners. When Rice’s nursing unit was mobilized March 18, 2005, it expected to be returned to reserve status in Fort Totten, NY, in mid-October.  

Catie Rosemurgy, assistant professor of English, and her former TCNJ colleague, Cathy Day, now teaching in the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, both took part in the weekly “Good Thunder” visiting writer event at Minnesota State University at Mankato March 1-3. Catie read from My Favorite Apocalypse, a recent collection of her poetry, and from some new work, while Cathy read selections from her recently published short story cycle, Circus in Winter. Catie taught English at Mankato from 1997 to 2000. The two women also took part in a radio interview on KMSU-FM that aired March 2 and 3. 

Valerie Trollinger, assistant professor of music and a member of the Music Educators National Conference will be among 102 singers selected to accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir when it performs at the MENC convention next month in Salt Lake City, UT.  She has been asked to represent Texas in the makeup of this choir. Although she teaches in New Jersey, and hails from Reading, PA, her legal residence is in Texas, from which she and her husband plan to move to this area at the end of this academic year.

Art works by Liselot van der Heijden, assistant professor of art, were shown in the exhibit, "Information, Insight, Interruption," curated by Martha Buskirk at HallSpace in Boston. This exhibition will travel to the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, MA later this year. Her works were also show in "Animal Magnetism," curated by Raúl Zamudio at CUCHIFRITOS in New York City.  

Jennifer Wang, assistant professor of engineering, has been appointed a member of the editorical board of Robotica, for a term expiring at the end of 2008.  Robotica isa major periodic scientific journal in the field of robotics  published by Cambridge University Press.  

Jean Wong, associate professor of special education, language and literacy, was an invited speaker at the annual convention of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) held in Tampa, FL, March 15-18. The title of her presentation was "Conversation Analysis (CA) and the Teaching of Conversation." She facilitated a discussion session on the same topic. This is the third consecutive year that Jean has been invited by TESOL, Applied Linguistics Interest Section, to present on the topic of Conversation Analysis and language pedagogy.

STUDENTS

Chi Upsilon, the TCNJ chapter of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, is the winner of this year's Lloyd M. Bertholf Award. It was announced recently by Gary Wolgamott, national president of TriBeta. Wolgamott said, “An immense amount of effort by both the advisor and the students goes into achieving this enviable award,” which was established in 1961. It is given annually to a chapter that most closely promotes the organization’s goals of scholarship, dissemination of scientific information and promotion of biological research. It is based on member activity in conducting and publishing research, participation in district and national conventions and other scientific meetings, chapter programming and activities, orderly record keeping, and communication with the national office. Don Lovett, associate professor of biology and is advisor to TCNJ's chapter, one of more than 430 chapters of TriBeta in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Kris Bedient, a senior chemistry education major, on March 2 was awarded the 2006 Northeastern Chemistry Association Scholarship at a luncheon in Philadelphia. Lynn Bradley, associate professor and chair of the chemistry department, spoke to the NECA members present on “Chemistry Student Success? . . . No Problem.” Her presentation highlighted TCNJ chemistry programs and suggested ways in which industry could support our students and programs. Since 1996 the NECA has contributed nearly $50,000 to an endowment for chemistry education scholarships at TCNJ. NECA members are leaders in the chemistry industry throughout northeastern United States and Canada. Kris, has applied her scholarship to this year's TCNJ tuition and plans to teach chemistry next year.

Brandon Bentzley, sophomore physics major, has been awarded a 2006-2007 Goldwater Scholarship. On the basis of academic merit, Brandon was one of 323 awardees chosen from a field of over 1,000 mathematics, science, and engineering students nominated by the faculty of colleges and universities nationwide. The $7,500 scholarship will be applied to the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board for the next two years. This year, there were 323 awardees nationally, nine from New Jersey schools. This is the first time a physics major at the College has won the award. 

Three TCNJ students have been declared winners of the New Jersey Project’s 17th Annual Student Achievement Award for Excellence in Feminist/Multicultural Scholarship. The award is given for original essays, judged in a blind competition. The three winners are:  Jennifer King, a graphic design major who graduated in 2005, for her essay, “Surviving Soul: www.survivingsoul.com”; Miriam Nazmy, a junior biology and women and gender studies major, for her essay, “Homeland (In)Security: The Poetry of Suheir Hammad”; and Mary Grace Whealan, a senior history major, for her honors thesis,  “‘No Suffragettes’ Request’: Clara Zetkin and the Centrality of Class in the German Struggle for Women’s Suffrage.” Five other students received an honorable mention for their submissions. They are:  Shannon Hearty, a senior women’s and gender studies major, for her paper, “Fistula: A Women’s Reproductive Health Crisis”; Jacquelyn Hehir, a senior English and women’s and gender studies major, for her essay on  “Femina magazine: Reinforcing and Subverting Traditional Indian Female Gender Roles”; Melanie Jodelka, a sophomore English (professional writing and journalism) and women’s and gender studies major, for her essay, “Boys Don’t Cry…Until Their Covers Are Blown: An Analysis of Transgenderism in Boys Don’t Cry”; Tammy Tibbetts , a junior English (journalism and professional writing) major, for her paper on “Fashioning Guatemalan National Identity Through Traje”; and Deborah A. Ubele, a 2005 graduate majoring in biology and women’s and gender studies, for her essay, “The Forgotten American Minority: Asian American Adoptees and Adoptive Identity Crises.”