in brief

FACULTY/STAFF

Susan Bakewell-Sachs, dean of the School of Nursing, has been selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program. This is a three-year advanced leadership fellows program that places her in a prestigious national network of senior-level nurses.

Ann Barolak, design architect of The College of New Jersey library, Jay Lucker, library building attendant, and Taras Pavlovsky, dean of the library, spoke at the NACUBO 2007 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, on July 31. They discussed how the role of the traditional library is changing, and why libraries that do not keep up with changes in learning styles and access to critical amenities will not be used by students.

Department of Mathematics and Statistics faculty members Karen Clark and Thomas Hagedorn gave invited talks this summer at the American Institute of Mathematics’ workshop. The workshop, Enhancing the Problem Authoring Capabilities of WeBWorK, took place in Palo Alto, CA, August 6-10.

Tim Clydesdale, associate professor of sociology, recently had a book published by the University of Chicago Press entitled The First Year Out: Understanding American Teens After High School. The novel examines the pressures teenagers face to conform to American culture and how their identities as adults are formed.

Amy Dell, professor of special education, Jerry Petroff, assistant professor of special education and Deborah Newton, former member of the special education faculty, had a textbook published by Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall titled Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities. The textbook provides technology-based solutions for obstacles that students with disabilities face everyday.

Blythe Hinitz, professor of elementary and early childhood education, lectured at two international conferences this summer. On June 26, at Kaye Academic College, Beer Sheva and MOFET Institute of Higher Education in Tel Aviv, Israel, she presented at the Early Childhood Teacher Education on Anti-harassment and Non-violence in Schools Fifth International Conference with a paper titled “Teacher Education at a Crossroads.” Then, at the University of San Diego in San Diego, California, Hinitz revealed her paper “Implementation of an Anti-Bullying, Teasing and Harassment Program in Early Childhood Teacher Education: Ten Years of Research and Practice” at the International Council on Education for Teaching 52nd World Assembly and 7th Annual Border Pedagogy Conference on July 17.

Jay Hoffman, department chair and professor of health and exercise science, was named the 2007 NSCA Outstanding Sports Scientist. The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is the largest sports science organization in the world, with 30,000 members. As criteria for the award, the recipient must demonstrate a history of research and contributions to the association. Along with fellow TCNJ professors Jie Kang, Avery Faigenbaum, and Nicholas Ratamess, Hoffman has extensively studied sports supplementation, exercise endocrinology, and training pyridines.

Allen Katz, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the recipient of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) 2007 Region 1 Technological Innovation Award.. Katz was nominated for this award by his peers for innovative contributions to the field of high power amplifier linearization. The IEEE Region 1 grants Technological Innovation Awards for significant patents, for discovery of new devices, development of applications, or exemplary contributions to industry or government. IEEE is the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology.

Janet Morrison, associate professor of biology, will serve as the coordinator for the College’s initiative on faculty-student collaborative scholarly and creative activity. She will lead a multidisciplinary committee to develop a plan for the support and growth of faculty-student collaborations. This committee will also oversee the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, the Celebration of Student Achievement, and other related initiatives.

Miriam Lowi, associate professor of political science, presented in May at a symposium on “Democracy, Governance, and War in Oil Exporting Nations” that was sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Chicago Society. Her presentation, along with others, can be viewed here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=u6Z-GEu9la8.

Kim Pearson, associate professor of English, was one of only two dozen bloggers to be granted credentials to cover the All-American Presidential Forum at Howard University in Washington, D.C, which aired live on PBS from 9-10:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 28. Pearson’s live coverage was available through her blog, Professor Kim’s News Notes http://professorkim.blogspot.com.

Monisha Pulimood and Andrea Salgian, computer science professors, presented papers this summer, which were written alone or in collaboration with others. Pulimood's paper, written in collaboration with Thomas R. Hagedorn of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is titled “Applying the Grid Computing Paradigm within a Liberal Arts Academic Environment.” Pulimood presented the paper at the 2007 International Conference on Grid Computing and Applications (GCA ’07).

Jason Schweitzer ’02, research analyst in the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, was awarded a $3,000 graduate fellowship from the Association of Institutional Research, funded by the National Center for Educational Statistics, for his studies at the University of Maryland–University College. Schweitzer is earning his Master of Science in Computer Systems Management with a focus in database system technologies.

Moussa Sow, assistant professor of French, will have an article entitled “L’Archéologie de la Résilience” in the book out of Paris, France, Pius Ngandu Nkashama: Trajectoires d’un Discours.

STUDENTS

Natalie Cedeno and Krysta Johns-Harris, senior biology majors, worked to institute a chapter of the Student Society for Stem Cell Research (SSSCR) at TCNJ. The president and vice president, respectively, are also working with Regina Sommese, treasurer, and Jennifer DeSousa, secretary, to educate the campus about the facts of controversial topic of stem cell research.

Jess Kohut, senior elementary education and psychology double, received the 2007 Honda Inspiration Award for courageous women collegiate athletes Sunday, June 24, in Manhattan. Last year, while pitching for the Lions softball team, Kohut was hit in a face with a line drive and went through facial reconstructive surgery. She returned this season to play first base and pitch two innings with a facial mask.

Rebecca Hersh, junior history and elementary education double major, traveled to New York City as a finalist in the Gilder Lehrman History Scholars program this summer. During the one-week program, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Hersh met with prominent history scholars, as well as history professionals and visited important archives and museums in NYC. Forty-five finalists were chosen out of 300 applicants from 154 college and universities in the United States and Canada.

Vincent Martinez, senior mathematics major, and his colleague Katrina Honigs of Grinnell College won a prize for their talk “The Geometry of Hausdorff Metric” as the best undergraduate presentation in their session at MathFest 2007, the annual summer meeting of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA.) The meeting was held in San Jose, CA, from August 3–5. In addition, senior mathematics major Brendan Kelly (“Plant Pathogen Dynamics”) and sophomore mathematics major Glen Wilson (“Invariant Theory and the Symbolic Method”) gave talks at other MAA student sessions. Jeffrey Hatley (“Algebraic Invariants of Binary Forms”), junior mathematics major, presented a talk in the student session of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national honor society in mathematics.

Danielle Romero, junior pre-engineering/technology education major and Spanish minor from North Arlington, has been awarded a $1,000 study abroad grant from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Romero spent the summer in Madrid, Spain, studying the Spanish language. Only 50 students are selected each year to receive the Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant.