IN BRIEF

Faculty and Staff

Susan Albertine, dean of the School of Culture and Society, was re-elected to the Board of Directors of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences at its annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, early this month. She will serve a three-year term on the board of the CCAS, the largest organization of arts and sciences deans in the country. The organization also has an international membership. At the meeting she also facilitated a presentation entitled "A Consortial Approach to Benchmarking Faculty Work" on the Delaware Study of Instructional Costs and led a workshop on career change.

Lorraine Allen, director of TCNJ Small Business Development Center, on October 24 was presented with the Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce 2005 Education Award for excellence in service and education to small business owners. Director of the Office of College and Community Relations Patrice Coleman-Boatwright served as mistress of ceremonies for the organization’s 8th Annual Gala at the Hyatt Regency Princeton in West Windsor.

Mary Lynn Hopps, director of the Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) Program, has announced the Board of Directors of the Bunbury Company has approved, for the second year, a grant of $20,000 to support WILL. The grant subsidizes program enhancements such as skill-building workshops, participation in Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN) seminars and internships in Washington, D.C., guest lecturers, and, in 2006, participation in an international leadership conference for two students.

Maria Alejandra Irigoin, assistant professor of history, on October 28 presented a paper titled “The Spanish Empire and its Legacy: Fiscal Redistribution and Political Conflict in Colonial and Postcolonial Spanish America” at the Latin American History Workshop. This weekly workshop was held at Columbia University, and was coordinated by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center of Stony Brook State University of New York.

Vernon Kelley, supervisor of the Office of Access Control Services, has been elected president of the Delaware Chapter of the Institutional Locksmiths’ Association, and takes office for two years beginning this month. The Delaware Chapter has 125 ILA members, the largest chapter in the 425-member organization. At the ILA’s annual meeting in Secaucus on October 8, Vernon was presented the 2005 President’s Award, the top honor given annually by the ILA president to a member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the association in working to achieve its goals.

Miriam Lowi, associate professor of history, gave a lecture to an audience of Middle East specialists at Princeton University on November 13. Her talk on natural resources was titled, “Scarce Water, Abundant Oil: Resources and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.” It was sponsored by the Princeton Middle East Society, International Center; Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia; and the Department and Program in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

A poem by Caty Rosemurgy, assistant professor of English, has provided the inspiration for a dance performed early in November by the Julia Ritter Performance Group, a company directed by Lambertville choreographer Julia Ritter, who teaches in the dance department of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. The piece is called “Odd Sympathies (something just happened to me)” and calls on the dancers to sing portions of Caty’s poem, “My Favorite Apocalypse,” which impressed Ritter with how closely the text was aligned with her feelings of her body.

Jean Slobodzian, assistant professor of special education, served as both a planner and coordinator for the first-ever statewide conference offered to parents of diagnosed deaf or hard of hearing children held October 29 at the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf. The event was called “New Jersey Family Learning Day 2005: Empowering Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.” About 50 family groups attended the all-day conference, which was designed to inform parents about their children’s rights and the many resources available in the state. Jean recruited 27 students to help with the conference setup and provide childcare services throughout the day. She also participated on one of the five panels offered during the proceedings.

Moussa Sow, assistant professor of modern languages, and Gloria Dickinson, associate professsor of African-American studies, spoke on November 18 at Millersville University Center for Academic Excellence in Millersville, PA, and to university faculty members and local high school teachers interested in African-American studies. Their talk was titled “A Bridge Across the Disciplines Inter-Departmental Courses: A New Model for Learning Communities,” and focused on teaching interdisciplinary courses on the Harlem Renaissance.

Pamela Kravitz, associate professor of business, has been selected for a “Bright Idea Award” by the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University and the New Jersey Policy Research Organization Foundation for a paper on “Differences Between President’s and Sales manager’s Perceptions of the Industry Environment and Firm Strategy in Small Industrial Firms: Relationship to Performance Satisfaction.” The paper, co-authored with Alfred Pelham, associate professor of business, was selected as one of the top manuscripts from among over 110 publications. She was honored October 14 at Middlesex County College in Edison.

Students

Four juniors majoring in music have formed a jazz band called Retrograde that has been getting some notice in recent weeks performing at local community events to raise money for charitable causes. Band leader Joe Stellino, a classical pianist, plays the guitar and sings for the group. Other regulars are: Jason Price, a drummer; Craig Stanton, a bassist; A. J. Salisi, a saxophone player, and Shana Baty, a vocalist who majors in business and minors in music. Last month they performed in the Music Building Concert Hall and helped raise $530 for the Salvation Army of New Orleans. On November 13, Retrograde appeared on stage with two TCNJ professors of music, Marvin Blickenstaff, a classical pianist, and Gary Fienberg, an acclaimed trumpet player, in a second benefit, this time to raise money for the independent Trenton Community Music School’s scholarship fund to benefit needy piano students. The concert was held at the Princeton Presbyterian Church in West Windsor and was sponsored and promoted by Alpha Phi Omega, a new co-ed TCNJ student service organization. Kristine Sytsma, a pianist and junior music performance major, organized the affair.

Twenty-seven TCNJ students from all classes, majoring in education of the deaf and hard of hearing, special education, mathematics, and psychology, volunteered to help provide childcare services so parents could attend a day-long conference on raising deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The event attracted about 50 family groups to the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf on October 29, and was designed to empower the parents of deaf and hard-of hearing children by explaining what resources are available to them. The students who volunteered are: Lisa Bernice, Meghan Boyle, Katie Carangelo, Alicia Cristia, Jacqueline Duckett, Erin Douglas, Amy Flaker, Cristin Goldsmith, Danielle Haggiag, Rachel Harris, Julie Harow, Jamie Hayer, Christina Miller, Nicole Passenti, Laura Potenski, Gina Powell, Lisa Radak, Elaine Rafferty, Diana Reyes, Ali Rumpp, Dierdre Shaughnessy, Jessica Silva, Courtney Smith, Lee Swanson, Michelle Utt, Carolyn Weindel, and Latoya Wynn.

Three communications studies students have won national and international recognition at the 2005 Stephen A. Smith Awards, for having submitted the best co-authored student paper in a national competition. Senior Stefanie Gratale presented the paper at a ceremony November 18 at the annual conference of the National Communication Association in Boston. The paper, titled "Cross-national Newspaper Coverage of the United Nations Fight Against AIDS: A Community Structure Approach,” examined themes in worldwide news coverage of the United Nations’ efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. Two of the coauthors of the research paper graduated this year. They are Jennifer Hagert, now employed by the New Jersey Nets hockey team as a coordinator and executive assistant in the corporate sponsorship department; and Laura Dey, an accounts payable/receivable specialist with Sensors Unlimited-Goodrich Corp. Two Stephen A. Smith Awards are given annually to communications studies students for the best individual and group papers. The winners receive a plaque and a check for $100.

TCNJ's Gamma Zeta Chapter of Kappa Delta Phi, the international student honor society in education, this month was designated as the number one chapter among 560 in the nation at the society’s annual meeting held November 3-5 in Orlando, FL. On several occasions, the local chapter has been honored by winning the ACE (Achieving Chapter Excellence Award, which is given to five percent of the chapters. This is the first time it has won the “ACE of the ACE Award.” The chapter celebrated its 75th anniversary this year. Representing the chapter at the ceremony were Anthony D. Conte, associate professor of elementary and early childhood education and chapter counselor, and five senior students: Megan Long, president; Jennifer Lease, vice president; Michelle Maldari, treasurer; Shaitra Flores, historian; and Tanya Messina, a chapter member.

Hillary Hewit, a sophomore pre-health and exercise science major, has been awarded a $200 scholarship from the Public Leadership Education Network to support attendance at a week-long “Women and Science/Technology Policy” seminar in Washington, D.C. in January. Also earning a scholarship to attend the same seminar is Ashley Reichelman, a freshman majoring in English education and women and gender studies. Ashley and Hillary will join 40 other students from around the country for the program. The seminar will enable them to meet with women who have careers in government as well as advocacy and research groups, and to be exposed to important policy issues in the fields of science and technology.