Queens College is approaching its 70thanniversary, and Nancy Rudolph, director ofAlumni Affairs, would like the community tocelebrate all year. The festivities will beginat Commencement this month (see storyabove). The next event is scheduled for July29: In a play for her alma mater, Women’sNational Basketball Association President

Donna Orender ’78 will hold QueensCollege Day at Madison Square Garden,where the Connecticut Sun will face home-town team the New York Liberty at 4 pm.QC summer campers are welcome to attendand meet the athletes afterward. Ticketscost $10 and $19.50; to order, contactAlexis Grassadonio, WNBA Team Business

and Development, at 212-407-8742 oragrassadonio@wnba.com.

The game returns to Flushing in the fallwith a three-day September homecomingthat will feature salutes to 70 years ofQueens College. Special ceremonies areplanned for October 11, the date classes started in 1937: Queens Tribune associate

publisher Michael Nussbaum ’69 will speak,and two local residents who graduated in1941—the first year QC awarded diplo-mas—will put in an appearance. (continued on page 2)

FYI FYI M

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2 Novelist Birstein Donates Papers to Library 5 Women And Work Works

5 New Home For Italian American Museum 9 Jewish Center Receives Large Donation

Extended Anniversary Celebration

Author Susan Isaacs Will Speak at May 31 Commencement

Queens College Faculty & Staff News

With the recentDon Imus deba-cle raising theissue of what isconsidered per-missible speechin a free society,this year’sCommencementspeaker, best-selling authorand QC alumSusan Isaacs

’65, will address the issue of freedom ofexpression, says Joseph Brostek (Exec.Director, Special Events).

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney willalso speak at the May 31 event, notesBrostek. “We’re also expecting SenatorChuck Schumer, and I’ve got the insideword that if he comes, he’s going to have adifferent speech,” he laughs, referring to the

senator’s previous appearances in which herelated the same popular anecdote from hiscollege days about foregoing an opportunityto study abroad in favor of a romantic pur-suit that ultimately fizzled.

The ceremony begins at 9 am on theQuad amid the familiar strains of “Pompand Circumstance” played by the AaronCopland School of Music Wind Ensemble.It is expected to last 90 minutes and will becarried over the Internet, with the Webcastbeginning at 8:30 am. Following the cere-mony, the rest of the day will be filled withdivisional and departmental events, as wellas receptions and parties.

“This year’s Commencement will markthe kickoff of our 70th anniversary celebra-tion,” notes Alumni Affairs Director NancyRudolph, who is coordinating a number ofefforts to help mark the occasion. Her planscall for having two alums—one male, onefemale—from each of QC’s preceding six

decades appear at the ceremony. “Everyonewill wear black academic attire—even theJubilee Class—but the representatives forthe 70th Anniversary will each have a redsash that will say 1940s, 1950s, etc. to iden-tify them. They will march in right behindthe Jubilee Class,” she explains.

“Behind the representatives from eachdecade will be the 60-year anniversaryclass,” says Rudolph. “After the ceremonythey will all go to the president’s VIPbrunch, and we will present each one ofthem with a certificate thanking them fortheir participation in this kickoff event.”

As always, a number of exceptional stu-dents will be graduating May 31. Some oftheir stories follow.

Fulfilling an Old DreamWhen Helen Katz receives her diploma, the84-year-old East Elmhurst resident will behonoring a pledge made to her husband on

his deathbed in 1993.“When my husband and I were in the

hospital, he told me to do what I alwayswanted to do,”she recently toldthe QueensChronicle.

And whatshe alwayswanted to dowas go to col-lege. A yearlater sheenrolled in thecollege’s ACEprogram; 14years later, she is

fulfilling her husband’s dying wish, and,ironically, going against the wishes of herPolish immigrant parents.

Growing up in the Bronx, Katz attended (continued on page 2)

Isaacs

Katz

2

COMMENCEMENT (continued from page 1)Evander Childs High School and had hopedto become a kindergarten teacher, but herparents wouldn’t sign the papers to admit herto Hunter College. “My mother wanted me tobecome a secretary because she heard storiesof women secretaries who married their boss-es,” she said. “My father felt that boys don’tlike intelligent women, they like good looks.I said, ‘What do you think a good mother is,if she’s not intelligent?’” The disagreementwith her parents became the subject of a playKatz wrote for her final class, Drama 204.

Katz did eventually go to vocationalschool and became an executive secretary forColumbia Pictures. Typing letters and reports,she said, made her an “English nut.” Of hertime at QC, the English major said, “It wasmind-boggling, what I learned. It made mefeel more understanding. I don’t think grow-ing older teaches you anything. Your hairgrows gray, your hearing gives way, beforeyou know it you’re on medication. But youdon’t necessarily learn anything.”

Katz told the Chronicle she had extraor-dinary professors at the college, and had par-ticular praise for Amy Tucker (English). Onher kitchen table is a book written by Tuckerinscribed: “To Helen, my delightful andsmart student, who is an inspiration to me.”

A survivor of breast and uterine cancer,Katz said she felt she’d been given a secondchance at life, “another chance to not bebored talking about what aches you.”

After graduation, she’s not certain what

she will do next. “I’m not going into a career;I’m not going into a job. I just have this feel-ing of having touched base,” she said. “I tellmy husband every night, I did it. I justwould’ve liked my parents to be there.”

Triumphing Over ObstaclesOn May 31 all of QC’s graduating studentswill have cause to rejoice. But JenniferCruz, who turns 22 that day, has additionalreasons to celebrate. Living on her own, shehas juggled two part-time jobs to put herselfthrough school.

Raised in the Bronx, where she attendedPreston High School—a private institutionin Throgs Neck—Cruz had hoped to contin-ue her education at Manhattanville College.She chose Manhattanville both for its aca-demic offerings and its residential campus.“I wanted to study at a school where I couldstay in a dorm,” she says, citing a difficultfamily situation. Her plans changed a weekbefore she was to matriculate: Her father, afirefighter, had earned so much overtimeworking at Ground Zero that she becameineligible for financial aid.

Cruz enrolled instead at Lehman College.Two months into her first semester she beganliving with her best friend’s family. In thespring she was on the verge of moving into ahomeless shelter when her aunt offered her atemporary place to sleep: the couch in herone-bedroom Bronx apartment. (continued on page 3)

ANNIVERSARY (continued from page 1)“Everything we do will involve the

anniversary,” promises Rudolph, who is stilldreaming up events, including an end-of-year convocation for spring 2008. The col-lege’s Design Services staff has created astriking 1937–2007 logo, which will be

printed on T-shirts, tote bags, and stickers.Rudolph figures that her party-planningexperience will be even more important fiveyears from now. “I’m looking at this as ajump-off for the 75th anniversary,” shereports.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios,Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church inAmerica (left), listens with QC PresidentJames Muyskens and former professorAngela Hero to a presentation at TheFirst Kallinikeion Conference of New YorkByzantists held April 21 by The Center forByzantine and Modern Greek Studies.

Byzantine Conference at QC

When alumni return toQC for a visit, not onlydo they reminisceabout how much thecollege helped shapetheir future, but manyalso express a desireto give something back. This was true of thealumni honored at this year’s RosenthalLibrary Donor Reception: Ann Birstein ’48and Michael and Barbara Twomey ’48.

A well-known novelist and critic, Birsteinchose this occasion to donate nine boxes oforiginal manuscripts, research, notes, andother primary source materials that spanover half a century as her way of thankingthe college for “opening up a whole newworld.” Included in this treasure trove aregreeting cards and notes she traded withher husband, the great literary critic AlfredKazin, as well as letters from such friendsand notables as Saul Bellow, Elie Wiesel,Ralph Ellison, and Erica Jong. It was a fitting

tribute to the college since Birstein’s firstnovel, Star of Glass, began as an Englishhonors paper in her senior year when her“devoted professors” helped her win a liter-ary prize so she could complete the work.

The Twomeys were on hand to “cele-brate Ann’s successful career and life” andalso to dedicate the new student lounge onthe first floor of the library that is namedfor them. “There’s really no way to payback what we received from QueensCollege,” says Michael. “With the openingof this lounge, we feel like we’re part of thecollege again.”

Opening the Twomey Lounge (l-r): QC StudentAssociation VP Saleem Rasul; Associate LibraryDirector Shoshana Kaufmann; President Muyskens;Barbara and Michael Twomey ’48; and ChiefLibrarian Robert Shaddy.

Many Happy Returns at Library

Birstein

3

COMMENCEMENT (continued from page 2)Transferring to QC after Manhattanville

rejected her once again for financial aid—“Maybe I wasn’t meant to go there,” shemuses—Cruz was thrilled to land a work-

study slot at thecollege’s ChildDevelopmentCenter. But byjunior year shehad worn outher welcome ather aunt’s flat.“I showed up toclass not know-ing if I had aplace to sleep atnight or even if Ihad enough

money to buy lunch,” she recalls. Previously employed part-time as a

cashier, Cruz dropped that job for a betterposition with a financial services firm. Shealso rearranged her class schedule to take apart-time job that opened up at the ChildDevelopment Center. With two incomes, shescraped together enough money to lease herown apartment in September 2005. “Eversince then I have been living month tomonth, making sure that I had enoughmoney for rent, while also trying to keepmy GPA above a 3.0 to keep my ValloneScholarship,” the senior reports.

A psychology major, Cruz will continueworking at the Child Development Centerafter her graduation. Long-term, she plansto study for a master’s degree and open aschool for children victimized by domestic

abuse or alcoholism. “Everything happensfor a reason,” she concludes. “I know thatall my challenges will help me work withchildren in the future.”

Frank, SpeakingFrank Copeli spent much of last year in St.Petersburg and Moscow, courtesy of a BorenUndergraduate Scholarship from the NationalSecurity Education Program. This summerhe’s going to Hyderabad, India, as a WatsonFellow. Racking up top grades in addition tofrequent flyer miles, he completed his bache-lor’s degree with a perfect GPA of 4.0.

A first-generation American born toSoviet émigrés, this Forest Hills native grewup in a household with a tight budget; hismom, who had been employed in the medicalfield, went on disability after surviving breastcancer. Nonetheless, as a CUNY HonorsCollege student and a Vallone Scholarshiprecipient, Copeli was able to cover his tuitionexpenses. “Queens College is truly democrat-ic, providing a great education to people whocouldn’t otherwise afford it,” he says.

Meanwhile, he began developing a valu-able asset he did get from his family: bilin-gual aptitude. “I spoke Russian from child-hood,” he explains. “But I didn’t know how

to read and writeit.” When heenrolled at QChe began study-ing the language,ultimately major-ing in it. Copelirefined his skillsoverseas, divid-ing his junioryear between St.Petersburg StateUniversity,

where he im-mersed himself in language and literature,and the Moscow State Institute of Inter-national Relations, where he concentrated on language and politics.

In a St. Petersburg State translation work-shop, he read a short story by SigizmundKrzhizhanovsky and became captivated bythe work of the little-known Ukrainian-bornwriter, prizing what he calls its “unrecog-nized magical experimentation.” After finish-ing the spring semester in Moscow, Copelireturned to St. Petersburg and under-took a major project: the first extensiveEnglish-language translation and criticalanalysis of Krzhizhanovsky’s stories, and abiography of the author.

Back in Queens, Copeli finished his senioryear in one semester. Understandably feeling“a little burned out,” he relaxed a bit thisspring, holding down a part-time job that lefthim with the energy and opportunity to writefiction, nonfiction, and even a screenplay.After Commencement he’ll pack his bagsfor Hyderabad, India, where he’ll take partin the M. Venkatarangaiya Foundation’sefforts to get kids out of the workplace andinto school.

His next move? “I’m not sure,” Copeli(continued on page 4)

In a celebration of Jewish and Muslim music and culture, Klezmer artist Yale Strom andSouth Asian rock star Salman Ahmad took the stage in LeFrak Hall for “CommonChords.” The May 1 concert was presented by Middle East and America: Clash ofCivilizations or Meeting of the Minds, Mark Rosenblum’s acclaimed project to promoteunderstanding about the Middle East conflict on campus, in high schools, and in the larg-er community. President James Muyskens led a tribute to Pakistani Muslim Americanand QC alum Sal Hamdani, who died saving lives on September 11, 2001. L-r on stage:Strom, Elizabeth Schwartz, and Ahmad. Center row, blue shirt: Mark Rosenblum.

Celebration of Cultures

Copeli

Cruz

Online visitors seeking informationabout any of the seven QC entities com-prising the Kupferberg Center for theArts can now reach them viawww.kupferbergcenterarts.org, theCenter’s new portal site. The page fea-tures a rotating display of photos ofvarious offerings of the Center.

New Kupferberg Web SiteLists Cultural Arts Events

4

COMMENCEMENT (continued from page 3)admits. “Under the terms of the NSEPscholarship, I have to work for a govern-ment office for one year, so I might beapplying to the State Department.” Gradschool is also an eventual possibility.“I’m interested in learning more abouteconomics,” he continues. “Whatever Ido, I hope I’m creating artistically, andhelping people live a life where they havemore choices.”

Viva ZapataWorking more than 40 hours a week andgoing to college would be a tall order formany people, but Marilyn Zapata thrivedon this regimen: She’s this year’s BALAvaledictorian. Her secret? “I’m very deter-mined,” she observes. “And I think nothingof getting only three hours of sleep.”

The diploma Zapata will receive repre-sents the fulfillment of a long-deferreddream. She first matriculated at QC in 1971over the objections of her mother, a widowwho expected the older of her two daughtersto quit school and work. “She would throwmy books out,” Zapata recalls. Within a year,the frustrated teenager—by that point mar-ried and a mother herself—left college tocare for her infant son. At 21, she wasdivorced and living on welfare. “My ex-hus-band refused to pay child support,” she says.

In 1978, when her son entered kinder-garten, Zapata got a job as a clerk for a tele-vision repair company. Subsequently, shebecame a sales representative for Verizon.Promoted in 1988 to technician, she was inher new position for all of 20 days when shehad a serious setback: She was hit by a carand suffered injuries that left her bedridden.

A year later Zapata was back at Verizon,assigned to a clerical spot until she wasfully healed. Watching her son continue hiseducation—he had won a scholarship toPace University—she resolved to finish herown, and took some classes at QC.

Ironically, none of that coursework count-ed in 1998, when, to meet new professionalstandards established by her employer, shebegan pursuing an associate’s applied sciencedegree in telecommunications atQueensborough Community College.

“I thought I was as dumb as a box ofrocks when it came to science,” Zapatarecalls. “I spent vacations getting tutored inphysics.” Her efforts paid off: She made thedean’s list, collected several awards, andgraduated in 2002 as the valedictorian ofher class. Her confidence boosted, she returned to QC, where she minored in theBALA program and majored in psychology,“to better understand myself and other peo-ple.” She also discovered, by working withSusan Croll-Kalish (Psychology), that sheloved research. “I could work 12 to 14hours a day in that environment,” she notes.

Zapata hopes to continue her studies ineither neuropsychology or general psycholo-gy. “It’s a privilege to be able to go to

school,” shesays. Her goalis to teach at thecollege leveland do research.But for theimmediatefuture, she’llstill be jugglingwork and class-es: With a yearor two to gobefore she qual-ifies for a pen-

sion from Verizon, she doesn’t want to quither day job.

A Born Diplomat?When asked what she plans to do this summer, Chikodi Emerenini smiles.“For the first time in three years, I will doabsolutely nothing.” But she follows this(continued on page 7)

Can Feminism and Multiculturalism Co-Exist?The proceedings of the March 2005 confer-ence at Queens College, Feminism andMulticulturalism: How Do They/We WorkTogether?, is now available in a book of thesame name published by CambridgeScholars Press and edited by Joyce W.Warren (English).

In an attempt to answer the questionposed by the title, Warren convened a groupshe describes as “some of the most impor-tant voices in this discussion,” includingNurah W. Ammat’ullah, Jane Kramer,Robina Niaz, Manizha Naderi, KathaPollitt, Madhulika Khandelwal (A/AC),Eugenia Paulicelli (ELL), and GailGarfield. Reflecting the organization of theconference, the book is divided into twosections: “Feminism and Islam” and “TheVaried Voices of Feminism.” In theiressays, members of the group address suchissues as “Making the Distinction betweenFaith and Religion: A Challenge to SecularFeminism,” “Western Feminists’Perceptions of Muslim Women: Do They

Help or HarmImmigrantWomen?” and“ResearchingBlack Women’sLives: A CloserLook atViolenceagainstWomen.”

Warren, not-ing the appro-priateness of the

conference’s location, observes in her intro-duction that “students at Queens Collegereflect the variegated culture of the countyof Queens, which is the most diverse countyin the United States. However,” she contin-ues, “the questions that we are asking in thisbook about feminism and multiculturalismare not only relevant to the Queens commu-nity. They are questions that are being askedin many communities across the UnitedStates and throughout the world today.”

Displaying the Honorable Mention awardthey received at this year’s NationalModel UN competition are (left to right)Jessenia Vazcones, Dear Aunaetitrakul,and Saba Irfan. The achievement was afirst for QC. Aunaetitrakul served as headdelegate and Vazcones was assistanthead delegate. Irfan is president and oneof the founding members of the club.Several American and international uni-versities were represented at the competi-tion, which took place March 25 inManhattan. François Pierre-Louis (PoliticalScience) is faculty advisor.

Award for Model UNDelegation

Zapata

5

The Italian American Museum announced afuture move from the temporary quarters ithas occupied for the last six years in a CUNYoffice building on West 44th Street to a newpermanent home in three contiguous turn-of-the-century buildings in Manhattan’s LittleItaly section.

At an April 24 sidewalk press confer-ence, museum president Joseph Scelsa (VP,Outreach & Cultural Affairs) was joined inmaking the announcement by prominentItalian Americans, including former NewYork State first lady Matilda Raffa Cuomoand former City Council Speaker PeterVallone. Also present was Grand UfficialeAnita Garibaldi, the great-granddaughter of

General Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italianpatriot who unified Italy.

The museum is paying $9 million for thetrio of buildings at 185, 187, and 189Grand St., and the conversion of the proper-ty—which will include the addition of twostories above the existing buildings—isexpected to cost approximately $10 million.The targeted opening date is 2010.

“We wanted to demonstrate the continu-ance, the old and the new,” Scelsa told TheNew York Times. “So we want somethingmodern on top.”

The corner building houses what remainsof the Stabile Bank, a small institution thatserved newly arriving Italian immigrants

from 1885 to 1932. The bank has been preserved by Dr. Jerry Stabile, a retired cardiologist and descendant of the bank’sfounders. The bank’s vault and tellers’ cagesremain intact and will be kept that way bythe museum.

Scelsa observes that Little Italy hasbecome “Littler Italy” as the number of resi-dents of Italian heritage has dwindled sig-nificantly. He believes that by drawing moretourists to the area, the museum will helpkeep it viable.

The museum received its charter in 2001and became an affiliate of CUNY in 2003.For additional information, visit www.italianamericanmuseum.org.

In 2002 Gillian Nelson waswith her two young daugh-ters in a domestic violenceshelter in New York, livingon food stamps and welfare,barely getting by. She hadfinally broken free from herabusive husband of fiveyears. Even when Nelson

had regular work cleaning apartments andwaiting tables, she could only earn about$10,000 a year. At times she had to choosebetween paying the bills and putting foodon the table.

Today Nelson makes $40,000 a yearworking the overnight shift in the engineer-ing department of the Le Parker MeridienHotel in Manhattan. She is in the process ofobtaining green cards to bring her sons overfrom Trinidad to join her and her daughters.

Like over 450 other women, Nelsonturned around her life through Women andWork, a job-training program that helpswomen in financial or emotional hardshipenter or reenter the workforce and rebuildtheir shattered lives. The program wasbegun in 1999 at Queens College out of the

life experiences of Carmella Marrone, whonine years before had been diagnosed withcancer and lost everything: a comfortablecorporate career, her home, and savings. Bythe time she recovered, Marrone faced thedaunting task of reentering a changed jobmarket without a college degree. After get-ting BAs in women’s studies and sociology,followed by an MA in applied socialresearch, all from QC, Marrone createdWomen and Work, which has been growingever since. Graduates often return as men-tors to the program located at QC’s W. 43rdSt. Extension Center in Manhattan.

According to Marrone, victims ofdomestic violence are trapped in a viciouscycle, and unless they can achieve financialindependence, they never escape. Graduatesfrom Women and Work have an 85% reten-tion rate in the workplace over threeyears—by contrast, the government usesthree months as the measure of successfuljob retention. Women and Work is recog-nized by New York City as an AuthorizedTraining Program, but the program doesn’treceive a cent of financial support from thecity or any other government agency.

Helping Women Back into the Workforce

Big New Home in Little Italy for Italian American Museum

Erik Callende of Erik’s Reptile Edventures, one of the exhibitors at the April 16 Earth Fair,shows off his pet alligator, Wally. The fair kicked off Climate Change Initiative Week.

Illustration of proposed new ItalianAmerican Museum. Jonathan Scelsa andElizabeth MacWillie, architects.

Look, But Don’t Touch!

Marrone

6

HONORS FOR FACULTY AND STUDENTS

The 2006–2007 academic year has been another year in which our faculty andstudents have received numerous honors in recognition of their achievements.

Faculty AwardsClare Carroll (Comp. Lit.) has beenawarded a Distinguished VisitingProfessorship in Irish Studies fromConcordia University in Montreal for fall2007. While on sabbatical this year, shegave lectures at the Irish Historical Societyand the University College in Dublin, atthe Moore Institute on Migration and theNational University of Ireland in Galway,at Fatih University in Istanbul, and at theIrish Pontifical College in Rome.

Kimiko Hahn(English) was awardedthe Shelley MemorialPrize by the PoetrySociety of America.Past recipients of theprize include formerU.S. Poet Laureate

Robert Pinsky and Marie Ponsot (English,Emerita).

For her work on behalfof indigenous peoples,riverine communities,and forests in the head-waters of the Amazon,Judith Kimerling(Political Science) haswon the 2007

Parker/Gentry Award for ConservationBiology. The award honors outstandingindividuals, teams, or organizations whoseefforts have had a significant impact onpreserving the world’s natural heritage.

Mandana Limbert (Anthropology)has won the American Council ofLearned Societies Fellowship for2007–08, which supports research in thehumanities and humanistic social sci-ences at the doctoral and postdoctorallevels. Limbert’s work focuses on Omanand the Indian Ocean and is based onethnographic and archival research inOman, Zanzibar, and London. She isbeginning a project on notions of identi-ty, the history of servitude, and mar-riage practices among Omanis in Omanand Zanzibar.

For his work promot-ing conservation inthe borough ofQueens, AllanLudman (SEES)received one of thefirst “Our GreenQueens” awards from

City Councilman James Gennaro.

To a list of honors that includes a FordFoundation individual grant and aGuggenheim fellowship, JacquelineD. Malone (Drama) can add theRatcliffe Institute Fellowship for2007–2008. The award recognizesexceptionally promising and accom-plished scholars, scientists, artists, andwriters who wish to pursue work in thecreative arts. Malone is a historian ofAmerican dance and a former member ofthe Eleo Pomare Dance Company.(continued on page 7)

Jewish Studies Conference Draws Sell-out Crowd

There may have been no conclusive answer to Is It1938 Again?, the controversial question addressedby noted scholars, writers, and political activists atthe recent two-day conference in LeFrak ConcertHall sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies.But the overflow crowd of 700—more than anyprevious activity sponsored by the center—points

to tremendous interest regarding possible threatsto the West, the Jewish people, and moderate Arabstates.

The participants, who included AlanDershowitz (on live streaming video), NormanPodhoretz, Michael Walzer, David Pryce-Jones,and Hillel Halkin, represented a range of perspec-tives not always in agreement with the audienceor one another, making for a lively debate.

According to the conference organizers—Center Director William Helmreich; JewishStudies Program Director Mark Rosenblum; andDavid Schimel, conference chair and editor of theJewish Political Chronicle—the analogy with1938 was not meant to be taken literally.Helmreich said, “The conference was intended tofocus attention and spark discussion about thedangers facing Jewry today, such as rising anti-Semitism and a nuclear Iran, and the potentialcatastrophe that’s on the horizon. It definitelystruck a nerve.”

Jewish Studies co-directors William Helmreich (farleft) and Mark Rosenblum (far right), join confer-ence participants (l to r) David Schimel, MalcolmHoenlein, and Leonard Fein.

The 50 imaginative posters in this exhibition “Sharing Dreams,” were created in a cross-cultural exchange between Cuban and American graphic designers. The project,sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), culminated in the EighthInternational Digital Design Exhibit in Havana, Cuba in June 2006. The work can be seen at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum from June 25 to August 9.

No Embargo on Artistic Expression at New GTM Exhibit

7

HONORS (continued from page 6)

Morris Rossabi(History) has beenawarded honorary life-time membership in theCentral EurasianSociety for his contribu-tions to Central Asian

Studies. The author of numerous books,articles, and speeches on Mongolian andEast Asian history, Rossabi is one of onlyfive scholars ever to receive this honor.

Student AwardsRafat Azad, computer science major/anthropology minor in his senior year, haswon a Fulbright Grant to do advancedresearch and graduate study on Islamic cul-ture and ideology and environmental con-servation in Bangladesh next year. Hereceived the grant through the IslamicCivilization Initiative, which is designed toenhance the knowledge and understandingof the history and culture of Islam. Hisproject focuses on how Islam affectswildlife conservation in Bangladesh. Azadwill be interning in Tunisia this summer aspart of his Jeanette K. Watson fellowship,which he won three years ago.

Alexandra Bowman, a senior majoringin English and geology, has been awardeda 2007 Ernest F. Hollings UndergraduateScholarship by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration. This providesup to two years of academic assistance andcareer development training in oceanic andatmospheric science, research, technology,and education. Bowman recently presenteda poster at the Science and EngineeringConference at the CUNY Graduate Center,Sigma Xi. She will soon be attending theLong Island Geologists Conference in

Stony Brook and the Urban Conference atCity College. She hopes to get a master’sdegree in geology.

Victor Chavez and

Chikodi Emereninireceived the CUNYStudent LeadershipAward at a ceremony inManhattan on May 2.Chavez, who came tothis country from

Colombia when he was eight years old, andEmerenini, a Nigerian national who immi-grated in 1998, were recognized for theiroutstanding leadership skills in both aca-demic and service-related activities in thepast year.

Miriam Ginzberg, an honors chemistrymajor in her junior year, has won theGoldwater Scholarship, which recognizesoutstanding math, science, and engineeringsophomores and juniors. She aspires toteach and conduct research in pharmaceuti-cal materials science, a field that focuseson using nanotechnology to develop med-ical advances such as biosensors andimproved drug-delivery systems. Ginzbergalso just received a Rockefeller UniversitySummer Undergraduate ResearchFellowship, which will allow her to workon lab research projects with some of thecountry’s leading scientists.

Melissa Resnick (GSLIS), who is grad-uating with an MLS, has been selected asan associate fellow of the National Libraryof Medicine, Bethesda, MD. She holds anMS in biopsychology from Rensselaer anda BS in biology from SUNY Albany. Herwork in that school’s teratology lab led tothe publication of an article in Neurotoxi-cology & Teratology. Resnick’s achieve-ments are all the more remarkable as shehas been blind since birth.

Chavez

COMMENCEMENT (continued from page 4)with, “I only applied to one internshipthis summer, and if I get it, I will proba-bly do that.”

Certainly, no one would quibble with herdesire for a little down time after a veryeventful and successful undergraduatecareer. A psychology major and CUNYHonors College scholar, the Nigerian-bornEmerenini has been selected to be the Com-mencement student speaker. In the fall shewill begin studies at George WashingtonUniversity Law School, where she has beenoffered a full scholarship. (She is also therecipient of a Geist Scholarship given annu-ally to a QC pre-law student.)

Born in Lagos, Emerenini, whose father isa Nigerian diplomat, came with her family tothe U.S. in 1998. They settled first in Elmont,Long Island, and later in Queens Village,where she completed her secondary studies atnearby Francis Lewis High School.

While claiming the demanding life of adiplomat holds no immediate appeal for her,Emerenini has amassed experiences ideallysuited to a career that requires a good deal

of politicalsavvy andpeopleskills.

Thepast fivesemestersshe’sserved asa peercounselor,where, aswell asassistingstudents

with routine matters, such as keeping themabreast of LASAR requirements, she’s dealtwith personal problems. “Dr. Ruth Frisztrained us to deal with just about anything,”she says. In addition, since her sophomoreyear, Emerenini has been volunteering one

day each week at mental health facilitiessuch as Creedmore Hospital and the psychi-atric ward at Schneider Children’s Hospital.

All these experiences coalesced last sum-mer when she pursued a Rogowsky Intern-ship in Government and Public Affairs, work-ing in the mental health section of the attor-ney general’s office in Washington, D.C.

This past year Emerenini was elected tothe student government, serving as a senatorand member of the executive committee. “Ilove student government,” she says. “MaybeI have false perceptions of other colleges,but I never realized that students make sucha difference on this campus. We have voteson just about every board.”

With respect to her upcoming law stud-ies, Emerenini has no particular focus inmind: “I’ll be open. I may take coursesabout things that have affected my life sofar, like mental health and immigration andhuman rights and civil rights. Other thanthat, we’ll see what happens.”

There’s always the diplomatic corps.

Emerenini

The recently renovated lobby of theLeFrak Concert Hall now boasts a print ofa painting of Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrakby Andy Warhol. The renovation includesnewly polished bronze lettering designedfor the original lobby by Milton Glaser.

LeFrak’s Warhol

A March 23 New York Times story reportinga boom in the number of babies being bornto rich, white Manhattan residents quotedANDY BEVERIDGE (Sociology) . . . NICK COCH(SEES) appeared Jan. 31 on the NationalGeographic Channel show “Naked Science,”discussing the threat of rising sea levels dur-ing a hurricane in New York . . . An articleby Ralph Nader in the April 3 edition of thepolitical newsletter Counterpunch mentionedthe work of BARRY COMMONER (CBNS) inhelping Eskimos discover more about thedangers of dioxins floating thousands ofmiles to their habitats . . . MARA EINSTEIN(Media Studies) was interviewed by NY1 foran April 11 feature on the popularity of anew Queens blog that vents about the bor-ough’s overdevelopment . . . FRANKFRANKLIN’s (SEEK) receipt of an award fromthe United Negro College Fund was noted inthe March 24 edition of Newsday’s

Marketeer. FormerPresidents George H. W.Bush and Bill Clintonwere also honored . . .SUE HENDERSON’s (VPInstitutionalAdvancement) receipt ofthe Top Ten Women inBusiness Networking

Award was reportedMarch 27 in the Daily News and March 29in the Queens Courier . . . On May 6GEORGE HENDREY(SEES) and STEVEPEKAR (SEES) co-authored a New YorkTimes City section op-ed piece on the effectsof global warmingentitled “LocalForecast: Bad.” They

were both featured in anApril 19 Queens Tribunestory detailing plans tocreate an enviro-friendly“green roof” on a por-tion of the ScienceBuilding. It will consist ofa garden with artificialsoil and a selection of

plants that would reduce rooftop tempera-tures in summer by some 70 to 80 degrees.The piece also reported on QC’s recent EarthFair celebrating Earth Day and Earth Week.The April 19 TimesLedger reported CityCouncilman James Gennaro’s appearance atthe fair, at which he announced an alloca-tion of $168,000 to help fund the “greenroof” project . . . MARKROSENBLUM’s (History)series of programs pro-moting Muslim-Jewish rec-onciliation was the focusof Merle English’s “Diary”column April 1 inNewsday . . . Mourningrituals in different culturesthat involve elements ofcannibalism were described in a column byHAROLD SCHECHTER (English) appearingApril 7 on the editorial pages of the NewYork Times. It was prompted by reports ofclaims by rock star Keith Richards that hehad snorted the ashes of his dead father . . .Last month’s meeting of environmentalists,academics, and students convened at QC byJOHN WALDMAN (Biology) to discuss waysto preserve the Flushing Bay ecosystem wasthe subject of a story April 5 in the QueensChronicle . . . The March 15 Queens Tribunereported on the March 7 installation ban-quet marking the re-establishment of the QCchapter of the national Jewish fraternity,

Alpha Epsilon Pi. Its membership onceincluded singer Paul Simon . . . Stories aboutQC’s recent presentation of the Rodgers &Hammerstein musical CINDERELLA appearedMarch 22 in the Queens Courier and March23 in El Correo de Queens . . . Last month’sconference IS IT 1938 AGAIN? was the focusof columns and an editorial appearing April13 in Jewish Week and April 16 and 17 inthe New York Sun. The Jewish global newsservice, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, provid-ed a lengthy account of the conference on

April 24 . . . The second in QC’s monthlyseries of profiles of notable alums appearedApril 26 in the Queens Courier, highlightingthe achievements of author SUSAN ISAACS’65 and TV executive LAURIE YOUNGER ’73 . . . When Con Ed exec John Miksad spokeabout preparedness for electrical needs this summer at a recent QC Business Forum,the Queens media took notice. Reportsappeared in the May 3 issues of the QueensTribune, Queens Courier, and TimesLedger.

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IN THE NEWS

Pekar

Henderson

Hendrey

Rosenblum

Calling the Fashion PoliceCinderella (Siri Howard) awaits her Prince Charming in the Queens College production ofthe Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Cinderella. The co-production of the Drama,Theatre, and Dance Dept. and the Aaron Copland School of Music was presented to asold-out audience on two weekends in March in the Goldstein Theatre.

9

During a recent residencyat Ohio State Universityat Columbus, RAYMONDERICKSON (Music) gave amaster class on Bach per-formance that wasattended by the entireOSU School of Music. . . THOMAS GIBSON(ACE) made two presentations at the 9thBiennial Tri-State Consortium of OpportunityPrograms conference Beyond Access:Opportunity Programs in the 21st Century,held this April in Tarrytown, NY. He joined

FRANK FRANKLIN (SEEK)in presenting “E-Portfolios in the SEEKProgram.” His otherpresentation, in which hewas joined by someCUNY colleagues, was“Tutor Talk: Tutors

Sharing Issues, Problems,and Solutions” . . . KIMIKO HAHN (English)has written the narration spoken by JeanneMoreau in the film Everywhere at Once,which will be shown at the Cannes FilmFestival . . . JESSICA HARRIS (English) partici-

pated this April on apanel called “WritingFood, Writing Lives: YouAre What You Cook” atthe Radcliffe Institute forAdvanced Study’s fifthannual gender confer-ence, Women, Men and

Food: Putting Gender onthe Table, which explored the relationshipbetween food and gender, from productionto preparation to consumption. She alsoparticipated this May in a Rutgers Universityconference entitled Circulating Cultures:

Legacies of Slavery in Africa and theAmericas . . . HEATHER HENDERSHOT (MediaStudies) has been invited to be the AnschutzDistinguished Fellow in American Studies atPrinceton University for the fall 2007 semes-ter . . . EUGENIA PAULICELLI (ELL) was a fea-tured speaker at the conference Defining

Culture through Dressheld at HofstraUniversity in April. Thetitle of her presentationwas “Fashion andCultural Identity.” Shealso gave a lecture on“Imagining Nations,

Fashioning the Self: CesareVecellio’s Costume Books (1590–1598)” atCambridge University, UK, on May 14 . . .MORRIS ROSSABI (History) gave theCroyenburgh Lecture on “Toward anEnvironmental History of Central Asia” atLeiden University in the Netherlands inMarch. On May 25 he will make a presenta-tion at a Dartmouth College conference onThe Survival of Communist Parties . . .MARIA TERRONE (Communications) hasreceived an Individual Artist Initiative Awardfrom the Queens Council on the Arts . . .BESSIE WILLIAMS, Louis and LucilleArmstrong’s longtime housekeeper whomaintained their house after Lucille’s death

in 1983 until 2001, diedon April 3 . . . ZAHRAZAKERI (Biology) wasone of the organizers ofthe keystone conferenceon Apoptosis and Non-Apoptotic Cell DeathPathways in Monterey,CA this April. She also

gave a talk and chaired a session.

QC PEOPLE

Jewish Center Supported by Old Shul TiesOne of Flushing’s Jewish institutions hasused its closure to benefit another: TheQueensboro Hill Jewish Center sold itsbuilding and donated $100,000 of theproceeds to the college’s Center forJewish Studies. “It’s a very substantialgift,” says William Helmreich, director ofthe Center for Jewish Studies, which hasto raise all its own funding. “We’re goingto be able to dramatically improve theprograms we offer.”

A fixture on Horace Harding Blvd. forover half a century, Queensboro Hill hadseen its congregation dwindle as a result ofdemographic changes. “When we startedout, we had as many as 900 members,”recalls Aaron Braun, who belonged to thesynagogue for 54 years and served as oneof its vice presidents. “Later, we droppeddown to 69; my generation never movedout, and our children never moved in.”Consequently, the remaining membersdecided to put their property on the marketand merge the congregation with that of atemple in Fresh Meadows.

A house of worship doesn’t measure itsworth in financial terms, but its real estate

is often highly valuable; the sale ofQueensboro Hill netted its owners morethan $5 million. After giving $1.3 million tothe synagogue they were joining, they had$4 million to disburse, and by law, all of ithad to go to charity. Their last act as a groupwas to choose recipients for the money.

Everyone was asked to nominate organi-zations that merited a donation. Noticing asignificant omission, board member RuthGordon asked fellow congregant EstherGlass—a longtime QC employee who spenther last 17 years on campus as secretary toErnest Schwarz, former dean of the Schoolfor General Studies—about putting the cen-ter on the list. “The Center for JewishStudies is very important to me,” saysGlass. “I was there when it started, and Iattend many of its programs. So I called thecenter, and Professor Helmreich wrote aproposal letter.”

The gift was celebrated at a party atJefferson Hall on May 7, when a plaquehonoring Queensboro was unveiled, per-petuating the name of the congregation.“We’re thrilled about the plaque,” saysGordon.

A Poet Fit for QueensQueens Borough President Helen Marshalland QC President James Muyskens con-gratulate Julio Marzan (center) as hebecomes the Fourth Poet Laureate ofQueens. Marzan, a native of Puerto Ricoand a Queens resident who has lectured atHarvard and published two books of poet-ry, is the first Latino to hold this title. Hebeat out 44 other Queens poets vying forthis honor.

Erickson

Harris

Paulicelli

Zakeri

Franklin