http://www.syr.edu/newsSyracuse University News.en-us http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/vpa-casting-directors-06-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/vpa-casting-directors-06-12.html Breakdown Services has been working with casting directors since it opened its doors 40 years ago. When founder Gary Marsh attended the most recent CSA Artios awards and heard an announcement about a new collaborative program at Syracuse University’s Tepper Semester in the Department of Drama at the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) that would help train people to become casting directors, it appeared to be the perfect partnership. The program, designed in collaboration with the Casting Society of America, was developed for casting students, including key professional components and core courses with fellow Tepper students. Marsh set up a generous five-year scholarship program for the Tepper Semester program in the drama department of the University, specifically to support students training in the casting director field. “Breakdown Services is proud to support the Tepper Program,” says Marsh. “We hope through this scholarship that we can play a part in introducing more students to the casting process and the invaluable role casting directors play in the entertainment industry.” “We are delighted that Mr. Marsh, founder and president of Breakdown Services, recognized our collaboration with the CSA, its importance to the field and decided to contribute in such a meaningful way,” says Ralph Zito, chair of the department of drama. “His support of the casting program partnership and apprenticeship provides an opportunity for students enrolled in Syracuse University’s Tepper Semester program who may not otherwise have had the access, to position themselves for a career in this industry.” Program Director Lisa Nicholas was delighted to receive the generous contribution, but thought it could benefit a more diverse student population. “When Gary, myself and casting director, Rosalie Joseph, sat down for a meeting on this we all thought it would be especially helpful to dedicate a portion of the scholarship to students of diversity.” The scholarship now funds a wide range of young people interested in the casting profession. The first recipient of Breakdown Services’ scholarship was Ebony Hardin. A student of Carnegie Mellon University, Hardin has been receiving special assignments like an  educational internship at Tara Rubin casting, master classes with New York City casting directors, attending numerous shows and plays, all in addition to a private training session at  Breakdown Services’ office in New York. The casting director training program and apprenticeship that premiered in the spring of this year is a joint effort to maintain a high standard of professionalism and artistic integrity within the field. There is no formal degree for casting directors; the semester-long program will provide students the hands-on training they need to be prepared for the profession. Breakdown Services (www.breakdownexpress.com) was established in 1971, creating the process that is used around the world to cast feature films, television shows, commercials, theater and other projects that require actors.  Since its inception it has developed many other services for the industry, including the Virtual Channel Network (www.virtualchannelnetwork.com) that uses the power of the Internet to transmit original content developed specifically for members of the entertainment community.  Actors use Breakdowns' Showfax service to obtain audition material at (www.showfax.com), as well as Actors Access (www.actorsaccess.com) that allows for actors to update their pictures, resume and demo reels to submit for specific roles posted at the request of casting directors, CastingAbout (www.castingabout.com), an up-to-date source for real-time casting and production information in Los Angeles and New York and Talentproplus, a database application that organizes and automates the daily tasks of talent representative businesses. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., Breakdown Services operates through a global network of services in the U.S., England, Canada and Australia. For more information, contact Jenna Pass, Breakdown Services, (310) 276-9166 ext. 413, jennap@breakdownservices.com, or Lisa Nicholas, Tepper Semester director, at (212) 239-1113. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/earth-sciences-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/earth-sciences-08-12.html Waking up to howler monkeys greeting the morning, hiking past colorfully plumed toucans flying through the trees and looking out for poisonous vipers winding through the forest, Natalie Teale, a senior Earth sciences and geography major in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, spent the summer as part of an immersive research experience in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. Teale was one of 12 students selected to participate in a summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at Texas A&M University’s Soltis Center for Research and Education near the Monteverde Forest in central Costa Rica. “The students investigated how the vegetation, moisture content and soil composition in a tropical cloud forest interact, from the scale of an individual leaf to the entire forest,” says geography professor Chris Houser, principal investigator for the National Science Foundation-funded program. Teale and the other students in the summer 2012 REU class were prepared for the experience during two-week introduction at Texas A&M. During this time, they met with faculty mentors to produce research proposals, prepare equipment for their experiments and participate in seminars on research methods and field safety. The students kept a record of their experience on the blog, “Exploration of a Cloud Forest.”  After arriving in Costa Rica, the students set up monitoring stations and began collecting field data. Each of their projects will contribute to the understanding of the water budget of a watershed in the forest. Outside of their own projects, the students learned from faculty about their research in hydrology, biogeography, climatology, geomorphology and ecohydrology to better understand the dynamics of the cloud forest. Cloud-forest vegetation plays an important role in absorbing water from clouds, but the amount of moisture absorbed and its impact on the rest of the water cycle is not well understood. The students collected data from areas that were untouched by humans and other sites that have been logged or completely cleared. The students’ research provides a valuable service to local Costa Rican communities. Since cloud forests exist near the top of Costa Rican watersheds, an understanding of the role of vegetation in the water cycle will help predict the availability of water downstream, where most people live. It also will help identify how human activities have changed the cloud forest and whether these activities have a negative effect on local development. The students returned to Texas A&M on July 22 to complete their analyses and present their findings during a research symposium. This was the second year of a three-year program at the Soltis Center for Research and Education in Costa Rica. Charles William Soltis and his wife, Wanda, established the center to provide international experiences for students while protecting the unique ecological setting and creating preservation awareness. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/campaign-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/campaign-09-12.html Syracuse University today announced that it has surpassed its goal for the most ambitious fundraising effort in the institution’s history. With more than three months remaining until its conclusion on Dec. 31, 2012, The Campaign for Syracuse University has surpassed its goal of $1 billion. Through the generosity of more than 60,000 individual donors, including trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents, and supporters, the Campaign has raised a total of $1,008,612,731 as of Aug. 31. The milestone announcement was marked today with a celebration bringing together the campus community. The event was led by members of the University’s Student Philanthropy Council. “This is a historic moment for Syracuse University,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “The Campaign for Syracuse University has galvanized the SU family as never before, creating incredibly expansive new opportunities for our students and faculty and amplifying their impact on the world in myriad ways. Together, we truly have defined Scholarship in Action. Every member of the SU community should proudly celebrate our collective accomplishment in pushing the envelope of academic innovation that makes a difference in the world.” The Campaign’s $1 billion goal was set by the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Cantor in 2005, and is nearly triple that of any previous fundraising goal in the University’s history. A record 191 gifts have been made at the $1 million level or more, including 30 gifts of $5 million or more, led by the nearly $33 million commitment from the Newhouse family. Overall, the amount raised by the current campaign is nearly double the funds raised in the two prior campaigns combined. Key to this success: the SU Board of Trustees, whose commitments account for more than $275 million, or 27 percent of the Campaign’s current total. Trustee giving in The Campaign for Syracuse University exceeds the aggregate total of giving from Trustees over the history of the University. “From the start of the Campaign, SU’s Trustees continually have pushed up the high water mark of their engagement,” says Dick Thompson, chairman of the SU Board of Trustees.  “Trustees across the country and around the world really have stepped up not only financially, but by enthusiastically leveraging their professional networks and bringing their best ideas to the table to build programs and infrastructure to support our students and faculty.” The Campaign for Syracuse University is co-chaired by Trustees Melanie Gray L’81, Deryck Palmer ’78 and Howie Phanstiel ’70, G’71, and was publicly launched in November 2007, a time when other universities found their fundraising efforts postponed or hampered by the global economic recession. Despite this unfavorable climate, SU thrived, building an unprecedented national and global volunteer network ushering in a new philanthropic era for the University. Emblematic of this: Syracuse Responds, an intensive, 60-day fundraising effort in 2008 that supported more than 400 students whose families had fallen on tough economic times and who were at risk of not returning to the University in Spring 2009. Support from the Campaign also allowed the University to continue hiring hundreds of new faculty during the economic recession, a time when many other institutions limited or halted hiring of new faculty. “Through these past years, I have seen hundreds of alumni and friends volunteer their time and band together, intent on spreading their SU pride to others,” Palmer says. “It’s hard to express the level of passion, momentum and positive force that lives on this campus and beyond its borders. It is this dedication and generosity of thousands to this campaign that will form the foundation for our future.” The success of the Campaign is testament to the University’s vision of Scholarship in Action, with donors pledging to support students in need, faculty excellence and innovative programs that make a meaningful difference in the world. The amount raised in each of the impact areas includes: • $177 million to significantly increase the number of scholarships and fellowships to attract students of merit who demonstrate financial need, with more than 350 new scholarships established, including the Louise and Howard Phanstiel Scholars and the Frederic N. Schwartz Scholarship Fund; • $150 million to endow deanships, chairs and professorships, and to attract and retain world-class scholars, more than doubling the number of endowed professorships from 48 to 99, including the Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professorship in Aging, the Chapple Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy, the Peter Horvitz Chair in Journalism Innovation, the Phanstiel Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership and the Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics; • $400 million to advance interdisciplinary teaching, research and community engagement initiatives such as the JPMorgan Chase Global Enterprise Technology Partnership, the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, the Lerner Center for Public Health and Promotion and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management; • $160 million to enhance teaching and research facilities and provide state-of-the-art technology on campus, such as the new home of the College of Law Dineen Hall, currently under construction on campus, the Life Science Complex and Newhouse III; • $93 million for the Fund for Syracuse, including gifts to Deans’ Funds in each of the schools and colleges; and • $28 million to be designated. Of the Campaign’s total, more than $280 million has been designated for endowed accounts. Don Mitchell, Distinguished Professor of Geography in the Maxwell School and faculty representative to the SU Board of Trustees, notes how important the Campaign for Syracuse University has been for the academic work of the University. “With a marked increase in the number of endowed chairs and professors and with the increased support of research, laboratory equipment and student fellowships, our students have the chance to learn and gain valuable experience in the classrooms on campus, in the city of Syracuse and around the world,” Mitchell says. “Funds raised through the campaign have provided us with additional opportunities to educate students ‘for the world, in the world’.” Tom Walsh, SU executive vice president for advancement and external affairs, credits the Campaign’s success to the SU community. “The defining characteristic of this campaign has been the unprecedented degree to which members of the SU family have stepped forward to assume leadership roles as stewards of the University. Our success in terms of dollars is obvious, but the real story has been the historic commitment of time and talent of SU alumni and friends to really engage as full partners in shaping the University’s goals and aspirations, in addition to assuring that we will have the resources to achieve them. Equally remarkable is that this unfathomable generosity in every dimension came during a time when our nation and our world have faced some of the greatest economic challenges in nearly a century.” The University will mark the success of the Campaign in November with a celebration of volunteerism and philanthropy, starting with a gathering of leadership volunteers involved in the Campaign since its inception and concluding with Orange Central, the University’s homecoming reunion the following weekend. “While the unprecedented success of the Campaign is something we’ll celebrate for months to come,” Walsh says, “we still have important work to do. Private giving in higher education is more important than ever, and we will continue to pursue all sources of potential funding to continue to bring the best faculty, the best students and the best programs to Syracuse.” To give to The Campaign for Syracuse University, visit campaign.syr.edu. For an interactive map showing the impact of campaign giving, visit whatisit.syr.edu. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/oncenter-roof-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/oncenter-roof-09-12.html Civil engineering professor Cliff Davidson had a breathtaking view of the City of Syracuse from a rooftop garden recently. But it’s the possibilities of that prime location that made the experience memorable. Davidson, three civil engineering doctoral students, a recent SU graduate and Onondaga County facilities workers were on the green roof of Onondaga County’s Oncenter to install monitoring equipment that will gather data and show how effective the 1.5-acre roof system is at stemming stormwater runoff. One of the largest in the Northeast, the green roof at the Oncenter’s Convention Center was installed last summer and includes a waterproof membrane that is covered with low-growing vegetation. The water can now leave the roof by transpiration—water vapor loss through the plants—or evaporation off the soil, or through the drain pipes into the sewer system. “There are some other research projects that have looked at pieces of this problem, but this is really one of the few times there’s been an attempt to look at the complete mass balance of water on the roof—how much water is going into the roof and how much water is coming out of the roof,” says Davidson, the Thomas and Colleen Wilmot Chair in Engineering at the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. Davidson, who also holds an appointment at the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE), began the project after connecting with Onondaga County Deputy County Executive for Physical Services Matthew J. Millea through SyracuseCoE’s Executive Director Edward Bogucz and Communications and Program Manager Khris Dodson. Millea suggested Davidson use the premier spot—the 66,000-square-foot roof of the convention center. “That was a wonderful thing to have been offered, and we’ve been working on the convention center for the last year and a half,” he says. The main idea was to see how successful the roof is in decreasing the amount of stormwater runoff that contributes to the combined sewer overflow problem, in which the same sewers are used for both sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff, Davidson says. When it rains, the stormwater mixes with the sewage and greatly increases the volume of flow. “As a result, the sewage treatment plant cannot handle that capacity and has no choice except to allow the sewage to go untreated into Onondaga Lake,” he says. Some of Davidson’s equipment was put in at the time the roof was installed. Over the past year, Davidson and his team have studied the roof and the plumbing of the convention center to determine the best instrumentation to use and where to position it. On Thursday, since there are no stairs to the top, Onondaga County brought in lift equipment to haul up instruments that include a precipitation measurement gauge, a weather station and associated electronics. They will also be using soil moisture sensors and water flow meters. Along with installing the equipment, they will have to set up a radio link for the data and calibrate the equipment. Similar equipment as an experimental control will be installed on another downtown building that does not have a green roof. The whole process will take a good part of a year. Once the equipment is established, real-time data will be viewed on a web site that is in the works. Davidson’s team is also working with the SU School of Education to design the site in a way that Syracuse city school science teachers can use in their classrooms. “They’ll be able to get real-time data off the roof as a means of getting K-12 students excited about SU and the idea of a career in science and engineering,” he says. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/mental-health-summit-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/mental-health-summit-09-12.html Trauma, psychiatric medications, family therapy, nutrition and systems reform are a sampling of the topics experts from across the country will discuss at the Children’s Mental Health Summit, September 27-29 in Syracuse. It’s About Childhood & Family, Inc., along with event co-sponsors including the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University, its Department of Marriage and Family Therapy and the Gifford Foundation, have assembled a series of internationally renowned speakers for the summit themed, “Reclaiming Childhood: A New Perspective on Improving Social-Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Wellness.” The symposium, designed for clinicians, educators, researchers, students and parents, begins on the evening of Sept. 27 with a film and panel discussion. The film, "Generation Rx," examines the rising use of psychiatric medications with children as well as the consequences of this approach. It is followed by two days of keynote presentations, workshops and opportunities for networking and collaboration with professionals focused on the social-emotional, behavioral and mental wellness of children. The list of featured speakers includes award-winning journalist Roger Whitaker, who covers medicine and science; Peter Breggin, founder and director of the Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy; Chris Mercogliano, former educator and administrator and current author and columnist who has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and other nationally syndicated radio shows; along with a comprehensive set of experts on children’s mental health. For more information on the speakers and event, including online registration, visit www.iacaf.org. Additional details are available by contacting Michael Gilbert at 382-0541 or via e-mail at mgilbert@iacaf.org. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/architecture-venice-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/architecture-venice-09-12.html Every two years, the world’s top architectural designers and thousands of visitors converge on Venice for the world’s premiere architectural design exhibition. The 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, “Common Ground,” organized by internationally renowned architect Sir David Chipperfield, focuses on the ways in which architects and designers contribute to a place and a community through collaboration with builders and clients, with future users and the general public. The exhibition, which runs through Nov. 25, features pavilions representing more than 50 countries and includes individual projects from such luminaries as Zaha Hadid and Herzog and de Meuron. This year, two projects—one from a Syracuse Architecture faculty member and the other by two graduate students—are part of the U.S. Pavilion, “Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good.” The pavilion features projects initiated by architects, designers, planners and everyday citizens aimed at bringing positive change to the urban realm. Spatial ConTXTs is a three-part, text message-based urban installation series that students in Assistant Professor Anda French’s (French2D) classes explored to determine how an emerging form of common mobile communication can shape a new use and understanding of public space. One project included middle school students from Syracuse Schools and resulted in an urban video project in downtown Syracuse. Recent Syracuse Architecture grads Nilus Klingel G’12 and Stephen Klimek G’12 established Storefront:Syracuse in 2011, an abandoned storefront in Syracuse’s State Tower Building that is now a student-operated hub for urban design exploration. Fostering lively exchange between the design community, city residents and nonprofit and government sectors on issues pertinent to civic life, events include exhibitions, lectures, workshops and social gatherings. “Our students and faculty have creatively aligned with the city and campus in a wide range of initiatives that engage the community and foster a vibrant urban environment. It’s an honor to have our school’s creative work and commitment to the local Syracuse community recognized on a global scale,” says Syracuse Architecture Interim Dean Randall Korman. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/bbi-politics-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/bbi-politics-09-12.html People with disabilities remain largely sidelined in American politics, according to a new study published in Social Science Quarterly. The research article, “Sidelined or Mainstreamed? Political Participation and Attitudes of People with Disabilities in the United States,” is authored by Lisa Schur, Rutgers University associate professor, and Meera Adya, Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University director of research. According to the study, people with disabilities have a lower turnout to the polls, with an overall gap of 11 percent in 2008. Access barriers at voting sites, reduced mobility and transportation difficulties are associated with lower turnout, even with the availability of absentee ballots. The study authors note that the size of the disability population means it is an important voting bloc and potential swing group, especially considering the research did not find many significant differences in party affiliation or views between people with and without disabilities. “Fully closing the disability gap would have led to 3 million more voters in 2008 and 3.2 million more voters in 2010, potentially affecting many races and subsequent public policies,” write Schur and Adya. The study is based on data from the 2008 and 2010 Current Population Surveys, the 2006 General Social Survey and the 2007 Maxwell Poll on Citizenship and Inequality. The researchers will conduct a national survey of people with and without disabilities following November’s election, focused on accessibility and measuring other drivers of turnout. Other research findings: • In 2008, Democrats had a better effort than Republicans around mobilizing people with disabilities. As of November 2011, there were two official Democratic sites on disability and no Republican ones. • Although political attitudes and views of people with disabilities are not significantly different from those of people without disabilities, there are differences on several key issues, such as employment and health care, which could become important drivers of mobilization this year. • People with disabilities appear to put a higher priority on government action in providing health care and jobs, findings consistent with high unemployment levels of people with disabilities. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/hendricks-step-center-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/hendricks-step-center-09-12.html Some students take on internships to learn what work in the “real world” will be like after graduation. Others get involved in projects in order to learn how to make their post-graduation world more like they want it to be. Audrey Thompson and Tejal Kuray are definitely in the second category. Both students gained useful experience by joining the SunRazors team, based right here on campus and sponsored by the STEP Center at Hendricks Chapel. Led by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) doctoral student Anna Ebers, SunRazors is a multi-dimensional project designed to provide solar energy to the small rural village of Mezquitic, Mexico. Introducing electricity to this “off the grid” community sets the stage for creating a sustainable funding source to maintain the electrical system, improving health and education in the village, enabling economic growth by empowering women and creating a new model for solving problems through international cooperation. The project is small enough to be easy to understand, but multi-faceted enough to provide involvement opportunities for students pursuing pretty much any academic discipline imaginable. Thompson, a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences, recently began her SunRazors internship while enrolled in SU’s SummerStart program. She was intrigued by the environmental benefits that SunRazors was pursuing. Although she describes herself as “not a science person,” Thompson developed a real dedication to sustainability in all its forms. “When I was introduced to environmental science in high school, I was intimidated,” she says. “I was forced to take gym for six years, but no one forced me to take environmental science and I didn’t understand why—it’s so important!” By contrast, SUNY-ESF graduate student Kuray completed her initial involvement with SunRazors last May. For her capstone project, Kuray created a template grant proposal to help raise working capital for the renewable electrification project. According to Kuray, “Each foundation [which might be asked to contribute] has its own priorities, so each actual grant proposal will emphasize one or two specific types of benefits. To be useful, the template had to include a description and supporting data for all the various benefits.” Solar energy is the technology that will generate electricity for Mezquitic, but the benefits it will bring include safe drinking water; improved health and safety from refrigerated storage of medicines and vaccines; improved education by allowing increased reading and studying time; decreased burning of candles and kerosene to lower pollution and further improving health; creation of specific economic opportunities for village residents; and—more important—fostering entrepreneurship and market awareness so that villagers will be able to create their own economic opportunities in the future. To see a video about the benefits of the project, go here. While her initial stint with the SunRazors project is already complete, Kuray is hoping to get involved again in the near future. She hopes to write specific grant proposals based on the template she created last spring, enhance an online crowdsourcing effort to provide an alternative funding stream, and perhaps research other similar projects in various parts of the world. “I loved working on a truly international project without ever having to leave campus,” says Kuray. “Building connections, experiencing the influx of creativity that comes from the global team of participants, expanding my personal skill set—working with SunRazors really opens up your mind.” All of which resonates with Thompson’s experiences to date. "I’ve learned so much already," says Thompson, who describes her work so far as creating the content to establish a social media and web marketing presence for SunRazors. As a result, she’s developed an understanding for just how interconnected a lot of social and economic issues really are. And, she’s found the international nature of both the project and the team absolutely fascinating. “Over the summer, almost all the team interactions were virtual,” says Thompson. “I’ve gotten a good understanding of just how powerful social media can be as a tool for projects and for political movements.” While Thompson doesn’t yet know just what her internship will involve in the long term, she does know what she wants to focus on for the next week or so. “I want to make more students aware of the SolarDash [two-mile campus fun run/walk on Sept. 14],” says Thompson. “Not every student has the opportunity to be a SunRazors intern, but everyone can get a little exercise, hear a little music, enjoy some light refreshments, and see some amazing craft works created right in Mezquitic.” Anna Ebers started SunRazors in hope of making a difference in the lives of some Mexican villagers. Now she sees how her project can also provide value to students right here on campus, where they learn job-related skills and gather real world experience. According to Rick Martin of SU’s Sustainability Division, that’s precisely the sort of experience and perspective students who are interested in sustainability really need. “The issues at the heart of the sustainability challenge aren’t addressed by any particular academic discipline,” says Martin. “Projects like SunRazors—which is obviously sustainability related—are really the only way for students to understand how all the different aspects of the challenge affect one another. This is a great project, and I hope students at SU will use it as one model for future efforts and future internship opportunities.” http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/suart-lectures-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/suart-lectures-09-12.html Jerome Witkin, professor in the Department of Art in Syracuse University, will open the 2012-13 Syracuse University Art (SUArt) Galleries lecture series on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 5 p.m. in the SUArt Galleries in the Shaffer Art Building. "Witkin on Schrag: A Conversation with Jerome Witkin" focuses on the current exhibition "Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions," on display through Oct. 21. A student of Schrag’s at Cooper Union College, Witkin will present a gallery talk and walk visitors through the exhibition of prints, drawings and paintings. A unique component of the gallery talk will be Witkin’s perspective on Schrag as a mentor and teacher, as well as an artist. Considered one of America’s most important living figurative artists, Witkin has been teaching more than 40 years, the majority of which has been at Syracuse University. The exhibition "Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions" is the first major examination of the artist’s work since his death in 1995. The exhibition includes 70 original works of art by the influential artist, including paintings, prints and drawings. Curated by SUArt Galleries Director Domenic Iacono, the exhibition highlights numerous prints from the Syracuse University Art Collection, as well as loaned work consisting of paintings and drawings from the artist’s family. "Witkin on Schrag: A Conversation with Jerome Witkin" is free and open to the public. Complete information and related programming is available by visiting the SUArt Galleries website. Parking is available on campus in the Q4 lot. Please notify the attendant you are here for the lecture in the SUArt Galleries. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/healthy-monday-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/healthy-monday-09-12.html New signs designed by students and staff who are part of the Healthy Monday Syracuse team at SU are making it easy for people to find and follow a series of mile-long walking loops located in city and county parks, connecting City Hall to the County Office Building in downtown Syracuse, and on the campuses of SUNY Upstate Medical University and SU. To debut the walking loops, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner issued a joint proclamation declaring Monday, Sept. 10, Move it Monday Day. Mayor Miner and County Executive Mahoney presented the proclamation in front of the trail beginning at City Hall and then were joined by other city and county officials as they walked the one mile trail through downtown. The signage was also paid for by Healthy Monday Syracuse, which was made possible by the generous support of its benefactor, Syracuse University alumnus Sid Lerner ’53, who founded the Monday campaigns, and his wife, Helaine. “Sid and Helaine have supported and developed a public health tool of remarkable power through the Monday Campaigns,” Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor says. “The campaigns are active in dozens of countries, and it’s critical that the campaigns have that impact right here in Syracuse and Onondaga County. The Monday Mile loops and other accomplishments of the Healthy Monday Syracuse team—which is based out of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion at the Maxwell School—go a long way toward realizing that goal.” “The signage is a wonderful addition to our city parks, marking off what for most people will be an easy-but-healthful 30-minute workout,” Mayor Stephanie Miner said of the signs being installed at Thornden, Burnet and Upper Onondaga parks. “The route downtown will also be great, especially for workers and downtown residents. It helps emphasize that walking is a great way to get around center city Syracuse, and it’s good for you, too.” The county park loops are at Beaver Lake Nature Center, Highland Forest, Jamesville Beach and Onondaga Lake Park. “The park loops will encourage new people to come to our parks to walk and inspire those already getting their exercise in the county parks,” County Executive Joanie Mahoney said. “The mile distance is long enough to provide health benefits and short enough that it should be easy for almost everyone to participate.” The science backs Mahoney on that claim, says SUNY Upstate President David Smith. “The weekly exercise recommendation for adults is 150 minutes a week,” Smith says. “Break that down to just five days a week—that’s only 30 minutes—about the time it would take you to walk a mile. You don't need a gym or work out attire to take this nearby walk to better health." Healthy Monday is the umbrella term for a collection of national public health campaigns that focus on reducing chronic, preventable diseases such as heart attack and stroke by getting people to exercise more, stop smoking and cut back on eating animal fat. The campaigns include Move it Monday, Meatless Monday and Quit & Stay Quit Monday. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/bench-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/bench-09-12.html Colleen O’Connor Bench has been appointed assistant vice president for the Division of Student Affairs (DSA). Bench joined the University in 1991 and became director of the Parents Office in 1993, where she has managed the administrative, financial and operational activities of the office. For more than 20 years, Bench has served as the primary liaison between parents and the University, performing as institutional respondent to their concerns and emergencies. In addition to overseeing the Parents Office, in this new role Bench will expand upon her current responsibilities for crisis management and will deepen her collaborations with the Office of Advancement and External Affairs, Office of Admissions and Office of Alumni Relations. “Colleen has served Student Affairs as a bridge builder to a wide array of campus constituencies, and has been pivotal in our crisis response agendas,” says Thomas V. Wolfe, senior vice president and dean of student affairs. “In this position, she will continue to deepen relationships and further enhance the effectiveness of the division, both on campus and beyond.” As the principal coordinator for responding to student crises for the senior vice president and dean, Bench will develop and manage the 24/7 on-call, first-response crisis system and monitor the crisis response. She will also collaborate with divisional experts on the development of protocols for the division. Additionally, Bench will assist the senior vice president and dean in the creation of development priorities and strategies for DSA, and will be responsible for collaborating and coordinating with the Office of Advancement and External Affairs in the cultivation of major gifts. She continues to serve as the divisional liaison to domestic geographies of opportunity, and partner with Admissions in activities for visiting prospective students and their parents on campus, as well as with Alumni Relations at regional New Student Sendoff receptions. “Focusing on the broader concerns of students at Syracuse University, and serving the Division of Student Affairs in this capacity, is an honor for me,” says Bench. “I look forward to strengthening the relationships with our campus partners and coordinating our work with students and families in crisis situations. Our response to such an experience is critical, and having the support and expertise of trained and caring colleagues, both within the division and beyond, plays a key role in our capacity to support our students and families.” A native of Central New York, Bench received her master’s degree in higher education from Syracuse University, a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from Clarkson University and an associate’s degree in business administration from SUNY at Canton. She was the founding president of the board of directors for the Association of Higher Education Parent and Family Program Professionals (AHEPPP), formerly served on the advisory council of College Parents of America, and is a frequent presenter at national conferences. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/dps-09-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/dps-09-12.html Department of Public Safety (DPS) Chief Tony Callisto has announced key leadership appointments and structural changes in the organization. The changes will create better lines of communication throughout the DPS organization and more effectively align operations, resulting in more efficient and improved public safety services for the University community and partnering law enforcement agencies. Since February, DPS has been reviewing and realigning internal reporting structures, reviewing opportunities with existing law enforcement and emergency services agencies, and creating overall efficiencies in public safety services for the University community. Under the new structure, functions will be aligned under a simplified structure consisting of three areas: administrative and technical security services; police/law enforcement services; and staff and organizational development and student services. DPS worked with the national management consultant firm ARMC Global in the assessment of its organizational framework and a review of a diverse pool of internal DPS middle managers to establish the leadership team and operational structure. “This new alignment will offer more unity of command that will improve internal accountability and our capacity and agility to better serve the SU community,” says Callisto. Under the changes announced today, Drew Buske will serve as director of special projects and special assistant to the chief. In this role, Buske’s first responsibility will be opening the new DPS Campus West substation located at the Campus West Apartments on Henry Street, and developing plans for community service functions that will operate out of the substation. He will be responsible for researching best practices and developing updated DPS strategies, policies and procedures around changes in the investigation and federal reporting requirements, as well as assisting in DPS’ national campus law enforcement accreditation process. He will also provide assistance and advice to the chief on a range of campus safety and security-related matters. Buske is a 22-year veteran of DPS and moves into the new role from the position of DPS deputy director.  “Drew Buske has been a trusted and valued member of the University community and DPS for over two decades,” says Callisto. “I look forward to his focused efforts on projects and issues that will continue to improve safety and security on the SU campus.” Callisto also announced the promotion of two ranking DPS officers to positions of associate chiefs:  Captain John Sardino, a 27-year veteran of DPS, will be the associate chief for police services and Lieutenant Jill Lentz, a 13-year DPS veteran, will be the associate chief for staff development and student services. The two associate chiefs will join Callisto and associate director for administrative and technical services Donna Adams as the executive leadership team for DPS. Sardino will oversee DPS patrol, investigations, crime prevention and special events; Lentz will lead DPS law enforcement and security training, staff development, accreditation, the Students for Community Safety Program and safety escort services; and Adams will oversee administrative and operational support, as well as the DPS Emergency Communications Center and technical security services. “The addition of John Sardino and Jill Lentz to the DPS executive leadership team will round out a community-focused group with the experience necessary to best serve our students, faculty and staff well,” says Callisto. “They are both well respected by DPS staff and committed to leading our organization in fostering a safe living, learning and working environment at Syracuse University.” Four other members of the DPS team—Captain Vernon Thompson, Lieutenant Kathleen Pabis, Lieutenant Ryan Beauford and Captain Andrew Mrozienski—have been appointed to the rank of commander. Thompson, Pabis and Beauford will be assigned to annually rotating assignments in the Police Services Division, providing leadership and supervision for officers assigned to patrol, events, investigations and crime prevention functions. Mrozienski, a 31-year member of DPS, was most recently the community policing patrol commander. He will be moving into a new role as the public safety support services commander, responsible for  commanding the day-to day operations of the 24/7 Emergency Communications Center; leading and managing the vehicle fleet and equipment functions, University courier, records, property and logistics positions; and leading and managing the property and evidence storage and security functions of the department. Mrozienski will assist in bridging major technical projects and law enforcement equipment with the Patrol Services Unit. Thompson’s first assignment in the rotation will be as commander of the Investigations and Crime Prevention Unit.  Thompson’s 27-year law enforcement career started with the Syracuse Police Department in 1985, where he worked in patrol, investigations, drugs and the crime lab until joining DPS in 2004. At DPS, Thompson has held leadership positions in training and investigations. He is a 2011 graduate of the FBI National Law Enforcement Leadership Academy. Pabis’ first rotational assignment will be as the day patrol operations commander. Pabis is a 24-year member of DPS, where she has worked in patrol, as a patrol supervisor, as a detective and as the lieutenant responsible for the Sensitive Crimes Unit, investigating sex offenses and providing support services to the victims of crimes. She has built strong working relationships among DPS Investigations, the Syracuse Police Abused Persons Unit and the SU Advocacy Center. Beauford is a 16-year veteran of DPS with experience in patrol as a patrol shift commander, a detective sergeant and a lieutenant of crime prevention and community relations. His first rotational assignment will be as the commander of night patrol operations and special events. Beauford, a 2010 graduate of SU, received a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership, and is a very active University community member, taking a leadership role in several committees. “These four commanders bring nearly 100 years of diverse professional experiences to the DPS leadership team, and their collective commitment to the University community, as well as to the DPS staff will help focus our efforts toward a community policing model characterized by dedication, protection and service,” says Callisto. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/chancellor-cantor-huffington-post.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/chancellor-cantor-huffington-post.html In a new opinion piece, Chancellor Cantor writes about the challenges facing higher education and how institutions should take an "outside-in" approach in determining what students and families, the public, and society needs from colleges and universities. Read the full piece on the Huffington Post. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/hr-film-festival-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/hr-film-festival-08-12.html The Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival (SUHRFF) celebrates its 10th anniversary from Thursday, Sept. 20, through Saturday, Sept. 22, with an outstanding lineup of award-winning films addressing social justice issues around the globe. The festival is part of Syracuse Symposium 2012: Memory-Media-Archive, and is presented by the SU Humanities Center and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The Alexia Foundation for World Peace, established in memory of Newhouse student and Pan Am Flight 103 victim Alexia Tsairis, is collaborating this year as a festival presenter. This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of Fulbright Scholar Bassel Al Shahade. A student in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Transmedia, he was tragically killed in May in Homs, Syria, while working as a citizen journalist. A native of Damascus, Al Shahade combined a keen filmmaking talent with an enormous commitment to making media that matters, particularly in his homeland. He truly embodied the ethos of this festival. All of the films in the festival will be shown in the Life Sciences Complex Auditorium of Syracuse University and are free and open to the public. Public parking will be available for $5 on Thursday, Sept. 20 at Booth Garage (located on Comstock Avenue); and for free on Friday evening, Sept. 21, and all day Saturday, Sept. 22 in the Q4 parking lot (located off College Place). For more information, visit the web at suhrff.syr.edu, Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/SU-Human-Rights-Film-Festival/365847710152791 or Twitter at @suhrff. “Thanks to the multimedia digital revolution of the past decade, more and more stories of inhumanity and injustice are brought to light. SUHRFF has thrived as an annual event at Syracuse University because of the institutional and personal commitment to social justice alive on campus, and we are extremely grateful for that,” says Tula Goenka, associate professor of television-radio-film in the Newhouse School and co-director of the festival. “This year, we’re absolutely delighted to build our relationship with the Alexia Foundation in this way. The great generosity of the foundation permits us to substantially enhance our festival programming.” “Through partnering, the Alexia Foundation has been eager to extend its mission to effect change and raise awareness. It gives us great pleasure to underwrite and be a part of the fine work done by Tula Goenka and Roger Hallas and the Syracuse Human Rights Film Festival,” says Aphrodite Tsairis, founder and executive director of the Alexia Foundation for World Peace. “‘Undesired,’ by Walter Astrada, our 2010 Alexia Winner, is our signature multimedia film on violence against women in India.” To see more on the foundation’s commitment to eradicating the exploitation of women worldwide, go to www.alexiafoundation.org. Roger Hallas, associate professor of English in The College of Arts and Sciences and co-director of the festival, says “The relentless conflict and humanitarian crisis in Syria continue to remind us of the need for activists and citizen journalists to use their cameras to bear witness to the violation of fundamental human rights, especially when professional media are excluded from zones of conflict. SU’s campus became painfully more aware of this in May when we heard news of the tragic killing in Homs of Bassel Al Shahade.” The festival opens on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. with a screening of “The Invisible War” (Kirby Dick, 2011), a groundbreaking documentary investigation into one of America’s most shameful and best-kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. An estimated 30 percent of servicewomen and at least 1 percent of servicemen are sexually assaulted during their enlistment at the hands of fellow soldiers. Focusing on the compelling stories of survivors, this powerful film reveals the systemic cover up of the crimes against them and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice within a Kafkaesque military legal system. This powerful film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Rebekah Havrilla of the Service Women’s Action Network. On Friday evening, the festival presents “The Mexican Suitcase,” Trisha Ziff’s remarkable and timely exploration of the nature of political commitment and the enduring power of national trauma. The film examines the recent rediscovery in Mexico City of 4,500 unique negatives from the Spanish Civil War by legendary photojournalists David “Chim” Seymour, Gerda Taro and Robert Capa. Once thought lost to oblivion, this treasure trove of astonishing images not only provides fresh perspectives on the war that redefined the role of the media in wartime, it also permits Ziff to examine the present-day legacies of the war in Spain and of Republican exile in Mexico. Ziff will be present to introduce and discuss the film. Major co-sponsors of the festival are the Syracuse University Library; the Department of History; the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics; the South Asia Center at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs; SASSE: Students Advocating Sexual Safety and Empowerment; and the New York State Council on the Arts. The festival schedule includes: Thursday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. ALEXIA OPENING NIGHT "The Invisible War" Kirby Dick (95 minutes, USA, 2011) Friday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. "The Mexican Suitcase" Trisha Ziff (86 minutes, Mexico, 2011) This screening is co-sponsored by the Lino Novas Calvo Speaker Fund; the Latino-Latin American Studies Program; the New York State Council on the Arts’ Electronic Media and Film Presentation Funds grant program (administered by the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes). Saturday, Sept. 22, 1 p.m. "Somewhere Between" Linda Goldstein Knowlton (94 minutes, USA, 2011) An intimate look at the lives of four of the thousands of girls who ended up at Chinese orphanages due to China’s One Child Policy and were subsequently adopted by non-Chinese families in the U.S. A Skype question-and-answer session with director Linda Goldstein Knowlton will follow the screening. Saturday, Sept. 22, 4 p.m. "Call Me Kuchu" Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright (87 minutes, USA, 2012) The film chronicles the work of David Kato, Uganda’s first openly gay man, and fellow activists to defeat new legislation that threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. A Skype question-and-answer session with co-directors Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright will follow. This screening is co-sponsored by the departments of political science and African American studies, the LGBT Studies Program and the LGBT Resource Center. Saturday, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. "Undesired" Walter Astrada (13 minutes, USA, 2010) A photographic exploration of the cultural traditions and societal pressures underlying the pervasive discrimination and violence against women in India. "Valley of Saints" Musa Syeed (82 minutes, India/USA, 2012) Filmed during a military curfew in Kashmir, Syeed’s poignant debut feature follows Gulzar, a young boatman on Dal Lake, who discovers it is not only the conflict that threatens his homeland. Syeed will be present to introduce and discuss the film. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-08-12.html Dave Matthews, Counting Crows, Andy Grammer and Nas among the two dozen artists scheduled to perform; comedian Whoopi Goldberg to emcee Syracuse University announced today it will host a landmark two-day forum, “Common Ground for Peace,” on Monday, Oct. 8 and Tuesday, Oct. 9. Led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama—spiritual leader of Tibet—the forum convenes international thought leaders, the SU campus and the greater Syracuse community in critical conversations about how to shift global consciousness toward matters of peace. The two-day schedule includes academic panel discussions for faculty and students, a public talk by the Dalai Lama and a festival-style concert in the Carrier Dome featuring musicians from around the world. The concert is being recorded for broadcast television and will feature an original song written and performed by multiple artists, especially for His Holiness. “Common Ground for Peace” is produced and sponsored by One World Community Foundation, an organization established by SU Trustee Samuel Nappi. While traveling in India with the Venerable Lama Tenzin Dhonden—personal peace emissary for His Holiness the Dalai Lama—Nappi invited His Holiness to visit the SU campus. Nappi and Lama Tenzin Dhonden are co-chairs of the organizing committee for the peace forum. “His Holiness’ first commitment is to the promotion of human values,” says Nappi, who has visited with heads of state throughout the world in an effort to better understand how a peace movement might be realized. “This two-day event asks us all to remember our common origins, to respect our religious and cultural differences, and to recognize our shared compassion and humanity.” What makes this visit historic, Lama Tenzin Dhonden says, is the diversity of talented artists sharing their message of peace, love and compassion. “This gathering of musicians to sing a special song in the name of His Holiness has never occurred before,” he says. “My friend Sam shares our desire to encourage young people to reach love and peace through the common ground. This work is vitally significant.” “We are profoundly honored to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Syracuse, and thankful to our Trustee Sam Nappi and One World Community Foundation for organizing and hosting this globally important event,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “Helping launch an international dialogue about the pursuit of peace at a time when the world seems increasingly divided advances SU’s legacy as an institution deeply engaged with the world’s most pressing issues.” Traveling to Syracuse to join the Dalai Lama for the academic panels on Oct. 8 are: founder and chairman of the Global Partnerships Forum Amir Dossal; Nobel Peace Laureate and former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei; human rights advocate Martin Luther King III; director of the Moral Courage Project at New York University Irshad Manji; foreign policy specialist and former head of the Central Intelligence Agency R. James Woolsey, Jr.; and former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young. NBC News national and international correspondent Ann Curry will moderate two panel discussions; one on the Arab Spring and one on shifting global consciousness toward peace. Due to limited ticket availability, the panels will be broadcast on closed-circuit television to several viewing locations on campus. The forum culminates on Oct. 9 with a public talk by the Dalai Lama at 7 p.m., followed by the One World Concert, a festival-style music event in the Carrier Dome. His Holiness will speak about resolving conflict in one world through global consciousness, before the artists take to the stage to perform their original song. Comedian Whoopi Goldberg will emcee. The full list of performers—which includes Dave Matthews—will be released in the coming days. The benefit concert is expected to be one of the largest gatherings of international artists ever to travel to the region. Ticket proceeds from the evening will advance international relief efforts and fund a new scholarship named for Bassel Al Shahade, the SU graduate student killed earlier this year in Syria while making a documentary film on the violence in his homeland. For information on ticket availability and scheduled performers for the concert, visit oneworld.syr.edu. Visitors can register to receive schedule updates and will be notified by email when tickets go on sale to the public for the Oct. 9 event. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/law-class-of-2015-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/law-class-of-2015-08-12.html The Syracuse University College of Law welcomes its 116th first-year law class on Aug. 20 with 250 students arriving for a weeklong orientation program, including an expanded community service project to help local food pantries. New to campus this year are several Master of Laws (LL.M.) students for the LL.M. program at Syracuse University College of Law, a new 24-credit hour graduate program designed to offer students with a foreign (non-U.S.) law degree or its equivalent, advanced study in American law. This fall, students from China, Korea and Sierra Leone bring their rich and diverse experiences to the classroom. Orientation session topics include faculty panel discussions, sessions on professionalism and building professional networks, wellness programming, as well as small-group meetings with 25 alumni who will return to campus to discuss legal career paths. An expanded session for family members (parents, partners and other family members) will complement this year’s program.  Noted author and lecturer Peter H. Huang, professor and DeMuth Chair of Business Law at the University of Colorado Law School, will present his work on "Mindset, Happiness and Law School." The author of "Tiger Cub Strikes Back: Memoirs of an Ex-Child Prodigy About Legal Education and Parenting," will address first-year law students on how wellness, balance and positive skill development can help lead to success in law school.  Law students will conclude orientation with a community service project at the Matthew 25 Farm in Tully, N.Y., and assist in the harvest and preparation for food distribution to local food banks.  Entering law students come from 33 states.  While the average student age is 24, the range in age spans almost 40 years. Thirty-eight percent of the first-year class is female, while students of color account for 20 percent. Close to 40 percent of the students are non-New York state residents representing 143 undergraduate colleges and universities; 18 percent have advanced degrees.  “Orientation is a great opportunity for law students to adjust to life in law school, start building their professional network, and become immersed in the Syracuse community,” says Nikki Laubenstein, director of admissions for SU College of Law. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/taye-diggs-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/taye-diggs-08-12.html Award-winning actor and author Taye Diggs ’93, a drama alumnus of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), is being honored by the Syracuse University Alumni Club of Southern California (SUACSC) on Oct. 20. Diggs was chosen by the club because of his professional accomplishments and commitment to SU and will be the 26th recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, given each year by the SUACSC. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20, at noon in the Grand Ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Tickets will go on sale in September and can be purchased at www.socalorange.org. The Distinguished Alumnus Award is presented to an alumnus who currently lives in the greater Los Angeles area and has made many professional and personal accomplishments since his or her graduation. Chosen and voted on by the club’s board of directors, the award will be presented by Ann Clarke, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Details on the afternoon’s emcee, silent auction (which benefits the club’s scholarship fund) and entertainment will be announced at a later date. Diggs has been extremely active with his alma mater throughout his post-graduate years. Most notable is his work as a guest artist in the Department of Drama. Most recently, Diggs was on campus as part of Orange Central, the University’s reunion and homecoming celebration, where he held a book signing, participated in a workshop for drama students and led a public event for Syracuse children that promoted literacy. Diggs has also participated in SU’s Sorkin Week in Los Angeles. The weeklong program gives drama and film students in VPA a taste of life in L.A. Best known for his roles in the Broadway musical “Rent,” the motion picture “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and the current hit ABC series “Private Practice,” Diggs was born in Newark, N.J., and raised in Rochester, N.Y. Shortly after graduating, Diggs appeared in the Tony Award-winning revival of “Carousel.” In 1996, he originated the role of the landlord Benny in Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning “Rent,” where he co-starred alongside his future wife, actress and singer Idina Menzel. Other appearances on Broadway included “Chicago” and “Wicked.” His film debut as Winston in “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” brought Diggs much critical acclaim and exposure to a wider audience. Other film roles included reprising the role of Benny in “Rent,” the bandleader in “Chicago,” Roland in “The Wood,” Harper in “The Best Man” and Eddie in “The House on Haunted Hill.” Later in 2007, he won the role of Sam Bennett in the ABC hit drama “Private Practice” and has appeared in the primetime series ever since. Other television roles include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Daybreak,” “Will & Grace,” “Ally McBeal” and “The West Wing.” Most recently, Diggs became an author with the publication of the children’s book “Chocolate Me!” (Feiwel & Friends, 2011), which was illustrated by Syracuse classmate Shane W. Evans ’92. Past recipients of this annual award include Oscar® winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, former Oscar® producer Gil Cates, network executive Fred Silverman, actor and producer Sheldon Leonard, museum curator Paul Schimmel, music executive Phil Quartararo, educator Molly Corbett Broad, and basketball standout and current Cal State University-LA coach Stephen Thompson. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/raymond-carver-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/raymond-carver-08-12.html Roger Fanning, a Whiting Writers’ Award winner, will open the Fall 2012 Raymond Carver Reading Series at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, in Gifford Auditorium. The reading will be preceded by a question-and-answer session from 3:45-4:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU’s pay lots. Fanning’s newest collection of poems, “The Middle Ages” (Penguin Books, 2012), chronicles a period in his life when he “suffered with a break with reality, and continues his investigations into the drudgeries, the disappointments and the joy of our daily lives,” according to the publisher. Mary Karr, professor of creative writing in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, says Fanning’s writing “tunes us in to those minuscule instants of revelation that can keep life from being a long zombie convention.” Fanning’s other collections of poems include “The Island Itself” (1992), which received a National Poetry Series award, and “Homesick” (2002). Fanning has taught creative writing at SU and in the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. He lives in Seattle. Named for the great short story writer and poet who taught at SU in the 1980s, the Raymond Carver Reading Series is a vital part of Syracuse’s literary life. Presented by the Creative Writing Program in the College of Arts and Sciences, the series each year brings 12 to 14 prominent writers to campus to read their work and interact with students. Fall 2012 Series Schedule The series will continue with the following authors. All readings begin at 5:30 p.m. in HBC Gifford Auditorium. Question-and-answer sessions are from 3:45-4:30 p.m. Further information is available by calling 443-2174. Oct. 10: Ira Sadoff, author of eight poetry collections and a novel. He currently teaches at Colby College and Drew University. Oct. 24: Brian Evenson, award-winning author of 10 books of fiction, including the limited edition novella “Baby Leg” (2009) and “Last Days” (2009), and “Contagion and Other Stories” (2000). He is the current director of Brown University’s Literary Arts Program. Nov. 7: Mary Karr, professor of creative writing in the College of Arts and Sciences, and award-winning, best-selling memoirist. Her New York Times bestsellers include “Lit” (2009), “The Liars’ Club” (1995), and “Cherry” (2001). Nov. 28: Rodney Crowell, a Grammy Award-winning musician and songwriter and author of “Chinaberry Sidewalks” (2011). His latest album, “Kin,” features lyrics co-written with Mary Karr and guest appearances by award-winning country music artists. Dec. 5: Adam Levin, award-winning author of “The Instructions” (2010), teaches creative writing at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/genet-stickley-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/genet-stickley-08-12.html A new exhibition featuring fashions from Syracuse University’s Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection will allow visitors to Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms in New Jersey to view the human form in the home as it may have looked from 1911-13 when the Gustav Stickley family was in residence. “Styling an American Family: The 1910s at Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms” will be on view Sept. 8-Jan. 6 at the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, 2352 Route 10 West, Morris Plains, N.J. The exhibition will be accompanied by related educational programs and a full-day conference. “Styling an American Family” will travel to the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse beginning in June 2013. “The highly successful PBS series ‘Downton Abbey’ and the wide public awareness of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic have both combined to build a strong interest in the lifestyles of this time period,” says Stickley Museum Executive Director Heather Stivison. “The opportunity to partner with Syracuse University on a high-quality 1910s-style exhibition came at the perfect time. This exhibition will appeal to a broad audience and will offer visitors a much deeper understanding of life at Craftsman Farms in the 1910s.” Exhibition curator Jeffrey Mayer, associate professor and program coordinator of fashion design at SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), selected the garments in “Styling an American Family” from the fashion design program’s Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection, which he also curates. The exhibition features outfits arranged in eight environmental vignettes styled as moments frozen in time, with such themes as “Motoring,” “Music,” “Entertainment at Home” and “After the Party.” The Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection was selected for the exhibition because it boasts an unusually large collection of garments and accessories from 1910-1915, and the majority of the pieces were purchased, made or worn in and around the Syracuse area, the location from which the Stickley family moved to Morris Plains in 1911. “No clothing belonging to the Stickley family from this era seems to exist, nor do many reference photos of the family as a whole or in domestic settings within the farm, so therefore all details of the fashionable life at Craftsman Farms must be drawn from the few glimpses given in the extant photos and descriptions of everyday life as found in journal entries and newspaper clippings,” says Mayer, who especially relied on a scrapbook kept by Stickley’s daughter Marion. “The styles and types of clothing selected for this exhibition reflect an American family of comfortable means whose father was well known as an architect and internationally recognized as an arts movement leader.” Mayer will give a curator’s lecture as part of the exhibition’s opening reception on Saturday, Sept. 8. He is also one of the speakers scheduled to appear at the conference “Styling an American Family: Tastemaking in the 1910s and Beyond,” which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6, and will address the tastemakers who shaped and drove the development of what became a new and uniquely American style. Using the exhibition as a springboard, the conference panelists will consider the broader context—politically, socially, economically—in which American styles emerged. In addition, VPA will be honored for its collaboration on the exhibition at the museum’s black-tie gala “Celebrating an American Style” on Saturday, Oct. 6. For more information about the exhibition, the opening reception, the conference and the gala, visit stickleymuseum.org. The Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection is comprised of more than 1,500 women’s garments and accessories from 1820 to the present. The focus of the collection is women’s high fashion, and it includes examples of garments that are indicative of each era, are by well-known designers or were worn by notable women. For more information about the collection, contact Mayer at (315) 443-4644 or jcmayer@syr.edu. Craftsman Farms is the former country estate of noted turn-of-the-century designer Gustav Stickley, a major proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement in decorative arts, home building and furnishing styles. He combined the roles of designer and manufacturer, architect, publisher, philosopher and social critic and is best known today for his straightforward furniture, sometimes called “mission” or “Craftsman” furniture. Although Stickley is credited with more than 200 home designs, Craftsman Farms is the only home he designed and built for his own use. Now operating as the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, the family home has been carefully restored to the period during which Stickley and his family lived there (1911-1917). http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/la-casita-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/la-casita-08-12.html Music, dance and images in the Puerto Rican tradition will be celebrated during the inaugural Bomba and Plena Festival, Sept. 4 to Oct. 5, hosted by La Casita Cultural Center, 109 Otisco St., Syracuse. The festival will include mask and skirt-making workshops, dance lessons, music and an exhibition: “Puerto Rican Bomba and Plena: A Graphic History.” All of the events are free and open to the public. Bomba and plena festivals have been a Puerto Rican tradition for some 40 years and are increasing in popularity in the continental United States. “We are pleased to celebrate National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month and the first anniversary of La Casita Cultural Center with a month-long bomba and plena festival,” says Inmaculada Lara-Bonilla, La Casita co-founder and director of programming. “We invite the community to celebrate with us and experience these unique cultural traditions.”  The festival is co-sponsored by Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences; SU’s University College; and La Liga, the Spanish Action League of Onondaga County. A highlight of La Casita’s bomba and plena festival is an exhibition of the works of nine Puerto Rican master artists who were commissioned to create screen prints to capture the spirit of the annual bomba and plena festivals held in Puerto Rico. Their posters have been collected and preserved by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in San Juan. Curator for the exhibit is Pedro “Capitol” Clemente. An opening reception and celebration will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17. The exhibition runs through Nov. 4. Bomba and plena are percussion-driven musical traditions that move people to dance and which reflect Puerto Rico’s African heritage. While frequently mentioned together, bomba and plena are distinct musical forms. Bomba comes out of musical traditions brought by enslaved Africans to European colonies in the Caribbean. Bomba music became a source of political and spiritual expression. It features 16 rhythms, which mark the pace of the singing and dancing. Plena music developed from bomba at the beginning of the 20th century. The lyrics are more narrative and the music has only one basic rhythm.  A schedule of La Casita’s bomba and plena festival events is listed below. All events will be held at La Casita. Further information can be obtained by calling La Casita at 315-443-1879, by emailing lacasita@syr.edu, or on the web at http://lacasita.syr.edu. Workshops Vejigante (mask-making) workshops for youth and adults 3:30-5 p.m. Sept. 4, 10 and 11 Instructors: Open Hand Theater Bomba skirt-making workshops for adults 1-3 p.m. Sept. 4 and 11 Instructors: Migdalia Gonzalez, Linda Hatz, Luz Encarnacion Bomba dance workshops for children and youth 3:30-5 p.m. Mondays, beginning Sept. 24 Instructor: Luz Encarnacion Music Bomba and plena music 5-6:30 p.m. Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 Exhibition “Puerto Rican Bomba and Plena: a Graphic History,” screen prints of master Puerto Rican graphic artists celebrating 40 years of Festival de Bomba y Plena Opening Reception: Sept. 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m., featuring curator Pedro “Capitol” Clemente. The exhibit runs through Nov. 4. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/su-showcase-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/su-showcase-08-12.html SU Showcase, which celebrates student research and academic achievement across the disciplines, will have a new look in the coming year. Instead of taking place on a single day, SU Showcase will hold multiple events in conjunction with the University Lectures and other major speaking engagements at SU. The theme of SU Showcase will continue to be sustainability and climate awareness, and programming will focus on these anchor events: Richard Alley, “Energy, environment, and your future.” Milton First-Year Lecture, Sept. 19, 2012 Bill McKibben, “350: The most important number in the world.” University Lectures, Oct. 10, 2012 Ron Brownstein, “American Politics, Today and Tomorrow.” University Lectures, Oct. 23, 2012 Marion Nestle, “Food Politics from Farm to Table: A Recipe for Change.” University Lectures, Nov. 13, 2012 Roz Savage, “The Human Condition: An Ocean Rower’s Perspective.” University Lectures, Feb. 27, 2013 Jim Richardson, “Our Vanishing Night: Light Pollution.” University Lectures, March 19, 2013  Examples of SU Showcase programming for the McKibben and Alley lectures include a workshop on designing graphic campaigns about the climate crisis, and a collaboration between biology and transmedia courses to highlight how climate disruption threatens biodiversity. In conjunction with the Brownstein talk, political science students will develop mock campaign ads concerning the politics of environmental issues.  All faculty are encouraged to participate in this project. SU Showcase funding is available to facilitate projects that will connect courses in any discipline to these lectures. Projects should be designed for public presentation (posters, video, installations, etc.), so that they can be made available to the wider campus community. Rachel May, coordinator of Sustainability Education (sumay@syr.edu; 443-9726), is available to help develop and facilitate SU Showcase projects. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/syracuse-welcome-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/syracuse-welcome-08-12.html On Wednesday, Aug. 22, approximately 3,800 first-year and transfer students will arrive at Syracuse University to kick off the 2012-13 academic year. When they do, Syracuse Welcome, SU’s orientation program, will help them get acclimated and ready to start the new semester. Syracuse Welcome involves hundreds of student and staff volunteers who warmly greet incoming students as they arrive on campus. These volunteers will assist students with move-in and help them get familiar with campus. Once settled, new students will participate in events and experiences designed to get them acquainted with each other, the campus, its resources, and the greater Syracuse community. “Syracuse University has a wonderful tradition of coming together as a community to greet new students and families,” says Carrie Grogan Abbott, director of the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs. “Syracuse University students—affectionately known as the Goon Squad—have been volunteering in this capacity since the 1940s. Hundreds of University faculty, staff, and alumni also come together with the students, all to make our new students feel part of the SU family.” Signature features of Syracuse Welcome include: Assistance from the Goon Squad: more than 600 current student volunteers help unload cars and move items into rooms; Home to the Dome, a spirited event celebrating the arrival of students in the Carrier Dome; Parents Convocation: an official welcome and informational session for parents; Chancellor's Convocation for New Students; and “Feel the Pulse of Syracuse,” an event introducing students to the food and culture of downtown Syracuse. Welcome to the academy As always, intellectual engagement will play a central role in Syracuse Welcome. The Chancellor’s Convocation for New Students opens the academic year Friday, Aug. 24 in the Carrier Dome. SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor will greet students and their families and introduce the inaugural first-year experience. The convocation begins at 10:30 a.m. and ends with SU’s traditional “Lunch on the Turf,” after which families will be encouraged to depart campus. Students will also attend academic advising sessions, new student receptions and convocations for their home school or college. Welcome to Central New York Syracuse Welcome continues its long-standing tradition of introducing students to the wealth of opportunities for fun and engagement off the hill and within the city of Syracuse. On Saturday, Aug. 25, SU hosts “Feel the Pulse of Syracuse,” an exploration of downtown Syracuse and the Connective Corridor. Students will visit the heart of the downtown area to sample the cultural, commercial and social offerings of Armory Square. The evening will feature a taste of Armory Square restaurant offerings in a street festival atmosphere, a chance to shop in the historic Armory Square district, and a sampling of eclectic showcases of live music and dance. As the evening unfolds, giant puppets from the Open Hand Theater, along with the SU Marching Band, will move a festive procession along Armory Square. The evening will culminate at the John Mulroy Civic Center with a laugh-out-loud comedic performance. Note: Traffic volume in and around the University will be heavier than usual, due to the move-in on Aug. 22 and 23. Assisted moves will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. Those traveling in the University area should keep this in mind as they enter and leave the area. On Aug. 25, Walton and Franklin streets, between Fayette and Jefferson, will be closed from 2 -7:30 p.m. Free parking for patrons of Armory Square businesses is available all day in the Atrium Garage on Fayette and Franklin streets. For a complete listing of the week’s events, visit http://readyset.syr.edu. The site also contains answers to frequently asked questions, updated schedules and registration information. Syracuse Welcome is a University-wide effort coordinated by the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs. For more information on Syracuse Welcome 2012, contact the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs at (315) 443-1012. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/trustees-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/trustees-08-12.html At the Syracuse University Board of Trustees annual meeting, three individuals were elected as new trustees. Lauren B. Cramer L’94 joined the New York law firm McLaughlin & Stern in 1995, and is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Bar Association. Her areas of concentration include trust and estate administration, and tax-exempt organization work, focusing particularly on public charities and private foundations, as well as general corporate and litigation law. Cramer earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northwestern University, and a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 1994. Prior to law school, she pursued a career in finance and not-for-profit administration. Cramer’s community affiliations include National Dance Institute (executive committee), Ballet NY (chair), and Impact Theatre (co-founder). She also has served as an officer and director of numerous civic and charitable organizations in a pro-bono capacity, advising both private foundations and public charities in issues relating to administration and the law. At SU, Cramer serves on the College of Visual and Performing Arts Advisory Council and has served as a guest lecturer. Her Syracuse family includes her father, SU Trustee Emeritus Gerald B. Cramer ’52; her mother, Barbara Browne Cramer ’56; and her brothers, Douglas A. Cramer ’87 and Roy Raskin-Cramer ’95. Lawrence S. Kramer ’72, founder of MarketWatch and a 40-year media industry veteran, was named president and publisher of the nation's second-largest newspaper, USA Today, in May 2012. He is a member of the Gannett Leadership Team. Following a 20-year career as a distinguished, award winning reporter and editor, Kramer earned a reputation as the most influential individual in Internet journalism and a successful media entrepreneur. His early venture, DataSport, Inc., sold to Data Broadcasting Corp., was followed by MarketWatch, Inc., an Internet financial information company where he was chairman, CEO and founder until its sale to Dow Jones in 2005. Kramer moved to CBS as founding president of its Digital Media Division. He next joined Polaris Venture Partners (Boston) as a senior adviser, working with  portfolio companies and identifying new investment opportunities in digital media, advertising and e-commerce. Kramer is the author of “C-Scape: Conquer the Forces Changing Business Today” (HarperBusiness, 2010), a book about the digital transformation of media and commerce. Kramer earned a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and an MBA at Harvard in 1974. For SU, he chairs the Newhouse Advisory Board, serves as a media consultant, and sponsors students in immersion trips to New York City, where he resides. He is an adjunct professor at the Newhouse School (media management), as well as the Whitman School of Management (entrepreneurship).  For the Newhouse School, Kramer named the “War Room” in the Digital Convergence Suite in Newhouse 3. He and his wife, Myla F. Lerner '73, are also producers for Broadway theatre. Elliott I. Portnoy ’86 is Global CEO of SNR Denton, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C., with 1,500 lawyers worldwide serving clients in 43 countries. SNR Denton is a law firm launched in 2010 with the combination of U.S.-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, founded in 1906, and UK-based Denton Wilde Sapte, founded in 1785.  Prior to the formation of SNR Denton, Portnoy served as the youngest chairman of Sonnenschein. Portnoy graduated summa cum laude in 1986 from The College of Arts and Sciences and was selected as SU’s first Rhodes Scholar.  He received a Ph.D. in politics from Oxford University, and later a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. He has been active in supporting The College of Arts and Sciences, serving as a member of its board of visitors.  He is also a member of SU’s Washington Regional Campaign Council, and a recipient of a Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement and an Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Portnoy is the founder of Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), a nonprofit that provides sports opportunities to children with severe and profound disabilities in the U.S. and the U.K.  KEEN has programs in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Oxford, Phoenix, San Francisco, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.  The organization has trained more than 30,000 volunteers to serve young people with disabilities. Portnoy lives outside Washington, D.C., with his wife, Estee, and their three children. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/law-kohn-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/law-kohn-08-12.html Nina A. Kohn, professor of law at Syracuse University College of Law, has been named a 2012 Judith Greenberg Seinfeld Distinguished Fellow. The fellowship—endowed by Judith Greenberg Seinfeld ’56, distinguished alumna of the University and member of the Board of Trustees—is bestowed upon a faculty member at the University who has shown a passion for excellence and exceptional creativity in any academic or artistic field or endeavor. “I am honored to be recognized by the University,” she says. “The fellowship is not only welcome support, but also another reminder of how fortunate we are to have alumni like Ms. Seinfeld who really care about the University and its interdisciplinary work.” Kohn teaches torts, elder law, family law and an interdisciplinary gerontology course.  Her research focuses on elder law, with a focus on the civil rights of senior citizens.  Her recent articles have addressed such issues as the potential for an elder rights movement; the practical and constitutional implications of elder abuse legislation; financial exploitation of the elderly; voting by citizens with cognitive impairment; legal education; and health care decision-making. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Kohn is a faculty affiliate with the SU Gerontology Center, chair of the Elder Rights Committee of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section of the American Bar Association, a commissioner for the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, a distinguished fellow of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, and was the 2009 chair of the Aging and the Law Section of the American Association of Law Schools. The Syracuse College of Law Class of 2011 awarded Kohn the Res Ipsa Loquitur Award, which recognizes an outstanding member of the faculty for his or her service, scholarship and stewardship to the students. Each graduating class nominates and then votes on a faculty member whose dedication to these areas “speaks for itself.” Kohn earned an A.B. degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, and a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard University. She clerked for the Hon. Fred I. Parker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Following her clerkship, she was awarded a fellowship by the Skadden Fellowship Foundation to provide direct representation to nursing home residents and frail elders. Individuals honored as Judith Seinfeld Distinguished Fellows do not apply for the recognition.  A selection committee of distinguished active and retired members of the University faculty review nominations put forth by academic deans, with the Chancellor making the final fellowship selection. Judith Seinfeld Distinguished Fellows receive a grant of $10,000, to be used without restriction by the honoree. The purpose of the fund is to encourage honorees in their work, and make possible an initiative or project of special interest to the recipient. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/iroquois-linguistics-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/iroquois-linguistics-08-12.html In response to the growing demand for qualified language teachers, the Native American Studies Program in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences has launched the Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics for Language Learners. This new undergraduate program targets students and teachers of Iroquois languages, and is designed to bolster Iroquois language revitalization efforts. Philip P. Arnold, associate professor of religion and interim director of the Native American Studies Program, says the need for Iroquois language teachers is critical. “There are 18 Iroquois language-speaking communities throughout northeastern North America, each of which boasts multiple language revitalization programs,” he says. “Traditionally, the language teacher was drawn from one of the elder native speakers of each community. But as elder speakers have passed away and younger people are primarily speaking English, the survival of these languages has become more and more critical.” Arnold says the problem is exacerbated by Iroquois grammar, which is notoriously complex. “Since most of the teachers in these revitalization programs are second-language speakers,” he says, “there’s a demand for linguistics courses in which learners and teachers can learn the concepts and terminology to make better use of dictionaries and descriptive grammars written by linguists.” SU’s program focuses on the six languages of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. In addition to studying the grammatical systems of all six languages, students explore parts of the systems specific to each language. Special attention is paid to Iroquois verb structure, which instructor Percy Abrams says is one of the biggest hurdles for second-language speakers. “Second-language speakers may acquire some idea about Iroquois grammar, based on what they know about English grammar, but in the case of Iroquois languages, most of what they know does not apply,” says Abrams, a member of the Eel Clan of the Onondaga Nation and holder of a Ph.D. in linguistics from SUNY Buffalo. “While native speakers acquire these grammatical systems naturally, second-language speakers generally have to learn a new grammar. Differences in grammatical structure cannot be easily overcome by analogies between English and Iroquois.” Such information is traditionally of interest to not only students and teachers of Iroquois languages, but also linguists, anthropologists and historians. The program takes three semesters to complete and includes courses in Iroquois phonetics, phonology, semantics, verb morphology and syntax. It culminates with a summer capstone course to demonstrate mastery of the grammatical systems in practice. Abrams is acutely aware of the timing of this program. As the demand for language revitalization increases, so does the need for multiple instructors within each Iroquois community. “Iroquois languages are described as polysynthetic, fusional and incorporating,” he adds. “‘Polysynthetic’ refers to words made up of many parts. ‘Fusional’ denotes phonological changes that occur at the joining of these parts. And ‘incorporating’ is the process by which words or word roots are inserted into an existing word to add meaning to it. All of these factors make for a language family that is difficult to master but important to understand.” “It’s important,” adds Arnold, “that educational institutions—which, historically, have been complicit in the demise of Iroquois languages—work collaboratively with Native communities to revitalize their languages and dialects. We at SU take this responsibility very seriously.” IMAGE CREDIT: “The Great Tree of Peace” painting by Oren Lyons ’58, H ’93, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/anbar-lectures-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/anbar-lectures-08-12.html Laurie Zoloth, a pioneer in medical and research ethics, is delivering the fifth annual Anbar Family Lecture at Syracuse University and Temple Adath Yeshurun. Her SU lecture, titled “The Second Text: Tradition, Narrative and Translation in Jewish Bioethics,” is Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 4 p.m. in The Kilian Room, Room 500 of the Hall of Languages. The following day at 7:30 p.m., Zoloth will lecture on “Why Be Good? Strangers and Others in Jewish Bioethics,” at Temple Adath Yeshurun (450 Kimber Rd., Syracuse). Both events are free and open to the public and are presented in conjunction with the Department of Philosophy in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, call 315-443-4501 or 315-445-0002, or visit adath.org. “Laurie Zoloth exemplifies the interdisciplinary spirit of both The College of Arts and Sciences and the Anbar Family Lecture series,” says Ben Bradley, associate professor and chair of the philosophy department. “Her work lies at the intersection of science, ethics and religion and has impacted everything from health care and social policy to feminist and Jewish studies. Anyone with an interest in scientific and philosophic traditions will be moved by what she has to say.” Zoloth is on faculty at Northwestern University, where she serves as the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence; director of the Brady Scholars Program in Ethics and Civic Life in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences; and founding director of the Center for Bioethics, Science and Society in the Feinberg School of Medicine. Zoloth is also a religious studies professor and teaches in both the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program and Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies. She previously founded and directed the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. In 2011, Zoloth was elected vice president of the American Academy of Religion. Other organizations of which she has held leadership positions include the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the Society for Jewish Ethics, the National Recombinant DNA Advisory Board, the NASA National Advisory Council, the International Society for Stem Cell Research and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Bioethics Advisory Board. Zoloth is the author of the landmark book, "Health Care and the Ethics of Encounter" (The University of North Carolina Press, 1999), inspired in part by her work with The Ethics Practice, a San Francisco Bay Area firm she founded that educates and counsels health care providers and systems. She has also co-edited four books and has published extensively on ethics, family, feminist theory, religion and science, Jewish studies and social policy. “Her visit is timely, in view of the national concern over health care reform,” adds Bradley. “By drawing on selected classic and postmodern Jewish texts, she will encourage new ways of looking at what has become a major social justice problem.” Events are made possible by the Doctors Ada and Michael Anbar Lecture Series Fund, which aims to expose the campus community to the 3,000-year-old traditions of Jewish ethics. “These traditions, combined with 2,000-year-old Greek traditions, are the foundation of Western civilization,” says Michael Anbar. “Many religions have incorporated ethics into their dogmas and atheists must be ethical to be part of civilization. Notably, some people who follow religious rituals act unethically. This dichotomy between rituals and ethics has been pointed out again and again by each of our great prophets. Our series seeks to elucidate these critical issues." http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/law-kanter-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/law-kanter-08-12.html Dean Hannah Arterian recently announced that Professor Arlene Kanter was named the Bond, Schoeneck & King Distinguished Professor at Syracuse University College of Law for 2012-14. Kanter teaches courses on U.S., comparative and international disability law and policy; education and special education law; as well as legislation and policy, ethics and professionalism. “I am proud to receive this award and to share the honor with its previous recipients,” Kanter says. “To me, this award acknowledges not only my work in the area of disability rights law, but also the coming of age of the disability law field which, when I entered law school, did not even exist, but which today is a thriving, dynamic and intellectually exciting field of law.” Kanter founded and directs the Disability Law and Policy Program, which houses the nation’s first joint degree program in law and disability studies. She also co-directs the SU Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies, which is the nation's first multi-disciplinary center dedicated to research, advocacy, academic programming, and public education on issues of inclusion and equality for people with disabilities. In addition, Kanter publishes and lectures extensively on U.S., comparative, and international disability law. She is the co-author of the first law casebook on international and comparative disability law and has published numerous articles and book chapters on disability law. Her most recent article, “There’s No Place Like Home: The Right of People with Disabilities to Live in the Community Under International and Domestic Law,” was published as the lead article in the Israel Law Review, a journal of Cambridge University Press. Her upcoming book, “Disability and Human Rights: The Development and Potential of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities,” will be published next year by Routledge Press. Her new co-edited book, “Righting Educational Wrongs: The Intersection of Law, Education and Disability Studies,” will be published this year in the Critical Perspectives Series of SU Press. Kanter founded and edits the SSRN Disability Law Journal and co-founded the AALS Section on Disability Law. In 2001-06, she worked with the United Nations on drafting the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and, since then, she has worked with several countries on implementing the convention. In 2010-11, she was named the Distinguished Switzer Fellow by the U.S. Department of Education's National Disability Rehabilitation Research Institute. In 2009-10, she was a Fulbright Scholar at Tel Aviv University in Israel. In 2005, she received SU's most prestigious teaching award, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Award for Excellence in Teaching. She also holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Education. At the College of Law, Kanter has served as associate dean for academic affairs and as the director of clinical legal education. College of Law Professor Margaret Harding held the BS&K Professorship from 2010-12. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/ivmf-usbln-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/ivmf-usbln-08-12.html The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) is pleased to announce a partnership with the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN®) focused on service-disabled veterans in employment and entrepreneurship. The partnership will advance joint initiatives undertaken by both organizations during the past several years into a formal program of collaboration to benefit business and industry seeking well-qualified employees and suppliers, and service-disabled veteran employees and business owners. According to Jill Houghton, USBLN® executive director, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses have opportunities to become certified diversity suppliers and to work with private industry to meet their needs for products and services. USBLN®’s supplier diversity certification is complementary to those of other diversity suppliers, and offers a rigorous evaluation process to certify disability-owned businesses. Certified businesses gain access to networks of corporate and government procurement professionals, and these buyers gain a reliable source for certified suppliers capable of addressing supply chain product and service requirements. “The IVMF’s education and technical assistance programs for entrepreneurs have educated over 500 veterans with disabilities. Providing another avenue for our vetrepreneurs to reach their markets is an important component of our collaboration,” says James Schmeling, IVMF managing director and co-founder. “We are committed to provide improved access to opportunities and decreased barriers to both employment and entrepreneurship for the veteran and service-disabled veteran community.” “The partnership between USBLN® and the IVMF will increase knowledge and information flow between veterans, business and industry, government, and other stakeholders, and will improve opportunities for service-disabled veterans as employees and as business owners, and provide access to both for our membership,” says Houghton. “It supports our vision which ‘promotes the certification and growth of disability-owned business.’” The IVMF’s focus on veterans, and service-disabled veterans, naturally aligns with the goals and objectives of USBLN® in this area. The institute’s recently published “Guide to Leading Policies, Practices & Resources: Supporting the Employment of Veterans and Military Families” and the National Council on Disabilities’ “Empowerment for Americans with Disabilities: Breaking Barriers to Careers and Full Employment” report, for which Schmeling was project director, both form frameworks for engaging business and industry and preparing veterans for employment. Each year, more than 250,000 service members transition out of the military. Returning veterans are natural entrepreneurs, possessing skills, experience and leadership to start businesses and create jobs. Additionally, veterans often hire other veterans, and this is particularly the case for service-disabled veterans. About the US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®) The US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®) is a national nonprofit, non-partisan business to business network promoting workplaces, marketplaces and supply chains where people with disabilities are included. The USBLN® serves as the collective voice of over 60 Business Leadership Network affiliates across the U.S., representing over 5,000 businesses. Additionally, the USBLN® Disability Supplier Diversity Program® (DSDP) is the nation’s leading third party certification program for disability-owned businesses, including service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/imagining-america-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/imagining-america-08-12.html Syracuse University and Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life (IA) announce the appointments of Timothy K. Eatman and Scott J. Peters as IA co-directors, effective Aug. 1.  “With Eatman and Peters as directors, IA will continue to advance the movement for engaged scholarship in higher education,” says Bruce Burgett, chair of IA’s National Advisory Board. “In many ways, this is a better outcome of our national search than anyone on the IA board could have imagined. Building on the inspired work of outgoing IA director, Jan Cohen-Cruz, Tim and Scott will be able to use their shared commitment to institutional transformation to create significant impact, both locally and nationally.”  Eatman has provided national leadership as IA’s director of research for the last eight years, and since 2007 has been assistant professor of higher education in SU’s School of Education. He continues as a faculty member in the Higher Education Department.  A distinguished scholar of the history of American higher education’s public purposes and work, Peters comes to IA and SU from Cornell University, where he is an associate professor of education. He will have an appointment in SU’s School of Education as a professor in the Cultural Foundations of Education Department, and will also be a faculty affiliate with the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.  A consortium of 90 colleges and universities from across the country, IA is the only national coalition working explicitly at the nexus of publicly engaged scholarship and the humanities, arts, and design. IA works with academic and community partners to develop knowledge about and resources for individual and institutional change through community organizing and movement-building, a large-scale annual conference, and ongoing research and action initiatives. Current initiatives include projects aimed at transforming higher education tenure and promotion policies, assessment practices, and graduate and undergraduate education to cultivate publicly engaged scholarship; linking diversity and engagement efforts on campuses; and partnering with community-based arts, cultural and humanities organizations. SU is host to IA through 2017, an extension that was announced in fall 2011.  Innovative Leadership Model  The appointment of co-directors, chosen by IA’s National Advisory Board and SU, puts Eatman and Peters in a unique position to demonstrate to IA’s national network the value of collaborative leadership. It reflects IA’s vision of not only building an organization, but also a movement for institutional transformation in which publicly engaged scholars, artists, designers and community members enrich civic life for all.  “We believe that the establishment of a shared leadership model for IA that places in view joint roles, as well as distinct but interdependent responsibilities, will nurture the health of the consortium,” says Eatman. Peters adds, “Collaborative leadership aligns with the democratic spirit and values of IA and the national public engagement movement.”  As co-directors, Eatman and Peters will share the responsibilities of strategic planning, advocacy and research, strengthening and expanding IA’s consortium, implementing robust program activity that includes an annual national conference, managing staff and fundraising. Both members of the steering committee of the American Commonwealth Partnership (ACP), Eatman and Peters began collaborating on a national level last spring. ACP is a broad alliance of organizations—including the White House Office of Public Engagement and U.S. Department of Education—that promotes higher education as an agent of democracy. Through ACP, Eatman and Peters will be engaging the IA consortium in a new major action-research initiative aimed at rebuilding and reconstructing “democracy’s colleges” in American higher education.  Eatman and Peters will also have an active presence at SU and in the Syracuse community, maintaining a vigorous research and writing agenda that advances and exemplifies the public dimensions of scholarly and creative work and contributes to Scholarship in Action. They will be working across the institution with SU’s leadership and faculty of every school and college to establish an institutional presence for IA’s work that will endure beyond the years when IA’s national headquarters is located at SU.  “The appointment of Tim Eatman and Scott Peters as co-directors of Imagining America is a huge win-win for IA and SU,” says SU chancellor and president Nancy Cantor. “Not only does it model for IA’s membership the kind of collaboration that is central to the organization’s identity, but it assures that SU and our many ‘communities of experts’ will benefit from the collective impact of these two nationally prominent, innovative scholars.”  About Eatman and Peters As IA’s research director, Eatman has provided leadership on key research and action initiatives that have shaped regional, national and global conversations about publicly engaged scholarship. As co-principal investigator of the Tenure Team Initiative on Public Scholarship, he co-wrote its seminal report, “Scholarship in Public: Knowledge Creation and Tenure Policy in the Engaged University” (2008) with IA’s founding director, Julie Ellison, and organized a series of regional meetings with Campus Compact that involved more than 60 higher education institutions. This work on faculty rewards developed into a second national study by Eatman on the career aspirations and decisions of graduate students and early-career academic professionals who identify as publicly engaged scholars.  Eatman, who transitioned with the IA headquarters from the University of Michigan to SU in 2007, has championed the expansion of the consortium’s research enterprise. He has represented IA and SU nationally and internationally through keynote addresses, workshops and consultancies that have increased conceptual understanding about and visibility for publicly engaged scholarship, forging critical relationships with several leading higher education associations. This summer for a second consecutive year he was a faculty member of the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success. He serves on the leadership team of IA’s collaborative action-research project with Columbia University Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change on diversity and engagement, and will soon begin a two-year appointment as an Honorary Professor at the University of South Africa.  An educational sociologist, Eatman received his Ph.D. in educational policy studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s degree in college student development at Howard University and a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development at Pace University. He is the recipient of the 2010 Early Career Research Award from the International Research Association for Service Learning and Community Engagement.  Peters has devoted his professional career to studying and strengthening higher education’s public mission, purposes and work. His research agenda focuses on the connections between higher education and democracy, especially in the land-grant system. His most recent book, “Democracy and Higher Education: Traditions and Stories of Civic Engagement” (Michigan State University Press, 2010), contributes to a new line of research on the critically important task of strengthening and defending higher education’s positive roles in and for a democratic society. He is the author of Imagining America’s Foreseeable Futures position paper, “Changing the Story About Higher Education’s Public Purposes and Work: Land-Grants, Liberty, and the Little Country Theater.”  A nationally recognized scholar, Peters has designed and pursued independent research projects with significant support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Kettering Foundation. He is on the leadership team of a national five-year initiative, funded with a $5 million grant from USDA, called “Food Dignity: Action Research on Engaging Food Insecure Communities and Universities in Building Sustainable Community Food Systems.”  At Cornell since 1999, Peters established an innovative teaching and research program that interweaves democratic theory and political and educational philosophy with historical and narrative methods. Before Cornell, he spent two years as an assistant professor of public work with the University of Minnesota Extension System. He received two graduate degrees at the University of Minnesota: a master’s degree in public affairs from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and a Ph.D. in educational policy and administration. Before his graduate work, he served for 10 years as program director of one of the nation’s oldest community-university partnerships, the University YMCA at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received his bachelor’s degree in education.  This fall, IA will host an event for the SU community to engage with new directors Eatman and Peters. They will preside over IA’s upcoming annual national conference, Oct. 5-7, in New York City. http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/oira-yonai-08-12.html http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2012/oira-yonai-08-12.html After nearly 30 years as a member of the Syracuse University community, Barbara (Bobbi) A. Yonai, director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA), has announced plans to retire from the University in January 2013. Yonai joined the SU community in 1984 as a graduate student and graduate assistant in the School of Education’s Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation Program. In 1985, she joined the Center for Instructional Development, later renamed the Center for Support of Teaching and Learning (CSTL). In September 2003, she was named director of CSTL, and in February 2006 she was appointed director of the newly created OIRA, dedicated to maintaining and providing accurate and up-to-date institutional research from across all campus units, for data-driven assessment reporting. “It has been my privilege to be a part of the SU community and I am proud of the work produced by the dedicated staff at OIRA,” says Yonai. “My leaving SU is bittersweet because I will miss the daily interactions with my SU colleagues.  However, my husband is also retiring and we are looking forward to spending time together, traveling and volunteering within the community.” “The University, and many of us within the SU community, will miss Bobbi deeply,” says Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina. “Professionally, her efforts on behalf of the University and her leadership of OIRA and the many critical projects they have undertaken have made SU a better place—for teaching and learning, for research and for students, faculty and staff. Her integrity and dedication to the University are widely known and highly valued. Personally, Bobbi's deep collaborative nature and ability to work seamlessly with groups of all kinds have made her a friend to many of us.”  As director of OIRA, Yonai is one of SU’s experts on institutional research and assessment and is recognized for her competence and dedication in analyzing and reporting SU’s key data. She has implemented numerous quantitative and qualitative projects related to understanding retention and attrition, including the reporting of the University-wide and school and college yearly statistics and student retention research studies. She has worked with every administrative and academic department on campus on research and assessment projects to best understand and improve the student, faculty and staff experiences at SU. All of this work has helped the University direct resources to the identified areas that support retention and success, as well as SU’s overall graduation rate. Yonai oversees SU’s reporting to the NCAA, federal and state governments, and the various additional accrediting agencies that review the University’s programs. She serves on the Academic Coordinating Committee and has supported a wide range of University committees and task forces, including the Middle States Steering Committee and the University Assessment Committee. With a dedication to nurturing a supportive learning environment at SU, she has also led program evaluations of new and existing programs such as learning communities, the new student orientation program and SummerStart.  In 2004, Yonai received the Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contributions to the University’s Academic Programs. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the School of Education’s Higher Education Program, and in the Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation Program, from which she received a Ph.D. in 1991.