This week, CUER begins a six-week educational workshop at PS85 in Astoria, Queens, with 100 fifth graders. The workshop will use a curriculum built around Mayah’s Lot to help students cultivate an understanding of environmental law and environmental justice, and also to help them develop more sophisticated advocacy and fact-based reasoning skills. On May 31, CUER will begin a similar four-week workshop with PS122 with more than 100 sixth graders.

Mayah’s Lot

“I wanted a non-traditional way to bring environmental messages to my daughter’s generation and especially to urban youth,” said Rebecca Bratspies, professor of law at CUNY and director of CUER. “Too many city dwellers think that ‘the environment’ exists elsewhere, rather than in the places where they live, work, learn, and play. Mayah’s Lot helps readers understand that environmentalism is not just about protecting the wilderness but also about protecting their own neighborhoods.”

To develop Mayah’s Lot, Bratspies collaborated with graphic artist Charlie LaGreca of Comicbook Classroom and a group of middle-school students at PS122 (The Mamie Fay School) in Queens, New York. “It was amazing to see how engaged our students were using academic skills to tackle a real-world problem,” said Dimitria Kamaris, a teacher at PS122. “We strive to have our students personally invested in their own education, and through Mayah’s Lot and its curriculum, we’ve been able to do just that.”

CUER developed its lesson plans for a range of grade levels that work with the core curriculum and are suitable for classroom adoption, with support from the Greening Western Queens Fund of the North Star Fund, CUNY School of Law, and the U.S. Forest Service.  These materials will be available from the CUER website.

“I am so impressed by Mayah’s Lot. EPA has used the comic book form before to deliver information to targeted audiences,” said Cliff Villa, assistant regional counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, “but I’ve never seen anything approaching the artistic and literary quality of Mayah’s Lot.”

Download Mayah’s Lot and watch the video on CUER’s website at http://www.law.cuny.edu/academics/social-justice/cuer.html.

Mayah’s Lot is the first project of CUER, which promotes environmental democracy as a critical aspect of social justice. It seeks to expand participation in public decision-making and to increase transparency and overall access to information to enhance both the legitimacy of environmental decision-making processes and the fairness of decisions reached.

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Founded in 1983, CUNY School of Law is the premier public interest law school in the country. The school trains lawyers to serve the underprivileged and disempowered and to make a difference in their communities. A greater percentage of graduates from CUNY Law choose careers in public interest and public service than any other law school in the nation. PreLaw magazine ranks CUNY Law as the #1 law school in the nation for public interest, and National Jurist ranks the Law School second in the nation for diversity. U.S. News & World Report ranks CUNY fourth in the nation for “Best Clinical Programs,” and the Princeton Review ranks CUNY Law in the top ten in the nation for “Best Law Professors.” The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has praised CUNY Law School for being one of the few law schools in the country to prepare students for practice through integrated instruction in theory, skills, and ethics.

CONTACT: Abbi Leman, abbi.leman@law.cuny.edu or 718-340-4472

Monday, May 20, 2013 (Bronx, NY) – United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will deliver the keynote address at Eugenio María de Hostos Community College’s 42nd commencement ceremony, to be held in New York City Center at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, June 7, 2013. The College will confer degrees on approximately 800 students.

“I am honored to have Secretary Duncan serve as Hostos’ commencement speaker during our 45^th Anniversary year. Secretary Duncan believes in what we believe in—that every student has the right to a high quality education no matter where he or she comes from.  Hostos exemplifies this very premise. On that day I am certain that Secretary Duncan will inspire all of us to press onward and upward,” said Hostos President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.

The 45^th anniversary year has been an extraordinary one for Hostos. Among its major accomplishments this year are the following: a $900,000 award from the National Science Foundation to support STEM curriculum and courses; the opening of two new Continuing Education and Workforce Development facilities with a combined cost of $3 million; the naming of Hostos Professor Rees Shad as New York State Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE); the launching of the Hostos Heritage Lecture Series with presentations by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, celebrated author Junot Díaz, and news anchor Cheryl Wills; invitation of the Hostos Repertory Company to the prestigious 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival —the only community college in the nation to be invited to this year’s Festival.

While Commencement is all about celebrating the accomplishments of our current crop of graduates, Hostos Community College is looking forward to a bright future. Retention and graduation rates have increased during the past four years and enrollment has doubled over the past decade. The College is also embarking on an expansion of its campus with the construction of a new building dedicated to Allied Health and Natural Sciences, and the launching of an innovative high school (Hero High) in partnership with Montefiore Hospital.

About Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan was named U.S. secretary of education by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009.  Prior to his appointment, Duncan served as the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools from June 2001 through December 2008, becoming the longest-serving big-city education superintendent in the country. Before joining the Chicago Public Schools, Duncan ran the Ariel Education Initiative (1992–1998), a nonprofit focused on advancing educational opportunities in economically disadvantaged areas. He has served on the boards of the Ariel Education Initiative, Chicago Cares, the Children’s Center, the Golden Apple Foundation, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, Jobs for America’s Graduates, Junior Achievement, the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management, the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation, Renaissance Schools Fund, Scholarship Chicago and the South Side YMCA. He has also served on the Board of Overseers for Harvard College, the Visiting Committees for Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. From 1987 to 1991, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia, where he worked with children who were wards of the state. Duncan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1987. He is married to Karen Duncan and has two children, Claire, 7, and Ryan, 5.

 Press Inquiries:

The Commencement Ceremony will be held on Friday, June 7, 2013 at New York City Center located at 131 West 55th St (between 6th & 7th Avenues) in New York City.

The ceremony will begin promptly at 3:00 p.m.

For general questions about the ceremony, please contact: Office of Student Activities

(718) 518-6561

For press inquiries, please contact: Soldanela Rivera: srlopez@hostos.cuny.edu

Phone: 917-627-9097 or 718-518-6872

For press inquires for Secretary Duncan, please contact: Sara Gast: Sara.Gast@ed.gov

Phone: 202-401-1989

 About Hostos Community College:
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, part of The City University of New York (CUNY) system, was founded in 1968.  In addition to associate degree programs that facilitate easy transfer to CUNY’s four-year colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions, Hostos also has an award-winning Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development that offers courses for professional development and certificate-bearing workforce training programs. In four decades, Hostos has grown from a class of 623 in 1970 to more than 7,000 students in 2012. The college also serves an additional 12,000 students through its Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development. For more news and stories about Hostos Community College, visit www.hostos.cuny.edu.

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FLUSHING, N.Y., May 20, 2013 – A diploma from Queens College pays off, literally. Former Secretary of Education William Bennett, co-author of Is College Worth It?, has evaluated 3,500 U.S. colleges and universities for their return on investment, or ROI. Citing PayScale surveys of jobholders who earned bachelor’s degrees, but nothing higher, Bennett finds that many schools offer poor returns for students’ payments.

QC, by contrast, provides an excellent ROI. According to the 2013 rankings from PayScale—a company that analyzes salary data—the college’s 7.6 percent annual return places it 37th in the nation, outperforming University of California-Berkeley, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. If financial aid is factored in, QC records a 10.7 percent return and 33rd place.

“We know that a college education is the ultimate portable asset,” says President James Muyskens. “It’s great to get confirmation that students can bank on QC’s reputation.”

As it celebrates its 75th year, Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its over 20,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 77-acre campus in Flushing, the college is cited each year in the Princeton Review as one of the nation’s 100 “Best Value” colleges, thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs. More info on Queens College at www.qc.cuny.edu.

For more about Queens College visit http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Pages/default.aspx

Contact: Phyllis Cohen Stevens
Deputy Director of News Services
718-997-5597
phyllis.cohen-stevens@qc.cuny.edu

Maria Matteo Assistant
Director of News Services
718-997-5593
maria.matteo@qc.cuny.edu

Spitzer School distinguished professor recognized in Design Mind category

Michael Sorkin, distinguished professor of architecture in The City College of New York’s Spitzer School of Architecture, seen during a critique in his graduate urban design studio, is a 2013 recipient of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. The award, in the Design Mind category, recognizes his contributions as a teacher, designer and writer.

Much of Professor Sorkin’s work is done in China, where he designed this office building now under construction in Xi’an.

Michael Sorkin, distinguished professor of architecture and director of the graduate urban design program at The City College of New York’s Spitzer School of Architecture, has won a 2013 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. Professor Sorkin was selected in the Design Mind category, which recognizes “a visionary, such as an educator, author, critic, curator, or designer, who has had a profound impact on design theory, practice, or public awareness.”

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum conceived the National Design Awards to honor lasting achievement in American design. They are bestowed in 10 categories to recognize excellence, innovation and enhancement of the quality of life, and will be presented at a gala dinner and awards ceremony to be held October 17 in New York.

Professor Sorkin is an architect and urbanist whose practice spans design, criticism and teaching. In addition to his teaching duties at City College, he is the principal of Michael Sorkin Studio, a global design practice focused on urbanism and green architecture and president of Terreform, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and intervention in issues of urban morphology, sustainability and equity. He also serves as chair of the Institute for Urban Design, a civic organization focused on issues related to urban planning, development and design.

A contributing editor at “Architectural Record” and an architecture critic for “The Nation,” Professor Sorkin has written and edited numerous books. They include: “All Over the Map” (Verso, 2011); “Twenty Minutes in Manhattan” (Reaktion Books, 2009); “Starting From Zero” (Routledge, 2003); “The Next Jerusalem” (The Monacelli Press, 2002); “Other Plans” (Princeton Architectural Press, 2001); “Some Assembly Required” (University of Minnesota Press, 2001). “Local Code” (Princeton Architectural Press, 1996), and “Variations on a Theme Park” (Hill and Wang, 1992).

Among the numerous booked he has authored or edited it “All Over the Map,” published in 2011.

Professor Sorkin has taught at CCNY since 2000. He joined the College from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he was professor and director of the Institute for Urbanism from 1993 to 2000. He has also held professorships at Cooper Union, Harvard University, Yale University (Davenport and Bishop chairs), Cornell University (Gensler Chair), Columbia University, The University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, University of Michigan (Saarinen Chair) and University of Nebraska (Hyde Chair).

He received his MArch from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973 and a bachelor’s degree from University of Chicago in 1969. In addition, he has an MA in English from Columbia University, which he received in 1970. In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The following year he received the architecture prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

On the Internet

• Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards
• Sorkin Studio
• Terreform

 

« BACK TO NEWS

Shuka Kalantari, 08, interviews students in Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia about a new solar-powered drinking water system in their schools.

Kalantari was one of 14 U.S. journalists selected for the 2013 Bringing Home the World: International Reporting Fellowship Program for Minority Journalists. She will travel to Turkey and Canada to cover sexual minorities as refugees. Gold, who will cover religious minority issues in Burma, was among six winners in the inaugural Social Justice Reporting for a Global America Program.

Three other alums landed 2013 New York Press Club awards. A photo Tuan Nguyen, ’11, snapped for DNAinfo.com of devastated Breezy Point took Spot News honors. DNA’s Patrick Wall, ’11, won the Nellie Bly Cub Reporter award for his work covering Bronx schools. Matt Townsend, ’08, was part of a Bloomberg team that won for Continuing Coverage for its reporting on Sandy’s impact.

Finally, current student Craig Giammona from the Class of 2013 was one of 10 winners of a $3,000 New York Financial Writers Scholarship.

See article here

Long Island City, NY—Lloyd Blankfein, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., which under his leadership launched the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative and selected LaGuardia Community College as its first partner, will deliver the keynote address at the College’s 41^st Commencement Exercises on June 6.

Mr. Blankfein will address an expected 1,000 graduates who will be attending the exercises at the Jacob K. Javits Center North at West 38^th Street and 11^th Avenue.

“LaGuardia is honored to have Lloyd Blankfein, one of the most influential leaders in corporate America and stalwart supporter of small businesses and community colleges, address our graduates,” said Dr. Gail O. Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College.  “Under his leadership, LaGuardia has partnered with the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the corporation’s successful philanthropic organization, as the first community college chosen to launch the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative designed to help small businesses expand and create jobs.”

“The story Mr. Blankfein will share with our students,” added Dr. Mellow, “is an inspirational one and that comes with an important message: education and the pursuit of knowledge opens doors that are unimaginable.”

“Goldman Sachs selected LaGuardia to be its first partner in our 10,000 Small Businesses initiative because of the vital role it plays in not only preparing its students for the workplace of the future, but also for bringing its expertise and resources to help local businesses thrive,” said Mr. Blankfein. 

Mr. Blankfein grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Attending the city’s public schools, he graduated as valedictorian at Thomas Jefferson High School in 1975 and went on to Harvard where he earned his A.B. in 1975; in 1978 he received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Mr. Blankfein joined the J. Aron Currency and Commodities Division of Goldman Sachs in 1982 after working as an attorney in a law firm. He was named partner in 1988 and co-head of the J. Aron Division in 1994. He became co-head of the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division as of its formation in 1997 and was based in London in 1998 and 1999 in that capacity. 

Mr. Blankfein served as vice chairman of Goldman Sachs from 2002 through 2003, with management responsibility for the FICC and Equities Divisions. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, he served as the firm’s president and chief operating officer from December 2003 through June 2006.

Under his leadership, the company in 2010 launched 10,000 Small Businesses, a $500 million investment that helps entrepreneurs create job and economic opportunity by providing them with greater access to education, capital and business support services.

LaGuardia was selected to be its first partner in the national endeavor.

Since LaGuardia offered the program to the first class of small local business owners in June of 2010, 10,000 Small Businesses at LaGuardia has provided entrepreneurship education to over 200 small businesses to help them grow their businesses and create new jobs.

10,000 Small Businesses is currently operating in Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Missoula, MT, London, KY, Washington/Oregon and Tennessee, and over 1,200 businesses have gone through the program.

Learn more about LaGuardia’s 41st Graduating Class at the College’s commencement website: www.laguardia.edu/Commencement

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LaGuardia Community College located in Long Island City, Queens, was founded in 1971 as a bold experiment in opening the doors of higher education to all, and we proudly carry forward that legacy today. LaGuardia educates students through over 50 degree, certificate and continuing education programs, providing an inspiring place for students to achieve their dreams. Upon graduation, LaGuardia students’ lives are transformed as family income increases 17%, and students transfer to four-year colleges at three times the national average. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), LaGuardia is a nationally recognized leader among community colleges for boundary-breaking success educating underserved students. At LaGuardia we imagine new ideas, create new curriculum and pioneer programs to make our community and our country stronger. Visit www.laguardia.edu to learn more.

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Long Island City, NY—May 20,  2013—In appreciation of its strong relationship with LaGuardia Community College, the Consulate General of Japan in New York has invited 46 CUNY students to take part in an all-expense paid 10-day study tour of Japan in May.

“Kakehashi – Bridge for Tomorrow” the Youth Exchange Program with North America will take the students to Tokyo and Kyoto and several universities.  The rare program, which will begin May 20, is offered as a succeeding version of the student exchange project implemented by the Japanese government during 2007 to 2011.

 “The purpose of the program is to encourage deeper mutual understanding between the youth of Japan and the United States by providing first-hand cultural experiences,” said Toshihiro Kaneko, Consul at  the Consulate General of Japan in New York, who added that a total of 4,600 high school and college students will join the exchange program.  “The program will also enable future leaders of Japan-US exchanges to form networks and help young people develop wider perspectives to encourage active roles at the global level in the future.”

Eight LaGuardia students will be sharing the experience with students from Baruch College, John Jay, City College, Hunter College, Medgar Evers, College of Staten Island, Lehman College and Queens College. LaGuardia will serve as the CUNY host and three LaGuardia and one CSI faculty and administrators have volunteered to chaperone.

CUNY is one of three U.S. colleges to be invited during May 20 to May 30.  The two other participating U.S. colleges are George Mason University in Virginia, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

“Through the generosity of the Japanese government, our students are being given the privilege of observing first hand this country’s fascinating culture,” said Dr. Gail O. Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College.  “This amazing trip provides an opportunity for the students to learn about Japan, to become more well-rounded human beings and to become global ambassadors.”

During the whirlwind tour, dubbed “Cool Japan,” the students will be immersed in the Japanese culture, sampling the country’s fine cuisine, visiting ancient temples and modern structures and learning about its art and traditional and pop culture.

“Through this fantastic study tour, Japan is providing CUNY students with the rare opportunity to visit its country and to learn about its rich culture and history,” said Anthony Burgos, a LaGuardia liberal arts major, who studied Japanese for one semester and is interested in Japan’s traditions and history.  “It is a chance of a lifetime.”

Each of the CUNY students is joining the tour with a different range of experiences, from having studied several semesters of Japanese to majoring in Asian-American studies, to simply harboring a fascination for everything Japanese–the country’s rich, elegant culture, politics, cuisine, art and pop culture including anime and video games.

Francesca Messina, a nursing major at the College of Staten Island, said she has “zero Japanese skills,” but is interested in Japanese anime, art, architecture, cultural and herbal remedies.

Joseph Palumbo, a history major at College of Staten Island, has studied Japanese for several semesters and hopes to one day teach Japanese history at a Japanese university.  “I am interested in gaining more exposure to the Japanese language, its culture and the country over all before attending graduate school,” he said. 

Kathleen Johnson, a liberal arts major at LaGuardia, said it would be an honor to be received at someone’s home.  “It is a perfect way to immerse yourself in the culture and meet the Japanese people in a deep and rich way,” she said.

For more information on the program, please visit  http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/ela/news/jenesys2013.htm

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LaGuardia Community College located in Long Island City, Queens, was founded in 1971 as a bold experiment in opening the doors of higher education to all, and we proudly carry forward that legacy today. LaGuardia educates students through over 50 degree, certificate and continuing education programs, providing an inspiring place for students to achieve their dreams. Upon graduation, LaGuardia students’ lives are transformed as family income increases 17%, and students transfer to four-year colleges at three times the national average. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), LaGuardia is a nationally recognized leader among community colleges for boundary-breaking success educating underserved students. At LaGuardia we imagine new ideas, create new curriculum and pioneer programs to make our community and our country stronger. Visit www.laguardia.edu to learn more.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s an ambitious goal that requires raising $25,000, and is a unique opportunity to leave a legacy by giving back to the next generation of CSI undergraduates. The suggested donation is $20.13, in honor of the graduation year, to help students long into the future.

“That goal is possible if each graduating student pays it forward with a donation,” notes Noorelhoda Mahmoud, one of two student speaker at this year’s Verrazano Honors Schools and a founding member of the 2013 Class Gift Committee. “Every gift is a vote of confidence and support to the value of a CSI education and degree. Establishing this scholarship will set a new precedent for a Class Gift, with the Class of 2013 leading the way and raising the bar.”

Kubra Shirazi, another Verrazano School student added “I want to be involved with raising funds for the class gift because I have received so many opportunities through different sources in the college. I also plan to continue funding for the scholarship fund after I graduate.”

Class gifts from 2011 and 2012 include much-needed benches along Alumni Walk.  This year, for a truly unique graduation gift, family, friends, faculty, and staff are encouraged to donate as a way of honoring the 2013 graduation. All donors will be entered into a raffle to win four tickets to a New York Yankees game in September.

There are three ways to donate:

• Online: www.csi.cuny.edu/foundation click on “Make Your Gift Online Now,” and select “2013 Class Gift” from the drop-down menu.
• In person: Visit the Class Gift Table during Cap & Gown Distribution on May 21 and 23 in the Campus Center.
• By Mail: Send a check or money order payable to: The CSI Foundation, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Building 1A, Room 401, Staten Island, NY 10314

For further information, please contact Jennifer Lynch in the Office of Institutional Advancement and External Affairs at 718-982-2293.

Members of the 2013 Class Gift Committee:

• Michael Allamby, Chairperson and Student Govt. President
• Christopher Bitetto, Verrazano School and WSIA Sports Director
• Norelhoda Mahmoud, Verrazano School
• Michael Trimble, Verrazano School
• Kubra Shirazi, Verrazano School and Student Athlete
• Michael Cicero, Verrazano School
• Matt DiRusso, Student Government

A national search has begun for a new academic leader for the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which has emerged as one of the leading journalism schools in the country less than a decade after its founding, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein has announced.

Trustee Peter Pantaleo is chair of the search committee for a new dean, which includes trustees, faculty, students, alumni and several distinguished journalists who serve on the School’s board of advisors.

The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is the only publicly funded graduate program in journalism in the Northeast. It was among the first to offer a fully converged curriculum that blends traditional journalism with the multimedia, interactive, and technical skills of the new media world. Students also specialize in one of five subject concentrations: arts and culture, business and economics, health and science, international, or urban reporting. The School occupies state-of-the-art facilities on West 40th Street near Times Square, in a building next to The New York Times that formerly housed the New York Herald Tribune.

Chancellor Goldstein said: “CUNY’s pioneering Graduate School of Journalism is an extraordinary program with a world-class-faculty that combines the eternal values of traditional journalism, including fine reporting and writing, critical thinking, and ethical values, with the new multimedia, interactive possibilities of the 21st century.”

The School was opened in September 2006 under the leadership of Founding Dean Stephen B. Shepard, former editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek magazine and a graduate of the City College of New York (Class of 1961). Dean Shepard announced in February that he would step down, effective Dec. 31, 2013. He will stay on as a University Professor, working on special projects such as the CUNY Journalism Press.

The School graduated its sixth class in December, 2012. Since its founding, more than $25 million has been raised for special academic programs and scholarships. The CUNY J-School offers an intensive 16-month Master of Arts in Journalism program that includes a required paid professional summer internship and an extensive January Academy enrichment workshop series. The School also offers an M.A. in Entrepreneurial Journalism. About 100 new students enroll each fall, about 65% of them women and nearly 40% students of color. Some 32% come from underrepresented groups, and 41% are non-New York State residents, including 10 from countries outside the U.S. Their average age is 27.

Beyond its basic programs, the School runs two centers and a book publishing imprint:
* The Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism trains students and mid-career professionals to develop products and services for the digital age and conduct research on new business models to sustain quality journalism.
* The Center for Community and Ethnic Media, launched in 2012, serves New York’s vibrant neighborhood and immigrant-community newspapers and broadcast outlets -– some 350 of them, published in more than 50 languages. The Center offers their staffs training programs in business, technology, and journalism.
* CUNY Journalism Press, launched in 2012 in partnership with OR Books, publishes books about journalism in two formats: e-books and print-on-demand paperbacks.

Located in midtown Manhattan, the School is just one block from Times Square and next door to The New York Times. With dozens of media outlets within walking distance and the whole of New York City just a subway ride away, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism could not be more ideally located.

In addition to the plentiful resources of New York City, the School itself boasts state-of-the-art media technology and a superb faculty composed of industry professionals and veteran journalists who have chosen to bring their expertise to the classroom.

Students have daily contact with working journalists, developing mentoring relationships and making the connections that will guide them both in and out of the classroom. Students also participate in professional internships across the city and the world, gaining the hands-on experience that is so important during that first crucial job search.

About The City University of New York:
The City University of New York is the nation’s leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847, the University is comprised of 24 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. The University serves more than 269,000 degree credit students and 218,083 adult, continuing and professional education students.College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. Nearly 3 million unique visitors and 10 million page views are served each month via www.cuny.edu, the University’s website.
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A TV report by alum Walter Smith-Randolph was featured on “The Daily Show.”

As we head toward the homestretch, check out some great new links (we’re getting close to moving Class of 2012 into the Alumni Corner, I promise):

•Andrew Welsch’s story about same-sex couples being split by deportation made The Atlantic.

•Linda Villarosa’s interview for Essence with Chirlane McCray, who is married to mayoral candidate Bill DeBlasio, got big pickup.

•Sara Sugar and Alex Wolf’s story about a former foster child’s unique friendship with Christine Quinn led DNAInfo.com’s homepage. So did Eric Jankiewicz’ piece about McDonald’s franchises that charge for extra ketchup. Both stories got picked up by The Huffington Post’s New York page.

•Sierra Leone Starks’ piece about plans for a design-to-manufacturing fashion house in Industry City landed in Brooklyn Based.

•Nathan Place, reporting for the Mott Haven Herald, looked at the impact of redistricting on a district split between Manhattan and the South Bronx.

•Welcome to The Nabe, the successor to The Local. The new site launched Thursday with contributions from Ashoka Jegroo, Priscila Ortiz, Linda Villarosa, Amanda Woods and Mitch Trinka.

•Jillian Eugenios’s article about planned minimum wage increases and workers who rely on tips found a home in Gotham Gazette.

•Meanwhile, Jillian teamed with Ilie Mitaru on this News Service story about the art of the worm. Also: Check out the new “Creative Challenges” project, with contributions by Lindsay Armstrong, Kathleen Caulderwood, Jeannie Choi, Shannon Firth, Raed El Rafei, Ajai Raj, Lisa Rinehart, Rebecca Sesny, Anna Teregulova, Zara Katz, Dominik Wurnig and Elly Yu.

•Erin Horan worked on this CBS News story about the New Orleans parade shooting.

•Elbert Chu’s piece on the designer of a Jetsons-like plane was part of Popular Science’s most recent cover package.

•Erin Brodwin’s story about how barriers to birth control could be contributing to unintended pregnancies among U.S. servicewomen in combat made Scientific American.

•If you missed the April and May broadcasts of 219 West TV Magazine, you can watch online. Contributors include: Theresa Fisher, Orie Givens, Mathilde Hamel, Anne Lagamayo, Jonathan Moffie, Natalia Osipova, Aine Pennello, Candace Sheppard, John Sodaro and Nadja Thomas.

•Carla Astudillo covered a mayoral candidates forum for Voices of NY. Amanda Hou wrote an article about the rising number of Chinese students in U.S. graduate schools.

•Shannon Ayala’s article about a plan to combine sports and civics for youths found a home in the Bronx Times.

•Christine Streich’s article about a music program aimed at breaking down cultural barriers made Youth Today.

In our Alumni Corner:

•Three of our alumni won New York Press Club awards. A photo Tuan Nguyen snapped for DNAinfo.com of devastated Breezy Point took Spot News honors. DNA’s Patrick Wall won the Nellie Bly Cub Reporter award for his work covering Bronx schools. Matt Townsend was part of a Bloomberg team that won for Continuing Coverage for its reporting on Sandy’s impact.

•Nathan Frandino and Channon Hodge teamed on this New York Times video about the Mark Sanford-Elizabeth Colbert Busch race in South Carolina.

•Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of the Daily News wrote about his close encounter with viral-video-star-turned-murder-suspect Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker.

•Zach Kussin covered the latest developments in the Stuyvesant Town rent-hike battle for The Real Deal.

•A clip of Walter Smith-Randolph’s report for NBC25 in Flint, MI about a politician who spewed a racial slur made “The Daily Show.” You can catch Walter’s Jon Stewart moment at about 6:50 in.

Congrats to all  – and keep ‘em coming!

Artist’s illustration of a butterfly as if departing from a moiré pattern in graphene formed on top of a sheet of boron nitride. (Credit: James Hedberg)

New CCNY professor part of team confirming Hofstadter Butterfly in graphene

City College of New York Assistant Professor of Physics Cory Dean, who recently arrived from Columbia University where he was a post-doctoral researcher, and research teams from Columbia and three other institutions have definitively proven the existence of an effect known as Hofstadter’s Butterfly.

The phenomenon, a complex pattern of the energy states of electrons that resembles a butterfly, has appeared in physics textbooks as a theoretical concept of quantum mechanics for nearly 40 years. However, it had never been directly observed until now. Confirming its existence may open the door for researchers to uncover completely unknown electrical properties of materials.

“We are now standing at the edge of an entirely new frontier in terms of exploring properties of a system that have never before been realized,” said Professor Dean, who developed the material that allowed the observation. “The ability to generate this effect could possibly be exploited to design new electronic and optoelectronic devices.”

The international group, which also included the University of Central Florida, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, and Japan’s Tohoku University and National Institute for Materials Science, published its findings in the journal Nature; they appeared in an advance online publication May 15. Separate groups at the University of Manchester (UK) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology simultaneously reported similar results.

Douglas Hofstadter, a physicist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, first predicted the existence of the butterfly in 1976, when he imagined what would happen to electrons subjected to two forces simultaneously: a magnetic field and the periodic electric field.

The energy spectrum, or pattern of energy levels, that these dueling forces create is said to be “fractal,” that is, infinitely smaller versions of the pattern appear within the main one. This effect is common in classical physics, but rare in the quantum world.

“When you plot the spectrum, it takes on the form of a butterfly. Zoom in on the spectrum and you see the butterfly again, zoom in and see butterfly again,” said Professor Dean. The light and dark sections of the pattern, respectively, correspond to light “gaps” in energy level that electrons cannot cross and dark areas where they can move freely.

“The existence of gaps changes the way electrons move through a material. Copper for example, has no gaps, whereas an insulator, like glass, has very large gaps,” explained Professor Dean. “The relationship between energy and how dense the electrons are in a material – energy density – determines all electrical properties. That’s why copper conducts, glass or ceramic doesn’t, and other materials weakly conduct, like semiconductors.”

“What you see in a Hofstadter spectrum is a very complicated structure of gaps arranged in a fractal pattern,” he continued, which suggests as yet unknown electrical properties.

The team produced the effect by sandwiching together flat sheets of graphene – a single-atom-thickness of carbon – and another material, called boron nitride, and twisting them against each other to create what is called a superlattice. “Graphene has hexagonal chicken wire structure and boron nitride does too,” he said. “It is as if you take screen door material and put one sheet on top of other. As you rotate it you see a periodic pattern appear. You get an interference effect – a ‘moiré’ pattern.” In the case of the chicken-wire structure of graphene and boron nitride, the pattern forms a fractal butterfly of energy states.

“This is a very good example of fundamental discovery that opens doors that we don’t even know about yet. Why go to a distant planet?” Professor Dean wondered, about the implications of the work. “We go there to discover what’s out there. We don’t yet know what this new world will result in and what will emerge out of this.”

Reference:

• C. R. Dean, Hofstadter’s butterfly and the fractal quantum Hall effect in moiré superlattices, Nature, May 15, 2013 doi:10.1038/nature12186

On the Internet:

• Columbia University press release, for additional information

 

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The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism on Thursday launched The Nabe, a site that extends the experiment in collaborative hyperlocal journalism The New York Times began in March 2009 with the debut of The Local.

The Nabe shares the same goal as its predecessor site: to help residents of Brooklyn’s Fort Greene and Clinton Hill cover their neighborhoods, using the emerging tools of journalism to tell and share stories in compelling new ways.

These last four years have brought great change, not only to dynamic Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, but also to The Local. The CUNY J-School, which worked with The Times and the community from the start of The Local, took over day-to-day operations in January 2010, under the supervision of Times editors.

The Times, after vastly contributing to and gleaning lessons from The Local, has moved on. The CUNY J-School intends to keep the experiment going and growing.

In making a fresh start, the blog’s name – and location (The Nabe can be found at http://www.TheNabe.me) – has changed. But not its mission.

The faculty and students of the CUNY J-School are dedicated to making The Nabe a place where neighbors not only can come together to talk about anything via online forums, but also to contribute – as commenters, tipsters, writers, editors, crowdsourcing project participants, videographers and photographers.

Our reporters will cover the same mix of crime, school, political and arts news, as well as offer glimpses into the lives of local residents – and their pets. But we’re also here to help residents cover the neighborhood – with everything from write-ups of community board meetings to videos of school concerts to pictures of soccer games in the dust bowl in Fort Greene Park.

In the meantime, hope to see you soon, in The Nabe.

New Study Shows LaGuardia Community College’s GED Bridge Program Significantly Boosts GED Pass Rates and College Enrollment

MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research firm, released encouraging findings today from a rigorous evaluation of a new approach to GED instruction pioneered by LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY). The GED Bridge to Health and Business Program not only aims to better prepare students to pass the GED exam but also to continue on to college and training programs. One year after enrolling in the program, Bridge students were more than twice as likely to have passed the GED exam and three times as likely to have enrolled in college as students in a more traditional GED preparation class.

In many large cities, high school dropout rates hover around 50 percent. And while most dropouts eventually do continue their education, too few of those who start GED programs ever pass the exam. Moreover, for those who do earn their GED, the certificate often marks the end of their education, in part because few GED programs (even those that operate on community college campuses) are well linked to college or training programs. Students with only a GED face long odds of success in a labor market that increasingly prizes specialized training and college education. The need to develop stronger pathways to college for those without high school credentials is clear. And this need is only magnified by new rules eliminating federal financial aid for aspiring college students without a high school diploma or a GED and by the planned 2014 implementation of a new GED exam that emphasizes college readiness.

What Is LaGuardia’s Bridge to Health and Business Program?

LaGuardia’s GED Bridge to Health and Business Program offers several enhancements to the traditional GED preparation approach. Rather than focusing solely on passing the test, the program was designed explicitly as a pathway to college and careers. Students attend more hours in class over the course of a semester than is typical for GED programs and receive intensive advising from full-time Bridge staff. The foundation of the GED Bridge program is its “contextualized curriculum.” The curriculum has two broad goals: first, to build the skills that are tested on the GED exam through the use of content specific to a field of interest (health or business) and, second, to develop general academic habits and skills that prepare students to succeed in college or certification programs.

What Did MDRC’s Study Find?

MDRC used a random assignment design to evaluate the effects of the GED Bridge program on student achievement compared with a more traditional GED program (GED Prep). The GED Bridge program was targeted to low-income individuals in New York City who did not have a high school diploma or a GED. Over 80 percent of students were either African-American or Hispanic, about half of the students scored at a seventh- or eighth-grade reading level, over half reported receiving some form of public assistance, and close to 40 percent reported that they were employed when they began the program. MDRC’s analysis provides one-year of follow-up on three cohorts of students (fall 2010, spring 2011, and fall 2011). Key findings include:

• Compared with students who went through the traditional GED Prep course, Bridge students were much more likely to complete the semester of classes. The first milestone for students in the GED Bridge program is class completion. Students in the GED Bridge group completed the class at a significantly higher rate than the Prep students (68 percent compared with 47 percent).

• Bridge students were more than twice as likely to pass the GED exam as GED Prep students. Overall, 53 percent of Bridge students passed the exam within 12 months of entering the study, compared with 22 percent of Prep students.

• GED Bridge students were more than three times as likely to enroll in CUNY as GED Prep students. Only 7 percent of GED Prep students enrolled compared with 24 percent of GED Bridge students, a difference of 17 percentage points.

“LaGuardia’s pioneering work with the GED Bridge program is changing the lives of students. We now have powerful evidence that we can significantly improve students’ ability to pass the GED test and successfully enroll in college. LaGuardia is committed to not only see this work grow at our own campus, but also to share our strategy and approach with educators across the nation,” said Dr. Gail O. Mellow, President of LaGuardia Community College.

“With national interest growing in programs that prepare individuals for careers in high-growth industries, and with changes coming to the GED exam, these promising findings could hardly come at a better time,” said Gordon Berlin, President of MDRC. “They contribute to a growing body of evidence that sector or career-based initiatives may offer an effective route for low-income, low-skilled adult learners to complete secondary education and gain access to higher education and training.”

In 2014, MDRC will publish longer-term follow-up data, which will include the fourth and final study cohort and information on persistence in college. Given that these promising findings are from only one site, it will be important to test other models that have a similar approach and goal of preparing low-income students for college and careers.

The Robin Hood Foundation and MetLife Foundation supported both the development of the GED Bridge program at LaGuardia Community College and MDRC’s evaluation. A policy brief is available on MDRC’s Web site: www.mdrc.org.

* * *

Headquartered in New York City, with a regional office in Oakland, CA, MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization with nearly 40 years of experience designing and evaluating education and social policy initiatives.

– Madeline Yap is the Second QC Student to be Awarded this Assignment –

FLUSHING, NY, May 16, 2013 – When Queens College student Madeline Yap was a child, her dream was to become a teacher. She and her best friend would turn Yap’s bedroom into a classroom and play pretend games with lesson plans and exams.  This July Yap, 21, will pursue her childhood dream when she leaves for South Korea to spend a year teaching English through the prestigious Fulbright Student Program.

Yap, who lives in JacksonHeights, Queens, with her Malaysian parents, is the second QC student to receive a Fulbright to teach in Korea.  Like Erica Leong, who won the same award last year Yap will spend six weeks training in Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do, and then will receive her teaching assignment.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” says Yap, about being chosen for the Fulbright over thousands of applicants. “It will certainly help me learn about how to teach in a real school setting and shape my career as a language teacher.”

Yap, who will be graduating as an East Asian Studies major from MacaulayHonorsCollege at QC on May 30, is already well prepared for teaching. Brought up in a bilingual household, she conversed in both English and Cantonese, her parents’ native language, and studied Spanish in middle school and at the Bronx High School of Science.  Before entering college, Yap discovered a love for East Asian languages.   In her freshman year at QC, she took courses in Mandarin Chinese and the following year, added Korean language classes. As her fascination with the music, history, society and culture of East Asia grew, so did her passion for becoming more skilled with these languages.

Thanks to support from the Macaulay Honors College Opportunities Fund, Yap spent last spring at YonseiUniversity in Seoul, where she immersed herself in all aspects of Korea. “It was a life-changing experience,” she says.

“I became more confident, independent, and socially active, and made a lot of new friends from all around the world,” says Yap.  During her time in Korea, she became the manager of an international Tae Kwon Do club.  She had already risen to pre-black belt status in this martial arts program in Queens, where she had trained junior staff and developed skills in leadership and teamwork.

Since 2009 Yap has also privately tutored primary and secondary school students in English as a Second Language (ESL).  She plans to incorporate into her new assignment many of the successful methods she has used in tutoring as well as those she herself learned while studying in South Korea.  These include positive reinforcement, patience, keeping journals, watching movies and listening to popular music in English.

Yap is just one of the outstanding students from over 2,500 degree candidates expected to attend the 89^th Queens College Commencement ceremony on the campus Quad in Flushing, on Thursday, May 30.

As it celebrates its 75th year, Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its over 20,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 77-acre campus in Flushing, the college is cited each year in the Princeton Review as one of the nation’s 100 “Best Value” colleges, thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs.  More info on Queens College at www.qc.cuny.edu.

For more about Queens College visit http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Pages/default.aspx

Contact: Phyllis Cohen Stevens
Deputy Director of News Services
718-997-5597
phyllis.cohen-stevens@qc.cuny.edu

Maria Matteo
Assistant Director of News Services
718-997-5593
maria.matteo@qc.cuny.edu

“What if each piece of apparel was required to bear a label that it was — or was not — sweat-free? Mandating prominent sweat-free labels is not on the legislative or regulatory agenda at the moment, but it would solve a long-standing problem,” writes Robson.

Distinguished Professor Robson

Prof. Robson teaches in the areas of constitutional law, family law, feminist legal theory, and sexuality and the law. She is the author of many articles in such journals as New York Law School Journal of Human Rights, Albany Law Review, Women’s Rights Law Reporter, Hastings Law Journal, Australian Feminist Law Journal, and Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence. Prof. Robson’s upcoming book, Dressing Constitutionally, will be available August 15, 2013.

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