Was the financial press asleep at the switch as the biggest business story since the Great Depression unfolded? In “Financial Journalism Under Fire: Did We Do Our Jobs?” a panel discussion sponsored by the New York Financial Writers Association, four journalists tried to answer that question. “I think the media didn’t do a very good job, for a very interesting reason — lack of knowledge,” said Jon Friedman, columnist for MarketWatch.com. He was joined by Erin Arvedlund, the first reporter to question Bernard Madoff’s business strategies in a 2001 Barron’s article; CNN stock market correspondent Susan Lisovicz, and Dean Starkman, managing editor of The Audit. Former CNN financial editor Myron Kandel moderated the discussion at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
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New York-based designer Anna Sui says the difficult economy may have hit high-end labels the hardest, but hasn’t stopped trend-setters from looking chic and edgy. “Fashion is a secret vocabulary that people use to express themselves. … It doesn’t necessarily have to be a luxury,” said Sui, named by Time magazine as one of the top five designers of the past decade. Sui was joined by designer Gabi Asfour and New York Times fashion writer Guy Trebay for the panel “Power and Fashion,” part of the Center for the Humanities’ The Great Issues Forum at the Graduate Center. Eugenia Paulicelli, Queens College professor of Italian comparative literature and founder of the Graduate Center’s concentration in fashion studies, moderated.
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When teaching English to students who speak other languages, Tamara Kirson, lead instructor of ESOL at the City College Adult Literacy Program, takes a holistic approach. “It’s very important that I think about how they’re thinking, but also how they’re feeling when they learn,” said Prof. Kirson, named the 2009 ESOL Teacher of the Year by The New York Times. An ESOL teacher for 16 years, including 10 at CCNY, she mixes academic rigor, creativity and humor to teach her predominantly immigrant students. “Jokes are absolutely allowed,” she said, “because the more you joke in a foreign language the more you understand it.”
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With the closing of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, the Justice Department is evaluating the cases of the remaining 241 detainees, and there are reports some may end up being tried on U.S. soil, perhaps in Manhattan Federal Court. Prof. Joseph King sees that as a strong possibility. “It’s the logical place,” he says. “The Southern District (court) has been the venue in the past for trials like this … The U.S. Marshal’s office, Police Department and the Bureau of Prisons are all used to it. It’s been the leading federal prosecution district for any number of cases.”
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In his report to the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein reviewed New York State’s adopted budget, which includes per semester tuition increases of $300 at the senior colleges and $175 at the community colleges. Additionally, the Chancellor announced an unprecedented Student Financial Aid Initiative – $10 million in funding for tuition waivers, deferrals, textbook support and increased work-study options. The Chancellor reported that the University received a record number of freshman and transfer applications for the Fall semester. Also, a $500,000 grant was received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assist in the development of a new community college.
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Public meeting of the Board of Trustees, April 27, 2009.
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Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, moderates a 2008 discussion at a CUNY symposium about his decision to stage John Adams’ 2005 opera “Doctor Atomic” for the first time in New York City. He discusses the Met’s production with Adams, director Penny Woolcock and set designer Julian Crouch.
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The assassination of President John F. Kennedy ushered in the era of non-stop television reporting for breaking news events and in the process, helped birth the 24-hour news cycle, according to Dan Rather. But quantity is not always quality, especially in the news business. “A closer look reveals (that) much of this “news” is indistinguishable,” said the former CBS Evening News anchor and multiple Emmy Award winner. “The news environment has become a natural echo chamber in which a single story often crowds out all others for a day or for days on end.” Rather, who currently hosts his own news magazine on the cable channel HDNet “Dan Rather Reports,” delivered the spring Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Lecture at City College with a talk, “Democracy and the 24-Hour News Cycle.”
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Reflecting on his 20,000-word story on the Iraq war, New Yorker magazine staff writer George Packer says he considers himself fortunate to have an outlet for his epic reporting style: “I’m lucky that The New Yorker continues to want it.” Packer, whose work covering Iraq and West Africa has been recognized with three Overseas Press Club awards, is the spring semester’s Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence at Baruch College. “I use narrative in order to bring news of the world,” said Packer, who discussed his career and read form his articles “Betrayed” — which he turned into an award-winning play — and “The Ponzi State.” “Without the narrative, it’s very hard to make readers care about these obscure lives.”
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Spinal cord injuries, like the one suffered by the actor Christopher Reeve, were once thought to be irreversible. But, according to Dr. Marie Filbin, director of the Specialized Neuroscience Research Program at Hunter College, severe nerve damage and resulting paralysis, can be repaired. “We’ve made tremendous advances,” said Dr. Filbin, referring to her work with cyclic adenosine monophosphate, (cAMP) a natural molecule which can promote nerve growth and regeneration. “Now the major problem is getting the nerves to grow faster.” As part of the Serving Science Cafe Series, Dr. Filbin’s lecture, “Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury-Dream or Reality,” outlined her research on myelin (the material insulating nerve cells) and why exercise might be more effective than surgical procedures.
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