City of Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Photo submitted

Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J., has been selected as the next guest in the college’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

The third event in the series takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, in McKenna Theatre.

Booker became mayor of the City of Newark in May 2006. Prior to his election for the top post, he served as a councilman in Newark’s Central Ward.

The former varsity football player, class president at Stanford University, crisis hotline director, and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, is dedicated to civic responsibility and encourages others to get involved in creating change in their communities.

In August 2009, Booker will be featured in a documentary series called “Brick City,” which focuses on how the City of Newark is working to become a defining example of urban transformation.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport,” said Booker. “It’s about rolling up your sleeves and getting to work. Change comes from good people coming together with collective struggles and doing something about it.”

The Distinguished Speaker Series was created in 2008 to connect students and their families, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and community members with well-known luminaries. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dave Barry was the inaugural speaker in November 2008. Jonathan Alter, senior editor of Newsweek, visited the campus in April 2009.

Tickets will go on sale in August. For more information, visit the Distinguished Speaker Series Web site.

Two weeks into her new role, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher visited the New Paltz campus on June 15 to meet with students, faculty, administrators, media and local business leaders.

New Paltz was the 11th destination on a tour of all 64 SUNY campuses that Zimpher plans to complete by Labor Day. The visit marked the chancellor’s first stop at a comprehensive four-year institution.

Zimpher’s day began with meetings with College President Steven Poskanzer and Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach Director Gerald Benjamin.

She then attended a presentation by student and faculty research pairs. “At New Paltz you really invest in broadening the horizons of undergraduate students by attaching to the work of the faculty members,” she noted. “So I can see that New Paltz can be a leader amongst the campuses across the SUNY system.”

A luncheon with President Poskanzer and his Cabinet provided the opportunity for Zimpher and the group of deans and vice presidents to discuss strategic planning, branding, a master enrollment plan and the need for an intellectual map of the entire system.

In her meeting with faculty members, Zimpher and the group of 10 discussed the General Education program and student mobility (transfer and articulation). “I am impressed with the high quality of the student body,” she told the faculty members.

She then met with students to “find out what makes New Paltz tick.” She began by asking students what they liked best about New Paltz. “They like the setting. They like the quality and caliber of the programs. They love the faculty members, the personal hospitality that is given to them,” she said.

Zimpher concluded her visit with a press conference, a tour of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art and a meeting with local community members.

“My enthusiasm only grows by each campus visit,” she said.

The system tour is the information-gathering phase in Zimpher’s goal to developing a five-to-10-year strategic plan for the entire system. The tour, which began in early June, is set to conclude by Labor Day. Zimpher’s goal is to have the system-wide plan ready by the spring.

“We will engage students, faculty, administrators, alumni, community representatives and elected officials in this conversation,” she said. “We’ll use the Web. We’ll use YouTube. We’ll use blogging, tweeting, webcasts … whatever we need to communicate and have this be an open and transparent process. And that has already begun.”

The tour can be followed online.

There will not be a July 6 News Pulse. The next full issue of News Pulse will go online on July 20.

Check back over the next few weeks for special updates on the Student Union project, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher’s visit to campus and more.

Francis Augustus Silva(1835-1886)/New York Harbor, N.Y./1880/Oil on canvas, 12 x 20 in./Collection of the New-York Historical Society

In honor of the Hudson River’s 400th anniversary, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art embarks on two major Art and the River events this summer: the annual Hudson Valley Artists show and an exhibition of landscape paintings.

The Art and the River Project was made possible with a $143,449 federal grant from Congressman Maurice Hinchey ‘68, ‘70g and the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Itty Neuhaus (Art – Foundation) installs a piece connecting art and the environment for the 2009 Hudson Valley Artists show, “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” on display in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Galley at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art through September 8.

This year’s Hudson Valley Artists show is focused on environmental and ecological themes. The works of approximately 20 emerging area artists and artist teams will be on display in the Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Gallery through Sept. 6. For the show, titled “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” museum curator Brian Wallace selected artwork, information, presentations, activities and other projects that connect global issues such as sustainability, ecological awareness and bioethics to our immediate surroundings.

There are a variety of events associated with “Ecotones and Transition Zones,” including a Habitat for Artists and ecoartspace benefit concert with Dar Williams and Nick Panasevich on Wednesday, June 24.

Flagship exhibition

Meanwhile, the Art and the River Project’s flagship exhibition, “The Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society,” opens on July 11.

Featured in the show, which runs through Dec. 13, are 45 landscape paintings by Hudson River School artists. The paintings were selected from the permanent collection of the New-York Historical Society and the show is curated by Linda Ferber, New-York Historical Society museum director.

Another Arts and the River Project show opening this summer is “Panorama of the Hudson River: Greg Miller.” The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art will also host an Art Along the Hudson - Third Saturday in New Paltz event on July 18.

The Hudson River-themed events continue into the fall. Two more shows - “The Hudson River: A Great American Treasure” by Greg Miller and “Riverbank” by visiting artists Philippine Hoegen and Carolien Stikker - open in September. An educational symposium, “Revisiting the Hudson: Nineteenth Century Landscape Painting in Context,” organized by Kerry Dean Carso (Art History), takes place in November.

Members of the college’s solar car team seen here are (l-r) Christopher St. John, Breandon St. John, Benjamin Rounds, Joshua Fino, Timothy Parker, Robert Nickison (an adopted team member from Texas), and Courtney Lia. Photo submitted

After three years of development, the college’s solar car club successfully completed its first attempt at competition.

Led by faculty adviser Mike Otis (Electrical Engineering) and sponsored by The Solar Energy Consortium, the SUNY Hawk team placed sixth out of the 11 teams competing at the Formula Sun Grand Prix at the Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, Texas, June 1-5.

“As an alumni member and as someone who is committed to solar power as the primary energy source of the future, I am very proud of the extraordinary success that the SUNY New Paltz solar car team achieved at such a high-level competition,” said Congressman Maurice Hinchey ‘68, ‘70g (D-NY). “The SUNY New Paltz solar car team once again put the Hudson Valley on the map when it comes to solar energy research and development.”

The teams designed and built solar cars that they raced around the track from morning to night. The final rankings were determined by the car’s lap count around the track, not speed, in a given time frame of 30 hours over three days.

The students attending the race were Joshua Fino ‘09 (Electrical Engineering), Samantha Hartig ‘09 (Visual Arts), Courtney Lia ‘11 (Electrical Engineering), Tim Parker ‘09 (Electrical Engineering), Ben Rounds ‘11 (Electrical Engineering), Breandon St. John ‘09 (Electrical Engineering) and Christopher St. John ‘09 (Computer Engineering). The solar car team is made up of 15 to 20 students from different majors on campus.

“I’m very proud of the SUNY New Paltz solar car’s success,” said Dan Jelski, dean of the School of Science and Engineering. “Our team did a great job. Our car was low budget and not as high-tech as some others, but we more than made up for it with teamwork, ingenuity and great engineering.”

Otis attributes the success of the car’s performance - which included completing 218 laps in one day - to the teamwork and dedication his students displayed. The students worked hard every day they were in Texas, putting in between 12 and 14 hours a day to make sure their car was ready for the competition.

“We spent the most time on the track than any other team, except the winner,” said St. John.

“It has been a pleasure to sponsor and support the SUNY New Paltz Engineering school and their Solar Car development team,” said Vincent Cozzolino ‘83, president and CEO of The Solar Energy Consortium. “The students are simply incredible in their technical abilities and personal drive to succeed.”

The team also received support from Lee Cabe from Newburgh. The SUNY Hawk team was sponsored by the college, Ulster County BOCES, The Solar Energy Consortium and P&Gs in New Paltz.

Dawn McCaw (center), assistant director of the Career Resource Center, works with a group of students in the center’s new conference room, which comes complete with Internet connection and a projection screen. Later this summer, a digital signage system will be installed outside the center to advertise programs, events and resources. The center has collaborated with Instructional Media Services on both projects.

The Career Resource Center staff has seen a sharp increase in student drop-in visits since moving to the Humanities Building in January.

Tonda Highley, associate dean of student advising and director of the Career Resource Center, attributes the more than 57 percent increase to the new visibility of the center on the academic side of campus. Highley said students pass the new center in Humanities room 105 every day and they are more apt to stop in to speak with a counselor, use the center’s computers or practice their interviewing techniques.

“We are so enthusiastic about being among the students and faculty,” said Highley.

Visits to the new offices have not been limited to students. According to Highley, faculty members often stop in to request information for students or develop fieldwork opportunities for their classes. Also, the center is now included as a “hot spot” on the Admission Department’s campus tours.

“We all feel such a positive sense when we come in here,” Highley said of her staff’s new space with its green walls, windowed walls and increased space.

The center’s move from the seventh floor of the Haggerty Administration Building (which is now home to the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach) coincided with a shift in the center’s mission. While helping students obtain internships and secure employment after graduation has always been a part of the staff’s work, these elements are now the driving force of their efforts.

The Doug Sheppard Classic Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament was held at the Wiltwyck Golf Club on June 15. Proceeds from the event go toward a scholarship endowment for SUNY New Paltz students.

This is the third article in a series of monthly Campus Safety articles with University Police Officer Johnny Coxum.

University Police officers take to their bikes in the name of safety

Officer Johnny Coxum said having University Police officers patrolling the campus on mountain bikes, in addition to patrol cars and on foot, promotes the department’s visibility and mobility - two elements that are key in campus safety.

Coxum is one of five officers trained to serve on bike patrol. The department uses the system during the warm weather months. It is also an effective tool at large-scale campus events, such as commencement, the faculty/staff barbecue at the end of the spring semester and fall convocation. Coxum said it is easier for officers to maneuver around such events on two wheels.

In addition to promoting safety, Coxum said officers who ride the bikes during their shifts are healthier because of the exercise. The bike patrol, which has been in effect for more than 20 years, is also an economically sound and environmentally friendly program.

New Paltz Management Association recognized with seventh Superior Merit Award

For the seventh year in a row, the college’s student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Management Association (MA), has been awarded the Superior Merit Award. The national recognition is awarded to promote outstanding activities and projects by the organization’s student chapters, as well as to recognize an exceptional year of providing opportunities for development and growth to its student chapter members.

The New Paltz MA was one of 96 student chapters throughout the nation to earn the Superior Merit Award designation. The award places the college in the top 21 percent of student chapters nationwide. The Management Association was also one of four State University of New York chapters to receive the award.

The 2008-2009 board members were Alexandra Curiale ‘10 (Management), Cassy Folken ‘09 (Management), Joelle Hopf ‘09 (Art History), Marisel Lewis ‘09 (Management), Shaina Miller ‘09 (Management), Nicole Miraglia ‘11 (Business Administration), Stacey Smiel ‘09 (Management) and Kim Stahl ‘09 (Management). Kristin Backhaus (Business) is adviser to the group.