Front cover of WaterWrites. Image submitted

Laurence Carr (English) has set sail with an anthology that tells the story of the Hudson River through the creative works of Hudson Valley writers.

Sixty writers are featured in “WaterWrites,” which was published by Codhill Press of New Paltz on Oct. 21. There are well over 12 writers from the college who contributed to the 136-page book.

Carr added that “WaterWrites” is a SUNY New Paltz book. In addition to the more than 12 writers from the college, the 136-page book was designed by Laura Kniffen (Design Services) and the cover photograph was taken by Morgan Gwenwald (Library). Joann Deiudicibus (English), Penny Freel (English) and Rachel Rigolino (English) assisted Carr with the editing of the manuscript.

Inside, the works of professional and amateur writers from the area span the literary and environmental plain. There are essays, short stories, poetry and more. All works share a common theme: the Hudson River. Carr said there was an amazing amount of submissions from high school students, college students, graduates, professional and amateur writers. “The submissions cover the spectrum of every Hudson Valley person,” he said.

“I am so happy to have a very active profile of Hudson Valley writers to celebrate the region and prose and poetry,” said Carr.

The idea came to Carr at a meeting discussing events for the Hudson River Quadricentennial. Carr thought it would be a good idea to have a literary component to the historic celebration. Carr, who had previously edited Riverine, an anthology of works from Hudson Valley writers, decided to get to work.

“This is a people’s book, not an academic publication,” he said. “It also combines the community and university and makes us one entity.”

There will be readings held up and down the river. A launch party is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Inquiring Minds Bookstore in New Paltz.

By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communication and Media)

Public Affairs Intern

Images from the extended "Panorama of the Hudson River" show. Top image is a section of Greg Miller's 2009 photo; bottom image is from a 1910 photo commissioned by the Hudson River Day Line Steamer Company.

Greg Miller’s “Panorama of the Hudson River” has had a lasting impact on the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.

The photographic panorama’s run at the Sara Bedrick Gallery has been extended into next year. The show, which opened in July, will continue through Dec. 13 and will reopen on Feb. 6 for seven weeks.

Sara Pasti, the Neil C. Trager director of the museum, said the show was extended because of its popularity and to allow students who arrive in the spring semester to view the exhibition.

The museum commissioned Miller, a photographer from Monroe, to create a photographic panorama of the Hudson River that was modeled on earlier painted, engraved and photographic views of the river.

Miller’s photograph of the Hudson River includes both banks and stretches from Manhattan to Albany. The image is paired with a 1910 photographic panorama developed for the Hudson River Day Line Steamer Company; both photographs are 80 feet long.

The show is part of the college’s Art and the River project, a six-month series of exhibitions, lectures and events celebrating the Hudson River’s Quadricentennial.

State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher is applying an all-inclusive approach to planning for the public higher education system.

Divided into four phases, the goal of the SUNY Strategic Plan is to guide the public higher education system for the next five years and advise in the system’s development over the next 10 years.

Phase I was Zimpher’s 64-campus tour, which took place from June to September of this year. Zimpher visited New Paltz on June 15.

The second phase of the strategic planning process includes seven Conversations designed to engage all audiences, solicit ideas and create a statewide dialogue. The first Conversation takes place on Oct. 21 at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. College President Steven Poskanzer, Associate Vice President for Regional Engagement and Director of the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach Gerald Benjamin, SUNY New Paltz Foundation Chair Noah Dorsky and New Paltz College Council Chair Ken Abt have been selected to represent New Paltz as part of the group of 200 at these conversations.

System administration has also implemented a social media component to the information-gathering phase. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube allow for participation in what progress is being made on the strategic plan by any interested party.

Individuals can also communicate via e-mail by sending their thoughts to StrategicPlanning@suny.edu. Additionally, visitors to SUNY.edu can use the existing Share Your Ideas feature that has been available since the chancellor took office.

Phase II is scheduled to be completed in February 2010.

Phases III and IV include the launch of the Strategic Plan, Feb. 16, 2010, through June 30, 2010, and implementation and assessment, July 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2020.

Tobias Wolff. Photo submitted

First-year students in the English Department’s Composition Program will have a chance to speak with the author of this year’s required book reading when Tobias Wolff visits campus in April 2010.

As the fourth guest in the Distinguished Speaker Series, Wolff will discuss his 2003 novel, “Old School,” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2010, in McKenna Theatre.

Pauline Uchmanowicz (English), director of the Composition Program, said the composition faculty is delighted that Wolff has been chosen as Distinguished Speaker for spring 2010.

“Tobias Wolff’s visit to our campus will offer students in the Composition Program a rare opportunity to make a connection between literary page and living author. It may even encourage some to undertake a writer’s life,” said Uchmanowicz.

Wolff is best known for his memoirs and short stories. Notable works include “This Boy’s Life” and “In Pharaoh’s Army: Memories of the Lost War;” the short novel “The Barracks Thief;” and four collections of short stories – “In the Garden of the North American Martyrs,” “Back in the World,” “The Night in Question” and, most recently, “Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories.”

Tickets for the event will go on sale in early 2010.

ARTISTIC FELLOW: Jamie Bennett (Metal) was recently named to The American Craft Council's 2009 College of Fellows. Bennett is seen here with works from his 2008 show, "“Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett,” which was on display at museums -- including the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art -- across the country.

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Jamie Bennett (Metal) has been named to The American Craft Council’s 2009 College of Fellows.

The late Kurt Matzdorf (Metalsmithing, Emeritus) and Robert Eberdorf (Metalsmithing, Emeritus) were members of the College of Fellows.

The designation is among the prestigious Aileen Osborn Webb Awards, which honor those who have demonstrated outstanding artistic achievement, leadership and service in the craft field for more than 25 years. Since 1975, the Craft Council has bestowed the title of fellow to 261 artists nominated and elected by their peers.

“I believe this connection speaks well for the college, as this kind of legacy with the council’s fellows program is unique to New Paltz,” said Bennett.

Bennett is a 1974 alumnus of the Master of Fine Arts program at New Paltz. Today he is co-director of New Paltz’s Master of Fine Arts Program in Metal, which is ranked #1 in the nation by the 2009 U.S. News & World Report list of America’s best graduate schools. Bennett’s work is on display in more than 20 permanent collections around the world.

He will be honored at an Oct. 16 luncheon during the organization’s leadership conference, “Creating a New Craft Culture,” in Minneapolis. Bennett, along with the other newly elected fellows and the gold medalists, will be featured in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of American Craft magazine.

“It is very gratifying to be acknowledged by your peers as a significant contributor to the field and to join so many noteworthy artists in the College of Fellows,” said Bennett.

By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communication and Media)

Public Affairs Intern

STAGED IN SHADOWS: Lauren Tyrrell ’10 (Journalism, Theatre Arts), left, and Rachel Ritacco ’11 (Theatre Arts), right, star in “Red Masquerade,” which runs Oct. 8-18 at McKenna Theatre. Jack Wade’s (Theatre Arts) play makes its debut as the opening act of the Theatre Arts Department’s 2009-2010 Mainstage production season. Photo submitted

Professor and playwright Jack Wade (Theatre Arts) will debut his play “Red Masquerade” as the opening act of the Department of Theatre Arts’s Mainstage 2009-2010 season.

Set in 1942, “Red Masquerade” is based on the real life story of Angela Calomiris, a key witness in the sensational trial of the Communist 11, a group that was convicted of trying to overthrow the U.S. government in 1949.

“The play skillfully weaves an important, but somewhat forgotten, piece of American political history,” said director Stephen Kitsakos (Theatre Arts).

The plot follows New York City photojournalist Angela Calomiris as she is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate a communist cell and become a spy during the war against the Nazis and the Japanese. Embedded in a midtown Manhattan branch, she befriends the American communists and meets the intriguing party official, Leona Saron. The two begin a love affair in a world that forces both of them to live in the shadows of a double life.

Performance dates run Thursday through Sunday from Oct. 8 to 18. Tickets are $16 general reserved; $14 reserved students, faculty and staff. On-line purchases can be made by online at www.newpaltz.edu/theatre/productions.html; by phone at x3880 or in person at the Box Office in Parker Theatre.

Stacion Elliott (Migrant Education) used a fire extinguisher for the first time at a hands-on demonstration at the annual Campus Fire Safety Day on the Old Main Quad on Sept. 30.

Elliot attended the event, which was sponsored by the campus’s Environmental Health and Safety Office, with coworker Lilly Rosa (Migrant Education), who is the building coordinator for van den Berg Annex and assists Scott Schulte, assistant director of Environmental Health and Safety – Fire Safety Division, with fire safety issues and inspections throughout the year.

“The idea behind the event is to provide the campus community with a better understanding of exactly what we all do to provide the safest possible environment for them to live, work and learn,” he said.

According to Schulte, such demonstrations help promote fire safety across campus.

Elliot, Rosa and other members of the campus community had the opportunity to interact with off-campus emergency services personnel, including 15 representatives from the New Paltz Fire Department and representatives from the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control. Members from such campus offices as University Police and Environmental Health and Safety were also on hand to provide information.

Newark City Mayor Cory Booker talked about public service at the college’s Oct. 1 when Distinguished Speaker Series event at McKenna Theatre.

In “How to Change the World with Your Bare Hands,” Booker spoke about his struggle through political procedures; a lack of hope in the Newark community; and his personal growth through his professional life. He also discussed about the strength of positive thinking and encouraged attendees to look at each thing in their lives as a “positive possibility” for something to flourish from.

College President Steven Poskanzer will deliver the State of the College address to academic and professional faculty at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, in Lecture Center 102.

In addition to outlining the college’s major accomplishments over the past year and discussing plans for the future at the first Academic and Profession Faculty Meeting of the year, Poskanzer will review the college’s eight major goals:

• Continue to raise the academic quality and selectivity of New Paltz students;

• Hire and retain faculty serious about their scholarship and teaching;

• Teach a curriculum that prepares students for their careers and lives;

• Link student intellectual growth with faculty scholarship;

• Residential character must reinforce educational goals;

• Meeting students needs;

• Address regional economic and schooling needs;

• Be a cultural and intellectual hub for the mid-Hudson region.

New academic and professional faculty members hired over the last year will be formally introduced following the presentation. A reception in the Lecture Center lobby will follow.

Classified Staff presentation

On Friday, Oct. 9, at 1:30 p.m., the president will also share the State of the College with members of the Classified Staff in Lecture Center 102.

New Classified Staff members who have joined the campus community during the past 12 months will be introduced at the meeting, as well. A reception will be held in the Lecture Center lobby following the president’s presentation.

By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communication and Media)

Public Affairs Intern

Scene from New York premiere of documentary film “This Land May Be Profitable to Those That Will Adventure It” on Sept. 9. Photo submitted

The New York City premiere of the documentary film “This Land May Be Profitable to Those That Will Adventure It” on Sept. 9 celebrated the collaborative efforts of students and faculty from New Paltz and the University of Noord Holland.

“I am thrilled with the final project. It holds a lot of cultural significance for both institutions from Holland and New York State,” said Gregory Bray (Communication and Media), faculty adviser to the project. “The SUNY students were true ambassadors for the college.”

With support from Bruce Sillner, dean of the Center for International Programs, the collaboration was established as a part of the celebration of the Hudson River Quadricentennial. The project resulted in three live, interactive Web programs; a Web video report on the event PICNIC New York, which celebrates Dutch enterprises in the United States; and the longer-form documentary.

“The experience made us bond together and after the first project things went along swimmingly,” said Dan Barry ’10 (Communication and Media).

Bray said that the new era of media includes creating content streamed to the web and having an understanding of international connections.

Students learned from hands-on experiences and were encouraged to experiment. “You just have to be willing to give it a go and fail,” said Bray. “When things went wrong, we laughed and then figured it out.”

Jaimie Pattipeilohy, an international exchange student from Haarlem, Netherlands, attended the premiere of the film, which was held on the rooftop terrace of Rievtvel Architects in the Film Center Building, on 46th Street and 9th Avenue, New York.

“The opportunities that projects like these open up to students and faculties alike in both nations are awesome,” said Pattiepeilohy. “And the people that you meet are energetic, creative, and like-minded. It is a really positive thing to be involved in.”

Other New Paltz Communication and Media students involved in the project were:

• Jarred Thomas ’09

• Mellisa Misner ’10

• Emily Myett ’10

• Adam Schwartz ’10

• Cat Tosiello ’10

• Tina Warren ’10

Daniel Butler ’10g (English), ’08 (Communication and Media) and Joseph Vlachos (Communication and Media) also worked on the project.