By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communications and Media)
Public Affairs Intern

Jaimie Pattipeilohy ’09 (Communication and Media) is capturing the experience of studying abroad at New Paltz with her video journals.

Pattipeilohy, a student from Haarlem, Netherlands, and several other international exchange students from different countries are participating in the new video documentary project. The students are recording their educational and cultural experiences while studying at New Paltz and the short documentaries they produce will be shown to potential international exchange students.

“It is the start of many new projects in the future between Noord University and New Paltz,” said Pattipeilohy.

Patricia Sullivan, chair of Communication and Media, agrees with Pattipeilohy that the project is the start of many collaborations.

“We’ve established a significant partnership with Noord University,” she said. “Technology made it possible for students to work together via the Internet and then come together for intense working sessions to finalize the project.”

Pattipeilohy’s work will be part of a larger project, ‘gnr8,’ that will consist of two three-minute videos that will reflect campus life and the educational experience at New Paltz. She said the videos highlight the similarities, the differences and the once-in-a-lifetime experience for international students. The final films will be available for prospective international study abroad students, their families and friends, as well as faculty members.

“The opportunities – including partnerships and networking around the world – 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.”

By Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communications and Media)
Public Affairs Intern

The college was well represented by eight students at the 67th Annual Conference of the New York State Communication Association held in Ellenville from Oct. 23-25.

The conference, “Ritual, Community and Technology in this New Century: A Global Discussion in New York State,” included faculty from dozens of New York universities, including Columbia and New York University, as well as faculty from all over the world including researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal.

Donna Flayhan (Communication and Media) organized this year’s conference.

Six New Paltz students in Flayhan’s fall 2009 Advanced Public Relations class displayed work from their semester-length campaign projects, in which they promoted small businesses. International students from the college made a strong showing in the poster session. They are:

• Malorie Ginsberg ’11 (Journalism, Public Relations) presented her work on the band When All Else Fails;

• Sean Haberkorn ’11 (Journalism, Public Relations) presented his work on Gourmet Pizza;

• Jelena Ilijevska ’09 (Journalism, Public Relations) of Macedonia presented her work on Radiance Day Spa;

• Brianna Lee ’10 (Journalism, Public Relations) presented her work on Sowa Dry Cleaning and Laundry;

• Lilien Sokolova ’09 (Speech Communication) of Macedonia presented her work on The Village Tea Room and Bake Shop;

• Samantha Thomson ’09 (Communication and Media) of Australia presented her work on Kyogle Plumbing Services and Supplies.

Additionally, four students presented research papers that were written for Mary Kahl’s (Communication and Media) spring 2009 Theories of Persuasion course. They are:

• Nicole Famulare ’10 (Communication and Media) shared “Garnering Support for the Child Victim’s Act: A Persuasive Campaign to Eliminate the Statute of Limitations on Child Sexual Abuse”;

• Colomba Fronda ’10 (Journalism, Public Relations, Visual Arts) presented “Abolishing Abstinence-Only Sex Education in New York State: Answering a Rhetorical and Reproductive Crisis”;

• Brianna Lee ’10 (Communication and Media) presented “Knowing Your Rights Regarding Search and Seizure: A Campaign for College Students.”

• Erin O’Connor ’10 (Communication and Media) shared her paper, “Increasing Collegiate Enrollment Rates Among Hispanic Males: A State-Wide Campaign”;

“It was wonderful to be able to include so many New Paltz students at this international conference,” said Flayhan, who along with Kahl, paid the students’ registration fees, so that money would not be a barrier to student participation.

The college was also represented in other ways. New Paltz’s new a cappella group Male Call opened the Saturday evening music and the official photographer for the conference was student Colomba Fronda.

Howard Good (Communication and Media) published his 11th poetry chapbook, “My Heart Draws a Rough Map,” with Blue Hour Press. The chapbook consists of 19 related prose poems with illustrations by Mia Christopher. Good was also recently nominated for the fifth time for the Best of the Net anthology for a series of prose poems titled “Ghosts of Breath.” The series appeared earlier this year in the literary journal Bartleby Snopes. Good was also nominated for a Puschcart Prize for his poem, “Repairing the World,” which appeared in the literary journal “tinfoil dresses.” This is his fourth Pushcart nomination in four years.

Tina Antonucci ’10 (History) was named this year’s scholarship recipient of the New Paltz Lifetime Learning Institute. Antonucci is a former member of the U.S. Coast Guard and plans to become an elementary school teacher. This is the second year that the organization awarded a $1,000 scholarship to a non-traditional student to assist with the purchase of books. The SUNY New Paltz Lifetime Learning Institute (LLI) is an all-volunteer educational and social organization for adults 55 and over.

A number of Communication and Media students created media for the Woodstock Film Festival Web site and for their YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/woodstockfilmfestiva. The students created more than 30 videos over the course of five days. The videos include interviews with Academy Award Winning director Jonathan Demme, actor Ben Foster, filmmaker Barbara Hammer, and many others. They also created media featuring Uma Thurman, Woody Harrelson, Lucy Liu, and Richard Linklater among many others. Students working on this production include Chanel Arias ’10, Dan Barry ’10, Stefan Beaumont ’10, Deanna DiBenedetto ’11, Chelsea Feil ’11, Julie-Ann Florio ’10, Spencer Hood ’11, Ian Kane ’10, Colleen Kelly ’10, Yuriy Leschuck ’10, Laura Martel ’10, Randy Moses ’11, Marc Schreibman ’11, Morgan Smith ’11, Lakendra Stith ’10, Cat Tosiello ’10, Tevita Toutaiolepo ’10, Katherine Vidal ’11, Roshanna Wallerson ’10, Mark Walsh ’11, Tina Warren ’10 and Matthew Wright ’11. Communication and Media instructors Gregory Bray and Joseph Vlachos supervised the production.

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.

by Lee Conell ’09 (English)
Public Affairs intern

This year’s historic election proved to be a valuable teaching device on campus.

During the campaign and beyond, Communication and Media and Political Science faculty have brought the election home to New Paltz students and residents.

James Schiffer, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said he was delighted by the many election-related activities offered. He was also thrilled to see the level of student participation.

“Certainly at New Paltz, students are politically well informed and involved,” he said. “That is one of the goals of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: to prepare our students to be responsible, engaged citizens.”

Events began this past summer when in August, Nancy Kassop (Political Science) and Patricia Sullivan (Communication and Media) traveled with a group of 10 students to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

As Election Day drew near, the college hosted a number of events. Joel Lefkowitz (Political Science) moderated a debate with students standing in for the candidates. Meanwhile, Mary Kahl (Communication and Media) taught a special-topics class – Presidential Debate Communication – and hosted four Debate Watch sessions with students and local residents.

Local politics were also given a voice on campus. Kassop moderated an Oct. 31 town meeting with candidates Kevin Cahill ’77 and Robin Yess, who were running for New York State Assembly.

New Paltz is now looking ahead to President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20. At that time, Kassop and Sullivan will take part in a 10-day seminar for students about the presidential transition. Participants will have the opportunity to attend the inauguration.