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.

Joan Hollister (Business) and Sally Schultz (Business) were among the 25 scholars invited to Mount Vernon on Oct. 9 and 10 to participate in a planning conference on the Financial Papers of George Washington. Conference participants strategized about how best to digitize Washington’s records and begin making them available online. For more information about this project, visit http://tinyurl.com/ylhrobj.

by Danielle Chery ‘09 (Journalism)

Public Affairs intern

The college was awarded a $48,000 competitive federal grant to fund the Institute for Disaster Mental Health’s (IDMH) sixth annual conference from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 17. Entry is free for faculty, staff and students.

This year’s conference topic is “In the Wake of Disaster: Effective Mental Health Interventions.” The event will promote preparation and support for victims of mental health caused by disasters.

The morning keynote will be given by Chris Brewin, a clinical psychologist specializing in both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and memory. His speech, titled “Principles and Research on Early Intervention and the Screen and Treat Approach,” will focus on evidence-based healing methods for recent disaster survivors.

This event will also feature a panel of mental health experts, including Gerald McCleery, Mental Health Association; Paula Madrid, Psychosocial Preparedness Division of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University; and Monica Indart, Division of Mental Health Services – Disaster and Terrorism Branch.

All guest speakers have played major roles in responding to major catastrophes around the world.

There will also be a lunchtime panel hosted by Alan Chartock, president of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and publisher of The Legislative Gazette, which is operated under the college’s Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO). After lunch, attendees have the option to engage in afternoon standard workshops or extended professional workshops with information and training on interventions. After the workshops, there will be an hour of networking.

The Institute for Disaster Mental Health’s conference has also been sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration; New York State Department of Health; and Campus Auxiliary Services.

For more information, visit www.newpaltz.edu/idmh/conference.html.

Undergraduate mathematics research conference to be held at New Paltz

New Paltz is hosting the fourth annual Spuyten Duyvil Undergraduate Mathematics Conference from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25.

The conference will include presentations from faculty and undergraduate students of mathematics as well as related disciplines. There will also be a Poster Session for undergraduate research projects and an addition of mathematical games.

“Conferences like this offer extraordinary opportunities to students interested in mathematics and closely related disciplines,” said Diego Dominici (Mathematics), conference director. “It will give our college the feeling of being part of a greater organism, composed of all the learning institutions in the tri-state region.”

Those who preregister by the deadline of April 1 will receive complementary refreshments.

Richard Askey from the University of Wisconsin at Madison will deliver the keynote address.

The main goal of this conference is to teach undergraduate students in a professional mathematics meeting.

For more information, visit www.newpaltz.edu/math/sdumc.

Other Interesting Endeavors

WORLD TRAVELERS: As part of the year-long Political Science course “E.U. Politics,” Kathleen Dowley (Political Science), director of State University of New York Model European Union, and a group of students attended the Harvard National Model United Nations conference in Boston from Feb. 12-15. The New Paltz team, which represented Poland at the conference, is (counterclockwise from left) Dowley; Geomari Fernandez ’09 (Latin American Studies, Spanish), head delegate; D. Tyler Antrim ’10 (Political Science); Michael Hepner ’10 (International Relations); Lucie Steiner ’11 (Undeclared); Sophia Park ’09 (Communication and Media – Management); Devon Knauth ’11 (Music – Performance); Shuyi Zhou ’11 (International Relations); Michael Brennan ’09 (Political Science); Bernadette Quinn ’09 (Political Science); Yonoris Diaz ’09 (International Relations); Leah Hirsch-Cotter ’09 (International Relations); Arianna Moore ’11 (Anthropology); Evan Schlissel ’09 (Political Science); Elena Gjoreska ’10 (International Relations); Ahmed Shama ’09 (International Relations), head delegate; and Joe Mayo ’10 (French, International Relations). The Harvard National Model EU garners participation from more than 2,000 college students from all over the world. Photo submitted

The Institute for Disaster Mental Health will host its sixth annual conference, “In the Wake of Disaster: Effective Mental Health Interventions,” on April 17.

This year, health and mental health experts will present the latest evidence-based research on the topic of interventions for disaster survivors.

Through discussions and workshops, attendees will learn effective methods for providing effective interventions, as well as the principles of, and current state of research on, early interventions, including psychological first aid, psychoeducation, and screening and referral for long-term treatment.

The keynote speaker, Chris Brewin, is a professor of clinical, educational and health psychology at University College, London, and creator of the Screen and Treat Approach early assessment tool. In addition to the keynote, there will be an expert panel discussing innovations in early intervention.

The conference is funded in part by a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, as well as grants from the New York State Office of Mental Health and Campus Auxiliary Services.

Registration for the conference is open to the campus community and the public. The conference is free for New Paltz faculty, staff and students. To sign up, visit www.newpaltz.edu/idmh/conference.html.

Connecting engineering elements

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill ’77 delivered the keynote address at the Conference on Electric Power Engineering on Nov. 14 at the College Terrace. The conference brought together representatives from such companies and organizations as the Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation (Energy East) and The Solar Energy Consortium in Kingston, as well as engineering faculty from such universities as New Paltz and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, to discuss how to bridge curriculum with the needs of regional engineers in the power industry. For more information about the college’s engineering program, visit www.newpaltz.edu/engineering.

IDMH conference receives funding

The Institute for Disaster Mental Health recently received a $48,125 federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for its 2009 conference. “In the Wake of Disaster: Effective Mental Health Interventions” will be held on April 17 and will provide health and mental health professionals with the latest evidence-based research for caring for victims of natural and man-made disasters.

Academic copyright talk scheduled

The college will host a conference on intellectual property and copyright related to academics from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, October 24, in Lecture Center 100.

The keynote speakers Kenneth Crews, director of the Copyright Advisory Office at Columbia University in New York City, and Michael Carroll, a law professor at Villanova University in Villanova, Penn., will discuss issues related to intellectual property and copyright laws as they pertain to academia.

For more information about the conference, visit www.newpaltz.edu/copyrightconference.

Multicultural education event set

“Connecting to the Worlds of Students: The Blessings and Burdens of Popular Culture in Promoting Academic Achievement and Multicultural Learning” is the subject of the 14th Annual Multicultural Education Conference taking place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, in the Student Union Building’s Multi-Purpose Room.

General registration is $40 and $12 for students. The registration deadline for the conference is Oct. 24.

To register, call the Office of Conference Services at x3033 or e-mail waldoklc@newpaltz.edu.