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Professor Kylie Garcelon’s film Pwofesè nan Kulinèr (The Culinary Professor) will be screened at the 2nd Annual NYC Short Documentary Film Festival (NYCSDFF) on May 1, 3 p.m., at 358 West 44th Street, (44th Street and 9th Ave) in Midtown Manhattan.

Garcelon, a professor in the Department of Hospitality Management, created Pwofesè nan Kulinèr to highlight the work of her colleague Jean Claude, a chef and professor who throws himself into the challenge of establishing a hospitality management program in northern Haiti where education, tourism and hospitality are still recovering from the 2010 earthquake.

Professor Jean Claude has won numerous culinary awards and has worked at some of the most well-known restaurants and hotels in the New York City area. His current research, however, has taken him back to Haiti, his birthplace, where he is leading a CUNY-wide initiative to develop a two-year associate degree program in hospitality and tourism education at the Public University in the North at Cap-Haitian (UPNCH).

Professor Jean Claude

“For the tourism sector in Haiti, educated and trained workers are rare, so the service sector is relatively mediocre and expensive. The applied and comprehensive curriculum of the hospitality management program at UPNCH is designed specifically to fill this void with qualified people and to assist in the tourism development of the country,” said Claude.

A year after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Claude led a successful UPNCH summer certificate program, through which ninety percent of the 300 graduates quickly found employment in the hospitality or tourism industry. The UPNCH associate program opened in 2012, and the first class of 44 students graduated in March 2015. Three additional cohorts are on track to complete their studies. Claude continues to teach in the program, recently taking two City Tech Hospitality Management student interns to provide classroom assistance.

Garcelon plans to continue following Claude’s work in Haiti and will eventually direct a feature length documentary film on the topic.

For more information about the NYC Short Documentary Film Festival or to purchase tickets, go to: https://cierimedia.com/live-shows/954

Most people have heard of the butterfly effect – the notion that one small change in a system can have vast effects down the line – but what about the lemur effect? According to a recent study co-authored by Hunter Assistant Professor of Anthropology Andrea L. Baden, lemurs are not only interesting to look at; they’re linchpins of their ecosystem. These cute little creatures, indigenous to Madagascar, are currently the most endangered species in the world – and their extinction could have massively detrimental effects on plant life in their native island, disrupting the ecosystem of Madagascar’s forests.

Lemurs, which eat large-seeded plants, provide a crucial contribution to Madagascar’s unique biodiversity by acting as “seed dispersers,” feeders and spreaders of plant seed. As lemur species face extinction –at least 17 species have gone extinct in the past several thousand years – there are insufficient animal dispersers to take their place, leaving several plant species “orphaned.” Without intervention, these plant species too will become extinct.  The researchers in the recently published study, titled “Implications of lemuriform extinctions for the Malagasy flora,” present the first comprehensive analysis of lemur feeding and its effects on the long term survival of Malagasy plant lineages. Both a retrospective and a prognostic, the study contains yields insights and information that can help conservationists protect and restore these vulnerable ecosystems.

The study, of which Professor Baden is senior author, was published in the week of April 11th in the Proceedings of the National Academy and Sciences and is already receiving attention from the academic community. Funded largely by the National Science Foundation, it was co-authored with scholars and scientists from Yale, Duke, Pennsylvania State, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the Institute of Systemic Botany at the New York Botanical Garden.

Congratulations to Professor Baden on this important achievement!

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Joseph Walker, ’09, recently became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. Walker was part of a Wall Street Journal team cited for a series of 2015 articles that exposed the struggle many medical patients endure, due to out of pocket prescription costs.

Walker, who joined WSJ as a health care reporter in 2012, credits the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism for influencing his career path: “The J-School gave me the opportunity to join a terrific news organization that aspires to do meaningful work.”

Joseph Walker, ’09, recently became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. Walker was part of a Wall Street Journal team cited for a series of 2015 articles that exposed the struggle many medical patients endure, due to out of pocket prescription costs.

Walker, who joined WSJ as a health care reporter in 2012, credits the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism for influencing his career path: “The J-School gave me the opportunity to join a terrific news organization that aspires to do meaningful work.”

Check out some of our latest links – including Mia Garchitorena’s Refinery29 story about a group of women who say they were harmed by Essure birth control implants.

Check out some of our latest links as we catch our breath before heading into the homestretch:

• Mia Garchitorena, on assignment for Refinery29, reported on the “E-Sisters” – a group of women who say they were harmed by Essure birth control implants.

• Jack D’Isidoro and Sandra Lopez-Monsalve’s video about a man who uses found objects to create mini golf courses near the BQE made Reel 13.

• Tatiana Flowers’ story about a pet-saving pilot landed on our News Service. So did primary coverage, courtesy of Roshan Abraham, Deonna Anderson, Veronika Bondarenko, Kara Chin, Gabe Carroll, Devin Holt, Maya Lewis, Jarrett Lyons, Angely Mercado, Michael O’Brien, Emily Siegel and Joel Wolfram.

• Tanvi Acharya, Khorri Atkinson, Roberto Capocelli, Joaquin Cotler, Victoria Edwards, Yuxin Gao, Hayley Lind, Suzanna Masih, Tiffany Moustakas, Karen Savage and Michael Wilson contributed to the Mott Haven Herald’s primary coverage. Nomin Ujiyediin wrote about the expansion of a Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

• If you missed the latest CUNY TV broadcast of 219 West TV news magazine, you can check it out here. Contributors include: Nicole Ashley, Terron Austin, Shaquille Bekoe, Camila Cibils, Stephanie Daniel, Deanne Gaston, Nico Grant, Janae Hunter, Erica Jackson, Zameena Mejia, Mariya Moseley, Brandon Nix, Michelle Simon, Sumeja Tulic and Mary Wilson.

• Kara Chin wrote this DNAInfo story about Bronx cops raising money to help a young orphan.

• Emrys Eller, on assignment for The Guardian, produced a video about economic hardships some folks face during winter in the Hamptons.

• Beimeng Fu wrote this BuzzFeed report about Chinese censors’ efforts to block news of the Panama Papers.

• Zach Williams, on assignment for Voices of NY, reported on a Bronx mosque’s search for a new home.

• William Engel, working for Scientific American, wrote about a solar system musical produced by an upper East Side elementary school.

Some entries from our Alumni Corner:

• Althea Chang wrote about RuPaul’s rise for CNBC.

• Kristen Clark, on assignment for IEEE Spectrum, went the U.K. to report on the tech behind virtual reality roller coasters.

• Nick Forrester profiled Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry for Sports Illustrated.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

Check out some of our latest links – including Mia Garchitorena’s Refinery29 story about a group of women who say they were harmed by Essure birth control implants.

Check out some of our latest links as we catch our breath before heading into the homestretch:

• Mia Garchitorena, on assignment for Refinery29, reported on the “E-Sisters” – a group of women who say they were harmed by Essure birth control implants.

• Jack D’Isidoro and Sandra Lopez-Monsalve’s video about a man who uses found objects to create mini golf courses near the BQE made Reel 13.

• Tatiana Flowers’ story about a pet-saving pilot landed on our News Service. So did primary coverage, courtesy of Roshan Abraham, Deonna Anderson, Veronika Bondarenko, Kara Chin, Gabe Carroll, Devin Holt, Maya Lewis, Jarrett Lyons, Angely Mercado, Michael O’Brien, Mariaelena Perez, Emily Siegel and Joel Wolfram.

• Tanvi Acharya, Khorri Atkinson, Roberto Capocelli, Joaquin Cotler, Victoria Edwards, Yuxin Gao, Hayley Lind, Suzanna Masih, Tiffany Moustakas, Karen Savage and Michael Wilson contributed to the Mott Haven Herald’s primary coverage. Nomin Ujiyediin wrote about the expansion of a Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

• If you missed the latest CUNY TV broadcast of 219 West TV news magazine, you can check it out here. Contributors include: Nicole Ashley, Terron Austin, Shaquille Bekoe, Camila Cibils, Stephanie Daniel, Deanne Gaston, Nico Grant, Janae Hunter, Erica Jackson, Zameena Mejia, Mariya Moseley, Brandon Nix, Michelle Simon, Sumeja Tulic and Mary Wilson.

• Kara Chin wrote this DNAInfo story about Bronx cops raising money to help a young orphan.

• Emrys Eller, on assignment for The Guardian, produced a video about economic hardships some folks face during winter in the Hamptons.

• Beimeng Fu wrote this BuzzFeed report about Chinese censors’ efforts to block news of the Panama Papers.

• Zach Williams, on assignment for Voices of NY, reported on a Bronx mosque’s search for a new home.

• William Engel, working for Scientific American, wrote about a solar system musical produced by an upper East Side elementary school.

Some entries from our Alumni Corner:

• Althea Chang wrote about RuPaul’s rise for CNBC.

• Kristen Clark, on assignment for IEEE Spectrum, went the U.K. to report on the tech behind virtual reality roller coasters.

• Nick Forrester profiled Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry for Sports Illustrated.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

New York, NY – April 21, 2016 – The CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) is honored to announce that Sonia Manzano, Emmy Award-winning actress, writer, and author who delighted viewers for over 30 years as “Maria” on Sesame Street, will give this year’s Commencement address. On Monday, June 6, Manzano will address the CUNY SPS Class of 2016 at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center.

“Commencement is an important event for our graduates, who will be celebrating the culmination of years of hard work, and I am sure that the audience will be inspired and impressed by Ms. Manzano’s experience and insights,” said Dean John Mogulescu. “I am delighted that she will be joining us on this meaningful day, and I am looking forward to meeting her and to hearing her message to our graduates.”

Manzano was raised in the South Bronx, and was inspired by teachers who encouraged her to audition for, and ultimately be accepted to, the High School of Performing Arts. A scholarship took her to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. In her junior year, she came to New York to star in the original production of the off-Broadway show Godspell and within a year, Manzano joined the production of Sesame Street.

Throughout her career, she has continued to contribute to enriching diversity on television, on the stage, and in education. A first generation American of Latin descent, Manzano’s tale is one of perseverance and courage as she overcame countless obstacles to become one of the most influential Latinas in television. In addition to her many contributions to the adult and children’s literary world, television and the stage, Manzano is also an advisor for the literary NY institution Symphony Space, and is often a reader for Selected Shorts and regularly reads for their adult literacy program, All-Write.

A staunch advocate for education, Manzano shares her extraordinary talent to help children to succeed. A fearless trailblazer, Manzano opened the doors for Latinas on screen. Infusing humor and charm into her work, Manzano inspires audiences with her passion, strength, and insight.

Press Contact:
Andrea Fagon
Director of Marketing and Communications
andrea.fagon@cuny.edu
646-664-8690

CUNY SPS 2016 Commencement Speaker, Sonia Manzano

On April 21, a reception was held in the Shirley Fiterman Art Center to celebrate the new partnership between BMCC/CUNY and Year Up, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the opportunity divide for young adults ages 18 to 24.

The BMCC Year Up program is an intensive, one-year experience for students earning an associate degree while completing internships at some of the largest U.S. corporations. During the first semester of the BMCC Year Up Program, students become part of a Year Up cohort, and take courses together in Business Management or Accounting. In their second semester, they spend 35 hours a week at a professional internship while continuing to take courses, with their cohort, towards their degree.

Professor Jason Gallagher teaches English 101 to the current BMCC Year Up cohort and attended the reception. “The Year Up students come to us having been selected for this program, and they constantly reach for individuality in their approach to classwork,” he said. “I have one student who is so incredibly professional, every time he sees me, he shakes my hand.”

Mary Padula, a professor of Business Management who has taught for 38 years said, “Teaching the Year Up cohort has been the best semester I’ve ever had. The students have a deep commitment to their education and their careers, and they hold each other up; they constantly check in with each other.”

BMCC Year Up students were invited to attend the reception through an essay application process and were on hand at the reception in business attire, to greet guests and talk about their experience.

Alisa Seewald, Year Up Site Director at BMCC, welcomed the audience and introduced BMCC President Antonio Perez, who spoke of the importance of importance of internships in opening doors to community college students. Gerald Chertavian, Year Up Founder and CEO, also spoke. “The most important institutions in the United States today are our community colleges,” he said. “It is in these four walls, that global competitiveness will be won.”

Brandon Richardson, BMCC Year Up student, described his experience with the program. “I’ve repeatedly been pushed outside my comfort zone,” he said, adding that in addition to helping him become a better student, the BMCC Year Up program has taught him practical skills: “I’ve already learned the do’s and don’ts of professional dress, time management skills, and how to send a professional email.”

Colleen Taylor, an Executive Vice President with Capital One and friend of Year Up, said that the program provides “real jobs, real success. Corporations are looking for interns with stick-to-it-ive-ness and who will come into the corporate environment ready to make a difference to both themselves and the company where they are working.” Founder Chertavian closed the event. “Everyone in this room is part of the change we see through Year Up,” he said. “It heals and strengthens our communities, and our companies.”

Angelina Volkova, a Hunter College student and KCC alumnus, has won a National Science Foundation grant. © Audrey C. Tiernan

Congratulations go to Kingsborough Community College alumnus and current Hunter College student Angelina G. Volkova (KCC ’13, Hunter College ’16): She and 9 other CUNY students were awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships, bringing to 80 the number of CUNY students and alumni who have won the nation’s most prestigious federal grant for graduate research in the sciences over the past five years.

The $138,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships provide three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period – a $34,000 annual stipend to the student, or $102,000, plus an annual $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution.

Volkova will join New York University’s bioinformatics Ph.D. program where she will be cataloging microorganisms that can biodegrade plastics and their genes that do the work.

Paulina Librizzi

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York is pleased to announce that juniors Tamar Lichter  (Queens College) Paulina R. Librizzi  (City College), and sophomore  Ellianna Schwab  (City College) each received a Barry Goldwater Scholarship.  Naomi Gaggi  ’16 (College of Staten Island) and Jacob Hamer ’17 (Hunter College) were runners-up. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program awards one-and-two year grants to undergraduates who have the potential to make significant contributions to their fields in undergraduate study in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Lichter, who is a mathematics major, wants to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics and to conduct research and teach at the university level.

Tamar Lichter

Librizzi, who is a chemical engineering major, wants to conduct research in nanotechnology and materials science.  She would like to pursue a Ph.D. in Material Science and to teach at the university level.

Schwab is majoring in physics and hopes to conduct research on the magnetic signatures of black holes and nearby accretion disk plasma. She would like to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics and to run a diverse research collaborative at a university.

Ellianna Schwab

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate.

About Macaulay Honors College

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York offers exceptional students a uniquely personalized education with access to the vast resources of the nation’s largest urban university and the largest city, New York City. Selected for their top high school records and leadership potential, Macaulay students receive a full tuition scholarship, a laptop and technology support, and an Opportunities Fund to pursue global learning, research and service opportunities. Macaulay students enroll in one of eight CUNY senior colleges: Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, John Jay, Lehman, and Queens Colleges and the College of Staten Island. For more information, see

macaulay.cuny.edu.

Contact: Sheila Stainback, sheila.stainback@mhc.cuny.edu or 212-729-2924

Chris Cleave
Photo by Lou Abercrombie

On May 4th, the @MACAULAY AUTHOR SERIES welcomes celebrated novelist Chris Cleave (Little Bee) to read from and discuss his new book, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven.

With World War II as the tumultuous setting, Cleave weaves together the lives of three characters:  Mary, a young socialite assigned to teach underprivileged young children evacuated from London; Tom, the school administrator supervising her, only to fall deeply in love; and Alistair, Tom’s best friend, who leaves his sheltered existence as an art restorer to enlist in the army—and invades Mary’s heart. In a powerful combination of both humor and heartbreak, these unforgettable individuals are thrown together through love, loss, and their search for belonging against the changing backdrops of an imperiled country at war.

 Following his reading, Cleave will be joined for an interview by author and New York Review of Books contributing writer Darryl Pinckney, whose new novel, Black Deutschland, was released to glowing reviews in February. A book signing and informal reception will be held after the program. Books by both authors will be available for purchase; reservations are advised.

For reservations visit: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/rsvp or call (347) 460-4292.

About Macaulay Honors College

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York offers exceptional students a uniquely personalized education with access to the vast resources of the nation’s largest urban university and the largest city, New York City. Selected for their top high school records and leadership potential, Macaulay students receive a full tuition scholarship, a laptop and technology support, and an Opportunities Fund to pursue global learning, research and service opportunities. Macaulay students enroll in one of eight CUNY senior colleges: Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, John Jay, Lehman, and Queens Colleges and the College of Staten Island. For more information, see macaulay.cuny.edu.

Contact: Sheila Stainback, sheila.stainback@mhc.cuny.edu or 212-729-2924.

Dr. Ellie Fogarty speaks to BMCC community.

Dr. Ellie Fogarty, Vice President of Institutional Field Relations, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)— and BMCC’s Middle States Liaison — visited the college on April 18 and delivered a presentation, followed by a Q & A session, to shed light on the Middle States Self-Study process that BMCC has begun.

BMCC faculty, students and staff filled the tiered rows of lecture room N452 for the event, hosted by BMCC President Antonio Perez. Dr. Fogarty opened her talk with a question: “Are we who we say we are, to our students?” and stressed the importance, in a self-assessment process, of providing evidence that the college delivers on what it promises to its constituencies. In addition, the college must follow the Middle States Commission’s Standards for Accreditation.

The BMCC decennial self-study process for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education was launched in February 2016, when over 100 faculty and staff came together in seven working groups — each addressing one of the Middle States standards — led by the BMCC Middle States Steering Committee. The two-year self-study process will culminate in the submission of BMCC’s Self-Study report to the MSCHE in Fall 2017, followed by a peer-reviewed visit from the Middle States Evaluation Team in Spring 2018.

The New York Daily News and The City University of New York (CUNY) announced today the dates for the 14th Annual Citizenship NOW! hotline. The hotline provides free and confidential citizenship and immigration information to thousands of callers.  Permanent residents interested in becoming citizens will be referred to organizations that can help them with their applications at low or no cost. Others interested in becoming permanent residents, or in other immigration issues, will also be able to obtain information and referrals. This event has generated special interest during presidential election years and we expect this year’s call-in to be one of the busiest ever.

“In a campaign season where hostility toward immigrants has never been higher, we expect more calls than ever,” said Editor-in-Chief Jim Rich. ”Green Card holders want to get U.S. citizenship in time to vote, and we are here to help them.”

Citizenship NOW!, the largest program of its kind in the nation, was co-launched by the Daily News and CUNY in April 2004 to address the lack of access to free and confidential immigration information for the people who need it most. To date, more than 143,000 callers have sought information from the hotline as they travel the complex road to citizenship.

This year’s weeklong hotline will operate from Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29 between 10am and 8pm, with more than 400 trained volunteers available by telephone over the course of the week. Calls will be answered in English and Spanish, as well as numerous other languages, including: Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Italian, Haitian Creole, Bengali, Polish, French, Yiddish, and Arabic.

WXTV Univision 41, our Spanish-language media partner, will provide extensive outreach to the Hispanic community.  Univision 41 has been a partner of the program since its inception. WABC-TV will once again serve as our English language media partner. Both stations’ coverage will include live-coverage, on-air promotional announcements, and special news segments.

This year’s generous sponsors include: El Diario, 92.7 FM, WADO 1280 AM, Cisco, Presidio, Microsoft, CUNY Office of Computing and Information Services, GOYA, Guttman Community College, Fragomen Worldwide, CUNY Service Corps, the New York State Office for New Americans (ONA), the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) NY Chapter, Immigrant Advocates Network (IAN) and the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).

The Citizenship NOW! hotline is led by attorney Allan Wernick who is also a professor of Law at Baruch College and writes the twice-weekly “Immigration” column for the Daily News. Additionally, Wernick writes the nationally syndicated column, “Immigration and Citizenship” and is the director of the CUNY Citizenship Now! program.

“This year we are putting special emphasis on providing callers with information on how immigrants can qualify for U.S. citizenship,” said Professor Wernick. “Our goal for the Citizenship NOW! call-in is to empower immigrant New Yorkers. Immigrants need to naturalize, vote and take charge of their destiny,” he added. “We’ll provide callers with information to help them overcome common barriers to citizenship like not being able to afford the fees or not feeling prepared for the English and Civics test.”

English/Multilingual: 212-278-2390

Spanish: 212-278-2380

Deaf/HoH: 711

About the Partners:

New York Daily News:

With 2 million readers in New York, and 42 million national unique visitors online each month, the New York Daily News is the most widely read tabloid in the city and one of America’s fastest-growing web sites. Covering breaking news, politics, sports, entertainment, celebrity, lifestyle, opinion, business and health, the New York Daily News delivers up-to-the-minute reporting, rich photography and compelling video to readers of its print newspaper, industry-leading website, tablet apps, and iPhone, Blackberry and Android editions.

The New York Daily News has won 10 Pulitzer Prizes for excellence in journalism. In 2015, it was awarded seven New York State Associated Press Association awards and took the Associated Press Sports Editors awards’ “Triple Crown,” as well as first place in the Investigative category across all circulation categories. In addition to its news operations, the New York Daily News runs Daily News Digital Solutions and the Innovation Lab.

The City University of New York:

The City University of New York is the nation’s leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847, the University is comprised of 24 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. The University serves more than 269,000 degree credit students and 218,083 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. Nearly 3 million unique visitors and 10 million page views are served each month via www.cuny.edu, the University’s website.

About the Media Partners:

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI):

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. The company, a leading content creator in the U.S., includes Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country available in  approximately 93% of U.S. Hispanic television households; UniMás, a leading Spanish-language broadcast television network available in approximately 87% of U.S. Hispanic television households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the most-watched U.S. Spanish-language cable network, as well as UDN (Univision Deportes Network), the most-watched U.S. Spanish-language sports network, Univision tlnovelas, a 24-hour cable network dedicated to telenovelas,  ForoTV, a 24-hour Spanish-language cable network dedicated to international news, and an additional suite of cable offerings – De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson and Telehit; Univision Television Group, which owns 59 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; digital properties consisting of  online and mobile websites and apps, including Univision.com, the most visited Spanish-language website among U.S. Hispanics, UVideos, a bilingual digital video network and Uforia, a music application featuring multimedia music content; and Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group in the U.S. which owns and operates 67 radio stations including stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico. UCI’s assets also include a minority stake in El Rey Network, a 24-hour English-language general entertainment cable network and a joint venture with Disney/ABC Television Network for Fusion, a 24-hour English-language news and lifestyle TV and digital network. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit Univision.net.

WABC-TV:

Channel 7 is the ABC owned television station in New York City, serving more than 7.3 million television households in 29 counties covering New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  It is New York’s #1 station and the most watched local television station in the United States.

Media Contacts

Anne Muscarella / HIGH10 Media

212-918-2046

anne@high10media.com

Michael Arena

(o) 646.664.9300 (m) 917.991.1601

Michael.Arena@cuny.edu

A promotional video created for John Jay Online, the College’s distance-learning unit, has won a Bronze Award in the 37th annual Telly Awards competition.

Click here to view the video.

The award was for “The Literature and Law of American Slavery: Promotional Video,” which showcases John Jay Online’s massive, open, online course (MOOC) featuring Distinguished Professor of English John Matteson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father. Associate Director of Instructional Design Holly Davenport and videographer David Pangburn collaborated with Dr. John Matteson to develop the videos.

The online course melds law, literature and history to paint a portrait of an era rife with conflict and controversy. Students read the judicial opinions that shaped and tried to preserve the institution of slavery, as well as the writings of authors who tried to tear it down. Through video, students are able to travel to the places where the history of the slaveholding era was made, including Concord, Mass., Gettysburg, Pa., and the home of Frederick Douglass.

“The Telly Awards honor the very best in film and video,” said Linda Day, executive director of the Telly Awards. “John Jay Online’s accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production.”

Judith Cahn, director of John Jay Online, added, “The storytelling narrative is the thread that weaves together each topic in an online course. When students are part of an experience through story, the learning is set in context, which contributes to greater understanding.”

The Telly Awards, founded in 1979, are the premier honors for outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. Winners represent the world’s leading advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators and corporate video departments. The most recent Telly Awards scrutinized more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and several foreign countries.

For more information about John Jay’s online offerings, visit: http://online.jjay.cuny.edu/.

For the 12th consecutive year, a team of John Jay students has taken on colleges and university institutions from more than 30 countries in the annual National Model United Nations (NMUN) competition, and this year the John Jay team captured the conference’s top honor, the Outstanding Delegation Award.

The weeklong global competition, which brought together roughly 5,500 students, was held March 27-31 at the Sheraton and Hilton hotels in Manhattan.

Each year, NMUN delegations represent a different member state of the United Nations, with John Jay this year representing the Czech Republic. Delegates serve on a number of  committees in which they deliberated, negotiated, drafted and adopted resolutions and reports on a wide range of politically sensitive and topical issues. This year’s agenda included topics ranging from agribusiness and environmental governance to cyber security and weapons of mass destruction, among many others.

The Outstanding Delegation award recognizes the overall delegation performance in all committees. John Jay previously won the award in 2007. Team members Asia Shkreli, Suzanne Kowalski, Hanna Amodine and Veranika Basak also won Outstanding Position Paper awards for their work in the UNESCO and Habitat III committees.

The 28-member team’s success is the product of rigorous and systematic training under the guidance and mentorship of Professor Jacques Fomerand of the Department of Political Science. During the fall and spring semesters, the team met for two to three hours every Friday evening, in addition to countless hours of preparation throughout the week. They honed their research skills, drafted position papers, rehearsed public speaking skills, refined their mediating and consensus-building techniques and mastered the intricacies of U.N. procedures.

John Jay’s 2015-2016 NMUN team included students from a variety of academic disciplines and student organizations, led by the United Nations Student Association (UNSA), as well as Presidential interns, Vera Fellows, McNair Scholars, members of the Honors Program and student-athletes.

The NMUN team members , with roots in more than a dozen countries, were: Grace Theresa Agalo-Os, Jamil Ahmed, Madiah Ahmed, Hanna Amodine, Andrea Arturo, Kossi Atchrimi, Badiss Bahlouli, Veranika Basak, Seonae Byeon, Alexis Castillo, Erick Esquivel (president, UNSA), Lodoe Gyatso, Maoly Hernandez, Timur Insanally, Suzanne Kowalski (secretary, UNSA), Stephanie Louis, Rocio Maradiegue(treasurer, UNSA),  Gabriella Mungalsingh, Amena Othman, Trushal Pandhi,  Izabela Qafa, Muhammad Rehman, Kyle Roberts, Tannuja Rozario, Sidiki Savadogo, Aline Shaban (vice president, UNSA), Asia Shkreli and Jeffrey White.

By MARTA ZARASKA
April 3, 2016

Ate something bitter? It can make you judgmental. Feeling love is all around? It can make even water taste sweeter. Not only do our emotions influence our perceptions of taste, but what we taste can also change how we feel, scientists have found.

“The tongue could be a window to the psyche,” says Nancy Dess, a professor of psychology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, pointing to the growing number of studies that connect taste perception with emotions and even personality types.

Among such recent studies were ones suggesting that tasting a sweet drink instead of water can make you feel more romantic and more inclined to go on a date, that people who are particularly sensitive to bitter taste are also more easily disgusted and that such people get more emotional — angry, sad or fearful — after watching an anger-inducing video than other people.

Dess recalls an unusual rat she once had in her lab. Unlike its peers, this one didn’t enjoy the bittersweet taste of saccharin, the artificial sweetener widely used in labs to entice rats.

Dess had an inkling that the rat’s taste preferences could be important for research, so she bred it with another rat that was also less into saccharin than average. After tens of generations, she had a line of rats that were so put off by the bitter hints in saccharin that they would drink very little of it despite its overarching sweetness. Over the years and many experiments, Dess and colleagues found that these rats were also particularly “emotional”: more jumpy than regular rats when startled with a loud noise, and more anxious when deprived of food.

In a study published in 2012 in the journal PLOS One, Dess and colleagues showed not only that bitter-sensitive rats were more easily stressed but also that, when competing with others for access to food, they would allow themselves to be shoved aside. In science-speak, they were socially subordinate. In everyday-speak, they were pushovers.

To the bitter end

And it’s not just in rats that bitter taste preferences can be a telltale of personality. It seems to apply to humans, too. About 30 percent of people can detect the bitter taste of a rather disgusting substance — its scientific name is 6-n-propylthiouracil — even in very low concentrations, and in general these people find bitter taste in foods stronger and less pleasant than other people do. This sensitivity is genetically based, research has found, and is related in the number of mushroomlike structures on the tongue called fungiform papillae, on which taste buds are perched. Basically, the more fungiform papillae you have, the more sensitive you are to bitterness.

In a 2014 experiment, German and American psychologists showed that, like bitter-sensitive rats, bitter-sensitive people tended to be jumpy, meaning they reacted more strongly than other folks when exposed to a loud noise.

In nature, bitterness tells us that a food may contain toxins, and even such animals as oysters reject bitter-tasting meals. “Bitter taste is a signal for danger. So it is quite logical that people who have heightened sensitivity based on their genes to bitter taste may also have higher sensitivity to other signals of danger in other areas of life, like the social area,” explains one of the study’s authors, Michael Macht, a professor of psychology at University of Würzburg, Germany.

Personality traits

According to Dess, over the course of evolution, the areas of the brain responsible for dealing with bitter tastes may have been co-opted by higher emotions.

“Taste was one way early organisms had of detecting nutrients and avoiding toxins,” she says. “An animal that was attuned to risks would avoid such risks, while another animal would be more attuned to exploring opportunities. Such early pressures on gustation resulted in early changes in how nervous systems functioned — including emotion regulation.”

That is why sensitivity to bitterness — as in being able to detect it in low concentrations — may offer hints about personality beyond being jumpy or emotional. A study published in the journal Appetite in January suggests, for example, that there is a link between enjoyment of bitter taste and antisocial personality traits.

In that study, close to 1,000 Americans were given standard personality and taste-preference questionnaires. People who enjoyed foods with bitter notes — such as grapefruit, tonic water, coffee and radishes — were more likely to admit that they enjoyed tormenting people or that they tend to manipulate others to get their way. “And these effects are not tiny, either,” says Austrian psychologist Christina Sagioglou, the study’s lead author.

What’s more, tastes can affect reactions to daily events, no matter your personality, according to some research.

Imagine you’ve heard of a politician accepting bribes or of a student stealing library books: How harshly would you judge the offender? According to a 2011 study, that may depend on what you’ve just tasted: Volunteers who had just taken a gulp of an extremely bitter herbal tonic judged various moral transgressions as far more serious than people drinking nothing but water.

“The findings suggest that judgments involving morality, e.g. jury deliberations, opinions on sociopolitical issues, could potentially reflect and be swayed by what individuals eat and drink,” said one of the study’s authors, Natalie Kacinik, a professor of psychology at the City University of New York, in an email.

In 2014 Sagioglou and a colleague conducted several experiments in which they showed that tasting bitterness leads to aggression.

An example: After tasting either grapefruit juice or water, students were asked to assess how they’d feel in certain situations — say, if someone kicked the back of their chair repeatedly at the movies. Results showed that the bitter-tasters would react with more hostility and irritation — imagining themselves threatening the annoying moviegoer if he didn’t stop — while water drinkers just ignored the bothersome behavior.

In the mood

So what about sweetness and mood? One 2013 experiment found that thinking of love can make even plain water taste sweeter. A 2015 study suggested that the reverse is also true: Men who were happy because their hockey team had just won a game rated a lemon-lime sorbet as sweeter and less sour than men who had cheered for a losing team.

There’s a good explanation for why happy feelings and sweet taste may go together.

Our emotions and taste sensations are connected via hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin, noradrenaline and glucocorticoids. A study done on rats last year showed that receptors for glucocorticoids — primary stress hormones — are located inside taste buds that sense umami and sweetness. If glucocorticoids flood the body, they may inhibit functioning of these taste buds; hence, the dulled culinary pleasures. On the other hand, a 2006 study found that if it’s serotonin (sometimes dubbed the “happy chemical”) that’s released, we become more sensitive to sweet taste and can detect it at concentrations that are even 27 percent lower than before the serotonin release.

The results of some of these taste studies may seem speculative, but Dess believes that once more research is done, “we could make better than random guesses how people will interact with co-workers, how they would respond to different kind of therapeutic interventions, how collaborative they would be, or how empathetic” — just by looking at their taste worlds.

In the meantime, what we already know suggests that you should continue to buy chocolates on Valentine’s Day to make your sweetheart feel sweeter (and more romantically inclined) and maybe skip the coffee and grapefruit if you don’t want to be judged too harshly.

Originally published by Tulsa World

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York and Professor Elizabeth Reis host a free, public symposium, Policing Reproduction, to discuss the erosion of rights facing pregnant women on May 15 and May 16. This symposium will bring together a diverse range of scholars, students, and the public to discuss alarming trends in women’s reproductive health.

“Since 1973, the year of the historic Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion rights, hundreds of pregnant women, particularly women of color, have been arrested, detained, and jailed for matters relating to their pregnancies,” said Macaulay’s Elizabeth Reis, Ph.D., a historian on gender and bioethics issues. “Those engaged with legal studies, women’s and gender studies, reproductive rights, and medical ethics will be interested to learn about the steady, dangerous, and largely unacknowledged erosion of rights facing pregnant women.”

The symposium begins Sunday, May 15 with a presentation by author Johanna Schoen, who will read from her latest book, Abortion After Roe, and will lead an information discussion afterwards. Schoen is a historian of women, gender and medicine.

Panelists participating in the Monday, May 16 all-day conference include:

Jeanne Flavin, author of Our Bodies, Our Crimes: Policing Women’s Reproduction in America and board president of National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
Michele Goodwin, founder and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy at UC Irvine School of Law.
Kimberly Mutcherson, Vice Dean and Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, with a focus on family and health law and reproductive justice.
Lynn M. Paltrow, J.D., Founder and Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, a non profit organization.
Miriam Zoila Pérez, journalist and activist who writes about the intersections of race, health and gender as a columnist at Colorlines.
Johanna Schoen author of Abortion After Roe and Choice and Coercion: Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion in Public Health and Welfare in the Twentieth Century.
Civia Tamarkin, award-winning journalist, television news executive and filmmaker who has covered crime, politics, and social issues.

RSVP for the symposium for either or both days at: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/event/registration/?ee=29

About Macaulay Honors College

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York offers exceptional students a uniquely personalized education with access to the vast resources of the nation’s largest urban university and the largest city, New York City. Selected for their top high school records and leadership potential, Macaulay students receive a full tuition scholarship, a laptop and technology support, and an Opportunities Fund to pursue global learning, research and service opportunities. Macaulay students enroll in one of eight CUNY senior colleges: Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, John Jay, Lehman, and Queens Colleges and the College of Staten Island. For more information, see macaulay.cuny.edu.

Contact: Sheila Stainback, sheila.stainback@mhc.cuny.edu or 212-729-2924

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York congratulates sophomores Rebecca Baron (Brooklyn College) and Robert Gullery  (Hunter College) and freshmen Jonathan Penuela (John Jay College of Criminal Justice) and Jaclyn Williams (City College) on winning the Jeannette K. Watson Award. The Watson Fellowship is a three-year program that provides summer internships with leading non-profit, for-profit and government organizations, culminating in an internship in another culture. Fellows experience the expectations and challenges of professional-level work, while expanding their personal, cultural and professional horizons. The stipend is $5,000 for the first summer, $6,000 for each of the second and third summers. Internships are reinforced with activities that personalize the experience, build skills, and create community.

Rebecca Baron

 Rebecca Baron is sophomore Psychology major with a minor in Neuroscience. She aspires to be a pediatrician and believe that this award and the experiences that it offers will allow her to become the worldly and innovative doctor she hopes to become. “I believe that the internships, mentorship, and events that await will allow me to diversify my interests and pursue fields that will expand my world views,” said Baron, whose family lives in Rego Park and Forest Hills in Queens.

Robert Gullery

 Rob Gullery’s major is Biology major with a minor Human Rights. He also hopes to become a physician, with an interest in public health, education and policy. Gullery is also a Horace W. Goldsmith Scholar and Lisa Goldberg-Revson Scholar. “I’ve been greatly influenced by Dr. Paul Farmer’s work in Haiti as well as Dr. Mae Jemison’s work in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Like them, I want to use medicine to make an impact in the public sphere, to not only cure temporary problems but to devise and help implement long-term solutions as well,” said Gullery a Staten Island South Shore resident.

Jonathan Penuela

Jaclyn Williams

Jonathan Penuela is a Political Science major.  “To have been chosen to be a JK Watson fellow is the greatest honor that I have had while at John Jay. I’m thrilled for the experiences that await me in terms of the different places I will be exploring and the insight that I’ll gain on my career path and significant aspirations,” said Penuela, a Woodhaven, Queens resident.

Jaclyn Williams is an International Studies major and is also a Hertog Scholar. She is a scholar-athlete on the CCNY women’s track and field team and her specialties are the discus, shot put, javelin and hammer throw. “[The Watson Fellowship] gives me an opportunity to explore my interests in national security and social justice,” said Williams, who attended New Hyde Park Memorial HS on Long Island. “I’m eager to begin working with my peers and mentors who are just as enthusiastic as I am to begin the three year journey this summer!”

About Macaulay Honors College

Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York offers exceptional students a uniquely personalized education with access to the vast resources of the nation’s largest urban university and the largest city, New York City. Selected for their top high school records and leadership potential, Macaulay students receive a full tuition scholarship, a laptop and technology support, and an Opportunities Fund to pursue global learning, research and service opportunities. Macaulay students enroll in one of eight CUNY senior colleges: Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, John Jay, Lehman, and Queens Colleges and the College of Staten Island. For more information, see macaulay.cuny.edu.

Contact: Sheila Stainback, sheila.stainback@mhc.cuny.edu or 212-729-2924.