News Bureau
54-200
State University of New York at Albany
July 2, 1984
Irv Dean, Managing Editor
Glens Falls Post Star
Lawrence and Cooper Streets -
Glens Falls, New York 12801 , ~
Dear Irv:
There's a good local story for you in the last paragraph of this
release. Just wanted to draw your attention to it.
Beginning this fall, a solar-powered photovoltaic system will be
producing the electricity to operate WGFR, the student radio station at
Adirondack Community College. The project, which is unique in the state,
is sponsored by the University's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center,
and is the brainstorm of ASRC's Ron Stewart, a Queensbury resident. It
uses the ARCO Solar photovoltaic panels which powered three communication
systems at the 1980 Winter Olympics, plus a newer design panel.
Two other Queensbury residents, Christopher Davies and John Dody III,
both students at RIT, designed and built the electronics for the system.
Another student, Christopher Arbogast of Cornell University, is providing
the software to analyze the pv data. Arbogast is from Pennsylvania and
has a summer job at ASRC. Ronald Pesha, an ACC faculty member who is
director of the radio station, has also been instrumental in implementing
the project. Richard Perez of Albany, who is also on the ASRC staff, is
the project director.
This is probably the kind of story you will want to do once the station
is actually operating this fall. But wanted to alert you to it now,
since a lot of the work is being done this summer. I would suggest Ron
Stewart, at 457-4852, as a good starting point. Don't hesitate to call
me if I can be of help. In my absence, you can ask for my assistant,
Sheila Mahan.
On the personal front, Mary Fiess and I are beginning our fourth year as
job-sharing partners here in the University's News Bureau. It's worked
out very nicely for both of us.
Best regards,
Christine McKnight
ec: Ron Stewart
BY-20O
AD 238, 1400 Washingion Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
AYI3BN A
news _..
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ¢ Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-204
"CRUISING THE SOUTH PACIFIC' IS SECOND SCTENCE LECTURE AT WHITEFACE
"Cruising the South Pacific," a nature photographer's view of the tropical
islands, is the second of this summer's science lecture series sponsored by
State University of New York at Albany's Atmospheric Sciences Research
Center. The slide show, scheduled for Tuesday, July 17 at 8:30 p.m. at the
ASRC's Whiteface Mountain field station, will feature John F. Englert Jr.
The popular Tuesday evening lectures have attracted more than 62,000
people since ASRC meteorologist Ray Falconer began organizing them in 1963.
Featuring leading scientists and authorities on a variety of topics, the
lectures are free and open to the public. The series continues through August
28.
Englert, a professional photographer for 40 years, has photographed the
National Parks for the Eastman Kodak Co. for 20 years. An outdoorsman and
sporting enthusiast, he retired in 1983. "Cruising the South Pacific"
features pictures of a dozen islands in what Englert, a popular lecturer,
calls "a land of contrasts."
The Whiteface Mountain field station is on Memoria] Highway in Wilmington,
Essex County. Donations to sustain the lectures are appreciated.
FOO IOI II
July 5, 1984
23T4N A tl. A Select 6-14
0 6 Gorden Calla
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News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Mary Fiess 84-205
UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER DEVELOPS SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT
FOR WOMEN SUFFERING AGORAPHOBIA
Each year, thousands of people -- primarily women -- become prisoners in their
own homes, casualties of a battle they're fighting with themselves. The Greeks
called the affliction agoraphobia, meaning "fear of the marketplace,"' but its
panic attacks can frighten a sufferer from going anywhere away from the home or a
“safe'' person.
Now, however, a significant new non-drug treatment at State University of New
York at Albany's Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders offers hope for
agoraphobics. David H. Barlow, professor of psychology, has found that a woman
has a substantially better chance for recovery or improvement when her husband
becomes her partner in treatment that combines relaxation techniques with a
program of progressively independent tasks.
“Our results are really the best in the world in terms of the number of
patients who show a clinically significant benefit from the treatment," Barlow
said of the four-year study, conducted under a $200,000 grant from the National
Institute for Mental Health. Women in the program with their husbands experienced
a 25 percent higher recovery rate than those who received treatment alone, he said.
Agoraphobia, the most severe of all the anxiety disorders, afflicts 3 to 6
percent of the population, according to Barlow, and mysteriously about 75 percent
of the sufferers are women, with three-fourths of them married.
“Husbands are intimately involved in the problem of agoraphobia,'' Barlow
explained. ''They wind up being responsible for doing things like the shopping,
Page 2 84-205
and they can't take trips or go to social events. Because of the nature of the
problem, spouses want to be part of the treatment. They don't want to sit back
and do nothing."
Barlow's 12-week treatment of couples has two parts. The first involves
teaching them to manage the woman's panic attacks, the major symptom of
agoraphobia. ‘'Panic management procedures" include learning relaxation techniques
and understanding that certain physical sensations do not necessarily signal the
beginning of panic attacks.
“Psychologists used to believe agoraphobia was caused by the difficulty of
leaving a safe place or safe person. But now we're beginning to recognize that
the real problem is the panic attacks,'' Barlow said. ‘They're afraid that they'll
have one of these panic attacks, and they'll lose control or die without someone
there to help them."
The panic attacks become self-perpetuating, he explained. Sufferers of
agoraphobia are generally high-strung, and once they have an attack, they start
noticing every sensation that may indicate the onset of another: dizziness, heart
palpitations, shaking, sweating, a feeling of going crazy or losing control.
Through this hypersensitivity to their bodies, they can actually work themselves
into an attack.
The attacks differ from those other phobics suffer because they are not
“situation specific," he added. ‘This is the only phobia with completely
unpredictable panic attacks, sometimes even occurring when the person is asleep."
Increasingly, "fear of the fear'' takes over, and agoraphobics begin avoiding
places where escape would be difficult or embarrassing should a panic attack
begin. They may also visit a physician, who might prescribe a minor tranquilizer,
Page 3 84-205
Barlow said. But such drugs are not only ineffective but also harmful because of
the psychological and physical dependence they cause.
In the center's treatment, by contrast, the couple learns to understand and
control the panic attacks without drugs. Once that is accomplished, they begin
the second phase, a program of tasks, which they design, to help her to gradually
become more independent. ‘The husband's participation in the treatment teaches him
effective strategies for encouraging his wife's independence while avoiding
detrimental behavior.
“Agoraphobia sometimes originates in the context of marital stress. To treat
the woman without the participation of her husband can lead to further strains on
the marriage as the woman becomes more independent," Barlow said.
So far, about 20 to 30 percent of the 100 clients who have been through the
program have been cured, with another 50 to 60 percent substantially improved and
able to function. Only 10 to 20 percent of the clients fail to benefit from the
treatment, a marked improvement over the 30 to 40 percent failure rate in
treatment involving a woman alone.
Barlow's findings are so promising that the National Institute for Mental
Health has renewed the program's funding, and the center is accepting both men
and women for treatment in the next phase of the study. In it, he hopes to repeat
the results and to discover more about the characteristics of those who do and do
not recover.
Other mysteries of agoraphobia may take longer to unravel, Barlow admits.
Psychologists believe that panic attacks are a fairly common experience, but do
not know why they become a major problem for some people and not others.
There are also several theories to explain why more women than men suffer from
Page 4 84-205
agoraphobia. The first holds that it is more culturally acceptable for women to
be fearful, and that men who experience panic either "tough it out or
self-medicate'"’ with alcohol. Another says that women's dependent role creates
stress in conflict situations. The third theory suggests that women's biochemical
and hormonal fluctuations make them susceptible to panic attacks.
The experts even disagree about whether the root of agoraphobia is
psychological or physical.
“We think the locus of the problem is psychological, and the way to get at it
is through psychological procedures," Barlow said. ‘Others think the problem is
biological and the behavior manifested is incidental to biological disorders."
Some studies have indicated that when certain drugs are combined with
psychological programs, the drugs do contribute to recovery, Barlow said, ‘but the
initial evidence shows that when the drugs are stopped the relapse rate is so
high, the net result is a wash."
In fact, he added, agoraphobia most often ‘waxes and wanes'' through a person's
life. The non-drug treatments thus provide skills agoraphobics can use throughout
their lives.
The Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders is recognized nationally as a
leader in non-drug treatments of such disorders as chronic anxiety, social phobia
(fear of interacting with or doing something in front of other people) and Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (a syndrome that afflicts some combat veterans). «It is
the top-funded research center in the country for the study of anxiety.
donne
July 5, 1984
2430p)
July 5, 1984
Matt Clark
Time Magazine
Time-Life Building
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 20037
Dear Mr. Clark:
In light of your recent article about non-drug treatments for
hypertension, you may be interested in the Center for Stress and
Anxiety Disorders of State University of New York at Albany. The
center provides only non-drug treatments for a variety of stress
and anxiety disorders, including tension headaches, hypertension,
agoraphobia, social phobia and Post Traumatic Stess Disorder (an
syndrome that affects combat veterans). It is now the top-funded
research center in the country for the study of anxiety.
Recently, center Director David H. Barlow released results of a
new treatment program for agoraphobia with results showing an
improvement rate that he describes as ‘'the best in the world."
Barlow has found that including the spouse -- usually the husband
since 75 percent of agoraphobics are women -- in the treatment
proprem is_a key to recovery. And the National Institute for
lental Health has renewed his funding so he can replicate and
expand on his findings.
I've enclosed a release describing Barlow's treatment project and
a couple of other background pieces about the center and its
projects. These may provide you with story ideas as well as
additional researchers whose expertise may be useful in developing
other stories.
Should you wish to talk to Barlow, you can reach him at (518)
457-3999. Or you may call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 and
we'll put you in touch with him or others at the center.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
ea
July 5, 1984
Jerry Adler
Life/Style Department
Newsweek Magazine
44 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Dear Mr. Adler:
In light of your recent cover story on phobias, you may be
interested in the Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders of State
University of New York at Albany. The center emphasizes non-drug
treatments for a variety of stress and anxiety disorders,
including hypertension, agoraphobia, social phobia and Post
Traumatic Stess Disorder (an syndrome that affects combat
veterans). It is now the top-funded research center in the
country for the study of anxiety.
Recently, center Director David H. Barlow announced that a new
program for treating agoraphobia has shown results that are ''the
best in the world" in terms of the recovery rate of clients.
Barlow has found that including the spouse -- usually the husband
since 75 percent of agoraphobics are women -- in the treatment
pecan is_a key to recovery. And the National Institute for
ntal Health has renewed his funding so he can replicate and
expand on his findings.
I've enclosed a release describing Barlow's treatment and a couple
of other background pieces about the center and its projects.
These may provide you with story ideas as well as additional
researchers whose expertise may be useful in developing other
stories.
Should you wish to talk to Barlow, you can reach him at (518)
457-3999. Or you may call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 and
we'll put you in touch with him or others at the center.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
NATIONAL
E General Magazines (23)
Page 7
Editor
American S$)
D.C. 20009
NY
10016.
Editor
New Yorker
Editor
People
Tin ife Building
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020
Editor
Smithsoni
‘son Drive
Washington, D.C. 20560
/
Americana Edi
Time
Time-Life Puilding
RockefelJ@r Center
Cynthia Piggott
Newsweek on Campus
444 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Editor
Parade Magazine
750 Third Avenue
New rk, NY 10017
205
Editor sn
Atlantic
National Editor
Newsweek
444 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Editor
Reader's Digest
Pleasantville, NY 10570
National Editor
Time
Time-Life Building
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020
National Editor
US News and World Report
2300 N Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
Editor
World
17 and M Streets, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Editor j,
Editor
Changing Times
1729 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Education Editor
Time
Time-Life 1lding
Rockefejfer Center
New k, NY 10020
rid Report
20037
Editor if -
New York AlLMe
152 Was igton Avenue
Albany. (NY 12210
NA WAL
G-14 — Science-General (34)
(Page 1 of 2)(Page 22)
Bob Vogel
Consultechfommunications
1223 Pegfle's Avenue
Troy, YA 12180
Editor
American Journal
205
Brian Pance
8 Birmingham Rd,
Alcester,
Warwickshire,
England. B49 5ES
Editor
American Scientists
335 East 45th
New York, NYf//10017
Science Editor
Christian Science Monitor
345 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
Nancy G. Wright
UCAR Newsletter Editor
One Norway Street
Boston, MA 02115
Science Editor
Newsweek
44> “adison Avenue
New-rork, NY 10022
Editor
Science '84
1515 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C, 20005
Editor
Scientific American
415 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
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Omni Magazine
909 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Editor
High Techngl
38 Commergy Wharf
Bos‘ a, 02110
P.O, Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307
Walter Sullivan
Science Editor
New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Editor
Science Digest
224 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
Science Editor
Time Magazine
Time-Life Building
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020
Editor
Discover Magazine
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020
The Mr. Wizary
P.O, Box 83
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tudio
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Cable News Network
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servationist
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Geotimes
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Science News.
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Joe Ferullo
ABC Radio
1926 Broadway
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Page 23
Walter Bagley
Science Writer
Reuters Limited
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Paul Raeburn
Science Writer
Associated Press
50 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020
Tom Grady Jr.
596 Ctka
Oregon, WI 53575
Pat Young, Science Writer
Newhouse News Service-Suite 1320
174 ennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
0%
Dr. Tim Johnson
Boston Broadcasters
5 TV Place
Needham, MA 02192
Brian Sullivan
Science Writer
Associated Press
50 Rockfeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020
Science Editor
USA Today
Box 500
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Science Editor
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2300 N Street, NW
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John W. Freece, Science Editor
United Press International
Rm. 315 Ntl. Press Building
529 14th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20045
Editor
American Health
80 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
ot 19n) W [atethed Vere bt
July 6, 1984
Dear
You may be interested in a recent treatment program developed by a
State University of New York at Albany psychologist to help
sufferers of agoraphobia. This mysterious mental health problem
affects thousands of women in this country and is characterized by
severe panic attacks. Results of the University program are
markedly better than any other program and are described as the
best in the world.
David H. Barlow, director of the University's Center for Stress
and Anxiety Disorders, has found that including the spouse --
usually the husband since 75 percent of agoraphobics are women --
in the treatment program is a key to recovery. Agoraphobia tends
to appear during times of marital stress, Barlow says, and
including the husband educates him to the steps necessary for
recovery. Barlow notes, by the way, that the couples who have
successfully undergone treatment report great improvement in other
aspects of their marriage as well. For your information, I've
enclosed a release that fully describes the program.
Should you wish to follow-up with a story about Barlow and his
treatment program, you can reach him at (518) 457-3999. Or you
may call the University News Bureau at (518)457-4901 and we'll put
you in touch with him.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
bao n.
Ann Norton
Editorial Assistant
American Psychologist
1200 I7th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20036 Ms. Norton_
Editor
Psychology Joday
American Psychological Association
1200 17th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20036 Editor_
Carol S. Avery
SELF Psychology Editor
350 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017 Ms. Avery_
Judy Steinberg
Good Morning America
ican Broadcasting Company
1330 Avenue of the Americas
New York, Ny 10019 Judy_
Janice Platt
CBS Morning News
Columbia Broadcasting System
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019 Ms. Platt_
Jim Hyatt
Spot News Editor
Wall Street Journal
22 Cortland Street
New York, NY 10007 Mr. Hyatt_
Medicine Editor
Newsweek
Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022 Editor_
Life/Style Editor
Newsweek
44 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022 Editor_
Medicine Editor
Time
Time-Life Building
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 20037 Editor_
Health Editor
Cosmopolitan
Hearst Corp.
225 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019 Editor_
Health Editor
Family Circle Magazine
488 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10022 Editor_
Health Editor
Glamour Magazine
Conde Nast
350 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10017 Editor_
Health Editor
Harpers Bazaar
I Broadway
New York, NY 10017 Editor_
Health Editor
Ladies Home Journal.
Charter Corp.
3 Park Avenue
New York, Ny 10016 Editor_
Health Editor
McCall's
Z30 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Health Editor
Redbook
230 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10169 Editor_
Editor
Sunday Woman
The King Features Syndicate
235 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017 Editor_
Health Editor
Woman's Day
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036 Editor_
Health Editor
Women's World
Heinrich Bauer North American Inc.
177 North Dean Street Box 671
Englewood, NJ 07631 Editor_
Gazette Editor
MS Magazine
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018 Editor_
WewWs oureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 16, 1984
Herb Beckett
Senior Games
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Albany, New York 12238
Dear Herb,
Enclosed is the press releasing announcing the Albany Senior Games that
we prepared. It went to all the daily newspapers in the area, some of
the weeklies, radio public service announcement directors, television
news direetors and newspaper calendar editors.
A week or so before the event, you may want to make same phone calls
reminding media folks of the event and encouraging them to cover it.
I would contact the following people
At the Times Union City Desk 454-5420 or Photo Bureau at 454-5486
Knick News City Desk 454-5692
Troy Record City Desk 272-2000
Schen.Gazette=City Desk 374-4141
At Channel 6 Larry Schwartz or Donna Evans 381-4969
Channel 10 Chris Smith 436-4822
Channel 13 Walt Thomas 436-4791
Hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with the games.
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
news _
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue e Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-208
SUMMER WILD FLOWERS ARE SUBJECT OF POPULAR WHITEFACE LECTURE
Buttercups, black-eyed susans and other popular summer wild flowers will
be the subject of the third summer science lecture sponsored by the State
University of New York at Albany's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center
Tuesday, July 24, at 8:30 p.m. in the ASRC's Whiteface Mountain field station.
"The Successsion of Midsummer Wild Flowers in the Adirondacks," will
feature Phillip Walker, professor emeritus of biology at State University of
New York at Plattsburg. A field biologist and authority on bogs and pollens,
Walker will trace the times different wild flowers appear throughout the
summer in his lecture and slide show.
The popular Tuesday evening lectures have attracted more than 62,000
people since ASRC meterologist Ray Falconer began organizing them in 1963.
Featuring leading scientists and authorities on a variety of topics, the
lectures are free and open to the public. The series continues through August 28.
The Whiteface Mountain field station is on Memorial Highway in Wilmington,
Essex County. Donations to sustain the lectures are appreciated.
IOI II KK
July 17, 1984
Bob Koff
Dovg Windhan,
David Chapman
Ram Sawchock
Q393N
News
OAHRAHD
ke WY Times
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ¢ Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-211
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. ON THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1984
UNIVERSITY WINS CONTRACT TO ASSESS AFRICAN EDUCATION PROGRAMS
State University of New York at Albany has received $4.7 million -- the
single largest contract in its history -- as part of a federally funded
project to evaluate the educational programs of countries in Africa, the
Middle East and the Caribbean.
The funding, from the United States Agency for International Development,
is part of a $30 million, five-year contract awarded to a consortium of
colleges led by Florida State University and including Howard, Pennsylvania
State and Syracuse universities and the private Institute for International
Research in Washington.
Under the project, experts from the U.S. will assist selected developing
nations in improving their educational systems, according to Dean Robert H.
Koff of SUNY-Albany's School of Education. Koff said the contract was
"recognition of the leading position the School of Education has assumed in
the field of international educational development."
Other competitors for the project included such respected universities as
Harvard, Stanford, Pittsburgh and Southern California.
Economist Douglas Windham, a professsor of education and public policy,
will serve as associate director of the consortium and Albany's institutional
coordinator. Education Professor David Chapman will be associate
Page 3 84-211
training ground for SUNY graduates to work in the international departments of
American corporations, service organizations and governments.
"New York is probably the most international state in the union," the dean
said. "It has the lion's share of U.S. international trade and
communications. It is a world financial capital and a center of intellectual
and artistic activity. It is also the nation's most ethnically diverse
state. It is for reasons like these that SUNY has designated international
programming as a key initiative for the 1980s and beyond, and the University
at Albany is an important part of that effort."
Robert Morgan, director of the Florida State Learning Systems Institute
and architect of the project, said Florida State assisted in a major
educational reform in Korea in the 1970s which resulted in a 29 percent
increase in the achievement of its public school students.
For further information, Koff may be contacted at 518-457-4916, Windham at
518-457-8245 and Chapman at 518-457-3089.
wekkikk
July 23, 1984
aya
Why the Population Bomb Still Ticks
by Scott J. South
Representatives from over 160 countries will meet in Mexico City this
week (Aug. 6-13) to discuss the current state of world population. The last
such conference, in Bucharest, Romania, in 1974 was a highly charged event,
replete with acrimonious debate ususally absent from the staid field of
demography.
In all Likelihood, the Mexico conference will share this
contentiousness, as population issues continue to divide rich and poor
nations, further widening an already dangerous chasm based on political
ideologies and standards of living. At the root of much of this division
are the continuing high growth rates of Third World countries whose
inhabitants now constitute three-quarters of the world's population.
While birth rates have declined remarkably in some countries --
Columbia, South Korea and Singapore are sterling examples -- the population
bomb is a long way from being defused. The vast demographic differences
between the developed and the lesser developed (or Third World) nations will
undoubtedly polarize the two groups at the Mexico conference, just as they
did in Bucharest 10 years ago with the two factions sharply divided on how
best to slow the growth of world population. Representatives from the
United States and Western Europe, mindful of the dangers of rapid growth for
political and economic stability in both the Third World and their own
regions, pushed hard for large-scale adoption of family-planning programs by
the lesser developed nations. In fact, thinly veiled threats that future
economic aid to the Third World might be contingent on the rigorous pursuit
of birth control programs surfaced, though they were never acted upon.
Representatives from Third World countries, for their part, rejected
Why the Population Bomb Still Ticks Page 2
family planning programs as poor substitutes for comprehensive development
assistance. They viewed family planning programs as little more than a
comparatively inexpensive way for developed countries to curb population
growth while doing nothing to alleviate the economic troubles of the Third
World. Why shouldn't we, asked the Third World, reduce our birth rates the
same way now-developed countries achieved low fertility in the 19th and
early 20th centuries -- through economic modernization?
In the end, the lesser developed countries by and large got their way.
The Bucharest Conference approved the World Population Plan of Action, a
doctrine which holds that underdevelopment is the primary cause of
population problems, and that any population policy which does not
explicitly acknowledge social and economic sources of population growth is
doomed to fail. This statement will serve as the guiding principle for the
Mexico conference.
Research on the causes of declining birth rates generally supports the
central premise of the World Population Plan. Such factors as urbanization,
declining mortality, rising incomes, higher education, and increasing
economic roles for women, are the main mechanisms for lowering birth rates
and, hence, slowing population growth. ..In contrast, rural societies with
high levels of mortality and poverty are those with the highest birth
rates. To developed countries, having a large number of children while
mired in Third World poverty might seem irrational, if not downright
foolish. Surely the addition of more children places unnecessary demands on
an already fragile family budget.
In fact, large families are an undeniably rational response to economic
Why the Population Bomb Still Ticks Page 3
underdevelopment. The average citizen of sub-Saharan Africa, for example,
lives in a society which is predominantly rural, has no established social
security system for taking care of its elderly, and in which the probability
of an infant dying before his or her first birthday is greater than one in
ten. In order to ensure that enough children survive to work on the farm
(where their contribution far outweighs the cost of rearing them) and
provide financial support in one's old age, the logical response is to have
a large number of children. Only as modernization proceeds do the benefits
of large families dissipate, and the transition from a high birth rate to a
low birth rate society begins.
To be sure, family planning programs, usually consisting of educational
campaigns, health clinics, and a system for dispensing contraceptives, have
been shown to reduce fertility rates. Their impact is generally slight,
however, and pales in comparison with the influence of economic and social
modernization. Overzealous pursuit of such family planning programs,
notwithstanding their worthwhile goals, can also have grave political
consequences. The backlash following India's sterilization program of
1975-76 was partly responsible for Indira Ghandi's defeat in 1977. But most
importantly, a population policy based primarily on family planning programs
fails to appreciate the motivation to limit family size. Even the most
advanced and foolproof contraceptive technology, freely available, will not
significantly diminisn population growth rates unless people want to have
fewer children. This will only come with social and economic progress.
When put in its proper context, then, the world population crisis
entails much more than a cooperative search for remedies to rapid population
Why the Population Bomb Still Ticks Page 4
growth. Population issues are inextricably tied to economic inequalities
between rich and poor nations. While expedient strategies such as family
planning programs will always find favor in some quarters, a final
resolution to the world's population problems must await a more just
distribution of the planet's wealth and resources.
Scott J. South is assistant professor of sociology at State University of
New York at Albany. A member of the Population Association of America, he
is a demographer whose research focuses on such social problems, as divorce,
crime and suicide.
audi
GERALDINE FERRARO'S NOMINATION: SYMBOL OF ETHNICITY'S TWILIGHT
By Richard D. Alba
Walter Mondale's choice of Geraldine Ferraro may have made history as the
first selection of a woman for the presidential ticket of a major party. But
it is also another kind of first: the first nomination of an Italian-American
for high national office. As such, it serves to announce a revolution -- but
not the one most people might think. The choice of Ferraro indicates that
ethnicity is not gaining, but rather is losing, its potency as a social force
among, Americans from European backgrounds.
This may not seem so on the surface. Many European-ancestry groups,
especially those from southern and eastern Europe who came to America in this
century, have remained salient features of the American social landscape for
the better part of this century. Their distinctiveness from those who trace
their ancestors to northern and western Europe has helped sustain the image of
the United States as an "ethnic mosaic" rather than a melting pot.
But deeply rooted changes are bringing about a convergence of the
descendants of the Europeans who came at the turn of the century and those of
America's early settlers. These changes are not fully visible yet because
they chiefly affect those born and raised since World War II, and those of
third and later generations. Some members of these groups are children of
iumigrants or immigrants themselves, or were born and raised at a time when
ethnicity molded people's lives (as it still does today for blacks and many
other non-European groups). Nonetheless, as Ferraro's nomination indicates,
these changes are well established and are leading to a remarkable
transformation of European-ancestry groups, scarcely 80 years after the peak
of European immigration.
Italians serve as a revealing example of the transformation underway,
GERALDINE FERRARO'S NOMINATION Page 2
particularly in light of the political reasons often cited for the selection
of Ferraro. One claim is that her presence will regain the loyalities of
ethnics, who are seen as cohesive groups still clinging to their ethnic
heritages. Such ethnic resilience is often asserted of Italians and
attributed to a theme clearly linked to Ferraro's candidacy -- the power of
the family. The strong family bonds in Italian-American culture have enabled
the group to resist the most brutal assimilatory pressures.
But recent census data demonstrate the tremendous changes taking place
among Italians. In education, for example, older Italian Americans lagged
well behind Americans from old-stock backgrounds. While many older Italians
grew up in disadvantaged immigrant homes and were victims of widespread and
intense prejudice and discrimination, the family-centered culture of Italians
also played a role, discouraging achievement that might weaken the family.
Consequently, even among those born in the early 1930s, the college
attendance rate of Italian men was nearly 20 percent behind that of men of
British ancestry. And given traditional roles in Italian-American families,
it is no surprise that the education gap among women was even wider. The
college attendance rate for Italian women born in the early 1930s was just
one-third that of British women. Ferraro is clearly an exception.
But with each succeeding group of Italians, the gap has closed. Parity is
nearly complete for those born after 1950. Roughly half attend college and a
quarter complete four or more years, almost identical to their British peers.
The most persuasive evidence of ethnicity's fading grip, however, lies in
the trend of intermarriage. It was once true that a secure majority of
Italians married within the group. It is true no longer. As is the case with
GERALDINE FERRARO'S NOMINATION Page 3
other Americans who trace their ancestors to Europe, the great majority of
younger Italian Americans marry outside their ethnic group. About 70 percent
of Italian Americans born since the end of World War II have chosen spouses
with no Italian ancestry. And about half have married non-Catholics.
As a result of this sustained rise in intermarriage, almost half the group
is part Italian and part something else. More to the point, among Italian
Americans born between the end of the war and the mid-1960s -- all eligible to
vote in the fall's election -- nearly 60 percent have mixed ethnic ancestry.
The ethnic loyalties of such individuals are unknown, but are certain to be
weaker than those of individuals who grew up in wholly Italian families.
Geraldine Ferraro's ascendancy to the vice presidential nomination clearly
marks in symbolic terms the closing of the distance between the once despised
Italians and Americans of other ethnic backgrounds. But what will be its
political import if ethnic lines are now so fluid?
The answer is not entirely clear. Much has been made by commentators of a
revivial of ethnicity among Italians and other groups. And it is true that
among the socially mobile, the intermarried, and perhaps even those with mixed
ancestry, many still feel some sense of connection with an ethnic heritage.
But this attachment is fundamentally different from the attachment of the
past. ‘The key notes of the new ethnic identity are pride in ethnic
achievement -- enhanced for Italians by the recent success of Ferraro and New
York Gov. Mario Cuomo -- and the celebration of ethnic symbols. This
“symbolic ethnicity,'' as sociologist Herbert Gans has labeled it, is a way of
retaining ethnic "spice,'"' small ethnic flourishes in lifestyle, in the midst
of widespread mobility.
GERALDINE FERRARO'S NOMINATION Page 4
The crucial point is that it poses no hurdle to free intermixing by
Italians and other ethnics with others of different backgrounds. Symbolic
ethnicity is intermittent and undemanding. It makes no strong claims on
individuals' lives. It focuses on symbols of ethnic cultures rather than the
cultures themselves, and tends to be expressed in leisure-time activities
rather than in the fabric of everyday life.
In many ways, it is the very opposite of ethnic solidarity. It is an
ethnicity meant to be shared with others of different backgrounds, rather than
confined to a circle of family and friends ethnically like oneself. As
Mondale's introduction of Ferraro emphasized, all Americans can identify with
the symbols and themes of Italian-American culture. A similar introduction
would have been effective for a candidate who was Polish, Irish or Jewish.
Thus, the politicial ascendancy of the first Italian-American to a
presidential slate marks the decline of ethnicity as a potent political
force. Increasingly, for younger Italians and others of European-ancestry,
ethnicity is a marginal ingredient in lifestyle, rather than an irrevocable
fact of birth. It is doubtful that in the competition for votes, it can stand
up against other strong pressures on voters, such as party affiliation or
issues like the economy and war and peace.
This in no way diminishes the importance of Ferraro's selection. As with
other aspects of ethnicity, symbolism counts.
Richard Alba is associate professor of sociology at State University of New
York at Albany and director of its Center for Social and Demographic
Analysis. He is is the author of The Italian American: Into the Twilight of
Ethnicity, to be published in August by Prentice-Hall.
aun0NV A Falconer specia |
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News
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DE |
News Bureau » (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany ¢ 1400 Washington Avenue » Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Christine McKnight or Sheila Mahan 84-209
PICTORIAL TOUR OF THE ADIRONDACKS HIGHLIGHTS LECTURE SERIES
Hiker and photographer Fred A. Johnson of Troy will present a pictorial
tour of the Adirondack Mountains High Peaks region on Tuesday, July 31, at the
Whiteface Mountain field station of State University of New York at Albany's
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center.
Johnson, a member of the elite climbing group called the Adirondack
Forty-sixers, will present a musical slide show entitled "Quest for the 46."
The talk, scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m., is the fourth in the popular summer
lecture series sponsored by the ASRC. The lectures are free and open to the
public.
The field station is on Memorial Highway in Wilmington, Essex County. The
series runs through Aug. 28.
III,
July 20, 1984
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 24, 1984 wt
Robert L. Bartley
Editorial Page Editor
The Wall Street Journal
22 Cortlandt Street
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mr. Bartley:
Enclosed are two timely opinion pieces written by faculty members at
the State University of New York at Albany.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that "symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
A dh uhto—
Ahe ila Mahan
‘ assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany ca
July 24, 1984
Max Frankel
Editorial Page Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Dear Mr. Frankel:
Enclosed are two timely opinion pieces written by faculty members at
the State University of New York at Albany.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that “symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Vrahtir/
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 24, 1984
Ilene Barth
Viewpoints/Ideas Editor
Newsday
Long Island, NY 11747
Dear Ms. Barth:
Enclosed are two timely opinion pieces written by faculty members at
the State University of New York at Albany.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that “symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Sincerely,
uch Puakon
/ Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 24, 1984
Elmer Hall
Editorial Page Editor
Louisville Courier-Journal
525 West Broadway
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Dear Mr. Hall:
Enclosed are two timely opinion pieces written by faculty members at
the State University of New York at Albany.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that “symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Sincerely, :
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 24, 1984
Denise Tanka
Liveline
WMHT
17 Fern Avenue
Schenectady, NY 12301
Dear Denise:
Enclosed are a couple of opinion pieces written by two members of the
faculty here at the University. I thought you might be interested in
them as possible guests on your show. These essays should give you
some background on what they have to say.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that "symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Sincerely,
‘
Q__.
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 24, 1984
Bob Cudmore
WGY Radio
1410 Balltown Road
Schenectady, NY 12309
Dear Bob:
Enclosed are a couple of opinion pieces written by two members of the
“faculty here at the University. I thought you might be interested in
them as possible guests on your show. These essays should give you
some background on what they have to say.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine -
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate: The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that “symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population srowth i in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Sincerely,
heila/Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 24, 1984
Malcolm Scully
Senior Editor
The Chronicle of Higher Education
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Dear Mr. Scully:
Enclosed are two timely opinion pieces written by faculty members at
-the State University of New York at Albany.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that “symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
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elected attdched apecratl, tetlira
Mau Youae, Ey Rickard. Clba ;
State University of New York at Albany destt. boutZ
July 24, 1984
Dear Editor:
Enclosed are two timely opinion pieces written by faculty members at
the State University of New York at Albany.
The first focuses on the selection of Italian-American Geraldine
Ferraro as a vice presidential candidate. The author, sociologist
Richard Alba, argues that Ferraro's nomination signals the decreasing
role of ethnicity in American politics. In contrast with many others,
Alba maintains that "symbolic ethnicity” has emerged in place of
ethnic cohesiveness.
The second piece explains the controversy over family planning
programs expected to erupt at the world population conference in
Mexico in early August. Scott South, also a sociologist, argues that
family planning programs endorsed by Western countries have, for the
most part, been completely inadequate in stemming population growth in
the Third World.
We offer these commentaries for your op-ed pages, and as background
material in the preparation of your own editorials. Should you use
either, we would be grateful for a tearsheet.
Please do not hesitate to call the News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 if
you have any questions.
Mnahan—
(Sheil Mahan
Assistant Director
Sincerely,
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
Keff-op-ed matting—tist
Doc. #2190N
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pert wf Chea oped News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 26, 1984
Marc Rosenbaum
Editor
All Things Considered
c/o National Public Radio
2025 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Rosenbaum:
You may be interested in the attached opinion piece which maintains that
Geraldine Ferraro's nomination as vice president really signals the end of
ethnic cohesiveness.
It was written by Richard Alba, a sociologist here at State University of New
York at Albany and director of the University’s Center for Social and
Demographic Analysis. In contrast to many others, Alba maintains that
“symbolic ethnicity” has replaced ethnic cohesiveness, and ethnicity is losing
its potency as a social force.
This is also the theme of Alba's upcoming book, The Italian American: Into the
Twilight of Ethnicity, to be published in August by Prentice-Hall.
He wrote the attached commentary for the Sunday newspaper here in Albany.
We're offering to you as a possible interview idea or for background in
related stories.
Should you wish to talks with Alba, you can reach him at (518) 457-8468 or
(518) 439-1058. Or you can contact me at the News Bureau (518) 467-4901 and
I'll make arrangements for you.
Thanks for your interest.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
/sm
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
a4 3KN D
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue * Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-206
NOTED CONTEMPORARY ARTIST TO COLLABORATE IN UNIVERSITY SUMMER PROGRAM
Vito Acconci, nationally noted for creating art work that defies
traditional definitions of art, is collaborating on a printmaking project this
week with graduate students at State University of New York at Albany.
Acconci is visiting the Albany campus from July 10 through 13 to make
lithograph prints of his drawings as part of the department's summer program,
according to Dennis Byng, chairman of the Art Department. The public is
welcome to visit the University's lithograph studio to watch the process.
"Students and other people interested in art will have the opportunity to
see him at work and to see the work," Byng explained. "In exchange for use
of our studio, he'll donate a print or two to the University."
Acconci, of New York City, first drew critical attention in the late 1960s
when he created “performance art" which frequently required intimate
participation by the viewer. During this time, Acconci also “elevated video
to the status of an art form,” according to ARTnews magazine. Since then, his
art has evolved to sculpture which the viewer must activate in order to fully
see.
While at the University, Acconci will make drawings on lithograph plates.
Lithograph prints will be produced by graduate student assistants who are
collaborating with him on the project. In addition to gaining the experience
of working with Acconci, the students will also receive a print from the
collaborative effort.
Page 2 84-206
The lithography studio is located in the Fine Arts Building on the
University's uptown campus at 1400 Washington Ave. Acconci is expected to
work from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.
ORI
July 9, 1984
Ken Karlin
A
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pel. 67/4
Henry Kovda
Danie! Wolff
News Bureau » (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue © Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-207
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON EMERGING ROLE OF COPPER
Cut an apple or potato and it turns brown, the result of copper ions in
one of its enzymes. The same metal, in one of the brain's enzymes, helps
produce a hormone that regulates the human heartbeat. Over 100 scientists
from throughout the world will explore the way copper affects such widely
divergent biological systems, as well as its potential use in industry and its
possible medical value at State University of New York at Albany July 23-27.
The conference, “Inorganic and Biochemical Perspectives in Copper
Coordination Chemistry," is the second such meeting organized by the
University's Department of Chemistry and is the only international conference
devoted to the chemistry of copper, according to Kenneth D. Karlin, an
associate professor of chemistry who organized the conference with Jon
Zubieta, also associate professor of chemistry. The department held the first
conference in 1982.
“Recently, scientists have increased their research of copper chemistry
because of their increasing appreciation of its role in biological systems and
its potential uses in industry," Karlin said. "Copper metals and complexes are
used as catalysts in the synthesis of petrochemicals.”
Preliminary scientific investigations indicate that copper may also have
medicinal value including use in drugs for cancer, tumors, arthritis, ulcers
and epilepsy, Karlin said. John R. J. Sorenson of the University of Arkansas
will discuss these possible applications Thursday, July 26, at 2 p.m.
Page 2 84-207
Other presentations on medical applications of copper research will be
included in the poster session July 26 at 8 p.m. More than 40 scientists will
present their research in the session in the Campus Center Assembly Hall.
Roald Hoffman, winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1981, will
deliver the keynote address Tuesday, July 24, at 8 p.m. Hoffman, an applied
theoretical chemist and chair of the Chemistry Department at Cornell
University, won the prize with Kenichi Fukui of Japan for their theories on
the causes of chemical reaction. All conference lectures, will be held in the
Performing Arts Center on the University's uptown campus, 1400 Washington Ave.
Another theme of the conference will be the electronic and magnetic
properties and interaction of copper ions, an area which deals with the
fundamental properties of the metal. Chemists must fully understand these
before developing applications. The scientists will also discuss the
interaction and reaction of molecular oxygen with copper ions, and “binuclear
copper systems," the interaction of two or more copper ions in close
proximity. Such clusters frequently occur in nature and industrial systems,
making research on their interaction important, Karlin said.
Conference pankicipanes will include top inorganic chemists from
universities in the U.S., Europe, Israel, Australia, India and Singapore as
well as industry representatives from Exxon, General Electric, Sun Tech and
E.I. DuPont. The conference is sponsored by the University and Allied,
Bioanalytical Systems, Bristol-Myers, Exxon, Galbraith Labs, General Electric,
International Copper Research Association, Standard Oil, Sun Tech and Texaco.
FEI
July 12, 1984
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Yip IN aa (wfieter)
Bb Senior Games
6-2. Office of Parks, Recreation f
C Histone Preservation
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News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-210
SENIOR GAMES AT UNIVERSITY EXPECTED TO ATTRACT 500 PARTICIPANTS
More than 500 area residents are expected to participate in the New York
State Senior Games August 10-11 at State University of New York at Albany.
The two-day competition, for state residents 55 years old or older, is one
of four such events sponsored by the New York State Office of Parks,
Recreation and Historic Preservation throughout the state during August and
September. Other locations are Cortland, Farmingdale and Brockport.
The games provide recreational opportunities and encourage fitness among
older residents, according to Herb Beckett, Albany regional coordinator of the
games. .
Participants will compete by age group and level of get in tennis,
track and field and wheelchair events, golf, bowling, badminton, racquetball,
cycling, swimming and archery. Games will include bocci, horseshoes,
pinochle, Scrabble, table tennis, bridge and checkers. Participants will be
able to compete in novice, intermediate and advanced categories in each event.
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded for each ability level in
each event.
In addition to the games, weekend activities will also include a social
dance Friday evening and informational clinics for participants. Marge Tynan
of Tynan Dance Studio will conduct a dance clinic, Michael Wayne of the Albany
Macrobiotics Center will hold a nutrition clinic and a team from the U.S.
Tennis Association will be featured in a tennis clinic, Beckett said.
Page 2 84-210
Deadline for application is July 31 and the cost of registration is $8.
There may also be additional event charges such as golf greens fees and
special events. Meals and housing charges are also extra.
For further information, contact the New York State Senior Games at
474-2324,
derek
July 16, 1984
HERB BECKETT'S HOME NUMBER IS 482-2980.
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News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany; New York 12222
Contact: Mary Fiess or Christine McKnight 84-212
IN ONE SPECIAL COMMUNITY,
ALMOST EVERYONE -- NOT JUST THE PARENTS -- CARES FOR THE YOUNG
EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS: Each spring, Jerram Brown, a State University of New
York at Albany biologist, and his wife Esther travel to Arizona to study an
unusual society where everyone helps care for the young. The Browns have
recently returned from their field studies, and the story below focuses on what
they have learned over the years from their observations of Mexican Jays.
To many a parent with young children, the lifestyle of Mexican Jays probably
seems like a Utopian dream. For unlike the vast majority of bird species and
animal species in general, almost everyone in a Mexican Jay flock -- not just
the parents -- helps care for the young.
This somewhat unusual behavior was first discovered and chronicled by Jerram
Brown, a State University of New York at Albany biologist. In the past 15
years, he and his wife Esther have devoted many thousands of hours to close
observations of Mexican Jays in hopes of learning more about their society.
Exactly why Mexican Jays act the way they do is something that the Browns
and other scientists have not yet been able to figure out, although there are
several theories. But the Browns' research has provided some fascinating
glimpses of how one species of bird manages its affairs, as well as findings
Page 2 84-212
that may be of general use in explaining social behavior.
Mexican Jays live in Mexico and the southwestern United States, and the
Browns have focused their research on groups living in the mountainous
wilderness areas of southeastern Arizona.
Mexican Jays live year-round in non-migratory social groups that may range
in size from approximately 10 to 20 or so. Each group -- also known as a flock
-- has a specific territory, the boundaries of which generally change little
over the years. A flock usually has two to four breeding pairs, and a fair
number of the flock members are related in some way. For example, the
grandparents and aunts or uncles of a new set of nestlings might all be members
of a particular flock.
Within the flocks, virtually everyone pitches in and helps feed the young,
bringing them a steady supply of tasty insects and other dietary favorites. The
task is not exactly an easy one since, by the Browns’ count, the number of
feedings at each nest ranges from two to six an hour. Mothers sitting on their
eggs also get fed by other members of the flock.
The effort is truly communal, for even the parents of nestlings serve as
helpers at nests other than their own. For the first few weeks after the young
hatch and before they can fly, the parents may feed their own young slightly
more than other nestlings. But once the young can fly, parents show no
preference for their own young in feedings, the Browns found.
In addition to serving as nest helpers, the individual members of a flock
also serve their group by ''calling alarm and harassing predators,"
says Brown.
So what is the explanation for all this cooperative behavior? How could
natural selection bring about or maintain this system?
Page 3 84-212
Jerram Brown says there are no definitive explanations although there are a
number of theories.
One theory holds that members of a flock help one another because they share
genes, and their helping behavior promotes the survival of those genes. Often,
however, members of a flock are distant relatives at best, Brown notes. Another
theory suggests the jays are acting on Fi kind of "tit-for-tat" basis. In other
words, their strategy is: "If you help me, I'll help you." But mothers whose
nests fail have been found to quickly pitch in and help at other nests in
apparent disregard for whether their help will be reciprocated, notes Brown.
One important influence in the behavior of Mexican Jays may be the fact that
virtually all available territories in their habitat are occupied, and so it
would be difficult for individual jays to go off and establish new territories.
As if in recognition of this fact of life, Mexican Jay parents, unlike most
other bird species, do not push their young out of the family.
And the young do not begin breeding until relatively late in life compared
to other species. Instead, they remain in the flock, helping out with the
newest arrivals. ‘It's like teen-agers helping out their parents,"
says Brown.
When a non-breeder finally finds a mate, the pair is likely to establish a nest
in the flock where one member of the pair was born. Sane Mexican Jays,
therefore, never leave home.
The fact that there are so many helpers with the young contributes to the
reproductive success of the breeders, says Brown. More young survive and the
breeding pairs can start new broods more quickly. The Browns examined this
phenomenon in Australian babblers -- another "helping'' species -- through an
experiment in which they removed a number of helpers from some flocks, and
Page 4 84-212
compared those flocks to ones where all the helpers remained.
The young at nests with more helpers don't necessarily end up getting more
food, Brown says. But with greater numbers of helpers contributing to the
feedings, the nesting pairs may be able to conserve more of their own energy and
therefore be ready sooner for the responsibilities of a new brood, he adds.
Since 1969, the Browns have banded and closely observed some 800 Mexican
Jays. Each jay is assigned a unique six-digit number. Each spring when the
Browns travel to Arizona, they record up-to-date information on what's happening
to the birds they've already banded, and they band and establish records on the
newest additions to the flocks they study. All the information is filed into a
computer, and by studying the Browns' computerized records, one can learn such
things as when and where an individual jay was born, how long it served as a
helper, when and where it set up its first nest and how successful it was in its
breeding attempts.
One reason the Browns have had to travel to Arizona to explore such a bird
society is that such societies are fairly rare. Of the nearly 10,000 species of
birds in the world, only about 200 show helping behavior, says Brown. In a
place like New York state, most birds are migratory and do not live in permanent
groups year-round.
The Browns' research is being supported by the National Science Foundation.
The Browns are reachable at (518) 872-0661 (home) or (518) 457-1878 (office).
RAKE
July 24, 1984
=
84-212 also to: | Editor | Science Editor
Audubon | The Arizona Republic
950 3 Avenue | 120 E. Van Buren Street
New York, NY 10022 Phoenix, AZ 85004
Science Editor
The Arizona Daily Star
4850 S. Park Avenue 4850 S. Park Avenue |
P.O. Box 26807 P.O. Box 26807
Tucson, AZ 85726 Tucson, AZ 85726 i
Science Editor |
Tucson Citizen
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Lothryn Gibson
Charles Hartman
ao aligc
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue e Albany, New York 12222
84-213
ADVISORY
Editors, News Directors:
Thirteen local junior high school students and five area teachers are
getting a taste of what life is like in China, as part of a cultural education
program at State University of New York at Albany through Aug. 3. The
two-week "Global Educational Summer Institute on China," is offering them a
view into the life, history and culture of China as seen by exchange scholars
from Peking studying at the University.
The pilot program, supported by a $4,000 grant from the state Department
of Education, is intended to help area schools develop lessons that meet the
new Regents' requirement for international education in junior high schools,
according to Charles Hartman, director of the University's Chinese Studies
Program. The teachers and students attending this session are from
Stillwater, Shenendehowa, and Bishop Maginn schools.
Each day from 9 to 9:30 a.m., the students will take part in traditional
Chinese exercises called T'ai-Chi and will spend the rest of the day learning
about such topics as Chinese personal and family life, traditions and customs,
schools, and Chinese caligraphy.
The students and teachers will travel to New York City's Chinatown Friday,
July 27, and will have lunch at the Jade Fountain Restaurant in Albany, Aug. 3.
The students will also learn some Chinese words and practice other skills. By
the end of the two-week program, each school's team will have developed a
Page 2 84-213
curriculum that they can take back to schools, Hartman said.
The events are being conducted by Deyuan Wan, Zheng Zhu and Yu Chiang,
exchange scholars from the Peking Second Foreign Language Institute, Lihua Yu,
a Chinese novelist who has written 14 books about her native county, and
Hartman.
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/Sheila/ Mahan
Assistant Director, News Bureau
July 25, 1984
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News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 « State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan or Christine McKnight 84-214
RADON'S DANGER IS SUBJECT OF NEXT WHITEFACE LECTURE
The dangers of radon, a radioactive gas that occurs in soil and rock, and
its tendency to seep into homes, will be the subject of the next summer
science lecture sponsored by State University of New York at Albany's
Atmopsheric Sciences Research Center. The lecture is set for Tuesday, Aug. 7.
Robert Fleischer, staff scientist at General Electric Research and
Development Center and adjunct professor of geology at the University, will
speak on "Radon, For Good and For Evil," beginning at 8:30 p.m. at the ASRC's
Whiteface Mountain Field Station.
Radon, which originates in the uranium in soil, enters homes through
unpaved basements and crawl spaces and can also be present in water from
artesian wells and natural gas, according to Fleischer. High concentrations
of radon indoors can pose health hazards, and well-insulated homes are at the
highest risk. But the risk is greatly reduced by proper ventilation, he says.
The Whiteface Mountain field station is on Memorial Highway in Wilmington,
Essex County. The lectures are open to the public. Donations to sustain the
series are appreciated.
FOI IK
July 26, 1984
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News Bureau ° (518) 457-4901 « State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue * Albany, New York 12222
84-215
Special to the Times-Union
For Back-to-School Supplement
Roundup of Fall Activities
by Christine McKnight
The School of Education at State University of New York at Albany observes
its 140th birthday on Saturday, Sept. 22, at a special convocation featuring a
keynote address by U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y.
The School of Education, the forerunner of today's University at Albany, was
founded in 1844. It was the first "normal school" or teachers college in New
York and the third in the nation.
The convocation will include the presentation of two distinguished service
awards and four honorary degrees. In addition, a series of seminars and
lectures, led by the honorary degree recipients, is planned for Friday, Sept. 21.
In another major campus event this fall, Toni Morrison, the internationally
known writer and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, will visit the
University as a special guest of the Writer's Institute at Albany. Morrison,
who will participate in a series of activities sponsored by the Institute on
Thursday, Sept. 13, will occupy the Albert Schweitzer Chair in Humanities
beginning next spring. She will teach courses offered by the departments of
English and African and Afro-American Studies and the Women's Studies program, as
well as lecture and participate in workshops.
Morrison, currently completing her fifth novel while serving as Distinguished
Visiting Professor at Rutgers University, first attracted wide public attention
Roundup of Fall Activities (84-215) Page 2
when her third novel, Song of Solomon, won the National Book Critics Circle Award
in 1977. The appointment marks the first time the Regents have awarded the
University the prestigious position.
The Writer's Institute, directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William
Kennedy of Albany, was established at the University last December to bring
distinguished writers from around the world to campus. Other noted novelists
scheduled to participate in the program during the upcoming academic year include
Luisa Valenzuela, Alison Lurie and Mario Vargas Llosa.
An estimated 2,150 freshmen are expected to enroll for classes at the
University this fall, with overall enrollment projected at 15,900, including
4,500 graduate students and 950 to 1,000 transfers. Enrollments last year were
about the same.
While precise figures won't be available until registration is complete, a
clear profile of the Class of 1988 has emerged. The average Albany freshman,
according to the Admissions Office, ranks in the top 12 percent of his or her
high school class, has a B+ average and has combined college board scores of at
least 1100.
In all, the University accepted 7,600 of the 13,900 students who applied for
admission this fall.
Receiving distinguished service awards at the School of Education convocation
will be Fred. M. Hechinger, vice president of the New York Times Foundation and
respected education writer, and Albert Shanker, president of the American
Federation of Teachers and vice president of the AFL-CIO. Both are being honored
for their contributions to the field of education.
Receiving honorary degrees will be James Coleman, a renowned social scientist
Roundup of Fall Activities (84-215) Page 3
and distinguished professor at the University of Chicago; Bruno Bettelheim,
recognized as one of the foremost child psychologists and a professor emeritus at
the University of Chicago; Eleanor Gibson of Cornell University, who is among
America's leading psychologist-educators; and Lawrence A. Cremin, president of
Teachers College of Columbia University and a Pulitzer-Prize winning author.
The School of Education, a leader in public higher education in New York and
throughout the country, began in 1844 with 29 students, two faculty members and
an annual budget of $10,000. Since then, it has gone through a dizzying series
of name changes (there have been 11), physical relocations and transformations of
mission. Today, the University is a multi-purpose institution with nine
degree-granting undergraduate and graduate schools, including the School of
Education, which is now essentially a graduate school, with 1,600 students
enrolled in its various advanced-degree programs. That is about 38 percent of
the University's total graduate enrollment.
FIR RIK
July 30, 1984
Christine McKnight is director of the News Bureau at State University of New York
at Albany.
QY49N
news
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News Bureau ° (518) 457-4901 « State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
84-216
Special to the Times Union
For Back-to-School Supplement
GE, University Cooperative Microbeam Venture
by Mary Fiess
Researchers now have a valuable new tool to scrutinize and probe the tiny,
but powerful computer chip, thanks to a cooperative venture of the General
Electric Research and Development Center and the State University of New York
at Albany.
The tool, called a nuclear microbeam analyser, is one of the best of its
kind in the world. Completed earlier this year, it allows scientists to detect
the tiny flaws in microelectronic chips that cause them to break down but which
previously defied analysis; it also analyses other materials. The microbeam is
expected to play a major role in helping researchers design even smaller,
faster and more reliable chips that will improve tomorrow's computers,
microwave ovens, radios and a host of other electronic products. And the
microbeam's presence at the University at Albany is, in turn, likely to make
the University a center for "cutting-edge" research into the technology of
microelectronic chips.
The device ended up at Albany due largely to two fortuitous situations.
First of all, the University has a nuclear accelerator which is used for a wide
variety of research projects in solid-state physics and which, it also happens,
is the expensive central component to which a microbeam is attached. Secondly,
GE's distinguished research and development facility is only a short distance
GE, University Cooperative Microbeam Venture (84-216) Page 2
from campus, and GE and University researchers have developed a close working
relationship over the years through research projects involving the nuclear
accelerator.
Although there are a few other microbeams in the U.S., they are either too
far away or not suitable for GE's research needs for other reasons, says Dr.
William Morris, manager of the X-ray and microstructural analysis unit at the
GE Research and Development Center. And so, says Morris, GE turned to the
University at Albany. Over two years ago, GE and the University began building
the microbeam, with GE providing $75,000 in funding, and earlier this year,
researchers completed testing of the new facility.
“We started out just wanting to have a microbeam facility nearby. We ended
up with one of the best in the world,” says Morris. "It works better than we
anticipated, better than what anyone else has achieved."
The process of "seeing" a microelectronic chip through the microbeam begins
with the acceleration to high velocity of a beam of helium ions in the nuclear
accelerator. Once these particles achieve the desired velocity, they are drawn
out through the microbeam and focused onto the semi-conductor chip or other
material being studied.
Under this bombardment, the atoms at the surface of the sample reflect ions
at various energies. Since these energies provide the distinctive “signature”
for atoms of each element, the composition of the region under study can be
determined. In addition, using conventional scanning electronic microscope
techniques, the Albany nuclear microprobe is able to provide researchers with a
picture of the region they are sampling.
Manufacturers and users of computer chips have long been able to tell
GE, University Cooperative Microbeam Venture (84-216) Page 3
whether the chip was working, but they were often unable to diagnose failures.
A faulty chip simply got thrown out. With the microbeam, however, it will be
possible to analyse composition and microstructure, thereby deducing causes of
failures. This information will be helpful in developing new materials and
processes, eventually resulting in more powerful and reliable microelectronic
circuits.
Under terms of the agreement between the University and GE, the microbeam
facility is now available for use by other companies and researchers.
The microbeam may be the most “state-of-the-art” aspect of the nuclear
accelerator, but the University's 13-year-old accelerator is also the
centerpiece for a number of other important research projects and collaborative
efforts with industry.
Barton Mines in the Adirondacks, for example, has used the accelerator to
explore how to make already-hard sapphires even harder. IBM, GE and Watervliet
Arsenal are among the others who have used the accelerator in their research.
One of the things that makes the accelerator such a useful tool is that it
enables scientists to combine elements in new and different ways, particularly
elements that would not mix under normal conditions, explains Walter Gibson,
associate vice president for research and educational development.
Thus, for example, a scientist might come up with a potentially useful new
alloy by blasting copper ions into a tungsten target. Or sapphires or even
diamonds can become even harder under bombardment by certain ions. Through
nuclear accelerator research, Gibson pointed out, scientists were able to
determine that stainless steel works better as an artificial hip joint after
bombardment with nitrogen ions. After this treatment, stress corrosion pitting
GE, University Cooperative Microbeam Venture (84-216) Page 4
--- a major cause of replacement of hip joints -- appears to be completely
absent.
Among the topics being studied with the help of the accelerator, says
Gibson, are corrosion, new electronic materials, and the strength and other
properties of other metals. All this activity, says Gibson, generates about $1
million in research funding a year from corporations and other accelerator
users.
KIKI
July 30, 1984
Mary Fiess is director of the News Bureau at State University of New York at
Albany.
ASOI NM
news _
News Bureau ° (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany ¢ 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
84-217
Special to the Times-Union
For Back-to-School Supplement
Easing the Side Effects of Chemotherapy
For a person suffering from cancer or certain other diseases, chemotherapy
is often a mixed blessing. The side effects of the treatment may sometimes seem
as bad as the disease itself.
At State University of New York at Albany, a scientist has developed a new
method for making certain drugs used in chemotherapy that may -- among other
things -- eventually help reduce toxic side effects of anti-cancer drugs.
John T. Welch, an assistant professor in the University's Department of
Chemistry, is working with the recently developed family of cancer drugs known
as ‘anthracycline antibiotics. While the drugs are highly effective in stopping
cancer, they are also highly toxic, weakening heart tissues, for example. A
number of scientists across the country are working on ways to improve the
drugs, but Welch is taking a novel approach. The modifications he is attempting
might lower the drug dosages needed and thereby lessen the damage to normal
tissues.
Welch is experimenting with a new method of adding fluorine to the sugar
molecule in these anti-cancer drugs. Scientists, says Welch, have long
speculated that there are "101 things you can do with fluorinated sugars" -
including, for example, possibly helping the body mobilize its natural immune
system to fight cancer and other diseases. But up to now, the whole process of
adding fluorine to various drugs has been too difficult to be practical for wide
Easing the Side Effects of Chemotherapy (84-217) Page 2
use.
Welch believes his approach may turn out to be considerably less cumbersome
and could have implications beyond anti-cancer drugs; for example, it might
improve certain anti-viral drugs.
The theory behind adding fluorine to the new anti-cancer drugs is that the
fluorinated versions might more easily “invade” - so to speak - cancer cells and
as a result, lower dosages of the drug would be effective. Currently, because
of the difficulty the drug encounters in getting through the membrane of a
cancer cell, larger dosages of the drug than might otherwise be necessary must
be administered to a cancer victim.
Put simply, the problem is that a cell membrane is "greasy," says Welch.
And as a result, things which are "fat soluble" have an easier time passing
through the membrane than those which are “water soluble.”
The fat component of the anti-cancer drug, however, has a water soluble
sugar molecule attached to it and that component hinders the ability of the drug
to penetrate the cell membrane.
In his research, Welch is trying to counter that problem by fluorinating the
sugar molecule, replacing two atoms, oxygen and hydrogen, with fluorine, which
is more fat soluble or "fat-loving."”
Welch says he has had initial success in the synthesis of the anthracycline
compounds, although he says that time and costs limit the scope of his project.
"It takes a lot of time just to make the compounds we need for research," he
says. Welch said it took nine months to produce just 15 milligrams of the
drug. In addition, he notes, the chemicals are expensive.
Welch is also working with another drug, FMAU, which was developed by J.J.
Easing the Side Effects of Chemotherapy (84-217) Page 3
Fox of the Research Institute of Buffalo, as a cure for genital herpes. Under
license by Bristol Myers, the pharmaceutical company, the drug is being tested
clinically.
"This drug is really promising. It really works," Welch says. But
producing it for wide use is difficult because of the “cumbersome” synthesis
process now employed to make it, he adds.
Welch is trying to streamline the synthesis process using fluorinated
molecular fragments. His work in this area, he says, may provide useful lessons
for the more difficult task of synthesizing the anti-cancer anthracyclines.
Welch received his doctorate in organic fluorine chemistry at Case Western
University and conducted post-doctoral research at Stanford University. He
joined the faculty at Albany in 1981. His research is supported by grants from
the Petroleum Research Fund and the Research Corporation.
FEI
July 30, 1984
GOW = a50a)
NEWS _ 7
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue e Albany, New York 12222
84-219
Special the the Times-Union
For Back-to-School Supplement
Downtown Campus Renovation
Page Hall, once the center of campus ceremonies at State University of New
York at Albany, is undergoing nearly $500,000 in interior renovations over the
next several months.
The modernization of the hall's theater and gymnasium represents the
fourth phase of rehabilitation to the University's Downtown campus, situated
just west of the intersection of Washington and Western avenues. From 1964 to
1969, the six buildings housed the University, and from 1909, its
predecessors, the New York State College for Teachers and State Normal School.
The renovation, contracted to Rosch Brothers of Albany, will cost
$489,763, according to Charles Estey of the University's Plant
Administration. The improvements are part of the original renovation design
by O'Connor and Marsh architects of Albany and are expected to continue
through February 1985.
Plans for Page Hall, which seats nearly 1,000 people, include
modernization of the electrical, mechanical, and ventilation systems.
The majority of visible changes will occur in the theater, located on the
first floor of the building.
Hawley Library, one of the three original buildings constructed in 1909,
is also scheduled for renovation in this phase of the project. Planned
alterations include construction of additional office space and rest rooms and
Downtown Campus Renovation (84-217) Page 2
renovation to the stairway and heating and lighting systems. Bids for that
work are expected to be opened by the end of summer, according to Dennis
Stevens, director of the University's Plant Administration.
Page Hall, built in 1929, was designed by state architect Sullivan Jones.
It is named for David Perkins Page the first principal/president of the State
Normal School, from 1844-1848. Construction of Page, Milne and Richardson
halls cost $900,000.
Hawley was built along with Draper and Husted halls and was designed by
Albert Randolph Ross, who went on to design the Carnegie Library in
Washington, D.C. Hawley served as the campus auditorium and gymnasium until
Page Hall was built, and was then renovated for use as the campus library. It
is now the headquarters of the Graduate Library for Public Affairs and Policy.
IOI
July 30, 1984,
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 30, 1984
Peg Shiro, Special Supplement Editor
c/o General Advertising
Capital Newspapers
P.O. Box 15000
Albany, New York 12212
Dear Peg:
Enclosed is our package of goodies for your back-to-school
supplement. The item we regard as the main piece, and the one we
would most prefer to have you use, is the general back-to-school
roundup which carries my by-line. Our choice for a second story is
the item about the major renovations under way on our downtown
campus. The other two items are enclosed as "filler," as your space
needs dictate.
There is also a fistful of pictures for your consideration. Among
them are a couple of shots of Toni Morrison, the prominent literary
figure who will be on campus this fall. If we had our druthers, I
think we would most like to see a picture of Morrison used in
connection with the roundup story. We leave it to your own good
judgment. We absolutely do want all of the pictures back.
That's about it, except to say that we're glad to work with you, Peg.
Naturally, as the largest University in the Capital District, we're
hoping for good placement of our copy, but understand you have all
sorts of other things to keep in mind. Thanks for your consideration.
Best regards,
Christine McKnight
Director
encls. €4Y-Q/S,Allo, WUMS
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
July 31, 1984
Eloy Aguilar, Chief of Bureau
The Associated Press
Apartado Postal 1181
Mexico City, D.F.
Dear Mr. Aguilar:
As you are probably aware, Mexico City will be hosting a world
population conference Aug. 6-13. Family planning seems likely
to be among the more controversial topics.
Enclosed is an opinion piece on the issue of family planning
prepared by a sociologist here at the State University of New
York at Albany, and written with the population conference in
mind. Should you plan to cover the conference, we felt you
might find it useful as a "backgrounder” because it examines
both sides of the issue.
The author of the article, Scott J. South, can be reached at
518-457-8468, should you wish to talk directly with him.
Please do not hesitate to call me or my assistant, Sheila
Mahan; if we can be of further help.
Sincerely,
7 : 2
Me bright
Christine McKnight
Director
ec: Sheila Mahan
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
