News
— a
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 « State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan (442-3094) 86-19
, Suzanne Murphy(442-6570) OR Lisa Buitekant (442-6118)
STUDENTS TO REL! BALLOONS TO MARK TELETHO! IVERSA}
The nation's largest student-run Telethon is celebrating its 20th
anniversary this year, so to preview the event, students fy State University
of New York at Albany will be releasing 300 balloons from the ptown campus
Wednesday, April 2, at noon.
The number of balloons honors the city of Albany's Tricentennial |
Celebration, explain junior Suzanne Murphy and senior Lisa Buitekant, both of
Ossining. Of those, 20 will be large silver balloons to honor the 20th
anniversary of Telethon.
Joining the organizers of the fundraiser for children's charities will be
the event's honorary chairman Mayor Thomas M. Whalen III, University President
Vincent O'Leary and the founder of Telethon, John Fotia, '68, of Port Chester.
Also participating in the balloon release will be representatives of the
two recipient organizations of this year's Telethon, Parsons Child and Family
Center and two units of Albany Medical Center's Pediatrics Unit: the Spina
Bifida and Child Cancer Care programs.
Telethon '86sbegins Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. and provides 24 hours of |
continuous entertainment by students.
RIKI II
March 18, 1986
news
‘ews Bureau ® (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue # Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 442-3094 86-30
CARNIVAL AT UNIVERSITY TO BENEFIT TELETHON '86
Telethon '86, the annual fundraising event by students at State University
of New York at Albany, will sponsor a Carnival this Friday, April 4 from
11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The event, which is open to the Capital District community as well as
students, will be held outside the Campus Center (weather permitting) or in
the Campus Center Ballroom, on the main campus at 1400 Washington Ave.
The Carnival will feature games of skill and chance, booths and an ethnic
food festival.
Telethon is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a fundraiser for local
children's charities with a series of activities culminating in the 24-hour
entertainment marathon beginning April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Campus Center
Ballroom.
Proceeds from all Telethon activities this year will go to the Parsons
Child and Family Center and the Spina Bifida and Child Cancer Care programs at
Albany Medical Center.
deteledevededede
April 1, 1986
news
i News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ¢ Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Gabrielle L. Holder (442-3093) 86-31
BONK WINS UNIVERSITY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LIBRARIANSHIP
I Sharon Bonk, a member of the Library staff at State University of New
York at Albany, has received the 1986 University Award for Excellence in
Librarianship.
Bonk has been a member of the library faculty since 1978 and has been
assistant director of technical services for the Libraries since 1984.
She is responsible for coordinating activities of the three departments
within the Technical Services Division, which are responsible for
purchasing, cataloging and processing library materials.
Bonk has been a guest lecturer for courses in the University's School
of Library and Information Science and has served on various University
committees including the Professional Activities Committee and the
Personnel Policies Committee.
Bonk will receive a $300 prize by University President Vincent
O'Leary at a campus reception on May 9.
HREKKEREKRE
April 9, 1986
News
Jews Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 @ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue # Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Gabrielle L. Holder (442-3093) 86-31
BONK WINS UNIVERSITY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LIBRARTANSHIP
Sharon Bonk, a member of the Library staff at state University of New
York at Albany, has received the 1986 University Award for Excellence in
Librarianship.
Bonk has been a member of the library faculty since 1978 and has been
assistant director of technical services for the Libraries since 1984.
She is responsible for coordinating activities of the three departments
within the Technical Services Division, which are responsible for
‘purchasing, cataloging and processing library materials.
Bonk has been a guest lecturer for courses in the University's School
of Library and Information Science and has served on various University
committees including the Professional Activities Committee and the
Personnel Policies Committee.
Bonk will receive a $300 prize by University President Vincent
O'Leary at a campus reception on May 9.
HARARE EEK
April 9, 1986
news
| a
: News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Mary Elizabeth Walsh (518) 442-3095 86-32
UNIVERSITY LECTURE TO DESCRIBE HUMAN ROLE IN ANIMAL EXTINCTION
University of California Medical Center physiologist and ecologist
| Jared M. Diamond will discuss the role of human activity on the extinction
of animals in exotic environments in the 1986 Paul C. Lemon Lecture
Wednesday, April 30 at State Universisty of New York at Albany.
; The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 8
p.m. inthe Recital Hall of the Performing Arts Center on the uptown
campus, 1400 Washington Ave.
Diamond's lecture, entitled "Exterminations and Environmental
Degradation by Pre-Industrial Societies: Trouble in Eden," will discuss
his research, which suggests that the extinction of certain species was s
due to exploitation by humans rather than competition between animals, as
was previously thought. Diamond's research has taken him to New Guinea
and other southwest Pacific islands as well as the Amazon basin of Peru.
Diamond has had a dual career in ecology and evolutionary biology and
in the study of biological membranes, according to Thomas B. Caraco,
associate professor of Biological Sciences. He has also rediscovered
exotic birds thought to be extinct, such as the famed Bird of Paradise.
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Diamond, who is a member of the National Academy of Science and a
Page 2 86-32
MacArthur Foundation Fellow, regularly writes conmentary for Nature, the
leading British journal of general science, as well as other scientific
journals and publications. He is also the author and editor of a number
of books.
The Paul C. Semon Lecture was established in 1973 by Paul Lemon, a
former professor and chairman of the University's Department of Biological
Sciences. The lecture focuses on environmental topics. A reception will
follow in the Futterer Lounge.
dietokkitk
April 11, 1986
news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 » State University of New York at Albany » 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075.....eese00- eoeew eee ses ee 186-33
SWISS NOVELIST JURG FEDERSPIEL IN ALBANY, APRIL 17,18
i Jurg Federspiel, author of the widely-acclaimed Ballad of Typhoid Mary,
i will be in Albany to read fram his works at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, in
Humanities 354 at the State University of New York at Albany. His
appearance, which is sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute of
| the State University of New York, is free and open to the public.
He will be at the Boulevard Bookstore on Northern Boulevard, Friday,
April 18, fran 4-6:30 p.m. to sign his new book of short stories An
Earthquake in My Family and talk with his readers. The new collection of
short stories was translated fram the German by a resident of Albany,
Eveline L. Kanes.
A native of Davos, Switzerland, Federspiel divides his time among
Switzerland, the South of France and New York City. He has written three
novels, several volumes of short stories, plays, poetry, and commentary. He
is the recipient of many literary awards in Switzerland and Germany.
His work has appeared in English in numerous small magazines. The Ballad
of Typhoid Mary was his first book to appear in English. It was selected by
the New York Times Book Review Section as one of the best books of 1984.
Critic J.M. Coetzee said of the book, "The image of the obscure woman
Mary Mallon, passing through the streets of snowbound New York like a
| specter, dealing death with a touch of her contaminated hands, remained with
me long after I had closed the book."
Robert Wilson in USA Today describes the author as "an existential
Dickens: That's J.F. Federspiel."
Page 2. 86-33
Commenting on An Earthquake in My Family in the March 30, 1986, New York ( /
Times Book Review Section, Critic Angela Carter said, "This writer can
achieve extraordinary effects and has the capacity to move the intellect as
forcefully as the heart."
HRA KER RAKIRRE
April 8, 1986
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News
jews Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 86-34
PROGRAM FOR OVERWEIGHT TEENAGE GIRLS SEEKING APPLICANTS
Applications are now being accepted for a program sponsored by State
University of New York at Albany's Psychology Department for overweight
teenage girls and their parents.
Like all programs under the directrion of Associate Professor Allen
Israel, the program's focus is on behavior modification -- teaching
permanent changes in exercise and eating habits of overweight children --
with an emphasis on counseling for the parents as well. Israel is
coauthor of Behavior Disorders of Childhood.
The program features weekly meetings for 16 weeks and requires one
parent to attend. The program is free of charge and is sponsored by the
National Institute of Health and the University.
For further information, call 442-4859.
KRKKKKRKEK
April 11, 1986
news_
i * News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany ¢ 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Brenda Oettinger (442-3079) 86-35
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PRESENTS ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The School of Business at State University of New York at Albany will
present Barry L. Gold with the Alumni Achievement Award on Saturday, April 19,
at its Fourth Annual Spring Banquet. The award recognizes outstanding
professional achievement by an alumnus.
Barry Gold received his M.B.A. from Albany's School of Business in 1974
after earning an undergraduate degree in marketing at Northern Illinois
University and several years' experience in retailing. At Albany, he
specialized in human resources and organizational administration.
After graduation, Gold became director of Business and Finance Affairs
for the Albany College of Pharmacy, where he was responsibile for the
day-to-day operations of the college. In 1979, Gold founded and became
president of the Business Brokerage Group, Inc., which functions as a broker
in the sale of closely held businesses in the Albany area.
Gold is a member of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce and
is the former chair of the Small Business Council. He has also served as
chairman of the New York State Guardian Advisory Council and Political Action
Committee for the National Federation of Independent Business.
tok
April 14, 1986
news
‘News Bureau ° (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany © 1400 Washington Avenue ® Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075 86-36
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING POET JOINS CHINESE POET HERE, APRIL 28
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carolyn Kizer and the most famous of China's
new poets, Shu Ting, will read from and comment upon their works at 8 p.m.,
Monday, April 28, in the Recital Hall of the Performing Arts Center at the
State University of New York at Albany. Their appearance, which is sponsored
by the New York State Writers Institute of the State University of New York,
; is free and open to the public.
Kizer, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1985 for her book Yin,
has a particular interest in Asian poetry. She was a Fellow of Chinese
Comparative Literature at Columbia University and later lived in Nationalist
China for a year.
Shu Ting is the most acclaimed poet of the entire generation of Chinese
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| young poets who have emerged in the post-Mao years. Born in 1952 in a small
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| town, she was only a 14~year~old girl when the Cultural Revolution began in
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1966. She was forced to quit school and moved to a mountain village three
years later where she lived as a peasant.
She began writing poetry in 1971, and in 1978 was first published in the
| underground magazines produced by young poets in Peking. She attracted wide
attention for her poems, and was chosen for publication in the national
poetry magazine in 1979. She received China's National Award for Poetry in
1981 and again in 1983.
A native of Spokane and graduate of Sarah Lawrance College, Carolyn
: Kizer has had a long and distinguished career in letters. She was the first
Director of the Literature Program for the National Endowment for the Arts
from 1966 to 1970.
Page 2. 86-36
In addition to Yin (1984), her books of poetry include The Ungrateful
Garden (1961), Knock Upon Silence (1965), Midnight Was My Cry: New and
Selected Poems (1971), and Mermaids in the Basement: Poems for Women (1984).
She has been poet-in-residence and visiting professor of poetry at nine
universities including Columbia University, Washington University and North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
One of Shu Ting's poems is reprinted here:
Perhaps...
for the loneliness of an author
Perhaps these thoughts of ours
will never find an audience
Perhaps the mistaken road
will end in a mistake
Perhaps the lamps we light one at a time
will be blown out, one at a time
Perhaps the candles of our lives will gutter out
without lighting a fire to warm us
Perhaps when all the tears have been shed
the earth will be more fertile
Perhaps when we sing praises to the sun
the sun will praise us in return
Perhaps these heavy burdens
will strengthen our philosophy
Perhaps when we weep for those in misery
we must be silent about miseries of our own
Perhaps
Because of our irresistable sense of mission
We have no choice
KIRK RIRERII RARE
April 16, 1986
‘news
4 News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue e Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Alida D. Clemans or Christine McKnight (442-3091) 86-37
EVOLUTION AND EXTINCTION OF BIRDS TO BE FOCUS OF LECTURE
Dr. David Steadman, senior scientist at the New York State Museum, will
| interpret cataclysmic and subtle events that produced spectacular bird life on
the Galapagos Islands on Tuesday, April 22, at 8 p.m. in Lecture Center 7 on
| the main campus.
In his discussion, entitled ''Evolution and Extinction of Birds of the
Galapagos Islands,'' Steadman will examine fossil records of species of
extinct birds to help clarify our understanding of evolution and extinction on
| F the Galapagos.
Steadman's presentation is the fourth in a series of five natural
history lectures that will be held on consecutive Tuesdays at the University.
The lectures are free and open to the public.
i The lectures begin at 8 p.m. in Lecture Center 7 and are preceded by an
illustrated weather briefing. The series is jointly sponsored by the
University's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and the Department of
Environmental Conservation's Five Rivers Environmental Education Center.
Donations to the lecture series, made possible in part by gifts to the
University at Albany Fund, are appreciated.
KKK KEK
April 16, 1986
News
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany ¢ 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Alida D. Clemans or Christine McKnight (442-3091) 86-38
EQUATOR WILDLIFE TO BE FOCUS OF LECTURE
Wayne Trimm, art director for Conservationalist magazine published by
the state Department of Environment Conservation, will explore explore equator
wildlife on Tuesday, April 29, at 8 p.m. in Lecture Center 7 on the main
campus of State University of New York at Albany.
In his presentation, entitled ''Wildlife of the Equator: Poles Apart,''
Trimm will discuss the profound behavioral and adaptative similarities and
differences of animals in Kenya and the Galapagos Islands.
Trimm's lecture is the last in a series of five natural history
lectures held on consecutive Tuesdays at the University. The lecture is free
and open to the public and will be preceded by an illustrated weather briefing.
The series is jointly sponsored by the University's Atmospheric
Sciences Research Center and the Department of Environmental Conservation's
Five Rivers Environmental Education Center.
Donations to the lecture series, made possible in part by gifts to the
University at Alband Fund, are appreciated.
kk RK
April 16, 1986
news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075 86-39
PILOT FRESHMAN SEMINAR PROGRAM AT ALBANY THIS FALL
Freshmen at the State University of New York at Albany will have the
opportunity to exchange ideas directly and informally with faculty through a
freshman seminar program which will get underway this fall. The new program
is being supported by the University Parents' Program Fund.
"Opportunities for informal personal contact with faculty members to
discuss intellectual matters and educational goals have a significant
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influence on students' development and attitudes toward their educational
experience," Dr. John Shumaker, Vice President for Academic Planning and
Development at Albany, said. "The program will encourage group discussion
and free exchange of ideas and should foster a sense of academic community
among freshmen during their first few weeks at Albany."
Modelled after similar initiatives at other universities, the Freshman
Seminar Pilot Program joins faculty mentors and first-semester freshmen in
| groups no larger than 15 students. During the first quarter (eight weeks) of
the academic year in weekly, two-hour sessions, faculty mentors will offer a
j one-credit course on a topic of their choosing designed to appeal to
first-year students. They will emphasize especially the University Libraries
as an academic resource for students.
| Freshmen will be graded without examinations based upon class
participation, oral presentations and short papers. Detailed course
descriptions are being compiled and will be available to incoming freshmen
during orientation sessions this summer. A sample of courses offered
includes such titles as: "Science and Society: Ethical Issues,"
Page Two 86-39
"Manners and Civilization," "Myths of the Modern World,"and "Human Behavior
in Extreme Situations."
The program, which could involve more than 1000 freshmen in 75 seminars
this fall, will be evaluated and if found successful will be expanded during
the 1987-88 academic year to accommodate all freshmen.
To promote informality, mentors are encouraged to hold their seminars
during evenings and on weekends if appropriate as well as during regular
class hours. Forums for the seminars will be equally informal in locations
such as lounge areas, the hanes of faculty, and residence halls as well as
the more traditional classrooms and seminar rooms.
The courses can be team~taught by two or more faculty members; retired
faculty members may also participate; and students will be encouraged to
meet individually with their mentor at least twice during the semester to
discuss the student's overall academic experience and objectives for further
study at the University.
The Freshmen Seminar Pilot Program was developed by the University's
committee to study the freshman year experience, chaired by Vice President
Shumaker. Members include Harry Hamilton, Dean of Undergraduate Studies;
Meredith Butler, Associate for Academic Development; Barbara Schoonmaker,
Director of Research and Educational Development; Paul Wallace, Dean of the
College of Humanities and Fine Arts; John Webb, Dean of the College of
Social and Behavioral Sciences; and Daniel Wulff, Dean of the College of
Science and Mathematics.
HAIR KIIRERRER IIR,
April 17, 1986
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news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075 86-40
FILM ARTIST AUGUST COPPOLA HERE MAY 2
August Coppola, Dean of San Francisco State University's School of
Creative Arts and the film artist who recut the epic French silent film,
Napoleon, will be in Albany on Friday, May 2, 1986, to offer film clips and
commentary on the history of film at 7:30 p.m. in the Large Auditorium of
the New York State Museum. Dean Coppola's presentation, which is free and
open to the public, is sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute of
{ the State University of New York and the New York State Museum.
Bn executive at Zoetrope Studios, August Coppola collaborated on the
films Apocalypse Now, Hammett, One Fran the Heart and Rumblefish. The latter
film was dedicated to him by director Francis Ford Coppola with the
inscription "To my elder brother---my first and best teacher."
Before moving to San Francisco in 1984, August Coppola was chairman of
comparative literature at California State University at Long Beach. He is
an experimental writer and an inventor with a Ph.D. in Comparative
Literature and Interdisciplinary Studies from Occidental College in Los
i Angeles.
Coppola, much of whose career has centered around the visual arts, has
taken a special interest in the problems of the visually impaired. He
invented the Tactile Dame in 1971. Located in San Francisco's famed science
| museum, the Exploratorium, the Tactile Dome presents the world of total
darkness to thousands of visitors each year. In 1979, Grove Press published
his experimental novel, The Intimacy, which is also set in total darkness.
The brothers Coppola and their sister, actress Talia Shire, were raised
in an artistically stimulating if hectic environment. August attended 17
Page 2. 86-40
public schools, many in the New York City area, where his father, Carmine,
was alternately chief musical arranger for the Radio City Music Hall, first
flute under Toscanini, and musical conductor. In 1985, Carmine was still
active conducting live orchestral accompaniment in Paris to Napoleon, the
classic 1927 film epic which August recut in 1981.
The father of three grown sons, August Coppola has imparted the artistic
tradition to another generation of Coppolas. His eldest, Marc, is a disk
jockey in New York City; his second, Christopher, makes experimental films;
and his youngest, who uses the stage name Nicolas Cage, is an actor.
KIKRKIKHKEAAERRERRERR
April 18, 1986
News
News Bureau © (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue * Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075 86-41
CHURCH-STATE CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER TO SPEAK, APRIL 28
James M. Smart, Jr., a constitutional lawyer and an authority on the
Supreme Court's recent consideration of Church-State issues will speak on
"The Supreme Court and Official Orthodoxy" at 8 p.m., Monday, April 28, in
the Campus Center Assembly Hall at the uptown campus of the University at
Albany, the State University of New York.
Sponsored by Albany's School of Education and its chapter of Phi Delta
Kappa, the education honorary society, as part of their colloquia program,
Smart's presentation is free and open to the public.
Smart is senior litigation attorney for a Kansas City, Missouri, law
‘ firm. He has argued a number of cases before the Supreme Court including one
concerning voluntary student prayer groups in public schools in which he
presented his position from the perspective of the rights of free speech.
His current interest is the constitutionality of the 1984 Equal Access
Act, which provides that secondary schools may not discriminate against
student-initiated extracurricular activites which may have a religious or
metaphysical area of interest.
A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of
Missouri Law School, Smart has been an assistant prosecuting attorney in
Jackson County Missouri.
KRKKKKERKKEERE
April 21, 1986
I
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news _
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222 :
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075 86-41
CHURCH-STATE CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER TO SPEAK, APRIL 28
James M. Smart, Jr., a constitutional lawyer and an authority on the
Supreme Court's recent consideration of Church-State issues will speak on
“The Supreme Court and Official Orthodoxy" at 8 p.m., Monday, April 28, in
the Campus Center Assembly Hall at the uptown campus of the University at
Albany, the State University of New York.
Sponsored by Albany's School of Education and its chapter of Phi Delta
Kappa, the education honorary society, as part of their colloquia program,
Smart's presentation is free and open to the public.
Smart is senior litigation attorney for a Kansas City, Missouri, law
fim. He has argued a number of cases before the Supreme Court including one
concerning voluntary student prayer groups in public schools in which he
presented his position fram the perspective of the rights of free speech.
His current interest is the constitutionality of the 1984 Equal Access
Act, which provides that secondary schools may not discriminate against
student-initiated extracurricular activites which may have a religious or
metaphysical area of interest.
A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of
Missouri Law School, Smart has been an assistant prosecuting attorney in
Jackson County Missouri.
KRRKKRRERRRER
April 21, 1986
news”
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 » State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue » Albany, New York 12222
rena
Contact: Christine Hanson McKnight 86-42
UNIVERSITY ARCHEOLOGIST TO DISCUSS DETAILS
OF ROYAL MAYAN TOMB DISCOVERED IN BELIZE
ADVISORY
ASSIGNMENT EDITORS, REPORTERS: ;
Richard Leventhal, an archeologist at State University of New York at
! Albany, will discuss on Wednesday, April 23, details of an important
archeological find in Belize, Central America.
Leventhal has just returned fram Belize, where he discovered and excavated
j what appears to be a royal Maya tomb dating back to between 650 and 800 A.D. He
' describes the tamb as a significant find which will help anthropologists
! interpret what was going on in the New World during the classic Maya period of
civilization. The excavation was completed only two weeks ago, and this is the
first time the archeologist is outlining details of the dig. Leventhal will
return to Belize later in the day Wednesday.
The discovery is important not only because it has escaped grave robbers,
but because it appears to be that of a Maya ruler. While there were once
hundreds of burial tombs which were part of Mayan city architecture, nearly all
i have been consumed by the jungle or dug up by illegal looters. ‘The discovery of
I a royal tomb is relatively rare.
Leventhal will be available to reporters at 11 a.m. in Room 262 of the
University's Social Sciences Building, which is at the west end of the podium on
the uptown campus, 1400 Washington Avenue. Black and white pictures and color
| slides of the site, in the ancient Maya city of Nim Li Punit, are expected to be
i available Wednesday. For more information, contact Christine Hanson McKnight in
the University Relations office at 442-3091.
RREKK
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| April 21, 1986
news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ¢ Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Vince Sweeney (518) 442-3075 86-43
NORMAN MAILER AT WRITERS INSTITUTE, MAY 1
Norman Mailer, certainly America's most eclectic and controversial
author, will speak in Albany at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, 1986, in Page
Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the downtown campus of the University at.
Albany, State University of New York. His appearance in Albany, which is
free and open to the public, is sponsored by the New York State Writers
Institute of the State University of New York.
Not since Hemingway has a writer so captured the imagination of the
nation. The 63-year-old novelist, dramatist, journalist, essayist,
self~publicist, socialist, existentialist and movie director has written
more than 22 books, and been an ever more recognizable personality since the
publication in 1948 of ‘The Naked and the Dead, which one critic called "the
greatest war novel produced in this century." "Among the generation of
writers who emerged fram the war and devoted their lives to the creation of
a body of literature, he is one of the very few who have grown into a
permanent, irreversibly realized presence," wrote Robert F. Lucid, editor of
Noman Mailer, the Man and His Work.
Mailer's book about the 1967 anti-Vietnam War march to the Pentagon,
Armies of the Night, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1969 as well as
the National Book Award. His book about the execution of Gary Gilmore, The _
Executioner's Song, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1980.
When Lucid assembled his anthology of writings on Norman Mailer, he was
able to choose chapters of effusive praise or damning criticism from a
star-studded roster of writers including Tom Wolfe, James Baldwin, Dwight
Page 2. 86-43
Macdonald, Dianna Trilling, Midge Decter, Norman Podhoretz, Gore Vidal, and
Alfred Kazin. Everyone was on record on the subject of Mailer.
A Harvard engineer, Mailer has run for mayor of New York City. He has
trained with boxer Jose Torres, fathered eight children, and traded punches
with the sharpest tongues of his generation including William Buckley and
Gore Vidal.
But always he has had the stamina to write and keep on writing. One of
his charms is a learned, eloquent and thoroughly disarming introspection, as
illustrated by an excerpt from his collection of essays Pieces and
Pontifications:
"We will never know if primitive artists painted their caves to show a
representation, or whether the moving hand was looking to placate the
forces above and the forces below. Sometimes, I think the novelist
fashions a totem just as much as an aesthetic, and his real aim, not
even known necessarily to himself, is to create a diversion in the
fields of dread, a sanctuary in same of the arenas of magic. The flaws
of his work can even be a part of his magical strength, as if his real
intent in writing is to alter the determinations of that invisible
finger which has written and moved on."
HARIRI IR IR IARI
April 23, 1986
news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ® Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Christine Hanson McKnight 86-44
i FOR RELEASE ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1986 at 11 a.m.
DISCOVERY OF ROYAL MAYA TOMB
ANNOUNCED BY ALBANY ARCHEOLOGIST
The discovery of a royal Maya burial tomb, located in the Central
American nation of Belize and dating back to between 700 and 800 A.D., was
announced today by Richard M. Leventhal, an archeologist at the University
at Albany. The intact tamb, in the ancient Maya city of Nim Li Punit in
southern Belize, offers anthropologists a new opportunity to interpret more
clearly what was going on in the New World during the Classic Maya period,
Leventhal said.
Leventhal, head of the Southern Belize Archeological Project whose
| members discovered and excavated the site, said the tamb is important not
only because it appears to be that of a city ruler, but because it has
escaped looters.
"There were once hundreds of tambs and graves which were placed within
i various buildings in every city," Leventhal explained. "But they have nearly
all been lost to the jungle or dug up by illegal looters. The discovery of
any tomb in such good shape is a wonderful find, but a royal tomb like this
i is especially significant. We already have an understanding of the general
culture. This gives us a more personalized glimpse into the past which
allows us to focus on individual participants."
(over )
(2)
He said that while the find doesn't change archeologists' over-all
view of Maya civilization, it does “reinforce the conclusions we've already
drawn about this sophisticated New World culture."
Leventhal, who is also director of Albany's internationally regarded
Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, said he believes the tomb is royal for
several reasons: its location in front of what appears to be a private
shrine of the ruling family, the large size of the tamb (nine feet long by
three-and-a-half feet wide), and the quantity of artifacts found within it.
It is the first tomb excavated at the site, which was discovered in
1974 by an oil company. The Southern Belize Archeological Project has been
working in this area for the past four years and has completely mapped Nim
Li Punit, whose residents probably numbered between 5,000 and 7,000. Carved
monuments at the site are some of the finest in Belize and date it between
700 and 800 A.D., Leventhal said.
"This is roughly the date we can assign to the tamb, based upon a
quick examination of the pottery inside," he said.
The tomb, located within the central precinct of the city, had been
placed in front of what appears to have been the private shrine of a ruler
of Nim Li Punit. This name means Big Hat in the modern Mayan language of
Kekchi, and refers to a large headress portrayed on one of the carved
monuments at the site.
The excavation team with the Southern Belize Archeological Project was
excavating a small pit in front of this structure, looking for a dedicatory
cache when they realized on March 15 that they were in the middle of a tomb.
(more)
- (3)
"It totally surprised us," said Leventhal, who will return to Belize
later this week to begin cleaning and analyzing the artifacts in an attempt
to date and identify them more specifically. He will return to Albany the
end of May.
Leventhal and his team spent the next four weeks clearing the top of
the tamb and then cleaning the interior. ‘The stone slabs which made up the
i roof of the tamb had apparently collapsed in ancient times. The Maya had
! dug out part of this collapse, and then, perhaps finding it impossible to
j clear completely, simply rededicated the tamb with two ceramic vessels and
then filled in the collapsed area canpletely.
"Because of the collapse and the great quantity of dirt which had
washed into the tamb, the excavation took almost four weeks," Leventhal said.
The campleted excavation revealed what had once been an elaborate
royal tomb, the anthropologist said. Scattered throughout the floor of the
tomb were 39 ceramic vessels, many of them painted with designs, perhaps
scenes of royal life and hieroglyphs. Because of the collapse, all of the
vessels are’ broken, although Leventhal said it will be possible to restore
many of them. |
Numerous other artifacts were also recovered. These include a variety
of ornaments for necklaces -- jade beads, carved jade pendants, stone
(diorite) beads, jaguar teeth and shell beads.
"We also recovered several pieces of sting ray spines which were
|
t probably used as perforators in personal bloodletting, so important for the
: legitimatization of power among the Maya elite," Leventhal said.
Fragmentary pieces of worked and incised bone were also found and were
probably the handle for the various perforators in the tamb.
| (over)
' Bo 4
One of the most important unanswered questions is what Maya ruler was
buried in the tomb.
"We're not sure whose tamb it is," said Leventhal. "If we're able to
establish that, this will be a major find."
The Albany anthropologist, who discovered the ruins of an entire Maya
city two summers ago in Belize, said it is clear the tamb had been used
several times for ancient royal burials. He has been able to identify the
remains of at least four individuals, although he does not yet know their
sex or age.
The archeological dig is supported by Albany's College of Social and
Behavioral Sciences, the Department of Anthropology, and Key Bank, NA,
headquartered in Albany. The work is being carried out in cooperation with
the Belize Department of Archeology.
Leventhal, 34, joined the University at Albany in 1982 after earning
his Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University. A native of Boston,
Mass., he now resides in Albany.
The Institute for Mesoamerican Studies was established in 1975 to
promote research and cooperation among scholars interested in present and
pre-Columbian cultures of Middle America.
ekKKK
April 23, 1986
news
News Bureau « * State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ¢ Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan (442-3094) 86-45,
GOVERNOR CUOMO TO DELIVER COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
AT UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY'S 142ND COMMENCEMENT MAY 18
Governor Mario M. Cuomo will deliver the main address at the University at
Albany's Commencement ceremonies May 18, at which his daughter Madeline will
receive a bachelor of arts degree in English.
At the same ceremonies, state Senator Kenneth LaValle (R, Centereach),
chairman of the Senate's Higher Education, will receive the Medallion of the
University, the highest award presented by the University to recognize
extraordinary public service and leadership. LaValle's daughter Lisa is
receiving a bachelor of arts degree in communication.
Campus officials expect a crowd of 10,000 to attend the 142nd Conmencment,
which begins at 1 p.m. at University Field, rain or shine. The degrees will
be conferred by Edgar A. Sandman, a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees.
The University will award some 3,500 degrees at Commencement, including
2,426 bachelor's, 951 master's, 152 doctoral degrees. The candidates include
those who completed degree requirements in August and December as well as May.
University President Vincent O'Leary will confer the degrees and will also
award the Collins Fellow medals to Margaret Farrell of Delmar, a professor in
the Teacher Education Department, and Harold Cannon of Loudonville, a
professor the Accounting Department. The award, named for former Albany
President Evan Collins, is given annually to faculty members with longtime
service and extraordinary devotion to the University.
deledeteereteeede
‘ April 25, 1986
news
News Bureaue * State University of New York at Albany © 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan (442-3094) 86-45
GOVERNOR CUOMO TO DELIVER COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
AT UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY'S 142ND COMMENCEMENT MAY 18
Governor Mario M. Cuomo will deliver the main address at the University at
Albany's Commencement ceremonies May 18, at which his daughter Madeline will
receive a bachelor of arts degree in English.
At the same ceremonies, state Senator Kenneth LaValle (R, Centereach),
chairman of the Senate's Higher Education, will receive the Medallion of the
University, the highest award presented by the University to recognize
extraordinary public service and leadership. LaValle's daughter Lisa is
I
i
|
|
{ i receiving a bachelor of arts degree in communication.
Campus officials expect a crowd of 10,000 to attend the 142nd Conmencment,
| which begins at 1 p.m. at University Field, rain or shine. The degrees will
be conferred by Edgar A. Sandman, a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees.
The University will award some 3,500 degrees at Commencement, including
2,426 bachelor's, 951 master's, 152 doctoral degrees. ‘The candidates include
those who completed degree requirements in August and December as well as May.
: University President Vincent O'Leary will confer the degrees and will also
| award the Collins Fellow medals to Margaret Farrell of Delmar, a professor in
| the Teacher Education Department, and Harold Cannon of Loudonville, a
professor the Accounting Department. ‘The award, named for former Albany
President Evan Collins, is given annually to faculty members with longtime
service and extraordinary devotion to the University.
dekolte
April 25, 1986
news
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Christine Hanson McKnight 86-47
FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1986
‘TWO UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY STUDENTS WIN
PRESTIGIOUS LEHMAN FELLOWSHIPS
Two University at Albany seniors are among 30 winners of Herbert H.
Lehman Fellowships in Social Sciences and Public and International Affairs
“ announced today by Commissioner of Education Gordon M. Ambach.
The Albany students are Thaddeus F. Heitmann of Ossining, N.Y., and
Allison M, Percy of Kenmore, N.Y., both 21. Recipients of the fellowships,
described as the most prestigious awarded by New York State, may receive up to
$19,000 for four years of graduate study beginning in September of 1986.
Heitmann, a double major in anthropology and English, has been accepted
into the Ph.D. program in anthropology at Cornell University. Percy, who is
majoring in political science, will attend Columbia University in the fall to
study for her master's in public administration.
The University at Albany was the only institution which produced two
winners and the only campus in the SUNY system to be represented among the
Lehman fellows.
"These are prestigious awards for which there is heavy competition in the
fields of social science and political affairs," said Harry L. Hamilton, dean
of undergraduate studies and associate vice president for academic affairs.
"This is another sign of the growing recognition this institution is gaining
for quality in its academic programs."
The Lehman fellowships were established by the Legislature in 1966 in
honor of the former governor of New York State. The competition is open to
outstanding graduates throughout the nation who plan to pursue graduate study
at a college in New York State. Applications were received from 210
candidates, of whom 85 are residents of other states. Of the 30 winners, 11
were residents of New York State.
Named as an alternate from the Albany campus was Thomas J. Turino of
Camillus, a sociology major. Alternates may receive an offer of a fellowship
if an original winner declines the award.
Heitmann's home address in Ossining is 355 Croton Dam Road. Percy's home
address in Kenmore is 62 Devonshire Road.
RKRRK
April 29, 1986
news
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan (442-3094) 86-48
PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE SPEAKER IRVIS AND ALBANY ARCHITECT MESICK
‘TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREES AT UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT
A lniversity at Albany alumnus who is now Speaker of the House of
Representatives in Pennsylvania and the Albany architect who restored the
Senate Chamber of the New York State Capitol are among four people who will
receive honorary degrees at the University at Albany's 142nd Commencement
ceremonies May 18.
K. Leroy Irvis, a graduate of the University's predecessor, the State
Colleae for Teachers and now Speaker of the Pennsylvania House, will be
presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to recognize his
distinguished public service. John Mesick, a partner in the firm of Mendel,
Mesick, Cohen, Waite, Hall Architects, will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine
Arts degree to highlight his contribution to the city during the Tricentennial.
Also scheduled to receive honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees are
two reknowned scholars of public policy: noted economist Charles Lindblom,
Sterling Professor of Economics and Political Science and William Clyde DeVane
Professor at Yale University; and Robert K. Merton, Professor Emeritus at
Columbia University and one of the world's best known sociologists.
Gov. Mario M. Cuomo will be the main speaker at the Commencement, at which
his daughter Madeline will receive her bachelor of arts degree in English.
Ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. on University Field, rain or shine.
Irvis, a native of Saugerties and summa cum laude graduate of Albany's
class of 1934, has been a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
since 1958 for 14 consecutive terms. He was the first black representative
elected to house leadership and was unanimously elected Speaker in 1977 -- the
highest elected position ever held at that time by a black in that state. He
has sponsored more than 1,600 pieces of leqislation on civil rights, health,
consumer protection, prison reform, housing and governmental reform. He is
also credited with the creation of the community colleqe system. Convention
Co-Chairman of the 1980 Democratic National Convention in 1980, Irvis was
elected a member of the Democratic National Committee in 1982.
Mesick has achieved an international reputation in architectural
preservation, and is especially noted for his painstaking restoration of the
Pade 2 86-48
Senate Chamber of the New York State Capitol. His firm is restoring Blair C ‘
House in Washington, D.C., and Mesick has also restored several 19th century
Albany buildings including 411 State Street, which now houses the Rockefeller
Institute of the State University of New York, and the Thomson Littlefield
house of Chestnut Street. A native of Schodack, he studied at the Royal
Academy of Arts in Copenhagen under a Fulbright Scholarship.
Merton, perhaps the best known sociologist in the scientific community, is
credited with the notion of the "self-fulfilling prophecy." He is an exponent
of the functional school of socioloay, which studies social phenomena as
effects of specific social arrangements such as class or kinship systems.
Author of On the Shoulders of Giants, Merton has been a prolific and
influential writer, and his work provides practitioners with an understanding
of the application of sociology to real-world problems in the fields of
housing, medical education and bureaucracy.
Lindblom has studied the effect of policy-making and the connection
between political and economic systems. His book, Politics and Markets (1977)
was the culmination of a decade of scholarly work, winning the distinguished (
Woodrow Wilson prize from the American Political Science Association. In
addition, Lindblom has served as special advisor to Connecticut Governor
Chester Bowles in 1955, and to the director of the U.S. Agency for
International Development Mission to India in the early 1960s. In the late
1960s he also was a frequent consultant to the Rand Corporation on the
national defense problems. He was recipient of Guqgenheim Fellowships in 1961
and 1985 and was a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study.
RRR RIKRK
April 30, 1986
