News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
August 6, 1984
Mark Behan, City Editor
Albany Times-Union
P.O. Box 15000
Albany, New York 12212
Dear Mark:
This may be too far afield for you folks, but thought I'd pass it along
as a story idea since there is an Albany angle with the involvement of
the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center.
A good starting point for the story would be Ron Stewart at the ASRC.
He's at 457-4852.
Please call if I can provide further information.
Best regards,
. | a
Christine McKnight
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
August 6, 1984
Richard Flaste, Director of Science News
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Dear Mr. Flaste:
The electricity carrying the voices of student broadcasters at
Adirondack Community College in Glens Falls, N.¥., will soon be coming
directly from the sun. As one of the first truly practical
demonstrations of how photovoltaics works, we thought you might find it
of interest.
The guiding force behind this project sponsored by SUNY-Albany's
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center is Ronald Stewart, a scientist who
says that solar power will soon be making a significant contribution to
the state's energy mix. He can be reached directly at 518-457-4852
(office) or at 518-792-3682 (home).
Enclosed are some background materials. Please do not hesitate to call
if we can be of any help.
Sincerely,
Cthistha- Mets usled
Christine McKnight
Director
encls.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
August 6, 1984
Cheryl Fields, senior editor
Chronicle of Higher Education
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Dear Ms. Fields:
The student radio station at Adirondack Community College, a SUNY unit
in Glens Falls, N.Y¥., will be running mostly on sun power beginning
this September. It's a demonstration project developed by the
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center here at the State University of
New York at Albany. As far as we know, it is unique in the country.
Enclosed is a local newspaper clip on the project. Thought you might
find it of interest. Please don't hesitate to call the News Bureau if
you need more information or would like a copy of the picture.
Sincerely,
Christine McKnight
Director
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
August 6, 1984
Cynthia Piggott
Newsweek On Campus
444 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10022
Dear Ms. Piggott:
The student radio station at Adirondack Community College, a SUNY unit
in Glens Falls, N.¥., will be running mostly on sun power beginning
this September. It's a demonstration project developed by the
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center here at the State University of
New York at Albany. As far as we know, it is unique in the country.
Enclosed is a local newspaper clip on the project. Thought you might
find it of interest. Please don't hesitate to call the News Bureau if
you need more information or would like a copy of the picture.
Sincerely,
y helene! ) Ihe K. } 4) Cf
Christine McKnight
Director
encl.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
QaslaN
news __
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 84-219
WHITEFACE LECTURE FEATURES ADIRONDACK BIRDS
John "Mike" Peterson will discuss "Adirondack Birds and Their Ranges" on
Tuesday, Aug. 14, in the continuing summer lecture series sponsored by the
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at State University of New York at Albany.
The Tuesday evening lectures, which are free and open to the public, are held
at the ASRC's Whiteface Mountain field station on Memorial Highway in Wilmington,
Essex County.
Peterson, of Elizabethtown, is a free lance writer and licensed Adirondack
guide who is an expert on birds of the Adirondack-Champlain region. A trustee of
the Adirondack Conservancy and past president and director of the High Peaks
Audubon Society, Peterson also serves as wildlife manager of the Four Brothers
Island in Lake Champlain, a vital nesting area for gulls, herons and waterfowl.
His talk will get under way at 8:30 p.m.
On Aug. 21, naturalist Edward Kanze III of the Teatown Lake Reservation in
Ossining will discuss "Owls of Northern New York."
Donations to sustain the lectures are welcome.
FIO III IK
August 6, 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 84-221
UNIVERSITY PSYCHOLOGIST WINS PRESTIGIOUS CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARD
Edward P. Riley, associate professor of psychology at State University of
New York at Albany, has been named recipient of a $282,000 Research Scientist
Development Award from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The prestigious award is designed to release promising researchers from
teaching responsibilities to devote full-time attention to research. It is a
five-year grant.
Riley's work has focused on the effects of alcohol on a fetus. "Fetal
alcohol syndrome," which results when a woman consumes high levels of alcohol
during pregnancy, has been well documented. But scientists still do not know
why lower levels of alcohol can cause behavioral and learning problems, he
says. And they still do not agree on a safe level of alcohol consumption.
Through his work with rats, Riley is trying to determine what types of
behavioral problems are the result of prenatal exposure to low levels of
alcohol and pinpoint how alcohol causes such deficiencies. He will also test
drugs that may prevent or reduce these effects.
"There has been little work with children who don't look Like they have
fetal alcohol syndrome," Riley said. "But the long-term consequences of the
attention deficit disorders that occur with exposure to alcohol are quite
serious."
Riley is the second University psychologist to receive a career
development award from a public health service agency within a year. In
September, Frank Andrasik, an associate professor of psychology, received a
Page 2 84-221
$211,000 Research Career Development Award from the National Advisory
Neurological and Communciative Disorders and Stroke Council to develop a
drugless treatment of chronic headaches in children.
According to Frank DiSanto, the University's coordinator of sponsored
programs, competition for these awards is keen.
"The awards represent the most outstanding accomplishment for researchers
in the formative stages of their careers," he said. "Previous recipients who
have been able to immerse themselves in research activities for a five-year
period have developed into highly respected scientists who have made important
contributions."
Riley, who earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Tulane University in New
Orleans, La., joined the University in 1975. He lives in Albany.
EEO III
August 14, 1984
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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: Christine McKnight or Sheila Mahan 84-220
OWLS OF NORTHERN NEW YORK WILL BE WHITEFACE LECTURE TOPIC
Few campers in the Adirondack back country return home without encountering
of an owl or two. But while we often hear the hoots, laughs and screams of owls,
they are rarely seen, and even ornithologists have much to learn about their
generally nocturnal behavior.
Ed Kanze III, senior naturalist at the Teatown Lake Reservation, a 400-acre
nature preserve near Ossining, N.Y., will present a slide show about Adirondack
owls on Tuesday, Aug. 21, as part of the continuing summer lecture series
sponsored by the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at State University of New
York at Albany. The lecture, "Owls of Northern New York," will begin at 8:30
p.m. at the ASRC's Whiteface Mountain Field Station on Memorial Highway in
Wilmington, Essex County.
Kanze, a frequent visitor to the Adirondacks, is an active birdwatcher with a
particular fascination for owls. He has worked with captive owls in
rehabilitation programs, and in 1982 raised, "coached" and released two great
horned owls whose nest had been destroyed in a storm. His program Aug. 21 will
include recordings and imitations of owl calls.
The popular Whiteface lectures, featuring leading scientists and other
authorities on a variety of topics, have attracted more than 60,000 people since
ASRC meteorologist Ray Falconer began organizing them in 1963. Donations to
sustain the lectures are welcome.
FOI III III IK IK
August 9, 1984
State University of NewYork at Albany
AT A GLANCE
History: Founded in 1844. The state's first normal school. The first state school to award the
baccalaureate degree, 1908. Charter member of the State University of New York, SUNY, system,
1948. Designated a University Center and authorized to award the doctorate, 1962.
Organization: The University Center is organized into nine major academic units: the Colleges of
Humanities and Fine Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Science and Mathematics; and the
Schools of Business, Criminal Justice, Education, Library and Information Science, Public Affairs, and
Social Welfare. The Schools of Criminal Justice, Public Affairs, and Social Welfare together form
the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.
Degree Programs: There are 50 major fields of study at the bachelor's degree level, 49 at the
master's level, 11 Certificates of Advanced Study, and 24 doctoral programs. In addition, there are
27 combined bachelor's/master's programs.
Tuition: Undergraduate students from New York State pay $1,350 tuition per academic year.
Undergraduate students from out-of-state pay $3,200 per year. In-state graduate students pay $2,150
per year. Out-of State graduate students pay $3,735. A room on campus costs $1,550 per year. The
annual board charge is $1,033.
Enrollment: The university enrolls approximately 11,400 undergraduate students, 97 percent of whom
come from New York State. Nassau County, Albany County, and the boroughs of New York City send
the most students to the University. The University's graduate enrollment is approximately 4,500.
Another 4,000 students are enrolled on a non-degree basis. Each year approximately 500 foreign
students from some 70 countries attend Albany. Countries with the largest Albany enrollments are
Cyprus and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Students: Approximately 2,000 freshmen are enrolled each fall chosen from about 14,000 applications
received from high school seniors. The admissions process is competitive and those enrolling as
freshmen generally rank in the top 20 percent of their high school classes and have combined SAT
scores of 1100. In addition, the University also enrolls about 1,200 transfer students each year, many
from SUNY community colleges. Undergraduates do not select their major field of study until
midway through the sophomore year. The most popular choices currently are psychology, business
administration, economics, English, computer science, and biology. The University's graduate student
population includes approximately 1,600 full time students. The remainder are pursuing advanced
degrees on a parttime basis, many while employed in the Albany area. Approximately 6,000 students
live on campus in University housing.
Alumni: The University has graduated more than 70,000 students since its founding. As testament to
its growth over the past 20 years, the median class for Albany's 60,000 living alumni is 1974. Since
the mid-1970s, the University has been awarding approximately 3,500 degrees a year. Seventy
percent of all Albany alumni are New York State residents.
Faculty: The University has approximately 675 full time faculty members, 92 percent of whom hold
doctoral degrees. Of the total, approximately 245 are full professors and about 500 have tenure.
Almost all Albany faculty teach undergraduate students.
At a Glance Page 2 ¢
The campus: The main campus was opened in the mid-1960s. Designed by the noted architect Edward
Durell Stone, the principal academic area is 13 interconnected buildings on a podium with a fountain
at the center. The administration building, campus center, main library, performing arts center and
art gallery are also located on the podium. At the four corners of the podium are residence
quadrangles, each featuring a 22-story residence tower in the middle. The main campus is located
approximately three miles from downtown Albany at the western edge of the city. The University
also occupies a recently renovated seven building complex in downtown Albany. From 1909 through
the early 1960s, this was the Albany campus. Today, it is home for Rockefeller College, four
professional schools, the University's continuing studies division, and a variety of clinical and
research centers. The University also owns two recreational campuses, one on an 80-acre site on the
Mohawk River 10 miles north of Albany and the other, an 800-acre site in the Central Adirondacks.
Research: A University Center is characterized by research. The University each year attracts
millions of dollars to support faculty research. The Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, with its
field station atop Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks, is the best known Albany enterprise but
Albany researchers are well known for work in areas as varied as dyslexia, Mayan culture,
biofeedback, and defects in solids.
The Library: The University library is a modern research facility with more than one-million volumes
. catalogued. It is the largest open stack public facility in the region and features more than 3,000
study carrels. €
The Computing Center: The central computers are a Sperry 1100/83 and a DEC 2065. There are
several computer terminal rooms around campus and dial-up phone hook-ups are available. There is
computer access 24 hours a day.
The Arts: The Performing Arts Center on the podium has five performance areas, including the 500
seat main theatre. There is an active music and drama program and some dance. The University
gallery enjoys a fine reputation for high quality shows.
Sports: The University fields 21 intercollegiate teams, 1] for men and 10 for women. All compete at
the NCAA Division III level and no athletic scholarships are given. University Gym is a multipurpose
facility featuring eight squash and handball courts, a 25-yard pool and a basketball area that seats
3,000 fans. Other campus facilities include 24 tennis courts, 12 with lights
Student Activities: There are more than 100 student activities formally recognized by the Student
Association, the student governing body. SA elects officers each year, has central legislative and
judicial branches plus organizations in the residence halls, and has an annual budget of more than
$750,000. Students publish a twice-weekly campus newspaper, the Albany Student Press, and operate
WCDB, a fully licensed FM radio station.
The News Bureau: The University's News Bureau, frequently the first point of contact for the Press.¢
can be reached at (518) 457-4901. The professionals in this office are Mary Fiess and Christine
McKnight, directors, and Sheila Mahan, assistant director.
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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 84-222
UNIVERSITY TO ENROLL NEARLY 16,000
AS ACADEMIC YEAR BEGINS SEPT. 6
Nearly 16,000 students, including 2,150 freshmen who were top high school
graduates, are expected to register for classes on Wednesday, Sept. 5, as State
University of New York at Albany begins its 141st academic year.
Classes begin on Thursday, Sept. 6 for a projected 4,500 graduate students
and 11,400 undergraduate students, including 950 to 1,000 transfer students, many
of them from SUNY community colleges. The figures are about the same as last
year.
About 97 percent of the University's undergraduates come from New York State,
with Nassau County, Albany County and the boroughs of New York City sending most
of the students. Approximately 500 foreign students from some 70 countries also
attend Albany, one of the largest international enrollments on any SUNY campus.
The average Albany freshman, chosen from among 14,000 applicants, ranked in
the top 12 percent of his or her high school class, and had a B+ average and
combined college board scores of at least 1100, according to Rodney A. Hart,
director of the Office of Admissions. He said that while the number of
applicants had declined slightly, by 5.7 percent, the University easily met its
admission target.
"We're not seeing any surprises whatsoever," he said. "We expected to see a
small dip in applications because it's a reflection of a generally smaller pool
of applicants." An increase in the application fee, from $10 to $15, may also
have played a role, he said.
Page 2 84-222
Judith Ramaley, vice president for Academic Affairs, described the freshman
class as "a very bright, energetic group of students.”
"Our students are attracted to the University for a variety of reasons," she
said. "Many of them are seeking careers in public affairs, business, or health
sciences. Am increasing number of students are choosing to major in fields like
history, recognizing that a strong background in the humanities and social
sciences is an excellent preparation for a variety of careers.”
Ramaley said that while they are at the University, many students also become
active in student government, in service projects, or in internship experiences
im the community.
"This practical opportunity to learn leadership skills is very complementary
to our academic program," she said.
Freshmen who received academic counseling as part of their orientation this
summer again expressed an overwhelming desire to major in business fields and
computer science, according to Stanley F. Schwartz, director of the University's
Center for Undergraduate Education. He said that about half of the 1,786
freshmen participating in orientation indicated they wanted to apply to the
University’s School of Business, which admits students as juniors. The two
courses which freshmen signed up for most frequently, Economics 100M and
Psychology 101M, are requirements for the School of Business, he added.
"Students remain intensely career-oriented,” said Schwartz. "Many students
who come to Albany do so because they know we have a good reputation in the
marketplace for business, computer science and pre-health. Naturally, these are
the kinds of courses they want to take.”
Now beginning the third year of a General Education Program requiring that
Page 3 84-222
students meet certain course distributions, the University has also experienced a
"significant" increase in natural science enrollments among the new freshman
class, primarily among courses designed specifically for non-science majors,
according to Schwartz. Courses in this category which freshmen signed up for
most frequently during summer orientation, he said, included a chemistry course
entitled "The ABC's of Chemistry," non-technical atmospheric science and
oceanography courses, a biology course called "The Brain: the Final Frontier,”
and a geology course entitled "The Planet Earth."
In all, said Schwartz, 1,508 freshmen signed up for natural science courses
this year, compared with 1,270 during the summer of 1982, when the University
reinstated the General Education Program after a 13-year hiatus.
The program, which now affects all undergraduates except seniors, requires
that students complete 36 credits in approved courses with six credits each in
natural sciences, social sciences, literature and fine arts, world cultures and
values, and symbolics.
FOI SO III IK
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dormitories open Sunday, Sept. 2, at 9 a.m.
August 21, 1984
news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Christine McKnight 84-228
HEADACHE-PLAGUED CHILDREN CAN FIND RELIEF WITHOUT DRUGS
When 13-year-old Jeff Cardini feels a migraine headache coming on, he
doesn't reach for an aspirin. Instead, he tenses and relaxes various muscles
in exercises designed to ease the throbbing pain without drugs. Cardini
learned the technique from psychologist Frank Andrasik of the State University
of New York at Albany's Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders.
Andrasik's research has shown that 8- to 16-year-olds can find relief from
chronic migraine and muscle tension headaches without drugs. Rather, they
Learn one of two psychological methods: progressive relaxation techniques
designed to help relax every major muscle group in the body, or biofeedback,
which involves raising the temperature of their hands using a self-suggestion
method. Both techniques work equally well in providing relief, he says, and
60 to 80 percent of the children have reported a reduction in or disappearance
of their headaches.
While not all children are candidates for the non-drug treatment,
Andrasik's findings are significant because they offer an alternative for
doctors reluctant to prescribe medication to children who are still growing.
His research is the only federally-funded project of its kind in the country.
ANDRASIK'S NUMBER IS (518) 455-6294.
news
News Bureau » (518) 457-4901 State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 84-227
READING PROBLEMS START EARLY, AND SO SHOULD SOLUTIONS
As the little boy proudly read jokes from his bright green book, reading
specialist Peter Johnston noted, "Now he wants to read." But the little boy
didn't want to read before he finally understood a concept most of us take for
granted: words on a page contain something interesting.
Johnston, director of State University of New York at Albany's Reading Clinic,
says children with reading problems often do not understand this or other basic
aspects of reading, which often leads to their reading problems. He further
selieves that schools -~ and parents -- can identify and remedy these problems
much earlier and more efficiently than they do.
Young children have to understand such concepts as "word" and “story,”
Johnston says, "or they assemble a bunch of erroneous ideas about reading, and
everything else they are taught goes down the drain.” Tests can quickly determine
these problems, but they have to be administered individually. So schools rarely
employ this “preventive approach," he says.
The most important role parents can play is to read to their kids, he adds.
"If all parents read to their pre-school children, we would see a fraction of the
reading problems we now see," Johnston maintains. An associate professor of
reading, Johnston won the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the International
Reading Association in 1982.
JOHNSTON'S NUMBER IS (518) 457-5137.
News
News Bureau * (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany ° 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Christine McKnight 84-226
FOR SOME PEOPLE, SHYNESS IS OVERWHELMING
We've all experienced anxiety -- often just as we're about to make a
presentation to the boss, tell a joke or start up a conversation. Most of us
muddle through, but for a handful of people such situations are so unbearable
they'll do anything to avoid them, even quit a job or become a social recluse.
They are victims of a newly recognized affliction called social phobia, according
to psychologist Richard Heimberg of the State University of New York at Albany's
Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders.
In the only study of its kind in the country, Heimberg has developed a
non-drug treatment which exposes sufferers to the situations that panic them,
then has them analyze how they felt and what they thought. This scrutiny helps
them recognize how their own view of the situation may exaggerate the fear.
Their panic actually stems from a fear that they will do something embarassing or
humiliating in a situation where they are exposed to scrutiny by others, he says.
Sufferers of social phobia are usually "super critical" of themselves, but
the treatment may also be of some value to those who consider themselves
painfully shy and would go to any length to avoid situations in which they are
watched by others. Many social phobics depend on alcohol or tranquilizers that
may be contributing to their problem, he said. Heimberg is an associate
professor of psychology at the University.
HEIMBERG'S NUMBER IS (518) 457-8482. THE CENTER'S NUMBER IS (518) 455-6294.
news
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 « State University of New York at Albany ° 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 84-225
WOMEN'S WORK IS RARELY SEEN
State University of New York at Albany sociologist Christine Bose has a new
twist on an old adage. In the 20th century, she says, many aspects of women's
work are never seen. Bose's research on women's work was the first of its kind
in the country in the 1970s, when she found that “there are really no high
status, traditional women's jobs." And occupational segregation still exists:
traditional female jobs still pay less than traditional male jobs whether a man
or a woman holds the post, she says.
Women's predominance in the clerical field only began in this century when
female workers sought low-paying office jobs because they were cleaner and
steadier than factory work, Bose adds. And despite what some may think,
technology has not “liberated” women from the home, but added new
responsibilities that increase the work but not the status, she says. Housework
got lighter, but standards of cleanliness rose, so women wash or cook or clean
more often. In fact, technology really liberated men "who used to take out the
garbage or dry the dishes but with large appliances now leave it to women to take
out the compacted trash," according to Bose.
She found that a housewife's role is rated very differently by men and women,
and by people at various education levels. An associate professor of sociology,
she is co-author of The Hidden Aspects of Women's Work, expected later this year.
BOSE'S OFFICE NUMBER IS (518) 457-8468
news
News Bureau ° (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 84-224
SPOUSE MAY BE KEY TO RECOVERY FROM AGORAPHOBIA, THE “HOUSEWIFE'S DISEASE”
Each year, thousands of women become prisoners in their own homes, casualties
of a battle with agoraphobia. It means "fear of the marketplace," but its panic
attacks can frighten a sufferer from venturing anywhere from a “safe” place. It
afflicts more than three million Americans a year, three out of four of them women.
Psychologist David Barlow of the State University of New York at Albany's
Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders has developed a promising new treatment
for agoraphobia that doesn't involve drugs of any kind. Instead, the sufferer --
ind her husband -- participate in a program combining relaxation techniques with
progressively independent tasks, and its recovery rate is substantially higher
than treatments involving drugs, he says. "Husbands are intimately involved in
the problem of agoraphobia, so they want to be part of the treatment. They don't
want to sit back and do nothing,” according to Barlow, a professor of psychology
and one of the nation's leading researchers in this field.
Psychologists used to think agoraphobia was caused by fear of leaving a safe
place, but they now recognize that panic attacks -- the feeling of losing control
or dying -- are the real problem and become self-perpetuating. In the treatment,
the couple learns to understand and control the attacks, then works on tasks which
help the woman become more independent. The Center for Stress and Anxiety
Disorders is the top funded research center in the country for study of anxiety.
BARLOW'S NUMBER IS (518) 457-3999. THE CENTER'S NUMBER IS (518) 455-6144.
News
News Bureau (518) 457-4901 © State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue « Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 84-223
FRIENDS, NETWORK AND CHURCH ARE KEYS TO SURVIVING STRESS
Getting a divorce, losing a job, even moving into a new home can create
enough stress to devastate some women. But others manage to maintain emotional
stability. Their secret, says State University of New York at Albany
sociologist Nan Lin, is social support -- having friends and lovers in whom they
can confide. A close confidante is the primary supplier of such support, and an
opposite-sex confidante is the very best buffer against stress, he says.
It follows, then, that the death of a spouse or the breakup of a marriage is
ne most stressful of all events because it collapses the support system,
according to Lin. Many people fall back on their kin in such cases, but those
who re-establish their own support network, especially with members of the
opposite sex, recover more quickly, he reports. Our network of “weak ties" can
also supply access to other resources we might need to pull through a stressful
event, and such community activity as church-going can define that network,
according to Lin. Lin, a professor of sociology, is the only researcher in the
country who is assessing the long-term consequences of stressful life events.
LIN'S OFFICE NUMBER IS (518) 457-8468
News
News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ¢ Albany, New York 12222
Contact: Sheila Mahan 84-229
EXCESS NOISE CAN HARM FETAL DEVELOPMENT
Exposure to very loud airplane noise can be harmful to the development of
a human fetus, State University of New York at Albany anthropologist Lawrence
Schell has found. Babies born to women living so near the flight pattern of
airports they regularly heard 100 decibels or more of noise (roughly the level
of noise a diesel truck makes) had gestation periods 10 days shorter than
babies born to women not exposed to the noise. And the female babies of women
in the high-noise group weighed an average two-tenths of a pound less at birth.
While the effects may appear slight, such measures of growth and
development are evidence that some biological changes are occuring, Schell
says. And they are indicative of community health. Schell, an assistant
professor in the University’s Anthropology Department is now studying effects
of exposure to such toxic chemicals as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on
fetal and child development in a New York community.
SCHELL'S NUMBER IS (518) 457-8404.
QAS55S0N CIA News Bureau
State University of New York at Albany
August 23, 1984
Dear Editor:
Many issues that touch women's lives each year -- coping with stress,
surviving at work, raising a healthy family -- are the focus of research
at State University of New York at Albany.
Enclosed are brief summaries of some important studies in progress at the
University that you and your readers may find interesting and helpful.
These include:
* The key to surviving life's stressful events
* The hidden aspects of women's work
* A husband's role in recovering from agoraphobia
* Help for debilitating shyness
* Curing headaches in children without drugs
* Early solutions to children's reading problems
* The effects of noise on fetal development
If you'd like more information on these subjects, you may contact the
researcher directly at the telephone numbers included. Or you can call
the University News Bureau at (518) 457-4901 and we'll make arrangements
for you.
Sincerely,
/; / Nihon
SheilA Mahan
Assistant director
encls.
AD 238, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, 518/457-4901
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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 84-230
UNIVERSITY PLAYING KEY ROLE IN SHAPING ALBANY'S PLAN FOR 1990
In the past three decades Albany's population has dropped 25 percent and
its tax base has diminished significantly. At the same time, white collar
employment has risen and the city's excellent stock of houses has begun
attracting developers.
With a past so vulnerable to the whims of economics and popular taste, the
city of Albany is beginning to control its future -- taking advantage of
opportunities and learning to cope with difficulties -- by developing a
strategic plan for 1990. State University of New York at Albany will be
playing an important role as that plan unfolds.
Todd Swanstrom, an associate professor of political science in the
University's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, will serve as
staff director to the strategic planning committee, whose 42 members,
appointed by the mayor, include business, labor, education, volunteer,
professional, finance and government leaders. Swanstrom, a planner for the
city of Cleveland from 1979 to 1981, will provide research and planning
expertise to the committee.
"In many ways Albany is better off than other Northeast cities," Swanstrom
said. "Albany has strong growth in white-collar service employment like
government, health and business. The city's colleges and universities are
anchors that stabilize neighborhoods. They'll never move to the Sunbelt."
The strategic planning committee is now divided into smaller task forces
considering four main issues -- downtown, housing and community development,
84-230 Page 2
business and employment, and government finances and services. Each task
force will consult with experts in the area to devise strategies to cope with
trends in these areas, Swanstrom explained. The committee expects to make
final recommendations to the mayor early in 1985.
“There are trends the city may be able to do something about and trends it
won't be able to control," Swanstrom explained. "The committee will take
these into account in developing the strategic plan. For example, the city is
not likely to get families to move back into the downtown areas but perhaps it
could succeed in persuading young professionals to live there.”
Attracting people to live in Albany will also require that downtown again
reflect a 24-hour environment, Swanstrom said. Currently, 40,000 white-collar
workers flood into the downtown area between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., but very few
live or shop in the area.
“Generally, downtown shopping can't compete with suburban malls. So you
have to create a specialty shopping center and provide an experience or
services that aren't available elsewhere," he explained.
Employment in the city has also risen steadily since 1950, he said. The
city’s unemployment rate is lower than the state's rate, although it is higher
than Albany County's unemployment rate, due largely to the exodus of many
middle class families to the city's suburbs.
Albany has other resources that a strategic plan could take advantage of,
such as the unusual amount of open space in its parks. The riverfront is
another unusual feature, but the highway between the central business district
and the riverfront poses an unfortunate barrier, Swanstrom said.
One of Albany's biggest challenges is "how it can cope with being the
84-230 Page 3
state capital," Swanstrom said. Almost three-quarters of the city's assessed
property value is tax exempt. While Swanstrom would not speculate on how the
committee might propose to deal with that, he noted that several options were
available, including in-lieu-of-tax payments and other arrangements with the
state, and tax-leasing plans.
Another generally positive trend in Albany, he said, is the interest of
developers and other home buyers in Albany's excellent stock of houses and the
steady increase in people restoring and moving back into those houses. But
Swanstrom cautioned that “gentrification,” as it is called, should not be
pursued at the expense of widespread displacement of the original tenants.
Plans for rehabilitation of the old Union Station by the Norstar Bank and
the proposed construction of a civic center downtown could also lure both
residents and visitors to the downtown business district, Swanstrom said.
"The civic center could have a revitalizing effect, but it depends on how
it's constructed," he said. "The hope is that it would be integrated into
downtown."
Swanstrom's role in Albany's strategic plan is further evidence of the
University's increasing contribution to such public policy projects, according
to Warren Ilchman, provost of Rockefeller College and director of the
Rockefeller Institute of Government. The institute, established by the State
University Board of Trustees in 1981, serves as a public policy center for the
64-campus State University of New York system. It is providing office space
and all clerical support for the strategic planning project.
Other University at Albany experts and students have also played a role in
the plan, Swanstrom said. Students in geographer Paul Marr's urban regional
84-230 Page 4
planning class created a detailed city map illustrating all the tax exempt,
vacant and abandoned property downtown. Sociologist John Logan's familiarity
with census data helped Swanstrom compile a list of cities comparable to
Albany. Even people's attitudes toward the downtown business district became
the object of academic scrutiny when students in Joseph Woelfel's
communication class surveyed area residents. Those findings could provide the
focus for a downtown promotional campaign, Swanstrom noted.
Swanstrom's $25,000 job as staff director, funded by a federal Community
Development Block Grant, ends in January, when the committee expects to make
its final recommendations to the mayor. Those recommendations, Swanstrom
promises, will not be “pie-in-the-sky" suggestions.
"The committee will avoid a wish list. They have great respect for the
facts. The plan would not call for major spending by the city because the
city doesn't have many local resources to commit."
Swanstrom's book based on his experiences in Cleveland , The Crisis of
Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich and the Challenge of Urban Populism, will
be published in early 1985 by Temple University Press. He joined the
University in 1982.
FOI IK
August 27, 1984
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News Bureau ¢ (518) 457-4901 ¢ State University of New York at Albany * 1400 Washington Avenue ® Albany, New York 12222
TONI MORRISON
Novelist Toni Morrison will hold an Albert Schweitzer Chair in the
Humanities at State University of New York at Albany beginning in January 1985.
The author of four novels, including the The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula
(1974) and Tar Baby (1981), she received the National Book Critics Circle
Award in 1977 for Song of Solomon. Her works, which depict aspects of black
culture and the experience of being female, have roots in both history and
mythology and are critically acclaimed for their vivid sense of place. She
has also inspired scholarly attention, including a chapter devoted to her in
Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition, 1892-1976 by Barbara
Christian.
Morrison's influence on black contemporary literature also emerged when,
for more than a decade, she served as a senior editor for Random House
Publishers. She was primarily responsible for editing the works of black
writers, which included Toni Cade Bambera, Angela Davis, Muhammad Ali, Gayl
Jones and Andrew Young.
Most recently a distinguished visiting professor at Rutgers University in
New Brunswick, N.J., Morrison has also taught at Texas Southern University,
Howard University, State University College at Purchase, Yale University and
Bard College.
A native of Lorain, Ohio, she earned a bachelor of arts degree from Howard
University in 1953 and a master of arts degree from Cornell University in
1955. She has also received honorary degrees from Spelman, Bard, Oberlin,
Dartmouth, and Wesleyan colleges and the University of Massachusetts, and a
medal of distinction from Barnard College. Morrison now lives in
Grandview-on-Hudson.
Morrison's position at the University, the Schweitzer Chair, is one of 10
Schweitzer-Einstein chairs established by the New York state Legislature in
1964 to attract distinguished scholars to New York institutions of higher
education. Each chair is funded at $100,000 annually for the support of
professors, research assistantships and fellowships and other expenses.
Appointments are made for an indefinite period.
At Albany, she will teach creative writing, literature and criticism
courses. During the Spring 1985 semester, she will teach a four-part
noncredit seminar called "The Writer Before the Page,” a course describing
what writers should know about writing and publishing before they begin.
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August 27, 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 84-231
NEW_YORK STATE WRITERS INSTITUTE HOSTS TONI MORRISON
Toni Morrison, who has played an influential role in shaping contemporary
black literature both as a novelist and editor, will read from her work and
lecture at State University of New York at Albany Thursday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m.
Morrison's lecture is the first event sponsored by the New York State
Writers Institute, endowed by the state Legislature this year under a bill
recently signed into law by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo. Pulitzer Prize-winning
novelist William Kennedy, a professor of English at the University, directs
the institute, which was established to bring distinguished writers from
around the world to Albany to dicuss and share their art.
This is also the first campus appearance for Morrison, who will join the
University faculty in January as occupant of the Albert Schweitzer Chair in
the Humanities. This is the first time the state Board of Regents has awarded
the prestigious position to the University.
Morrison will also conduct an afternoon seminar with writing students
during her visit to the campus. Both she and Kennedy will be available to
meet informally with the press from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in Room 253 of the
Administration Building on the University's uptown campus at 1400 Washington
Avenue.
"Toni Morrison has emerged in the past decade as a novelist of great power
and originality, a major figure in American literature and of international
reputation," Kennedy said. "Because of her eminence and also because she will
be a continuing presence on the Albany campus, as holder of the Schweitzer
Page 2 84-231
Chair, we thought it fitting that she be the first visiting writer to appear
under the aegis of the New York State Writers Institute.”
Morrison has won much critical acclaim for her novels including the
National Book Critics Circle award in 1977 for her Song of Solomon, a book
about a black family torn by the conflicting impulses of hate and love. She
also received the Cleveland Arts Prize in Literature in 1978 and the
Distinguished Writer Award of 1978 from the American Academy of Arts and
Letters. Her other novels The Bluest Eye, Tar Baby and Sula, also praised by
eritics, depict aspects of black culture and the experience of being female.
For more than a decade, Morrison also worked as an editor for Random House
Publishers, where she was primarily responsible for reviewing and editing
works of black writers. She is currently completing her fifth novel and is a
distinguished visiting professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.
She has also taught at Texas Southern, Howard and Yale universities, Bard
College and State University College at Purchase.
Morrison's post at the University, the Schweitzer Chair, is one of 10
Schweitzer-Einstein chairs established by the Legislature in 1964 to attract
distinguished scholars to New York institutions of higher education. Each
chair is funded at $100,000 annually for the support of professors, research
assistantships and fellowships and other expenses. Appointments are made for
an indefinite period.
A graduate of Howard University, Morrison earned a master's degree from
Cornell and honorary degrees from the University of Masschusetts, Bard, Morgan
State, Oberlin, Dartmouth, Spelman and Wesleyan colleges and a medal of
distinction from Barnard.
Page 3 84-231
The New York State Writers Institute is the latest in a series of
successful enterprises by Kennedy. In 1983, he received a $264,000
no-strings-attached grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation. From that grant, $15,000 went to the institution of Kennedy's
choice, and with matching funds from the University, the Writers Institute at
Albany was born in 1983. Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow, long-time friend and
mentor of Kennedy, inaugurated the institute with a lecture on "The Writer and
the World” in April.
The New York state Legislature then voted to establish a New York State
Writers Institute and allocated $100,000 for its operation. With the state
endowment, the institute is to offer workshops and seminars throughout the
state, sponsor prizes and awards, train teachers and establish publications.
Each year, the institute will also sponsor the "Herman Melville
Lectureship on the Creative Imagination." In the spring, John Updike, noted
author of short stories, esssays and such best-selling novels as Rabbit Run,
Rabbit is Rich and Couples, will deliver the first distinguished lecture.
Updike won the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism in 1983 for
Hugging the Shore: Essays and Criticism and the National Book Award in 1963
for The Centaur.
Later this year, the New York State Writers Institute will sponsor a
lecture and reading by Argentinian novelist Luisa Valenzuela as well as a
conference on Puerto Rican writers. In the spring, Peruvian author Mario
Vargas Llosa is also scheduled to visit the campus, according to Tom Smith of
the University's English Department, the institute's associate director.
Kennedy, now on leave from his position in the English Department, has
Page 4 84-231
taught at the University since 1969. Once a reporter for the Albany Times
Union and a magazine writer, he earned little public recognition for his three
novels until the MacArthur Foundation award in 1983. Later that year, he
published Ironweed, which earned him the National Book Critics Cirle Award in
1983 and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1984.
His other novels are The Ink Truck (1969), Legs (1975) Billy Phelan's
Greatest Game (1978) and O Albany! (1983). He has just completed the
screenplay for Cotton Club with Francis Ford Coppola and the screenplay for
Legs. He is also working on his fifth novel Quinn's Book, set in 19th century
Albany.
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August 27, 1984
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August 28, 1984
Dear
The beginning of the academic year at State University of New York at
Albany is also bringing the first event of William Kennedy's New York
State Writers Institute. It is a lecture and reading on Sept. 13 by
novelist Toni Morrison, author of Song of Solomon and Tar Baby and a major
influence in shaping contemporary black and feminist literature and
criticism.
Morrison will be available to meet informally with the press from 1:30 to
2:30 p.m. that day in Room 253 of the Administration Building on the main
campus at 1400 Washington Avenue.
This session is the first chance to meet and talk to a person who will
soon become a permanent part of the Albany literary scene. Morrison will
be joining the University faculty in January as holder of a prestigious
Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities. That appointment is an important
companion activity to the growing doctor of arts in writing program, which
focuses on writing theory and practice.
Enclosed is a release about Morrison's visit and some background on her.
If you'd like more information, feel free to give me a call at 457-4901.
Thanks for your interest.
Sincerely,
Sheila Mahan
Assistant Director
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