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<strong>News of the Faculty</strong>
Gordon C. Baird (geosciences) will present a paper on his research at the 42nd annual meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of...
Spring internship at Disney is senior's dream come true
Joshua Jeffery will be graduating from SUNY Fredonia this spring with a BFA degree in Theatre Design and Production/ Scenic Design. He won’t be on hand to accept his diploma, however, because he’ll be in Orlando, Florida, finishing out a six-month professional internship in "imagineering" at Walt Disney World that is truly his dream come true. "The office setting I'm in is wonderful and very creative," he said. "The days are a bit long and very busy, but never boring. I love coming to work."
Their prof says he epitomizes a rare breed of artist
By Colin Herzog, '06 Led by Geneseo Professor Lynette Bosch, a class of art history students from SUNY Geneseo traveled to Fredonia last December to...
Future social studies teacher getting to know globe personally
Asia is next on the list for Catherine Riedesel's global plans. Catherine Riedesel of Ripley, N.Y. has received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in...
Faculty updates
At the American Speech Language Hearing Association national convention (Nov. 18, Miami, Fl.), Dr. Kim L. Tillery and two professional colleagues led the two-hour program...
Dr. Arnavut's technique for file compression loses nothing in translation
Dr. Ziya Arnavut in his Fenton Hall office. He has improved on a data compression technique that "losslessly" does the job. In his 2004 paper published in The Computer Journal, Dr. Ziya Arnavut (computer science) demonstrated that a technique he developed to help compress digital files, known as Inversion Coder, yields superior compression results when used in the second step of a compression algorithm. Recently, Prof. Hidetoshi Yokoo of Gunma University in Japan published an article in the prestigious international journal, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, in which he theoretically proved Dr. Arnavut’s thesis. Read the complete news release on Dr. Arnavut.
Concerto winners worked hard for solo gig
Three students have stood out among the 16 finalists that performed at the School of Music concerto competition held in September. Sipkje Pesnichak, a junior, and seniors Phil Servati and Scott Horsington were judged by a panel of faculty to be the concerto winners. An oboist, a pianist, and a clarinetist, respectively, the three instrumentalists will be featured soloists during three concerts in the spring semester. Phil Servati Sipkje Pesnichak Scott Horsington “Ever since I heard a live orchestra I was amazed,” said Mr. Servati, a music composition major who also studies piano as an applied piano major under Professor Nathan Hess. A native of Rochester and the technical manager for Ethos New Music Society, he said, “I have always wanted to be featured as a soloist.” And the path to being featured soloists with the College Symphony was not easy. On top of the juries that all music majors are required to go through just to continue on in their major, these three and dozens of others had to grit their teeth and work their appeal on an additional series of juries during preceding semesters in order to compete for the concerto. Once there, they had to outshine the other musicians who had strived for the same goal in front of a panel consisting of their professors.Judging by their excitement today, the long hours of practice in Mason Hall were all worth it.
Dead bridge, dead theory?
Musings during a recent trip through China are the inspirations for Mohawk poet James Thomas Stevens’ sixth book of poetry, A Bridge Dead in the Water, which plumbs the depths of experiences of Native peoples on two continents. Said to have once been an exposed strip of land that brought Asian settlers to the continent of North America, the Bering Strait Land Bridge has also become a metaphor for the conflict between Europeans and Native Americans. Just as science and religion clash in all cultures, the Bering Strait theory has appeared to trivialize the hundreds of creation accounts that were fundamental to the traditions of Native peoples in North America. Read why the theory antagonizes many Native Americans. The Bering Strait Professor Stevens, who teaches English at SUNY Fredonia, researched the effects of colonization on either side of the strait – China and North America, in preparing to write his newest collection. His explorations took him to unexpected sources that gave a glimpse into the lives of native peoples. For example, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York’s 1901 published list of accidents, emergencies, and illnesses became the inspiration for a key poem in the book, “The Mutual Life.” Two other poems focus on mapping, authority and propaganda, while the short poems recall some of his more personal experiences.
Filmmaker takes camera behind scenes with Whirling Dervishes
To the advantage of her audiences, filmmaker Nefin Dinc’s eyes become theirs. A documentary filmmaker allowed to follow a group of whirling dervishes behind the scenes as they prepare for a ceremony in Turkey, she turned her camera on a 12-year old girl who was undergoing the spiritual and physical training to perform the ancient devotional dance. “I wanted to show a glimpse of Islamic life in Turkey,” the SUNY Fredonia communication professor said. Professor Nefin Dinc
Professional activities of faculty and staff
Alberto Rey (visual art and new media) was a panelist during the "Complicit" symposium at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville recently. Panelists discussed "Contemporary...