Ramapo Magazine Fall 2010 by Ramapo College

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FALL 2010

FEATURE STORY:

Haiti: Ramapo Cares

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Secrets of the Amazon PAGE 6 Alumnus In the Spotlight PAGE 8

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Ramapo Magazine

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

COLLEGE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Peter P. Mercer, Ph.D. President Beth E. Barnett, Ed.D. Provost

I write this on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish holiday which translated literally from Hebrew means “the head of the year”. The whole college can readily identify with this “new year” celebration as our students are again in the throes of settling in to campus life. Our first-time, full-time freshman complement, for whom everything is new, numbers just over 900 and their enormous energy is already palpable. In addition, the College has welcomed our first cohort of graduate students to the newly established Master of Arts in Sustainability Studies program.

In this edition you will learn of the campus-wide response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this year. The Faculty News section will take you globetrotting with our distinguished faculty as they conduct research and introduce our students to the world. You will also read about some of our amazing graduates: Paul Rosolie, class of 2010 graduate in environmental studies, has attracted worldwide attention for the eco-tours he conducts in the Peruvian Amazon. Igor Pusenjak, class of 1998, is president and co-founder of Lima Sky, the company that created the highly popular Doodle Jump game. He credits his Ramapo liberal arts education with enabling him to harness and direct his creative energies and build a thriving business.

PETER P. MERCER, Ph.D.

President, Ramapo College of New Jersey

We have a great deal to celebrate at Ramapo – a message that we have conveyed to the newly appointed Commission on Higher Education chaired by former Governor Tom Kean. As New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College, we continue to educate students in how to solve real world problems in a setting that is conducive to developing their full potential. We hope and expect that the Kean Commission will recommend that New Jersey’s public colleges continue to operate autonomously under the governance of independent Boards of Trustees. We also look forward to the recommendation of a rational basis for allocating state funds to higher education: more about that in the next issue. For now, we continue to advocate for a greater state commitment to higher education and we appreciate and encourage your support in that ongoing endeavor.

Cathleen Davey Vice President for Institutional Advancement Dorothy Echols Tobe, Ed.D. Chief Planning Officer BOARD OF TRUSTEES A. J. Sabath ‘93 Chair BOARD OF GOVERNORS Robert Tillsley Chair Jonathan N. Marcus ‘93 Alumni Association Board Chair Stanley Richmond Friends of Ramapo Board Chair RAMAPO MAGAZINE STAFF Cathleen Davey Editor-in-Chief Anna Farneski Executive Editor Mary Cicitta Managing Editor Cynthia Burns Foundation Editor Carolyn Herring Photo Editor DESIGN: Words and Pictures Creative Service, Inc. This magazine can be made available upon request in alternate media. Requests should be directed to: 201.684.7611

The Alumni Association sponsors a dinner each May, prior to Commencement, to honor Ramapo’s newest alumni and their families. (L-R Seated): Jamie Chalkley ’10, Keegan Saum, Gina Chalkley and Nicholas Konz. (L-R Standing): Gemma Chalkley ’08, Ryan Saum, President Peter P. Mercer, Kelly Chalkley and Garey Chalkley

The Educational Opportunity Fund Program’s caring and dedicated staffers, who promote academic, career and personal success programming for Ramapo’s students, participated in Senior Day. (L-R): Alisa Smith ’10, President Peter P. Mercer, EOF Director Lorne Weems and EOF Associate Director Deirdre Bright Foreman

The Selden Rodman Gallery of Popular Arts of the Americas and the Caribbean is home to a renowned international collection of works including Levoy Exil, Banana Moon Queen, oil, Morris/Svehla Collection

Ramapo held its Nursing Reunion in April. In attendance: (L-R): Instructor of Nursing Kathleen Moskin ’97, President Peter P. Mercer and Assistant Professor of Nursing Jody Williams.

Alumni contact and change of address: Purvi Parekh at 201.684.7115 STUDENT AFFAIRS CONTACT: Miki Cammarata at 201.684.7591 Ramapo Magazine is produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications.

Visit our Web site at www.ramapo.edu

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Feature

Secrets of the Amazon

Alumnus In the Spotlight

F E AT U R E S

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Ramapo Cares, Faculty, Alumni, Students and Staff Respond to Haitian Earthquake

Giant Anacondas and Floating Forests, An Interview with Paul Rosolie '10

Igor Pusenjak '98

D E PA R T M E N T S

College News Faculty News Grant News Foundation News Alumni News Class notes Courts and fields Planned Giving Datebook

Cover Photo: (L-R): Dr. Timothy Finley '94, Professor of Video Art and New Media Shalom Gorewitz, Director of the Center for Academic Advising/First-Year Experience Daniel Jean, Berrie Center Operations Manager Edouard Eloi, Professor of Painting Warner Wada and Associate Professor of Vocal Music Performance Lisa Lutter

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Ramapo Magazine

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

COLLEGE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Peter P. Mercer, Ph.D. President Beth E. Barnett, Ed.D. Provost

PETER P. MERCER, Ph.D.

President, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Ramapo held its Nursing Reunion in April. In attendance: (L-R): Instructor of Nursing Kathleen Moskin ’97, President Peter P. Mercer and Assistant Professor of Nursing Jody Williams.

Alumni contact and change of address: Purvi Parekh at 201.684.7115 STUDENT AFFAIRS CONTACT: Miki Cammarata at 201.684.7591 Ramapo Magazine is produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications.

Visit our Web site at www.ramapo.edu

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Feature

Secrets of the Amazon

Alumnus In the Spotlight

F E AT U R E S

10 14 19 20 23 26 29 30 32

Ramapo Cares, Faculty, Alumni, Students and Staff Respond to Haitian Earthquake

Giant Anacondas and Floating Forests, An Interview with Paul Rosolie '10

Igor Pusenjak '98

D E PA R T M E N T S

College News Faculty News Grant News Foundation News Alumni News Class notes Courts and fields Planned Giving Datebook

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RAMAPO CARES

FACULTY, ALUMNI, STUDENTS AND STAFF RESPOND TO HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE

By Christopher Hann

The Ramapo College Chorale performs at “Haiti: Ramapo Cares.”

Experience, and Edouard Eloi, the operations manager at the Berrie Center.

Soon after the January earthquake in Haiti Ramapo students met to plan fundraising activities.

he first call went out from Professor of Video Art and New Media Shalom Gorewitz. It was mid-January, a week before the start of spring semester. A few days earlier an earthquake had torn asunder the Western Hemisphere’s most impoverished nation, and Gorewitz was determined that Ramapo somehow come to Haiti’s aid. The College, which owns a celebrated collection of Haitian art, has a long history of cultivating academic and cultural ties with Haiti, where more than half the population lives in abject poverty. Gorewitz phoned a colleague, Professor of Painting Warner Wada, to ask what Ramapo could do. Looking for others who could help them coordinate a relief effort, they reached out to two others on the Ramapo campus, each a native Haitian: Daniel Jean, the director of the Center for Academic Advising/First-Year

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After meeting with other faculty and students, and after President Peter P. Mercer pledged his support, the Haiti Relief Committee, with Eloi as chairman, resolved to create an endowment that would each year provide scholarships to Ramapo for two Haitian students. The scholarship would cover the cost of room, board, and books, and the administration agreed to provide additional scholarships to cover tuition. The plan was set, but the hard work of raising money for the Haiti Relief Fund – the committee set a goal of $100,000 – was just beginning.

“Since we are in the business of education, we thought the best thing we could do is offer scholarships,” says Eloi. “We know Haiti right now is in a very terrible situation. We know that sooner or later there will be a reconstruction. We want to educate as many students as we can, and have them go back and use their education and educate others and help Haiti develop as a better nation. ”

Students designed T-shirts for the “Haiti: Ramapo Cares” benefit concert for Haiti relief held in March at Ramapo College. Proceeds from T-shirt sales and benefit concert will fund a scholarship program that will sponsor two Haitian students to attend Ramapo on a full scholarship.

The project drew interest from across the Ramapo campus. Gorewitz’s Visual Arts students created T-shirts inspired by Ramapo’s trove of Haitian art. The shirts quickly sold out. The committee organized a series of benefit concerts, including a March perform-

ance by the Ramapo Chorale, directed by Associate Professor of Vocal Music Performance Lisa Lutter that raised more than $3,000. In April the Haiti Relief Committee co-sponsored a lecture on campus by New York Times photographer Ozier Muhammad, whose presentation was titled “Orphans, Hunger and Poupelard Street: Photographs of Haiti after the January 12th Earthquake.” The committee persuaded Mercer and the Ramapo administration to sign off on a payroll deduction plan that enables College employees to donate a percentage of their salary to the Haiti Relief Fund. A major boost to the committee’s efforts came when Dr. Timothy Finley, ’94, pledged a donation of $10,000 over four years.

“The idea,” says Wada, “was to maximize participation across the campus – students, faculty, administration, staff.” Ed Eloi was supposed to be in Haiti on January 12. He was born in Port au Prince, the Haitian capital, and though he’s lived most of his life in the United States, as an adult he reconnected with his place of birth. He was hoping to visit Haiti during the winter break, but exorbitant airline prices kept him stateside. When the earthquake hit just outside his hometown, Eloi watched transfixed as television images showed shattered buildings, refugees by the thousands, and other evidence of the calamity.

In April Eloi returned to Haiti for 10 days, helping to erect food tents and a medical clinic.

“As a Haitian,” he says, “I felt I should take at least a week of my time to help. In Port au Prince, in all of Haiti, a lot of places are decimated. Buildings are down. In terms of reconstruction, things are moving very slowly. People are frustrated.”

Eloi’s trip to Haiti and his role in the Haiti Relief Fund reflect Ramapo’s longstanding (if improbable) collaboration between the tiny Caribbean nation and New Jersey’s smallest state college. That bond is perhaps best reflected in Ramapo’s trove of Haitian paintings and sculptures, on display in the Rodman Gallery, which is widely considered among the most important such collections in America. The prolific poet and cultural critic Selden Rodman, perhaps the world’s foremast champion of Haitian art before his death in 2002, donated the bulk of the works that hang in the gallery that bears his name.

“The Rodman name is becoming more important,” says Sydney Jenkins, gallery director of the Berrie Center. “In the last few years, African Diaspora scholarship has grown as a respectable dissertation subject. I was at a conference at the Clark Institute when the chair saw my name tag and told me www.ramapo.edu

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RAMAPO CARES

FACULTY, ALUMNI, STUDENTS AND STAFF RESPOND TO HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE

By Christopher Hann

The Ramapo College Chorale performs at “Haiti: Ramapo Cares.”

Experience, and Edouard Eloi, the operations manager at the Berrie Center.

Soon after the January earthquake in Haiti Ramapo students met to plan fundraising activities.

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In April Eloi returned to Haiti for 10 days, helping to erect food tents and a medical clinic.

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we were one of the most desirable locations for research.”

Ramapo has also partnered with the film director Jonathan Demme (“Silence of the Lambs”), who owns what is believed to be the world’s largest private collection of Haitian art. Demme donated about half the pieces for a spring semester exhibit at the Pascal Gallery featuring 29 paintings by the Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite. In 2007 the Kresge and Pascal Galleries presented an exhibit of Demme’s collection, including works by the Haitian masters Wilson Bigaud, Castera Bazile, and Rigaud Benoit. In February Demme was instrumental in bringing to Ramapo a group of film students from Cine Institute in Jacmel, Haiti, who spoke about the impact of the earthquake and presented short films to an audience of 200 students. Gorewitz says his own affinity for Haiti began when he served as dean of the School of Contemporary Arts. The bond intensified in the late 1980s, he says, when he heard fu-

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was there when I said maybe I should just give up. They never let me give up. When I talk about it, looking back, it’s very emotional to me how indebted I am to Ramapo College and to those teachers especially.”

ture Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide speak at his synagogue in New York City.

“I had family who were boat people from Europe trying to escape the Nazis,” Gorewitz says, “so I could relate to Haitian boat people fleeing to the United States. “I just remember kind of feeling this aura around him,” he says of Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest. “And he was speaking Hebrew. He was expressing his love of Jews. There had been an important community in Haiti. Jews escaping from the Holocaust lived there. It was the only country in the world where Jews could stay, if they could get there. Those are the things that bind me, spiritually and emotionally, to Haiti.”

To date the largest single gift to the Haiti Relief Fund has come from Finley, who credits Ramapo with nothing less than saving his life. Growing up in Bergen County, Finley was enough of a troublemaker to be sent, at age 16, to a center for incorrigible youth. He was working as a tile and marble cutter in

Dr. Timothy Finely ’94 with patient Jean Patrickson

New York City when he began to volunteer at Hackensack Hospital. There, to his profound surprise, doctors recognized his potential and encouraged him to pursue his own career in medicine. When he enrolled at Ramapo in the fall of 1990, he was a 25year-old unwed father of a four-year-old girl.

At Ramapo, Finley drew the attention of professors Ed Saiff, Bernard Langer, and Rena Bacon, who proved especially beneficent. “She really championed me to go to medical school,” Finley says. “There were times when I

As an anesthesiologist at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, Finley has traveled on medical missions to Haiti for eight years. A week after the earthquake, he went back. At Sacré Coeur Hospital in Milot, 56 miles north of Port au Prince, Finley and a skeleton crew of doctors and nurses worked 16-hour shifts for 10 days, treating hundreds of Haitians maimed in the destruction, carried there from throughout the country by helicopters that seemed always to be buzzing overhead. Of the hundreds of surgeries he performed, Finley says, 90 percent were amputations.

“Once we pulled up to the hospital, I ran from the truck,” Finley says. “It was like a war zone. People were all over the floor. Blood was all over the floor. The smell of blood and feces was everywhere. It was very tough. It’s hard to imagine so much suffering.” Six weeks later Finley returned to the hospital to deliver a 5,000-pound oxygen generator, for which he helped raise $160,000, largely from American colleagues. Of his work with Ramapo’s Haiti Relief Committee, Finley says, “You just kind of want to get people to remember that there’s still great suffering. That’s what stands out for me most.”

In August Eloi returned to Haiti, this time to interview scholarship applicants, who must be fluent in English and academically qualified. The search was not easy: Haiti’s education

The organizers of Ramapo College’s Haiti relief efforts, (L-R) Professor of Painting Warner Wada, Director of the Center for Academic Advising/First-Year Experience Daniel Jean, Dr. Timothy Finley ’94, Berrie Center Operations Director Edouard Eloi and Professor of Video Art and New Media Shalom Gorewitz.

system remains in shambles, its schools collapsed, its students’ lives upended, its administrative infrastructure still nonfunctional. But Eloi met with 13 prospective students, nine of whom spoke English fluently and, he says, “I think are able to function in our classroom setting.” Eloi videotaped the interviews to show to members of the committee.

“I happen to know the assistant director of education for Haiti,” Eloi says. “I also put the word out to him. I didn’t want to go through the embassy or the Department of Education. It’s difficult to have one place to go to say, Here it is, here’s our project.”

The committee had hoped to bring two students to Ramapo for the fall semester,

but many students have not been able to take the SAT, which were not scheduled to be given again in Haiti until October 9. Eloi and the committee now hope to welcome the first two Haitian scholarship students in January, in time for the spring semester.

To date the Haiti Relief Fund has raised $13,765, and Eloi says more fundraisers are planned for the fall semester. The committee will also direct a campaign aimed at persuading all Ramapo employees to participate in the payroll deduction plan. If 200 employees commit to the plan, contributing $5 per paycheck, Eloi says, the committee could raise the necessary funds over the next four years. There’s a long way to go to reach the $100,000 goal, but no one involved in the effort believes it won’t be achieved. “It’s just been a great group process,” Gorewitz says. “The way the colleagues can get together to do something that needs to be done. The administration has been very supportive. It shows what a group of colleagues – staff and faculty and students – what great things can be done. It’s really the group that deserves all the credit.”

If you would like to participate in Ramapo Cares: Haiti Relief Fund consider making a donation. Visit: www.ramapo.edu/haitirelief/ Students performed at “Haiti: Ramapo Cares” benefit concert in March. Performances included The Ramapo College Chorale, CantaNOVA and Skylark, as well as special guest The Three Part Invention Bluegrass Band and various student bands. 4

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Dr. Timothy Finley ’94 with the residents of Milot in Haiti.

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we were one of the most desirable locations for research.”

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ture Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide speak at his synagogue in New York City.

Dr. Timothy Finely ’94 with patient Jean Patrickson

In August Eloi returned to Haiti, this time to interview scholarship applicants, who must be fluent in English and academically qualified. The search was not easy: Haiti’s education

The committee had hoped to bring two students to Ramapo for the fall semester,

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Dr. Timothy Finley ’94 with the residents of Milot in Haiti.

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In March of this year Mongabay.com, one of the best known web sites dedicated to environmental news, published the eighth in a series of interviews with “Young Scientists.” Featured was recent Ramapo College graduate Paul Rosolie ’10. Around campus, Rosolie is known as Amazon Paul, an amiable student with a passion for rain forests. For the past four years, as soon as classes ended, Rosolie has hopped on a plane to the Peruvian Amazon where he has conducted eco-tours with the locals, explored and surveyed the area. What follows is an excerpt of the interview, which can be read in full at http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0310-hance_rosolie.html The photos were provided courtesy of Paul Rosolie, who is somewhere in the Amazon jungle as of Ramapo Magazine press time.

“To my knowledge, and the knowledge of the people of Infierno, there is nowhere like it the region,” Rosolie says.

Rosolie ’10 with an anaconda

GIANT ANACONDAS AND FLOATING FORESTS, AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL ROSOLIE ‘10 By Jeremy Hance (Reprinted with permission of Mongabay.com)

“Rainforests were my childhood obsession,” Rosolie told Mongabay.com. “For as long as I can remember, going to the Amazon had been my dream […] In those first 10 minutes [of visiting], cowering under the bellowing calls of howler monkeys, I saw trails of leaf cutter ants under impossibly large, vinetangled trees; a flock of scarlet macaws crossed the sky like a brilliant flying rainbow. I saw a place where nature was in its full; it is the most amazing place on earth.” 6

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Photo Courtesy: Paul Rosolie

At 22 Paul Rosolie has seen more adventure than many of us will in our lifetime. First visiting the Amazon at 18, Rosolie has explored strange jungle ecosystems, caught anaconda and black caiman bare-handed, joined indigenous hunting expeditions, led volunteer expeditions, and hand-raised a baby giant anteater.

The beautiful Amazon leaf frog

Today Rosolie is a full-time environmental studies major at Ramapo College in New Jersey. But during breaks he leads tourist and volunteer expeditions (Tamandua Rainforest

Expeditions) deep into the Peruvian Amazon near the Tambopata River. Rosolie has teamed up with Juan Julio Duran and the local indigenous tribe, called the Infierno (named by missionaries), to run the tours, as well as explore, survey, and conserve the area. Recently, the local tribe sent Rosolie and Duran to a place both legendary and ecologically marvelous: a massive lake with a “raft of vegetation and grass which supports a smaller dwarf forest,” Rosolie says. The ecosystem is strong enough to walk on—at least in parts.

“Walking on the floating forest at night is a surreal and very spooky experience. The floating part isn’t very stable, one wrong step and you get plunged into the lake. It was an intimidating place but with careful navigation

“Snakes measuring over 20 feet are extremely rare,” Rosolie says, “this one was a living legend. In future explorations, once again spotting her will be one of my primary goals.”

Rosolie believes that the dwarf forest on the lake may be an anaconda mating ground, given the number of snake tracks they have seen there and the lack of suitable prey.

Paul Rosolie ’10 holding his pet snake at home in Mahwah

SECRETS OF THE AMAZON:

Rosolie estimates that she was at least 25 feet long with a 70 inch girth—given the fact that his six-foot arm span could barely reach around her body.

we found a completely alien environment. As we walked, we passed only the tops of the aguaje palms whose base lay rooted to the lake’s floor 40 or 50 feet below,” he says.

While this unique ecosystem is home to a number of animals, including “three species of caiman, two species of owl, numerous fish (which we were unable to identify), and a tremendous tarantula population”—all seen on the first night—the big (literally) inhabitants are the anacondas.

During their first expedition to the dwarf forest, Duran and Rosolie came upon the biggest anaconda they have ever encountered: “We spotted two tremendous anacondas. The largest was more than double the size of the largest anaconda [Duran] and I have ever measured (15 feet 4 inches). She was so large it would have taken eight people to restrain her on land; on the floating forest there was no chance. When she saw us she started moving away. We both wrapped our arms around her and did our best to restrain her for measurements and documentation, but it was like trying to stop a bus, she was way too strong. She bolted for the water with us holding onto her. Hanging on longer would have meant following her into the water below the floating forest. We were left soaked and panting – in complete disbelief of what we had just seen.”

Rosolie’s volunteer trips, named Tamandua Expeditions, helps raise eco-tourism funds for the Infierno people, whose area is threatened by development, road building, oil leases, hunting, bushmeat demand, and gold mining.

“We have raised money that has contributed to permanently protecting a 7,000-square hectare area of primary forest,” explains Rosolie. “Recently we have begun a new project within the Infierno community itself. By basing volunteer expeditions on Infierno territory we are supporting the community’s

ambitions to pursue revenue through ecotourism. This, combined with the discovery of the floating forest ecosystem has helped convince community decision makers to abandon plans of creating several new roads into primary forest areas.”

Having tourists come from around the world has also brought increasing conservation awareness to the Infierno community as well.

“For my friends in Infierno, seeing the interest and appreciation which visitors have for their home (the rainforest) and way of life, is an eye opening experience. They take great pride in showing volunteers the ways of the forest, skills such as how to observe animals, what fruits and nuts are edible, what vines are needed to make brooms and hats, and how to use a machete for just about everything,” says Rosolie, who adds that education and the desire to draw eco-tourists has led to a decline in hunting by the Infierno.

“I try to lead volunteers on an adventure that they will never forget - which is thankfully the one easy part,” Rosolie says of his expeditions. “When people see fire-red macaws crossing the sky for the first time, or explore the giant buttress roots of a kapok tree, or find themselves holding a live spectacled caiman, I know that the jungle has done my work for me – they are hooked.” Photo Courtesy: Gowri Varanashi

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Photo Courtesy: Paul Rosolie

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A 20-year old Infierno resident getting his first close-up look at a caiman

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“To my knowledge, and the knowledge of the people of Infierno, there is nowhere like it the region,” Rosolie says.

Rosolie ’10 with an anaconda

GIANT ANACONDAS AND FLOATING FORESTS, AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL ROSOLIE ‘10 By Jeremy Hance (Reprinted with permission of Mongabay.com)

Ramapo magazine

www.ramapo.edu

Photo Courtesy: Paul Rosolie

The beautiful Amazon leaf frog

Today Rosolie is a full-time environmental studies major at Ramapo College in New Jersey. But during breaks he leads tourist and volunteer expeditions (Tamandua Rainforest

“Snakes measuring over 20 feet are extremely rare,” Rosolie says, “this one was a living legend. In future explorations, once again spotting her will be one of my primary goals.”

Rosolie believes that the dwarf forest on the lake may be an anaconda mating ground, given the number of snake tracks they have seen there and the lack of suitable prey.

Paul Rosolie ’10 holding his pet snake at home in Mahwah

SECRETS OF THE AMAZON:

Rosolie estimates that she was at least 25 feet long with a 70 inch girth—given the fact that his six-foot arm span could barely reach around her body.

we found a completely alien environment. As we walked, we passed only the tops of the aguaje palms whose base lay rooted to the lake’s floor 40 or 50 feet below,” he says.

Having tourists come from around the world has also brought increasing conservation awareness to the Infierno community as well.

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Photo Courtesy: Paul Rosolie

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A 20-year old Infierno resident getting his first close-up look at a caiman

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ALUMNUS IN THE SPOTLIGHT: By Jill Cline

"One of the wonderful

Photo Courtesy: Mike Kentz

IGOR PUSENJAK ‘98

things about Ramapo," he says "is that although I was a business major, I was still able to be involved with the news-

“I came here at 18 and was basically on

paper, radio and graphic

my own," says Pusenjak. "It really helped

design, and I really had

that the community was intimate.”

fun with it. I made sure to take as many graphic

IGOR PUSENJAK '98

design classes as I could,

even though it wasn't

any Ramapo College students are proud iPhone owners, using their devices to download applications for just about everything, from social networking to driving directions to determining what song to blast on campus. One popular application is the game Doodle Jump, which features the cute, hand-drawn Doodle the Doodler, whom the user has to guide to safety by directing onto platforms whilst avoiding falling objects. While Doodle Jump fans develop a great affection for the character, Ramapo students have a reason to feel especially connected to Doodle.

Igor Pusenjak ’98 is president and co-founder of Lima Sky, the company that created Doodle Jump, along with other games such as Eat, Bunny Eat! and Crazy Frog. Pusenjak runs the company with his brother, Marko Pusenjak, out of two offices, one in Manhattan and the other in their home

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country of Croatia. Doodle Jump has been their most popular game, selling more than 4.5 million copies to date.

Over 15 years ago, Pusenjak was an exchange high-school student from Croatia, searching for colleges in the United States. Taking his college counselor’s advice, he visited Ramapo, where he met with former Assistant Director of International Admissions Brenda Perkins. Perkins showed Pusenjak around the campus and introduced him to other international students, including his future wife Jelena Pavlovic ’97. He fell in love with the beauty and intimacy of the campus, and the fact that such a diverse community could be so close-knit. “I came here at 18 and was basically on my own,” says Pusenjak. “It really helped that the community was intimate.” After receiving a presidential scholarship, he was able to attend.

At Ramapo Pusenjak worked towards a degree in Business Management while exploring his other interests. “Ramapo is the perfect size,” he says. “It’s not too small so you don’t have opportunities, but it’s not too big so you can get involved and meet all sorts of people.” He had his own show on 90.3 WRPR and became involved with the Ramapo News as a photographer and eventually as an editor. Working on the Ramapo News was also the genesis of his relationship with Apple, which created his first digital camera. Pusenjak led the initiative to put the Ramapo News online and inadvertently discovered digital media and programs such as Photoshop, which sparked his interest in graphic design. “One of the wonderful things about Ramapo,” he says “is that although I was a business major, I was still able to be involved with the newspaper, radio and

graphic design, and I really had fun with it. I made sure to take as many graphic design classes as I could, even though it wasn’t part of my major.”

After graduating summa cum laude, Pusenjak went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design in New York in 2000. He began working as a multimedia artist and consultant creating websites, art installations and working with companies such as Simon & Schuster, Wiley/Frommers, New York Philharmonic, Human Rights Watch, and HBO.

When the iPhone debuted in July 2008, Pusenjak quickly teamed up with his brother Marko, who was bored with engineering in Croatia, to create game applications. Soon after, their current company, Lima Sky LLC., was born.

The brothers work well together. Marko handles the engineering, while Igor works on the artistic aspects. He credits his experience at Ramapo for his success when the company was first starting. “Interdisciplinary education was crucial in being able to build such a successful company,” Pusenjak says. “We were able to utilize tools such as marketing, public relations and customer service that are important before we had the budget to hire outside people. Ramapo planted the seed of this interdisciplinary education and pursuit of work that I would do in the future, up until now.” The success of Lima Sky has proven this to be true, and what keeps applications such as Doodle Jump successful is the satisfaction of the customers, who range from ages 6 to 96 and grow in number daily.

Today the company is thriving, with more than 26 applications developed for the

part of my major."

iPhone and iPad. Pusenjak was named the 14th most creative person in business in 2010 by FastCompany.com, and Doodle Jump received the Apple Design Award in June 2010.

The brothers want to develop Doodle as a character beyond the game for toys and publications. “As of lately, I’ve been very busy with everything,” says Pusenjak. “That’s another thing I really loved about Ramapo, working at the paper and pulling all-nighters to meet copy deadlines, I came to love the energy of being busy. I’ve heard it said, ‘If you want something to be done, give it to the busiest person,’ and I want that person to be me.”

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ALUMNUS IN THE SPOTLIGHT: By Jill Cline

"One of the wonderful

Photo Courtesy: Mike Kentz

IGOR PUSENJAK ‘98

things about Ramapo," he says "is that although I was a business major, I was still able to be involved with the news-

“I came here at 18 and was basically on

paper, radio and graphic

my own," says Pusenjak. "It really helped

design, and I really had

that the community was intimate.”

fun with it. I made sure to take as many graphic

IGOR PUSENJAK '98

design classes as I could,

even though it wasn't

Ramapo magazine

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country of Croatia. Doodle Jump has been their most popular game, selling more than 4.5 million copies to date.

graphic design, and I really had fun with it. I made sure to take as many graphic design classes as I could, even though it wasn’t part of my major.”

Today the company is thriving, with more than 26 applications developed for the

part of my major."

iPhone and iPad. Pusenjak was named the 14th most creative person in business in 2010 by FastCompany.com, and Doodle Jump received the Apple Design Award in June 2010.

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Varian Fry Exhibit From United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Featured At The Berrie Center

A traveling exhibition from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum honoring Ridgewood native Varian Fry was shown in the Berrie Center Art Gallery from September 1 through October 8. The exhibition chronicles his eleven-month sojourn in Vichy, France. With a small band of European and American assistants, Fry rescued thousands of desperate men and women who were to be “surrendered on demand” to the Nazis under the ominous Article 19 of the Franco-German Armistice. Some, like Hannah Arendt, Heinrich Mann, Marc Chagall, Andrew Breton and Lion Feuchtwanger were among Europe’s leading thinkers and artists.

Days after his arrival in Marseilles in June 1940 as the representative of a newly formed private group, the Emergency Rescue Committee (now the International Rescue Committee), Fry established a legal relief organization as a cover for his clandestine rescue organization. Working for many months without the protection of an American passport, he persevered as long as possible to save as many as possible.

Varian Fry walking along the street in Marseilles Photo Credit: Image Courtesy Annette Fry

The opening reception on September 15 featured speaker Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, former director of the Department of the Righteous at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national memorial to the Holocaust. Varian Fry was the first American, and one of only three, to be designated “Righteous Among the Nations,” by Yad Vashem. The exhibit was sponsored by the College’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in cooperation with the Berrie Center Art Galleries and the Committee to Honor Varian Fry (Ridgewood).

Partnership Between Ramapo College And Ghanaian University Formalized

Ramapo College entered an affiliation agreement with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana, on June 3 to enhance a formal partnership to include the exchange of faculty, administrators and students between the two institutions. This important event has strengthened opportunities for creative, joint collaborations between a variety of academic and administrative units to further the academic excellence and success at the College and KNUST.

The agreement expands and formalizes a pre-existing relationship between the two institutions. Associate Professor of Environmental Science Eric Wiener and Professor of Video Art and New Media Shalom Gorewitz have taught classes at KNUST. Gorewitz also worked with two Ramapo College students, senior Marie Hargrove ‘11 of Newark and Anthony Harris ‘10 of Trenton, who completed a two-week independent study at KNUST. KNUST Professor Kofi Owusu Daaku has taught classes in the School of Theoretical and Applied Sciences at Ramapo during summer sessions.

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Ramsey Doctor Expands Contributions By Promoting Safe Laboratory Testing Practices

As a young woman on the island of Puerto Rico, Dr. Anabele Lucanie’s educational interests leaned toward science while she found a passion for helping others. At Ramapo College, Dr. Lucanie has accomplished just that. She recently completed her first year as a member of the College’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB reviews research projects that use human subjects and ensures the safety of individuals.

Dr. Anabele Lucanie

Dr. Lucanie is also a board member of the Friends of Ramapo. She was appointed as the community member of the College’s Institutional Animal Use and Care Committee (IACUC). The committee overseas all research and teaching activities that involve laboratory animals. Its primary responsibility is to ensure that animals are provided humane care as prescribed by federal law. The committee is chaired by Professor of Psychology Marshall Harth, and includes Professor of Biology Edward Saiff, Associate Professor of Neuropsychology Joseph Cataliotti, Assistant Professor of Law & Society Aaron Lorenz and veterinarian Dr. Sheritta Ridgely.

Dr. Lucanie graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a degree in Biology and went on to receive a medical degree. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and moved to Ramsey, where she operates an internal and family medicine practice.

Director of Study Abroad and Off-Campus Programs Ben Levy and Dean Hassan Nejad, of the School of American and International Studies, with visiting Russian students.

Students From St. Petersburg Visit Ramapo

A group of potential exchange students from St. Petersburg State University’s School of International Relations visited the Ramapo College in July. The students and their two accompanying professors toured campus with Admissions Counselor Anthony Dovi, lunched with representatives from the Roukema Center for International Education and Admissions team and were introduced to Dean Hassan Nejad of the School of American and International Studies (AIS). Later in the day, Director of International Students and Scholars Rajesh Adhikari and Assistant Director of Admissions Rhoda Leshowitz, along with faculty members from AIS and Academic Advisement, held a question and answer session for the visitors. The group then visited with students at J. Lees Café. St. Petersburg State University is a partner of Ramapo College; this visit was designed to expand the partnership by encouraging visiting students to participate in the exchange program and attend Ramapo for one or more semesters.

TAS Students, Faculty Present At International Systems In Molecular Biology Conference

(L-R Seated): KNUST Head of Civil Engineering Dr. S. I. K. Ampadu, Provost Beth Barnett, KNUST Vice Chancellor Dr. Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwah, Professor of Biology Edward Saiff. (L-R Standing): KNUST Senior Lecturer of Civil Engineering Dr. K. Adom Asamoah, Associate Professor of Environmental Science Eric Wiener, Ramapo Professor of Video Art and New Media Shalom Gorewitz, KNUST Professor of Biology Dr. Kofi Owasu Daaku, Director of Study Abroad and Off-Campus Programs Ben Levy, Psychological Counselor Venus Hewing

The affiliation agreement was signed at a meeting held between representatives from both schools on June 3 by Provost Beth Barnett and KNUST Vice Chancellor Dr. Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwah. Others in attendance from

Ghana included Professor S.I.K. Ampadu, KNUST head of Civil Engineering, Dr. K. Adom Asamoah, KNUST professor of Civil Engineering and Kofi Owusu Daaku and KNUST professor of Biology.

(L-R): Professor of Mathematics and Research Mentor Lawrence D’Antonio, high school student Joet Bagga, Ramapo student Rami Alrabaa and Professor of Biology and Research Mentor Paramjeet Bagga presented their work on a gene involved in the human disease Neurofibramotosis and a gene involved in Autism at the International Systems in Molecular Biology Conference (ISMB) in July.

Research results from work conducted by Professor of Mathematics Lawrence D’Antonio and Professor of Biology Paramjeet Bagga and two students were presented at the International Systems in Molecular Biology Conference (ISMB) in July in Boston. ISMB is the premier conference for bioinformatics and attendees include scientists from around the world, including Nobel laureates.

The first research project presented involved analysis of the entire human genome for important regulatory sequences. This work was performed by Viktor Vasilev ’10, a com-

puter science major/bioinformatics minor. The research is also under consideration for publication in an Oxford University Press journal. Since Viktor was unable to attend the conference, Professors D’Antonio and Bagga presented.

The second project studied the NF1 gene, which is associated with the human genetic disorder neurofibromatosis. The research was conducted by Rami Alrabaa ’12, a biology major/bioinformatics minor who presented at the event. www.ramapo.edu

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Varian Fry Exhibit From United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Featured At The Berrie Center

Varian Fry walking along the street in Marseilles Photo Credit: Image Courtesy Annette Fry

Partnership Between Ramapo College And Ghanaian University Formalized

Ramapo magazine

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Ramsey Doctor Expands Contributions By Promoting Safe Laboratory Testing Practices

Dr. Anabele Lucanie

Director of Study Abroad and Off-Campus Programs Ben Levy and Dean Hassan Nejad, of the School of American and International Studies, with visiting Russian students.

Students From St. Petersburg Visit Ramapo

TAS Students, Faculty Present At International Systems In Molecular Biology Conference

Ghana included Professor S.I.K. Ampadu, KNUST head of Civil Engineering, Dr. K. Adom Asamoah, KNUST professor of Civil Engineering and Kofi Owusu Daaku and KNUST professor of Biology.

The first research project presented involved analysis of the entire human genome for important regulatory sequences. This work was performed by Viktor Vasilev ’10, a com-

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SSHS Child Development Lab Has A Successful First Year

The recently created Child Development Lab in the School of Social Science and Human Services (SSHS) has partnered with more than 70 participants in the past year to develop insight on how children go about solving problems.

Under the direction of Assistant Professor of Psychology Shazelia Ishak, faculty and students conduct research on how children perceive actions, coordinate motor skills, interact with caregivers, use objects, and develop motor skills. Recently researchers have focused on how children cope with “fitting tasks” to help understand the exploratory behaviors that children perform in fitting objects through small and large openings, In a typical study session, children are presented with tabletop games that require reaching, grasping and fitting. Children’s decisions are observed and compared to actual possibilities for action.

Thus far, research has shown that at about age eight children begin making accurate decisions about which openings their hands and objects will fit through, children younger than eight will attempt to shove their hands and objects through openings about 20% smaller than what fits. Findings also indicate that children master each piece of the fitting sequence one at a time: First they can pick up the object, then choose the correct opening, then orient the object to match the opening, and then finally push the object through.

(L-R): Roya Amirniroumand ‘12, Assistant Professor of Psychology Shaziela Ishak and Marianela Clavelo ‘13 work with a young subject.

For more information about the lab or to volunteer, please contact please contact Assistant Professor Ishak at sishak@ramapo.edu or call (201) 684-7418.

Ramapo Explorers Middle School Academic Camp—A Hit!

Focusing on learning activities while having fun, Ramapo Explorers is for middle school students entering the seventh and eighth grades. Students in sixth grade may apply by special recommendation only. The academic courses are taught by certified middle school teachers who are supported by Ramapo College teacher education students and trained college-age counselors in a student-teacher ratio of 24-to-1 (or less) and an activities supervision ratio of 12-to-1.

Participants in Ramapo College’s Explorer Summer Academic Camp for middle school students took a break from hands-on learning activities.

When Ramapo College’s Center for Innovative and Professional Learning (CIPL) planned its first Ramapo Explorers Middle School Academic Camp for the summer of 2010, there was no telling what the community response would be. Planned as a small two-week pilot for up to 24 students on the high side, the program quickly became over-enrolled with 29 students.

“It has been very rewarding to see area middle school children come to the Ramapo campus this summer and have such wonderful experiences,” said Rosa Diaz-Mulryan, assistant vice president for CIPL. “The students are articulate, curious, and highly motivated and the teachers are impressive and very enthusiastic about working with these fine young people on our campus.” 12

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The summer 2010 full-day program comprised 50-minute sessions in earth science, creative writing, recreation, dramatic arts, and multimedia from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Working parents availed themselves of early drop off starting at 7:30 a.m. and late pick up until 6 p.m. The program culminated in a final day Ramapo Explorers DramaticArtsInFusion™ Showcase and DVD presentation by the campers to family and friends. “The feedback on the camp has been glowing and we have started planning for next summer. This was an extremely successful pilot and we are very pleased with the feedback we’ve received from families and students. We are looking forward to expanding the program additional weeks in summer 2011,” added Diaz-Mulryan.

Information sessions for next summer (2011) are scheduled as follows: Monday, March 28, 7-8 p.m., Tuesday, April 19, 7-8 p.m., and Sunday, May 1, 4-5 p.m. in the Trustees Pavilion. Please register for the information sessions by logging on to www.ramapo.edu/cipl/academic-camp.html.

For more information about Ramapo College’s new Ramapo Explorers Middle School Academic Program administered through the Center for Innovative and Professional Learning, please contact the Center at cipl@ramapo.edu or at 201.684.7370.

ASB Accreditation Visit

The Anisfield School of Business will host a visit from the peer review team of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) from October 24 through 27. This will be the final review of the School’s application for accreditation. AACSB accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools. In a recent message to the College, Dean Lewis Chakrin said, “We feel confident that we meet the standards for accreditation and look forward to achieving this major milestone.”

Over the past year, the Anisfield School of Business has made significant progress toward accreditation by AACSB. In February, 2009, the school’s 2008 Progress Report was accepted by AACSB and the Initial Accreditation Committee (IAC) determined that the school was ready to officially apply for accreditation.

Following the application, a peer review team was appointed in the spring of 2009. The academic year 2009 – 2010 has been designated as the school’s year of self evaluation, and the team chair helped guide the school through that period. A Self Evaluation Report was filed in April, in which the school demonstrated that its business program meets all applicable AACSB standards. After this peer review visit, the team will make their final recommendation to the IAC and the board of AACSB by the end of 2010.

School Of Nursing Faculty, Students Travel To Sierra Leone To Aid In Program Training

Assistant Dean of Nursing Programs Kathleen Burke and Professor of Nursing Elaine Patterson, accompanied by clinical faculty members Florence Dorwie and Carole Shipman and senior nursing students Karen Elliott ‘13, Lauren Finaldi ‘11 and Neha Naygar ‘11, traveled to Sierra Leone in June to attend a two-day training conference for nurses at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMHAS) in Freetown. The conference, jointly sponsored by Ramapo College and Saleone Health Pride International, designed for nurses in clinical practice and management, was the first of its kind for the country. The theme of the conference was “Each One Teach One,” providing nurses with more education to help decrease the high rate of infant mortality in the country with the hopes that they will share the information.

The partnership between Ramapo College and COMHAS has been thriving for three years, however this is the first year that any students from Ramapo were able to accompany faculty on their visit to Sierra Leone. The students were able to take classes, attend clinicals and spend a day in surgery, as well as help organize health fairs in which

Photo Courtesy: Kathleen Burke

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Carole Shipman, Assistant Dean/Professor Kathleen Burke, senior Nursing students Karen Elliott, Lauren Finaldi, Neha Naygar and Profesor of Nursing G. Elaine Patterson with students from the University of Sierra Leone

they saw and screened over 600 Sierra Leoneans. They were also able to discuss their personal nursing school experience with nursing students at COMHAS, where the program is in the process of changing to the baccalaureate model from the Old English model for higher education. Also during the trip, Ramapo College adopted a ward in the Connaught Hospital, which although it is one of the largest hospitals in the country, is still in dire need of modernization. The former Ward Six has been renamed the Ramapo Ward, and the College will continue to support the rebuilding and modernization of that ward as well working with the ward nurses to expand their practice.

Jackie Ehlert-Mercer Receives her Ed.D. in Nutrition

Following three years of concentrated work on her research study at Teachers College Columbia University, Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer successfully defended her dissertation on December 16, 2009. She has been a practicing dietitian for 21 years. The genesis of her research study resulted from the nutrition work she has done with college and university students. For 14 years of her practice she has counseled nutrition students on improving their eating behaviors and lifestyle and enhancing the availability of healthful foods on campus. As such she used Socio-cognitive theory to develop a nutrition curriculum aimed at improving eating behaviors. Titled

“SNAAKS: Student Nutrition Attitudes, Action, Knowledge and Skills”, the curriculum was taught by Dr. Ehlert-Mercer, as an unpaid volunteer, in a first year seminar experiential class at the College. Her dissertation focused on the adaptation and implementation of the curriculum to improve the eating behaviors of college freshmen.

She received several scholarships in recognition of her innovative work and presented her research at the Society for Nutrition Educators annual conference. In February she was awarded a doctoral degree in nutrition education. Dr. Ehlert-Mercer will be teaching nutrition in the master’s of nutrition pro-

Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer with President Peter P. Mercer and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez at Commencement

gram at Montclair State University and the Public Health Department at William Patterson University. When asked “why don’t you teach at Ramapo” she can only refer to state legislation that forbids her employment as the spouse of the college president. www.ramapo.edu

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SSHS Child Development Lab Has A Successful First Year

(L-R): Roya Amirniroumand ‘12, Assistant Professor of Psychology Shaziela Ishak and Marianela Clavelo ‘13 work with a young subject.

For more information about the lab or to volunteer, please contact please contact Assistant Professor Ishak at sishak@ramapo.edu or call (201) 684-7418.

Ramapo Explorers Middle School Academic Camp—A Hit!

Participants in Ramapo College’s Explorer Summer Academic Camp for middle school students took a break from hands-on learning activities.

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ASB Accreditation Visit

School Of Nursing Faculty, Students Travel To Sierra Leone To Aid In Program Training

Photo Courtesy: Kathleen Burke

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Jackie Ehlert-Mercer Receives her Ed.D. in Nutrition

Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer with President Peter P. Mercer and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez at Commencement

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African American History Professor Establishes Ties with Ethiopian University

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Ramapo College and Addis Ababa University. The MOU will establish various faculty, administrative, and student exchanges, including a four-week summer study abroad in Ethiopia focusing on globalization and development issues. The study abroad course, “Globalization and Development in Ethiopia,” will begin in the summer of 2011. Photo Courtesy: David Lewis-Colman

Associate Professor of African American History David Lewis-Colman traveled to Ethiopia in May with the support of the Roukema Center for International Education. Lewis-Colman presented a lecture to students and faculty at Addis Ababa University about his current research on African Americans and the anti-apartheid movement. Lewis-Colman, along with Professor of Psychology Tilahun Sineshaw, is working on negotiating a

Associate Professor of African American History David Lewis-Colman at the site of the Church of St. George in Lalibela, Ethiopia

Psychology Professor Published in Journal of Personality Disorders

A study by Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology Peter Heinze was recently published in the Journal of Personality Disorders. His article was titled, “Let’s Get Down to Business: A Validation Study of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory Among a Sample of MBA Students.”

One of Heinze’s research interests includes the study of psychopathy, a syndrome marked by a variety of traits such as lack of remorse, shallow affect, pathological lying and superficial charm. While the majority of such research has concentrated on incarcerated populations, Heinze’s focus is in the area of “noncriminal” psychopathy, investigating the presence 14

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of those with psychopathic personalities in “mainstream” fields such as business.

The article appears to be the first in the field involving the investigaAssociate Professor of tion of psychopathy Clinical Psychology Peter Heinze among MBA students and examines the association between psychopathic traits and moral decision making. The results of the study revealed an inverse relation between one psychopathic trait, Machiavellian Egocentricity, and moral reasoning.

Dental Microwear & Paleontology: Scratching The Surface

Assistant Professor of Biology Sandra Suarez

Building further upon doctoral dissertation research at New York University in 1999, Assistant Professor of Biology Sandra Suarez is delving into the field of paleontology, specifically focusing on dental microwear, which is the study of microscopic scratches and pits that form on a tooth’s surface as the result of its use. This research can be used to deduce dietary composition for extinct species from the fossil records. Suarez has collected microwear data from a diverse sample of 44 individual, wild Saguinus labiatus or red-bellied tamarins, representing all age categories.

Currently, she is working with Ramapo student Lance Vicente who plans to study dentistry. Vicente and Suarez continue to visualize casts of the teeth at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, using a scanning electron microscope. Suarez is also collaborating with Siobhan Cooke (Ph.D. candidate) from Brooklyn College, a specialist in New World Primate dental morphology. Results from this study will be compared with information cast from fossils from the La Salla field site in Bolivia housed at the National Museum of Natural History in La Paz, Bolivia through a collaborative study on the La Salla Primates with Alfred Rosenberger, professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at Brooklyn College. Suarez hopes the study will shed light on the dietary habits of the fossil primates discovered in this region of Latin America. Although in the preliminary stages of research, Suarez plans to publish her research in a scholarly journal in two years.

A Ramapo Sabbatical Odyssey: 11 Countries, Six Months and Countless Impressions for Two Faculty Members This spring, 21 years after witnessing the tumultuous events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square student democracy movement in China, Professor of Communication Arts Patricia Keeton and Professor of Literature Peter Scheckner returned to that country for research related to academic sabbatical and Ramapo Foundation grant projects. China was one of the major stops of their six-month, eleven-country sabbatical odyssey that began in January 2010 when the couple traveled to Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Keeton conducted interviews and research for her sabbatical project on the resurgence of documentary filmmaking in Argentina following that country’s economic collapse in December 2001. In May and June, the pair spent five weeks in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, their first visit to Asia since 1989, when they taught as Visiting Foreign Experts at the Beijing Institute of Tourism (BIT) and lived in Beijing with their six-year-old daughter Lucia.

Keeton and Scheckner were the first Ramapo professors to participate in a new faculty exchange established at that time between Ramapo and BIT. Scheckner is updating a memoir he wrote about their year in China for his sabbatical project and used the visit to observe and analyze the transformations China has undergone during the past two decades, while Keeton focused on gathering materials for a creative nonfiction project supported with a Foundation Grant. Between Latin America and China, the couple also traveled to India and Southeast Asia, and spent three months in Thailand,

Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. They ended their semester with a week in Berlin, Germany, and Prague, in the Czech Republic, before returning to New York.

“Traveling so widely enabled us to witness and document, through writing and photography, the variety of ways in which people in all these countries are responding to the effects of the worldwide economic crisis that will inform our individual projects. Now we have to digest these experiences and begin to write,” said Keeton.

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Nine years after Argentina’s economy collapsed, leaving half the population living below the poverty line, neighborhood popular assemblies and political organizations continue to protest government economic policies.

Professors Pat Keeton and Peter Scheckner in Halong Bay, Vietnam, against a backdrop of limestone karsts

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African American History Professor Establishes Ties with Ethiopian University

Associate Professor of African American History David Lewis-Colman at the site of the Church of St. George in Lalibela, Ethiopia

Psychology Professor Published in Journal of Personality Disorders

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of those with psychopathic personalities in “mainstream” fields such as business.

Dental Microwear & Paleontology: Scratching The Surface

Assistant Professor of Biology Sandra Suarez

Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. They ended their semester with a week in Berlin, Germany, and Prague, in the Czech Republic, before returning to New York.

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Professors Pat Keeton and Peter Scheckner in Halong Bay, Vietnam, against a backdrop of limestone karsts

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International Business Professor Exposes Students to China

Assistant Professor of International Business Huiping Li escorted seven students on an excursion to China through the China Immersion Study Abroad Program. Her goal was to introduce the students to the business environment and culture of the country through tours and guest lectures.

The contingent also visited General Motors China, learned negotiating skills in the Silk Market in Beijing and toured markets that sold knock-offs of brand name products.

“They gained a first-hand appreciation of the challenges that foreign and local businesses in China face in protecting their intellectual property,” said Li.

Li noted that while students can learn through textbooks, newspapers and lectures, an in-country experience provides a unique educational opportunity. In spring 2011, the Roukema Center for International Education will sponsor another China Immersion Study Abroad trip.

Professor of Reading and Education Ellen Kaiden and Professor of English Frances Shapiro-Skrobe, along with Assistant Director of Career Development and Recruitment Debra Stark, will speak at the International Consortium for Experiential Learning, in Santiago, Chile, in January 2011.

Their presentation, “From Etiquette Dinner to Boardroom: You’re Hired!” will focus on the importance of dining as a component of the job search process and ongoing interactions with clients in the business world. As conference attendees participate in a simulated formal dinner, the three will discuss the College’s Etiquette Dinner program at Ramapo College, in which students learn to navigate a multiple course meal while engaging in dinner conversation. After describing the event and its administrative structure, including fundraising, planning and implemen-

Professor of Reading and Education Ellen Kaiden, Assistant Director of Career Development and Placement Debra Stark and Professor of English Frances Shapiro-Skrobe

tation techniques, they will share student survey results. They will also focus on the differences in expectations of dining etiquette across a variety of cultures. The International Consortium for Experiential Learning convenes every two years and pro-

Photo Courtesy: Eric Wiener

Photo Courtesy: Huiping Li

The students visited several cities and met with business executives, consultants, a government official, and faculty and students from Shanghai Normal University. They

also met with former Ramapo student Michael Johnson who manages Subway restaurants in Shanghai. As one student observed about Michael’s success in China, “You don’t have to come from a huge American university to make a huge impact abroad.”

Three Faculty/Professional Staff to Focus on Experiential Learning in Santiago, Chile in 2011

At the Great Wall. (L-R): Stoyan Stoyanov ’10, Joia Pisani ’10, Marie Hargrove ’11, Kelvin Crumby ’12, Assistant Professor of International Business Huiping Li, Loriana Diaz ’12, Chris McKenna ’12 and Mamadu Saffia ’12 16

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Graduate student Ana Paula Pires Florentino and Associate Professor Environmental Science Eric Wiener in the Amazon forest

vides educators and business professionals from all over the world the opportunity to discuss the importance of learning through living and to explore how experiential learning is accessed, processed, applied and evaluated.

Environmental Science Professor Teaches in Brazil

From July 14 to August 19, Associate Professor of Environmental Science Eric Wiener traveled to Manaus, Brazil in the middle of the Amazon river basin, where he taught a course for Brazilian graduate students studying at the O Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa Amazônica (National Institute of Amazonian Research), the largest research institute in the Amazon basin.

The course, Delineamento Experimental e Métodos Estatísticos para Pesquisas de Campo (Experimental Design and Statistical Methods for Field Research), is an advanced, graduate-level version of a course that he teaches at Ramapo, which introduces students to research approaches and statistical methods commonly used by environmental scientists and field biologists and examines a wide variety of research designs, descriptive statistics and parametric and non parametric hypothesis tests. www.ramapo.edu

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International Business Professor Exposes Students to China

The contingent also visited General Motors China, learned negotiating skills in the Silk Market in Beijing and toured markets that sold knock-offs of brand name products.

“They gained a first-hand appreciation of the challenges that foreign and local businesses in China face in protecting their intellectual property,” said Li.

Professor of Reading and Education Ellen Kaiden, Assistant Director of Career Development and Placement Debra Stark and Professor of English Frances Shapiro-Skrobe

Photo Courtesy: Eric Wiener

Photo Courtesy: Huiping Li

The students visited several cities and met with business executives, consultants, a government official, and faculty and students from Shanghai Normal University. They

Three Faculty/Professional Staff to Focus on Experiential Learning in Santiago, Chile in 2011

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Graduate student Ana Paula Pires Florentino and Associate Professor Environmental Science Eric Wiener in the Amazon forest

Environmental Science Professor Teaches in Brazil

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New President of the Faculty Assembly Served as Creative Consultant for International Film Project

Morley participated in a ritual of welcoming between Irish Catholic and Tibetan Buddhist monks. In a ritual of Greek and Latin chants, the Irish monks welcomed the Tibetans onto the sixth century monastic island of Skellig Michael. It is a sacred island inhabited by Irish monks for more than 800 years in circumstances of profound hardship and contemplative devotion. In turn, the Buddhists invited the Christians to participate in a two day meditation retreat at a nearby Tibetan Buddhist center. Morley later applied his background in both traditions during editing of the project. He

Photo Courtesy: Jillian T. Weiss 18

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Professor of Clinical Psychology and newly elected President of the Faculty Assembly James Morley on the Island of Skellig Michael, Ireland

also has written two articles on the subject. “Embodied Consciousness in Tantric Yoga and the Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty” was released by Brill Publishers in a hard cover book titled “Traversing the Heart: on the Inter-Religious Imagination” in August. “It’s Always About the Epoche’: on Phenomenological Method” was published in a collection by the University of Quebec Press, also in August.

Professor of Law and Society and Convener Jillian T. Weiss was invited to the White House on July 1 for a briefing and Q&A on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) policy issues. As a scholar on LGBT workplace issues, and Associate Editor of the Bilerico Project, a highly-regarded political blog, Weiss was one of a select group of media and policy professionals invited by the White House Office of Media Affairs. The briefing was conducted by Melody Barnes, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. The subject was the Obama Administration’s policy activities regarding LGBT issues. The Obama Administration has issued a number of significant policy directives on these issues in the past 18 months, including initiatives prohibiting discrimination in the federal workplace and in federally-funded housing on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, reducing hospital visitation restrictions by domestic partners, permitting gender changes on U.S. passports, and lifting the HIV travel ban.

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Grant news Professor of Documentary/News Production Marta Bautis

Invitation to the White House Extended to LGBT Scholar

Professor of Law and Society Jillian T. Weiss

In the year 2002, the people of Sarayaku, Ecuador successfully resisted the invasion to their territory of an international oil company. “Sarayaku: Rivers of Corn” is a journey to this Kichua community in the south of the Ecuadorian Amazonia, five years after the frustrated invasion. The documentary recreates the story through the memory of several women who participated in the events of 2002, and contrasts daily life scenes with images of the struggle of the people of Sarayaku to defend their ancestral lands.

Photo Courtesy: James Morley

Professor of Clinical Psychology and newly elected President of the Faculty Assembly James Morley visited a remote island eight miles off the coast of Western Ireland to serve as a creative consultant to a film project on Tibetan and Celtic inter-religious monastic dialogue in June. The international project emphasizes the common contemplative core of humankind’s various wisdom traditions, particularly the universal human ethos of hospitality to strangers.

“Sarayaku: Rivers of Corn” Screenings Held in Response to Current Events

Professor of Italian Studies and Literature Rosetta D'Angelo

Professor of Documentary/News Production Marta Bautis, founder of “Tiempo Azul Produc-

tions,” is organizing a series of screenings this year to call the attention to recent new threats against the Nation of Sarayaku, a community that is trying to protect the land against environmental disasters such as the one in the Gulf Coast.

The film, produced and directed by Bautis, has been screened at the University of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aries, Argentina, the first Ethnographic Film Festival of San Juan in Puerto Rico, at large events in St. John, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Sarayaku, Ecuador and New York City, as well as in gatherings by grassroots groups throughout the United States and Latin America

Italian Studies Professor Teams Up to Translate Italian Novel into English

Professor of Italian Studies and Literature Rosetta D’Angelo, along with Clemson University Professor Barbara Zaczek, will publish an annotated translation from Italian into English of the novel “Olimpo” by Umberto Piersanti (Rome, Avagliano Editore, 2006) in a series for Sciascia Editore. The translation will be accompanied by a critical introduction and interview with the author. The proposed date for publication is 2011. Umberto Piesanti’s short novel is a parallel narrative of two stories. The first one takes place in contemporary Italy and provides an insightful perspective on current events in Italy and the world, the ethical and moral dilemma of our society as well as issue of generation gap. The second story takes place in ancient Greece and explores the intricate relationship between myth and reality. The translation of this complex and beautiful novel into English will make it accessible to a large audience; very few Italian contemporary novels have been translated, making it difficult to teach world literature courses that would include Italian authors.

The Nursing Graduate Class of 2010

Ramapo College Nursing Program Receives Federal Grants

One of the major social issues that currently confronts Americans and the one that promises to continue to be a national dilemma for the next two decades is the shortage of registered nurses. Graduates of four year college nursing programs are sought after by hospitals, medical centers, the U.S. military and educational institutions. The greatest need is for nurses who continue their education through graduate programs in which they earn masters or doctoral degrees on their way to becoming nursing professors at colleges and universities.

Additionally, the need extends to recruiting nursing students who reflect the ethnicity of their patients. In recent years, research in nursing practice indicates that patients feel more accepted and comfortable with health

professionals from similar backgrounds. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the federal agency that has commissioned research in nursing sociology has made funding available through competitive grants to help support undergraduate and graduate nursing students from historically under represented groups. Ramapo received more than $65,000 in two recent grants.

Ramapo College’s nursing program received $39,697 for the 2010 – 2011 academic year for awards to undergraduate nursing students who qualify based on their background and good academic standing. The awards are scholarships that do not have to be paid back, and may be used for any expense related to nursing education including child care.

Ramapo College’s outstanding master’s degree program in nursing education also received a grant from HRSA in the amount of $26,020. Funds from this program are awarded to students who plan to become teachers of nursing, and are members of historically underrepresented groups. In this way, the federal government and Ramapo College are working to expand the number of registered nurses so that health system patients in New Jersey will identify with their nurses.

The proposals to HRSA were prepared by Senior Grant Writer Claudia Esker in consultation with Assistant Dean for Nursing Programs Kathleen Burke. The awards are made through the College’s financial aid office.

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New President of the Faculty Assembly Served as Creative Consultant for International Film Project

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Ramapo magazine

Professor of Clinical Psychology and newly elected President of the Faculty Assembly James Morley on the Island of Skellig Michael, Ireland

www.ramapo.edu

Grant news Professor of Documentary/News Production Marta Bautis

Invitation to the White House Extended to LGBT Scholar

Professor of Law and Society Jillian T. Weiss

Photo Courtesy: James Morley

“Sarayaku: Rivers of Corn” Screenings Held in Response to Current Events

Professor of Italian Studies and Literature Rosetta D'Angelo

Professor of Documentary/News Production Marta Bautis, founder of “Tiempo Azul Produc-

Italian Studies Professor Teams Up to Translate Italian Novel into English

The Nursing Graduate Class of 2010

Ramapo College Nursing Program Receives Federal Grants

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Foundation news

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Planned Giving Golf Outing At the 3rd Annual Planned Giving Golf Outing in May guests enjoyed a wonderful day on the course and a delicious dinner reception at The North Jersey Country Club. During a dinner presentation given by Planned Giving Committee Chairman Paul D. Miller and Wealth Preservation Solutions colleague Kevin Ellman, guests learned more about estate planning and charitable giving opportunities at the College. The Ramapo College Foundation gratefully acknowledges Planned Giving Committee member Ralph Mastrangelo for coordinating the event, Paul Miller for his informative presentation and Planned Giving Committee members Ira Kaltman, Bernard Milano and Frank Rodriguez for their support.

Foundation’s 23rd Golf Outing

The Foundation’s 23rd Annual Golf Outing was held at the Tuxedo Club on July 19. Sponsored by The Marino Family and Century 21 Construction, the event raised more than $97,000 for student scholarships, faculty and student research opportunities and capi-

tal projects. This represents a 48% increase over last year’s outing. Participants enjoyed lunch, a round of golf, goody bags, games of chance, auction items, raffle and patio dinner. Other sponsors included Prestige BMW and Prestige Mini, Prudential, McCarter &

English, LLP, Inserra ShopRite Supermarkets, Stryker Orthopaedics, O’Connor Davies Munns & Dobbins, LLP, Valley National Bank, BMW of North America, LLC, Cambridge Construction Management, Inc., Lakeland Bank and Investors Savings Bank.

(L-R): Kevin Ellman, Bob Dill, Ira Kaltman, Paul Miller, Kim Lynch, Ralph Mastrangelo and Wally Brady participated in the 3rd Annual Planned Giving Golf Outing on May 20.

The Ramapo College Foundation Mission Award

(L-R): Board of Governors members Gregg Palesky, Don Maddi, Roy Putrino, Chairman Robert Tillsley and Gary Gerardi enjoy the reception during the 23rd Annual Foundation Golf Outing.

(L-R): Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer, Rob Skrlac of the NJ Devils and Golf Outing Sponsor Gail Marino

The Mission Award's purpose is to recognize distinguished service by a member of the Board of Governors in fulfilling the Foundation's mission. Ralph Mastrangelo and Paul Miller were named the 2010 Mission Award recipients by the Foundation Board of Governors.

(L-R): Board of Governors Chairman Robert Tillsley, Ralph Mastrangelo, Paul Miller and President Peter P. Mercer at the Foundation's Annual Appreciation Barbecue on July 15 20

Ramapo magazine

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Annual Golf Outing Sponsors The Marino Family and Century 21 Construction. (L-R): Barbara Marino, Anthony J. Marino, Gail Marino, Joe Marino, Cheryl Marino and Chris Pompeo

(L-R): Board of Governor and Golf Committee member Fran Hackett ’80 with special guest NJ Devils’ Grant Marshall at the Annual Golf Outing

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Foundation’s 23rd Golf Outing

(L-R): Kevin Ellman, Bob Dill, Ira Kaltman, Paul Miller, Kim Lynch, Ralph Mastrangelo and Wally Brady participated in the 3rd Annual Planned Giving Golf Outing on May 20.

The Ramapo College Foundation Mission Award

(L-R): Board of Governors members Gregg Palesky, Don Maddi, Roy Putrino, Chairman Robert Tillsley and Gary Gerardi enjoy the reception during the 23rd Annual Foundation Golf Outing.

(L-R): Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer, Rob Skrlac of the NJ Devils and Golf Outing Sponsor Gail Marino

(L-R): Board of Governors Chairman Robert Tillsley, Ralph Mastrangelo, Paul Miller and President Peter P. Mercer at the Foundation's Annual Appreciation Barbecue on July 15 20

Ramapo magazine

www.ramapo.edu

Annual Golf Outing Sponsors The Marino Family and Century 21 Construction. (L-R): Barbara Marino, Anthony J. Marino, Gail Marino, Joe Marino, Cheryl Marino and Chris Pompeo

(L-R): Board of Governor and Golf Committee member Fran Hackett ’80 with special guest NJ Devils’ Grant Marshall at the Annual Golf Outing

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Foundation news

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Alumni news

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Baseball Game a Hit with Mercer County Alumni

Foundation’s 23rd Golf Outing continued...

The Mercer County Regional Chapter of the Alumni Association held its inaugural event, a baseball game featuring Trenton Thunder vs. Altoona Curve, on June 17. The alumni sported their own uniforms—official Ramapo College T-shirts! At the game they had an opportunity to reminisce and root for the home team, the Trenton Thunder. Among the alumni in attendance was A.J. Sabath ’93, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

1. Alumni from the Mercer County region enjoy watching the Trenton Thunder win at the The Mercer County Regional Chapter of the Alumni Association gathering. 2. Back row: Colleen D’Arcy Collier ’04 and Matt Collier. Front row: Purvi Parekh ’01, ’04, assistant director of Alumni Relations, Michael Washington ‘01, Tanya Bouknight Washington ‘02, and Kayla Washington. 3. A.J. Sabath ’93, chairman of the Ramapo College Board of Trustees throws the first pitch at a Trenton Thunder game in June.

Members of the Golf Committee at Tuxedo Club at the 23rd Annual Outing (L-R-Standing): Ned Lipes, Gregg Gerken, Debra Perry ’84, Committee Chairman Don Mahoney ’73, Fran Hackett ’80, Tom Palmer and Dave Repetto. (L-R-Sitting) Foundation Chairman Robert Tillsley, John Brewster ’75 and Steven Napolitano

(L-R): Foundation Vice Chairman Ralph Mastrangelo and Investment Committee Chairman Tom Srednicki watch the action at the 23rd Annual Golf Outing held at the Tuxedo Club in July.

Welcoming New Alumni

New alumni met at Bar Anticipation in Belmar, NJ on June 26 to share their memories. A beautiful summer afternoon at the beach was the perfect backdrop for enjoying the company, music and Ramapo-themed trivia games.

Birch Fellowship Dinner Reception

1. New Alumni Summer Reunion at Bar Anticipation in Belmar. (L-R): Christine Harrigan ’09, Emily Migliore ’09, Kimberly Joanne ’09, Eliza Kelton ’09 and Eric Mastrolia ’09. 2. Alisa Smith ‘10 winning a prize for answering one of the Ramapo Trivia questions at the New Alumni Summer Reunion held at Bar Anticipation in Belmar in June. 3. Summer Reunion. (L-R): Jessica Anton ‘09, Marie Sarlo ‘09, Rachel Shaw ’09 and Brittany Carroll ’09 joined other new alumni members at Bar Anticipation. 2

The Stephen & Mary Birch Fellowship, a new annual fund giving society of the Ramapo College Foundation, celebrated its inaugural appreciation dinner at the Havemeyer House on July 29. (L-R): Tammy Bacigalupo-Marcus, Jonathan N. Marcus, Esq., ’93, Becky McAdams ‘04 and Tony Froio.

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More than 40 guests of The Stephen & Mary Birch Fellowship enjoyed a festive dinner before attending a concert on the lawn. (L-R): Cathleen and John Brewster '75 and Linda and Bill Dator.

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Alumni news

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Baseball Game a Hit with Mercer County Alumni

Foundation’s 23rd Golf Outing continued...

(L-R): Foundation Vice Chairman Ralph Mastrangelo and Investment Committee Chairman Tom Srednicki watch the action at the 23rd Annual Golf Outing held at the Tuxedo Club in July.

Welcoming New Alumni

Birch Fellowship Dinner Reception

Ramapo magazine

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More than 40 guests of The Stephen & Mary Birch Fellowship enjoyed a festive dinner before attending a concert on the lawn. (L-R): Cathleen and John Brewster '75 and Linda and Bill Dator.

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Bergen County Alumni Sway to Jimmy and the Parrots

Regional Alumni Chapters Help Graduates Stay In Touch

Alumni, along with their families and friends, enjoyed an evening of great food and music by Jimmy and the Parrots at the first of four concerts in the TD Bank Summer Concert Series. Jonathan Marcus ’93, president of the Alumni Association, attended this summer kick-off event sponsored by the Bergen County Alumni Regional Chapter. Marilyn Moux ’07, co-chair of the chapter committee and sponsor of the event, provided several door prizes that added to the evening’s festive air. Following the concert, there was a spectacular fireworks display.

The reach of Ramapo College spans the state and the country as alumni have established careers and families. Regional alumni chapters help graduates who want to stay in touch and become involved with College activities. Membership is increasing in chapters in Bergen and Mercer counties, New York City/Westchester county, Phoenix, AZ and Washington, D.C.

1. (L-R): Robin Keller ’98, ’02, ’07, Matt Keller, Cynthia Brennan ’73 registrar, Kara Brennan former assistant vice president of Institutional Advancement and John A. Donofrio ‘81 2. (L-R): Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer, President Peter P. Mercer, Bergen County Alumni Regional Chapter Chair Becky P. McAdams ’04, Cathleen Davey, vice president of Institutional Advancement and Kathleen Mainardi, senior director of Development 3. (L-R): Theresa A. Mark ’96, Jonathan Marcus ’93, president, Alumni Board, Rosemarie Mark ’05 and Purvi Parekh ’01, ’04, assistant director of Alumni Relations 4. (L-R): Kathleen Moskin ’97, Robert Moskin, Patricia Muster, Peggy Millich and Patricia McClenton ‘76 5. (L-R): Molly Dente, Colleen Dente, Patrick Chang, associate vice president of Student Affairs, Anne Chang, Brendan Dente, Robert Dente ’92 and Patrick Dente 6. Bergen County Alumni, along with a large turnout of families and friends, participated in a variety of activities at the summer kick-off of the Bergen County Alumni Regional Chapter in July. 4

The Alumni Association is enlisting the support of alumni to create chapters in Passaic; Northwest Jersey (Morris/ Warren/Sussex); Essex/Hudson; Union/Middlesex/ Somerset; Hunterdon/Mercer/ Somerset; Monmouth/Ocean; Burlington/Atlantic; Camden/Gloucester/Salem and Cumberland/Cape May counties in New Jersey and Rockland/Orange counties in New York.

Involvement provides opportunities to participate in social, recreational and education programs that encourage professional and social networking. Alumni will also assist Ramapo College with admissions outreach, creating internship and job placement opportunities and aid the Ramapo College Foundation with development efforts. Members will serve as an advisory group to help College staff develop events and programs of interest to alumni. Serving on chapter activities is a manageable time commitment. For more information on becoming a member of a regional alumni chapter or organizing a new chapter, please e-mail purvi@ramapo.edu.

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WANTED: 3

Your personal (not Ramapo) E-mail address.

WHY? So you can be among the first to receive College announcements and invitations to campus and alumni-sponsored events. WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU? When you provide your personal (not Ramapo) E-mail address, you’ll be entered in a contest to win two second row orchestra tickets to “A Simon and Garfunkel Retrospective” on March 12 at 8 p.m. Ten runner-ups will receive flash drives and all respondents will receive a mousepad. Winners selected randomly. To enter your information, go to: ww2.ramapo.edu/win

Ramapo magazine

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Alumni news

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Bergen County Alumni Sway to Jimmy and the Parrots

Regional Alumni Chapters Help Graduates Stay In Touch

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Your personal (not Ramapo) E-mail address.

Ramapo magazine

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Ramapo magazine

Class notes

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Michele Bailin ‘91 to James Pettincki Gina Talucci ‘04 to Cliff Hoogerhyde Erin Gayle Thatcher ‘05 to Robert Andrew Amaty, Jr. Landon Ross Swaim ‘05 to Jessica Erin Carpenter Heather Marie (Twardy) Baillie ‘05 to Robert Baillie Laura (Greene) Savio ‘07 to William Savio II

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Joan Stathakis ‘77 has joined the Pascask Valley group of Terrie O’Connor Realtors in Saddle Brook as a sales associate. Stathakis also became a part of the Multi Million Dollar Sales Club in 2009 and has earned a paralegal certificate. Stathakis is a member of the PTA and a volunteer with Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.

Robert Fohrmeister ‘78 worked with President Ronald Reagan on budget issues for eight years. He continues to serve on a federal task force on the budget.

Claire Krulikowski ‘75 is a part-time instructor in the Business Technology Department at Rogue Community College in Medford, OR. Krulikowski combines her writing/editing skills with experiences gleaned from her previous 20 years in business to teach classes in “Technical Report Writing” and “Editing and Proofreading.”

Peggy LaQuaglia Auerbacher ‘76 completed the master’s of Liberal Studies program at Thomas Edison State College and received a graduate certificate in Online Learning Technologies. Her capstone project was an online course, “Virtual Workforce Readiness” with an accompanying essay, “Coming Home: Ramapo magazine

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Adapting to a New Work Paradigm.” Auerbacher views telework as a viable option for easing unemployment where remote geography or physical concerns limit employment options. Her retirement plan is Career Number 3: a transition to instructional design and e-course development in education and training. Auerbacher resides in Monmouth County and has three young adult children.

Marriages and Unions

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David L. Jones III ‘79 graduated from Rockland Community College in May with an A.S. in Nursing. Jones recently retired after spending almost 30 years in corporate finance and is looking forward to a second career in critical care nursing.

Kathleen Stevens ‘80 was promoted to news editor at the New Jersey Herald News. Stevens has worked more than 25 years with the newspaper.

Robin Kline ‘80 was appointed to the position of South Orange Village clerk. Kline also holds a master’s in Public Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University and spent 11 years as a paralegal before switching to government.

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Articles by Dr. Barbara Klemt Boxleitner ‘83 have appeared in at least 31 publications throughout North America. In 2009, Boxleitner’s articles and photographs of Red Sox players were published in Boston Baseball. She is a volunteer assistant coach for the sports teams on which her daughter, Denver Bree, plays and she also volunteers at her daughter’s school.

John Salvesen ‘83 graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary on May 8 with a doctorate of Ministry. He is pictured with son Brian, mother Lillian Salvesen, daughter Brittany, son Andrew, daughter Jenna and his wife, Carolyn. Salvesen is serving at Bear Creek Bible Church in Keller, TX as senior pastor. He and his wife have been married since 1986 and have four children.

Cathy Moran Hajo ‘85 announced the publication of “Birth Control on Main Street: Organizing Clinics in the United States, 1916-1939” (University of Illinois Press). The book takes a thematic look at the practical work of birth control clinics in the 1920’s and 1930’s. In addition, the third volume of the Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger titled, “The Politics of Planned Parenthood, 19391966” was released in June. Hajo edited the work with Esther Katz and Peter C. Engelman.

The volume includes letters and other documents covering Sanger’s work on the birth control pill and other topics.

Simon (Sam) Blom ‘85 Sam is the event chair for the Sedona, AZ Relay For Life. Blom recently became engaged after meeting his fiancé on eharmony.com; the wedding was planned for October 16 in Sedona. Blom also coaches youth soccer and baseball, tutors and substitutes at the local elementary school and is on the board of directors for the Verde Valley Senior Center. Blom has a second call back for a movie to be filmed in Sedona and has acted in many plays in the Sedona area to raise money for non-profits. Blom retired from PSEG in 2005 and then moved to Arizona. Jeff LeRoy ‘85 continues to work in the substance abuse field for St. Luke’s Recovery Center. With more than 20 years of clinical experience he continues to counsel individuals with mental health and substance abuse problems. In addition, LeRoy is currently enrolled in a massage therapy program at The Florida College of Natural Health and is seeking licensure as a massage therapist hoping to offer wellness services including life coaching, massage therapy, somatic-emotional release and other wellness-related services. LeRoy is a dedicated healing professional who seeks to contribute physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness and provide spiritual counseling. He plans to perform a wide range of spiritual and new age related services.

Ammazzalorso is pursing his master’s of Education Leadership degree at George Mason University. He plans to obtain a doctorate degree and to become a school principal.

Michele Bailin ‘91 and James Pettincki were married April 10 on the island of Jamaica. The couple resides in Freehold, NJ.

In January James J. Sexton, Esq. ‘94 was named one of New York State’s “Ten Leaders in Matrimonial Law” for the second time. Sexton is a divorce trial lawyer and manages a firm with offices in Manhattan and Rockland County, NY. He resides not far from Ramapo College with his two sons, Noah 12 and Billy 10. In his free time he competes in long distance races and mixed martial arts.

Kevin T. Kelly ‘94, a 15-year veteran of the Ramsey Police Department, was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Thomas Ammazzalorso ‘95 was honored by “Cambridge Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals” for his dedication, leadership and excellence in education. Ammazzalorso teaches History and Social Science to 11th and 12th graders.

Lisa (Amendola) Stout ‘01, and her husband Matt Stout, announced the birth of their son, Logan Xavier. The baby was due on June 4, but arrived five weeks early on April 30 at 12:10 p.m. He weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 19 inches. Both mom and Logan are doing well.

Tara Larkin Wuorinen ‘02, and her husband, Timothy Andrew Wuorinen, announced the birth of their first son, Tyler Chase. He was born May 3 at 11:59 a.m. and weighted 8 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 20-3/4 inches.

Manshi Mehta ‘02 and Apurva Mehta announce the birth of their baby girl born July 6, at 4:29 p.m. weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and 19 inches long.

In Memoriam Jennifer Williams ‘02 and Raydell Gomez had a baby boy, Raydell Gomez, Jr. on March 31. The couple has a daughter, Ava Camille, age 2. The couple will wed this August in Passaic.

Michelle Smith ‘03 has been awarded the designation of Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC) by the American Payroll Association. The FPC designation is awarded based on the successful completion of a comprehensive three-hour exam covering fundamental payroll operations. Since the FPC program was established in 2000, more than 3,500 individuals have earned the FPC designation.

Thomas Elefante ’83 Lois Carolyn Burgermaster ’83 Kenneth G. Demarest ’83 Jan (Zintel) Dutches ’91 Ruth Alden (Willams) Hook ‘94 Nicole D. Romanelli ’04

Nicolas De Troye ‘03 was named manager, TD Bank, Wayne, NJ. Prior to joining TD Bank, De Troye was a financial specialist at Wachovia Bank, also in Wayne. She serves as a volunteer with the March of Dimes and the It’s Your Life – 411 program sponsored by the Municipal Alliance Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

Gina Talucci ‘04 and Cliff Hoogerhyde were married October 16 at Macaluso’s in Hawthorne, NJ. Talucci is editorial director for The Career Press Inc. The couple enjoyed a June honeymoon in the Mediterranean.

Cheryl Bachmann Botsolas ‘04 and husband Christopher Botsolas welcome their second daughter, Lia Judith who was born June 6 at 2:02 a.m. and weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. Lia joins her big sister Laurie.

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Robert Fohrmeister ‘78 worked with President Ronald Reagan on budget issues for eight years. He continues to serve on a federal task force on the budget.

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Marriages and Unions

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Kathleen Stevens ‘80 was promoted to news editor at the New Jersey Herald News. Stevens has worked more than 25 years with the newspaper.

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The volume includes letters and other documents covering Sanger’s work on the birth control pill and other topics.

Ammazzalorso is pursing his master’s of Education Leadership degree at George Mason University. He plans to obtain a doctorate degree and to become a school principal.

Michele Bailin ‘91 and James Pettincki were married April 10 on the island of Jamaica. The couple resides in Freehold, NJ.

Kevin T. Kelly ‘94, a 15-year veteran of the Ramsey Police Department, was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Manshi Mehta ‘02 and Apurva Mehta announce the birth of their baby girl born July 6, at 4:29 p.m. weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and 19 inches long.

In Memoriam Jennifer Williams ‘02 and Raydell Gomez had a baby boy, Raydell Gomez, Jr. on March 31. The couple has a daughter, Ava Camille, age 2. The couple will wed this August in Passaic.

Thomas Elefante ’83 Lois Carolyn Burgermaster ’83 Kenneth G. Demarest ’83 Jan (Zintel) Dutches ’91 Ruth Alden (Willams) Hook ‘94 Nicole D. Romanelli ’04

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Erin Gayle Thatcher ‘05 and Robert Andrew Amaty, Jr. exchanged vows May 22 in the Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, NJ. A reception followed at The Imperia in Somerset, NJ. Thatcher is enrolled in a master’s program in Corporate Communications at Baruch College and is a public affairs administrator at Sony Corporation of America in Manhattan. Landon Ross Swaim ‘05 and Jessica Erin Carpenter were married at St. Matthew the Apostle Church in Randolph with a reception held at Meadow Wood Manor. The couple will have a Caribbean cruise honeymoon and will reside in Mount Arlington. Swaim is an associate manager with Solix Inc. Heather Marie (Twardy) Baillie ‘05 and Robert Baillie were married August 29 in Sergeantsville, NJ. The couple resides in Piscataway, NJ.

Doris De Jesus ‘06 graduated from Fordham University in May with a master’s in Social Work.

Tameka Teal ‘06 announced her engagement to Michael Yearwood. The couple plans an October wedding in New Jersey.

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Patrick Stickles ‘08 is the lead singer and songwriter of an independent rock band, Titus Andronicus. Stickles was recently featured in The New York Times. The band’s first CD, “The Airing of Grievances” was favorably reviewed in Spin and Blender. “The Monitor” is the band’s latest release.

Richard C. Newbery ‘06 and Heather Lynne Smith ‘07 announced their engagement and planned an August 2012 wedding. Newbery is a social studies teacher at Madison Public Schools, while Smith is a high school earth science teacher at Randolph Township Public Schools. Katelyn Mulligan ‘07 was promoted to dossier manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Lawrenceville, NJ.

Melissa Rose ‘07 and Michael Whalen announced their engagement; the couple planned a September wedding.

Allyson Renee Bylskal ‘07 and Richard Joseph Burggraf III announced their engagement. Bylskal is attending Seton Hall University pursuing a bachelor’s of Science in Nursing.

Ted McLoof ‘07 is a student in the Creative Writing master of Fine Arts program at the University of Arizona. He has published stories in Short Story America and Melusine. He was selected as a finalist for Glimmer Train’s Family Matters contest and received the University of Arizona’s Tilly Warnock Fellowship.

Laura (Greene) Savio ‘07 and William Savio II were married May 1 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help R.C. Church in Highlands, NJ. A reception followed at The Shadowbrook in Shrewsbury, NJ. Greene is a marketing coordinator with CSI International in Red Bank, NJ. The couple honeymooned in Costa Rica and resides in Matawan, NJ.

Courts and fields

Michael La Porta ‘07 and Maria Baricelli announced their engagement. La Porta currently works at Ramapo College of NJ. The couple is planning a winter 2011 wedding.

Hsu-nami, a band composed of Ramapo alumni and students Brent Bergholm ‘07, Jack Hsu ‘07, John Manna ‘12 and Derril Sellers ‘08 performed at Webster Hall in NYC on May 16 as part of Summit NY’s second J-Rock Festival, a Japanese pop culture festival covering music, fashion and general Japanese culture. The band played last in the setlist, rocking fans with their unique mixture of punk, pop and traditional Japanese music, and performed an unreleased song for the first time.

Elizabeth Roe ‘08 was named to Creative Marketing Alliance as coordinator for the Association for Convention Operations Management, the International Card Manufacturers Association and the Rental and Staging Network.

Danielle M. Mancini ‘08 and Martin Valerio, Jr. announced their engagement. Both are employed as teachers in Waldwick. Mancini returned to Ramapo and is currently enrolled in the master’s of Science in Educational Technology program. The couple will wed on July 9, 2011.

Jordanna Suriani ‘09 graduated in May from Columbia University’s Teachers College with a master’s in Higher Education Administration. Elizabeth Timpone ‘09 and Anthony Manzella announced their engagement. Timpone teaches technology education at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, NJ. A summer 2011 wedding is planned.

Spotlight on: Ashley Cornett

Ashley Cornett ‘08 quickly made a name for herself at Ramapo College when she stepped on the campus as a freshman in 2004. The former Presidential Scholarship recipient, successful student and talented volleyball athlete continues those trends, thriving both academically and athletically since she graduated from Ramapo with honors and a degree in biochemistry in 2008.

Cornett visited campus in April as a key speaker at the Chi Alpha Sigma Induction Ceremony, a ceremony she attended for the first time in the spring of 2007 when she was inducted. After reflecting on her days at Ramapo, Cornett assisted in honoring 17 student-athletes as new members of the National Student-Athlete Athletic Honors Society. “Ramapo offered a realm of endless opportunities to guide me in the right direction towards a great future,” she said at the event. Now, she is living that great future.

Cornett recently completed her second year of graduate school at the University of Medicine and Dentistry School of New Jersey 28

Ramapo magazine

www.ramapo.edu

and holds a 3.87 GPA and is currently a doctoral candidate. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is considering a career in higher education. She dreams of combining her passion for academics and athletics and becoming a college professor and collegiate volleyball coach.

As dynamic and as successful as Cornett has remained in the classroom, she is also active on the volleyball court. She continues to participate in many regional volleyball leagues and has spent the last few years making the transition from player to coach. She is in her fifth year as a coach for an elite Bergen county volleyball club, Cut Shot.

At Ramapo, a place Cornett referred to as her second home, she was extremely active outside of her classroom and volleyball responsibilities and activities. She was a member of Theta Phi Alpha, serving as the sorority’s president for two years, while at the same time serving as president of Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She also was a member of Alpha Lambda Delta and the Chemistry Club and maintained a 3.9 GPA.

Cornett received many awards and honors both athletically and academically. She quickly earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, before wrapping up her collegiate athletic career with honors including Most Valuable player, Most Improved Player, and New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics award for Women Female Athlete of the Year. She remains the career assist leader at the College accumulating 2,874 assists in her four-year stellar career, while ranking number three among the top New Jersey Athletic Conference players for assists per game. With her success in the classroom, Cornett received The New Jersey Athletic Conference’s First Team All-Academic honors, Ramapo College Athletic Director’s First Team All-Academic honors, and Second Team CoSida All-Academic honors.

“Ramapo was an important and essential stepping stone in my life to obtain my longterm life goals,” says Cornett. “I am eternally grateful to all faculty and peers alike that made my college experience as amazing as it was.”

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Doris De Jesus ‘06 graduated from Fordham University in May with a master’s in Social Work.

Tameka Teal ‘06 announced her engagement to Michael Yearwood. The couple plans an October wedding in New Jersey.

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Melissa Rose ‘07 and Michael Whalen announced their engagement; the couple planned a September wedding.

Allyson Renee Bylskal ‘07 and Richard Joseph Burggraf III announced their engagement. Bylskal is attending Seton Hall University pursuing a bachelor’s of Science in Nursing.

Courts and fields

Michael La Porta ‘07 and Maria Baricelli announced their engagement. La Porta currently works at Ramapo College of NJ. The couple is planning a winter 2011 wedding.

Spotlight on: Ashley Cornett

Cornett recently completed her second year of graduate school at the University of Medicine and Dentistry School of New Jersey 28

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Planned giving

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Estate of Gregory Z. Bukstein Gives Extensive Art Collection to Ramapo College, Establishes the Rachel Bukstein Scholarship Through his estate, Gregory Z. Bukstein donated the art collection that his brother had assembled from his many travels throughout Asia. He also established a scholarship endowment named after their mother, Rachel Bukstein, who perished during the family’s exile in Siberia. The scholarship supports students “in great need and truly deserving of the support as a result of their hard work and efforts.”

“Meiren with Fan and Flowers,” early 20th Century, carved turquoise, Bukstein Collection

The estate of Gregory Z. Bukstein recently gave the André Z. Pascal and Gregory Z. Bukstein Art Collection to Ramapo College along with a $375,000 bequest. This gift recognizes the named gift opportunities and helps to care for the collection as well as establishes the Rachel Bukstein Scholarship Endowment.

As documented by the Ramapo College book “Survival: The Story of Two Brothers,” Gregory Z. Bukstein and his identical twin André Z. Pascal overcame tremendous difficulties including their exile to Siberia from Poland, survival during the Holocaust, life as refugees, pioneers in the then newly-created state of Israel and their eventual emigration to the United States. The book is incorporated in some Ramapo College courses and has encouraged and inspired students.

“Foo Lion,” early 20th Century, carved jade, Bukstein Collection

Ramapo magazine

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CLASS OF 2014-A PROFILE

2010 Graduating EOF senior luncheon program

The EOF Class of 2014 is bigger than its predecessor. The 103 deposits total an 8.7 percent increase over the previous year.

The combined SAT score of 942 represents a 29 percent increase. More than a quarter of the class scored more than 1,000 on the SAT.

On average the EOF Class of 2014 ranked in the top 25 percent of their graduating class and the majority have taken honors courses and/or AP courses in high school. Many have transferred college credit for courses taught at their local community college or through a dual enrollment program between their high school and a college/university.

Students hail from 13 New Jersey counties, including: Atlantic, Bergen, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Union and Mercer counties. The majority are comprised of Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Hudson residents. “Chinese Official Holding Ruyi Sceptor,” 19th Century, pigment on paper, Bukstein Collection

the “Red Official.” This Chinese School 19th century colored pigment print shows a Chinese official dressed in a red robe holding a ruyi scepter; it is signed by the artist.

“Through the Bukstein collection, we can see how one individual’s interest in a particular area of artistic expression, Asian art, could develop into a passion for collecting a whole range of objects from the rare to the ordinary,” says Assistant Professor of Art History Meredith Davis. “Even more importantly, it is truly moving to see how this particular passion could lead Mr. Bukstein to support Ramapo so significantly in its effort to bring important, meaningful contemporary art from all over the world to Ramapo College.”

“Japanese Immortal Seated on a Deer,” 19th Century, carved ivory, Bukstein Collection

Ramapo College’s Educational Opportunity Fund This year the Ramapo community felt so strongly about supporting students from lesser-advantaged backgrounds, the decision was made to fully fund all of our Equal Opportunity Fund students. This means those students who qualified have been relieved of all financial burdens typically associated with freshman year – tuition, room and board and books.

The André Z. Pascal and Gregory Z. Bukstein Art Collection includes more than 400 pieces that will be rotated on a regular basis in the newly created Pascal Gallery at the Berrie Center for Visual and Performing Arts. Many pieces will be displayed at an exhibit in November. “Fresh In: Recent Donations to the College Collections” will run from November 3 through December 8. An opening reception will be held November 3 from 5 to 7 p.m.

As highlighted in an earlier exhibit at the College, The André Z. Pascal and Gregory Z. Bukstein Art Collection encompasses a wide range of materials, including jade, bronze, and ivory along with a variety of other objects, such as ceramics, paintings and textiles. The exotic and aesthetic qualities of the decorative artistic traditions of China and Japan are embodied throughout the collection. One of Gregory Bukstein’s favorite pieces was

2009 Graduating EOF senior luncheon program

The majority, 72, have declared majors ranging across all of Ramapo’s five schools including biology, nursing, law and society, social work, music, visual arts, literature, liberal studies, marketing and finance.

The class has been busy outside of their classrooms in high school, as well, with activities such as football, soccer, tennis, golf, wrestling and

Fall 2009 welcome reception for EOF first-year students hosted by President Peter P. Mercer and Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer at the Havemeyer House

volleyball and hundreds of clubs, including service and volunteer clubs, choirs, theatre clubs and student council/government. Their ranks include certified nurse assistants, animal rights and environmental activists. Collectively, they have performed thousands of hours volunteering at hospitals, community centers and faith-based organizations.

To learn more about setting up scholarship endowments, please contact Ellen Dudas, at (201) 684.7005 or mdudas@ramapo.edu, or visit www.ramapo.edu/plannedgiving

2010 EOF summer program students

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“Meiren with Fan and Flowers,” early 20th Century, carved turquoise, Bukstein Collection

“Foo Lion,” early 20th Century, carved jade, Bukstein Collection

Ramapo magazine

www.ramapo.edu

CLASS OF 2014-A PROFILE

2010 Graduating EOF senior luncheon program

The EOF Class of 2014 is bigger than its predecessor. The 103 deposits total an 8.7 percent increase over the previous year.

The combined SAT score of 942 represents a 29 percent increase. More than a quarter of the class scored more than 1,000 on the SAT.

the “Red Official.” This Chinese School 19th century colored pigment print shows a Chinese official dressed in a red robe holding a ruyi scepter; it is signed by the artist.

“Japanese Immortal Seated on a Deer,” 19th Century, carved ivory, Bukstein Collection

2009 Graduating EOF senior luncheon program

The class has been busy outside of their classrooms in high school, as well, with activities such as football, soccer, tennis, golf, wrestling and

Fall 2009 welcome reception for EOF first-year students hosted by President Peter P. Mercer and Dr. Jackie Ehlert-Mercer at the Havemeyer House

To learn more about setting up scholarship endowments, please contact Ellen Dudas, at (201) 684.7005 or mdudas@ramapo.edu, or visit www.ramapo.edu/plannedgiving

2010 EOF summer program students

www.ramapo.edu

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Datebook

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Wednesday, November 3 Wednesday, December 8

Sunday, November 14

Sunday, December 5

Saturday, December 18

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Ramapo College welcomes students and families to visit us at Open House. Our Open House provides a wonderful opportunity to tour our campus, speak with faculty and learn more about what Ramapo College has to offer.

Ramapo Chorale

“Fresh In: Recent Donations to the College Collections”

Open House

Jazz at the Berrie Center Presents: “A New York Voices Holiday”

Performing Arts Dinner Series Presents The Watercoolers

Opens on November 3, with the opening reception from 5-7 p.m.

Collection donations have surged in recent years and this presentation showcases new donations to various collections including the Bukstein, Morris/Svehla, and Rodman Collections. For times, details of specific events and other information, contact Sydney Jenkins at 201.684.7147.

Wednesday, November 10

Jazz at the Berrie Center presents: Conversations in BeBop 1 p.m.

An Interview with NEA Jazz Master Barry Harris. Join world renowned jazz historian and journalist Ira Gitler, best known for “The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz,” as he talks with NEA Jazz Master, pianist, composer and educator, Barry Harris about the art, the artists and a bit of personal jazz history. For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/ Installation view from “About the Object” - Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, April 19 - May 24, 2009. Master’s thesis exhibition curated by Christina Linden. Photo: Chris Kendall 2009.

November 3 - December 8

Friday, November 12

Jazz at the Berrie Center presents: The Barry Harris Trio

Students admitted to Ramapo typically rank in the top 20% of their graduating class with a middle 50% range of critical reading and math SAT scores of 1170 or an ACT composite of 26. Visit our campus and discover the program that’s perfect for you. To register go to: http://ww2.ramapo.edu/admissions

Saturday, December 4

Multicultural Open House

Ramapo College welcomes students and families to visit us at Open House.

To register go to: http://ww2.ramapo.edu/admissions

Saturday, December 4

The Shanghai Quartet* 8 p.m., Sharp Theater

3 p.m., Sharp Theater

For details contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Sunday, December 12

An Eileen Ivers Christmas 7 p.m., Sharp Theater

Thursday, November 4 Joe Calandro, Jr., “Valuation and Uncertainty: Investing in an Age of Economic Distress.” Calandro is the enterprise risk manager of a global financial services firm. He previously taught value investing and risk management courses in the MBA program at the University of Connecticut and worked as a financial management consultant with IBM Global Services. Contact Professor of Finance Murray Sabrin for additional information at 201.684.7373 or via e-mail at msabrin@ramapo.edu

Ramapo magazine

Dinner 6:30 p.m. and show 8 p.m.

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

November 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 20

Raciti Memorial Lecture

www.ramapo.edu

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Performing Arts Dinner Series presents “Simon and Garfunkel Retrospective”

Ramapo Curatorial Prize exhibition Opening Reception, November 3, 5 - 7 p.m. Curator’s Talk, November 3, 6 p.m., Kresge Gallery.

For details contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

In the tradition of Manhattan Transfer, and Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross, the Grammy-Award winning New York Voices is the most exciting vocal ensemble on the jazz scene today. Join them for a joyous holiday take on the Great American Songbook, as well as everyone’s favorite songs of the season.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

NEA Jazz Master, composer, pianist and educator Barry Harris culminates a week-long residency with a swinging evening of be-bop and beautiful jazz.

Ramapo College Theater Program presents “Trojan Women 2.0” by Charles Mee 8 p.m., Sharp Theater

Charles Mee’s “Trojan Women 2.0” is an explosive and surprising contemporary take on Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy. This production, directed by Assistant Professor of Theater Peter A. Campbell, immerses the audience into a classical drama filled with modern song, dance, and media as it transforms the Sharp Theater into a chaotic, war-torn landscape. For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Renowned for its passionate musicality, impressive technique and multicultural innovations, this superstar chamber quartet, now in its 26th year, performs works of Mendelssohn, among others.

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

*This performance will benefit the Ramapo College Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. For special benefit dinner tickets, please contact 201.684.7409.

Dinner 6:30 p.m. and show 8 p.m.

The Ramapo Chorale performs at the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts.

“About the Object”

“About the Object” is the culmination of a year-long conversation and collaboration between artist Amy Patton and curator Christina Linden. The Ramapo Curatorial Prize is awarded each year to a second-year graduate student at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.

8 p.m., Sharp Theater

Diabetes Pharmacology Update: 6 Contact Hours $239

www.ramapo.edu/cipl/nursing

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Senior Thesis Exhibition in the Kresge Gallery

Exhibition of works by graduating visual arts students.

For details contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

THE CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE & PROFESSIONAL LEARNING Saturday, November 6, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Celebrate the holidays Celtic style! Eileen Ivers, founding member of Cherish The Ladies and the original musical star of Riverdance, known for her blue violin and her rockin’ group, Immigrant Soul, takes the stage of the Sharp Theater in full fiddlin’ force with vocals, step dancers and a fabulous salute to the season.

Monday, December 13Friday, December 17

In the Sharp Theater at the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. For information and reservations contact Liz Kloak at 201.684.6834 or e-mail Liz at lkloak@ramapo.edu

The Ramapo College Foundation’s Performing Arts Dinner Series presents “Simon and Garfunkel Retrospective” in the Sharp Theater at the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. For information and reservations contact Liz Kloak at 201.684.6834 or e-mail Liz at lkloak@ramapo.edu

Ramapo College is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the New Jersey State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. P233-4/08-11. Please visit http://www.ramapo.edu/cipl/nursing to download the registration form for the nursing workshops listed above. To obtain additional information on the courses listed above visit www.ramapo.edu/cipl or call the Center for Innovative and Professional Learning at 201.684.7370.

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Wednesday, November 3 Wednesday, December 8

Sunday, November 14

Sunday, December 5

Saturday, December 18

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Ramapo Chorale

“Fresh In: Recent Donations to the College Collections”

Open House

Jazz at the Berrie Center Presents: “A New York Voices Holiday”

Performing Arts Dinner Series Presents The Watercoolers

Opens on November 3, with the opening reception from 5-7 p.m.

Wednesday, November 10

Jazz at the Berrie Center presents: Conversations in BeBop 1 p.m.

November 3 - December 8

Friday, November 12

Jazz at the Berrie Center presents: The Barry Harris Trio

Saturday, December 4

Multicultural Open House

Ramapo College welcomes students and families to visit us at Open House.

To register go to: http://ww2.ramapo.edu/admissions

Saturday, December 4

The Shanghai Quartet* 8 p.m., Sharp Theater

3 p.m., Sharp Theater

For details contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Sunday, December 12

An Eileen Ivers Christmas 7 p.m., Sharp Theater

Ramapo magazine

Dinner 6:30 p.m. and show 8 p.m.

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

November 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 20

Raciti Memorial Lecture

www.ramapo.edu

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Performing Arts Dinner Series presents “Simon and Garfunkel Retrospective”

Ramapo Curatorial Prize exhibition Opening Reception, November 3, 5 - 7 p.m. Curator’s Talk, November 3, 6 p.m., Kresge Gallery.

For details contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Saturday, March 12, 2011

NEA Jazz Master, composer, pianist and educator Barry Harris culminates a week-long residency with a swinging evening of be-bop and beautiful jazz.

Ramapo College Theater Program presents “Trojan Women 2.0” by Charles Mee 8 p.m., Sharp Theater

Renowned for its passionate musicality, impressive technique and multicultural innovations, this superstar chamber quartet, now in its 26th year, performs works of Mendelssohn, among others.

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

*This performance will benefit the Ramapo College Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. For special benefit dinner tickets, please contact 201.684.7409.

Dinner 6:30 p.m. and show 8 p.m.

The Ramapo Chorale performs at the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts.

“About the Object”

8 p.m., Sharp Theater

Diabetes Pharmacology Update: 6 Contact Hours $239

www.ramapo.edu/cipl/nursing

For details and ticket pricing contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

Senior Thesis Exhibition in the Kresge Gallery

Exhibition of works by graduating visual arts students.

For details contact the Berrie Center Box Office at 201.684.7844 and/or visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

THE CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE & PROFESSIONAL LEARNING Saturday, November 6, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Monday, December 13Friday, December 17

In the Sharp Theater at the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. For information and reservations contact Liz Kloak at 201.684.6834 or e-mail Liz at lkloak@ramapo.edu

www.ramapo.edu

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CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED 505 Ramapo Valley Road Mahwah, NJ 07430-1680

www.ramapo.edu Ramapo Cares: Haiti Relief Fund

The students, faculty and staff of Ramapo College are profoundly saddened by the widespread loss of life and sweeping devastation caused by the massive earthquake that struck Haiti near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The Ramapo family has pledged their full support for relief efforts and assistance on behalf of Haitians everywhere who now must come to grips with this enormous tragedy. To continue our efforts and make a donation, visit: www.ramapo.edu/haitirelief/

New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RamapoCollege

OPENING CONVOCATION 2010 With humor, charm and a broad worldview, philanthropist and physician Dr. David Walton was the guest speaker before a rapt audience at Opening Convocation in September.

Walton spoke about his professional and personal journey through the global healthcare system in a presentation, "A Purpose Driven Life." His words held special significance for the incoming Class of 2014 who read Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World" as part of the First-Year Seminar program. The book explores how Farmer created a world-health revolution and made a difference for those in areas where basic medical care is at a premium.

Walton works extensively with Farmer through Partners in Health, an organization that addresses poverty and disease through a comprehensive, community-based approach. Walton is associate director of the Hôpital de Lascahobas in Haiti. Emphasizing healthcare as a basic human right, he helps provide care for more than 500,000 people by leading HIV prevention programs, consulting with patients with chronic diseases and conducting operational research. As a result of his work, he is one of the first candidates selected for the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine.

Walton said he knew he wanted to use medical knowledge to help those in communities lacking resources. "The medicine is the same, it is just the path that is different," he states on the Brigham and Women's Hospital Web site, the hospital he is affiliated with in the United States. Walton assured those in attendance that not everyone has Farmer’s vitality to carry out his vision. He encouraged everyone to not be deterred, but to help in smaller, manageable ways to make a difference in the lives of others.

Dr. David Walton with First-Year students

(L-R): Chief Planning Officer and Vice President of Administration and Finance Dorothy Echols-Tobe, Board of Trustees Chairman A.J. Sabath ’93, Student Trustee Laura Hahn ‘11, Convocation speaker Dr. David Walton, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Beth Barnett, President Peter P. Mercer, Faculty Assembly President James Morley, Trustee Gail Brady and Vice President for Institutional Advancement Cathleen Davey before leading the procession into the Bill Bradley Sports and Recreation Arena for Opening Convocation.

Student Trustee Laura Hahn ‘11 presents Dr. David Walton with a gift to show students’ appreciation for his presentation at Opening Convocation.

Convocation speaker Dr. David Walton signing a copy of "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World" for Administrative Assistant for Institutional Research Laura Plessner.