|
|
Drawing
Circles Around the Competition
By Paul Alan Rosen
What would you do if you took a moment to observe a class and found
that the brightest students and their professors were drawing circles
on the chalkboard?
In fact, if you walked in on Emil Bove, a 21-year-old senior with a 4.0 GPA, and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Public Administration and Policy David McCaffrey, they might be doing exactly that. If you were to assume this was an art class, you would be mistaken. These circles represent almost a year of research performed by Bove and other collaborators, which he presented at the Fifth Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at Rice University in Houston, Texas, earlier in January.
Bove’s paper The American System of Corporate Control from the Perspective of System Dynamics uses system dynamics to create a model of the American system of corporate governance, and assess the ways in which the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 tries to improve the system of regulating corporate behavior.
The unique view of Bove’s work originates from the use of system dynamics to depict the entire system of corporate governance. In the study of system dynamics, loops are used to diagram and visualize how complex organizations and processes operate. Bove’s model uses a series of negative feedback loops that monitor the behavior of corporations. These negative feedback loops function like a thermostat - maintaining a constant temperature - by turning the thermostat on and off. When the loops sense inappropriate corporate behavior, they adjust their reactions in the system to regain balance.
Bove began his research in McCaffrey’s class, Senior Seminar in Public Policy, about which he said, “In this class, students are expected to generate a paper that incorporates all the information they have learned from the degree program (something original).”
He continued, “From my experience, the seminar is underused as a general format for classes at the University. Professor McCaffrey’s seminar was a tremendous way to facilitate independent research and creative thinking by undergraduates on topics that they are interested in.”
When asked about his paper, Bove said, “The idea started in Dr. McCaffrey’s class, but the view through system dynamics would not have come about if it were not for the help of Professor [George] Richardson [in Rockefeller College’s Department of Public Administration and Policy].” McCaffrey said, “George Richardson is an international leader in education in system dynamics and an exceptionally devoted teacher. When a faculty member like George Richardson connects with a student like Emil Bove, remarkable things happen.”
Last summer Bove took part in the Century Institute Summer Program at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. There, he participated in seminars on progressive politics, economic inequality, and civic engagement, and was able to present his ideas on the paper to other students and academics.
During the program, Bove worked with Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, associate professor of economics at Notre Dame, who specializes in corporate governance. She encouraged Bove to apply for the Rice University conference, where he was one of only 20 students from around the country who were hand-picked to present their papers.
Bove is not just drawing circles around the competition in the public policy arena; the double major in public policy and economics from Seneca Falls, N.Y., stays active and competitive in every aspect of his life. He is co-captain of Albany’s lacrosse team, which he helped guide last year to its championship in the America East Conference. He was also recognized as the America East Athletic Conference Male Scholar of the Year, and as a second team Verizon Academic All-American.
In addition to his high standards in academics and athletics, Bove volunteers his time with Big Brothers-Big Sisters of New York and is the campus coordinator for Democracy Matters, a national student group. Bove also finds time to work for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, where he has worked part and full time over the last few years.
When asked to describe his overall experience at the University, Bove said, “The University has provided me with a combination of academic, professional, and extracurricular activities that I could not have found at other places. I have been able to work with well-respected faculty on my paper and in classes, pursue several internship opportunities in the state government, and play a Division 1 sport.”
Bove is graduating this May and plans to pursue a legal career, which he hopes will culminate with public service work either in securities law or corporate regulation. One thing is for sure; no matter where he goes, or what he does, Bove will still be working to draw circles around his competition.
|
|
Campaign
to Bolster State Organ and Tissue Donation Registry
By Karl Luntta
With a critical shortage of organ and tissue donations on the nation’s
registries, a new research collaboration between the departments of
communication at the University at Albany and the University at Buffalo,
and the New York Alliance for Donation (NYAD), formerly the New York
State Task Force to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation) aims to bolster
the registry by discovering motivations behind organ donation. The study
will help determine key messages and themes for a public awareness campaign
to promote donation awareness and related issues among young people,
an important demographic in the quest to augment the nation’s shortages.
Initially, NYAD will fund communication courses at UAlbany, UBuffalo, and SUNY Geneseo that will expand on a pioneering UAlbany communication campaign model developed during a Spring 2002 semester undergraduate course devoted to designing and executing public information campaigns to promote donation. The New York State Department of Health and the Center for Donation and Transplant provided funding and expertise for students working on the project.
“During our spring semester course,” said UAlbany Professor of Communication Teri Harrison, “it became apparent that we had developed a significant organ and tissue donation public awareness campaign for college-aged students. However, we didn’t have clear concepts on how to approach and talk to students individually about organ donations. We’re taking this notion to a research setting to strengthen our knowledge about the motives behind organ donation, ultimately giving us better insights into reaching this important target audience through various communication methods.”
Nearly 80,000 people nationwide, including 8,000 New Yorkers, are waiting for organ transplants. Tens of thousands more are waiting for tissue transplants. Some 480,000 New Yorkers have signed up on the state’s Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. However, the need for organ donations continues to exceed the supply -- every day in the United States an average of 17 people die waiting for an organ transplant. When a donation is obtained, it is possible to transplant as many as 25 different organs and tissues, including the heart, lung, kidney, liver, pancreas and intestine. Tissue transplants including eyes, bone, skin, heart valves, tendons and veins can fight infections in burn victims, prevent the loss of limbs, and restore eyesight.
Sexuality
Week’s 20th Anniversary Observed
By Greta Petry
|
Sexuality Week speakers: Dr. Henry W. Foster, Jr., and Mitchell Anderson.
|
As part of the University at Albany’s 20th anniversary of Sexuality Week, Dr. Henry W. Foster, Jr., physician, author, and social educator, will be the keynote speaker at the Campus Center Ballroom on the uptown campus Thursday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m.
Foster will give a 20-year retrospective on issues concerning reproductive health.
“We are delighted to host an educator of Dr. Foster’s reputation and credentials. His remarks will contribute to the educational objective of Sexuality Week,” said psychologist Judith Stanley, Ph.D., associate director of the University Counseling Center.
Foster’s address is part of a weeklong series of lectures and presentations February 6 through 14. Sexuality Week began 20 years ago at UAlbany as a small series of workshops designed to educate students about the critical choices they make throughout their college years. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, relationships, identity, and reproductive health issues have been among the topics addressed over the years.
Among the week’s activities this year are a talk by actor and activist Mitchell Anderson of television’s “Party of Five” on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m., also in the ballroom, as well as workshops on efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, protecting oneself against date rape, and sexually transmitted diseases. Performances of Eve Ensler’s play “The Vagina Monologues” will be presented at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, and Friday, Feb. 14, in the Recital Hall of the Performing Arts Center.
Foster is professor emeritus and former dean of the School of Medicine at Meharry College, and former clinical professor, obstetrics and gynecology, at Vanderbilt University. From 1996 to 2001, he served as former President Bill Clinton’s senior adviser on teen pregnancy reduction and youth issues.
Educated at Morehouse College and later the University of Arkansas, from which he received a doctor of medicine degree, he became chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital of Tuskegee University. While there, he helped pioneer what has become a national model for regionalized perinatal health care systems throughout the country. He was later inducted into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1972, based in part on his work at Tuskegee.
Foster has served on many boards which seek to improve reproductive health, including those of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. In 1984, he became the first African American to be elected president of the Nashville Davidson County Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. He has been an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a member of the editorial board of Academic Medicine of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He is past president of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, which addresses undergraduate educational issues in obstetrics and gynecology in all 125 American and 16 Canadian medical schools. Foster chairs the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Population Fund. He also serves as secretary for Pathfinder International and chair of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine.
Foster has been a part of conferences in Spain, Mexico, Peru, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, China, Singapore, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Russia.
Anderson, a native of Jamestown, N.Y., and one of six children, earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., and studied at The Juilliard School in New York City. Anderson has appeared on “Entertainment Tonight,” “Access Hollywood,” “Good Morning America,” and “Assignment Hollywood with Leeza Gibbons.” He has also been interviewed on gay and lesbian issues, especially as they relate to Hollywood, by The New York Times, USA Today, and The Advocate.
Anderson works with the Victory Fund, which raises money for gay and lesbian candidates across the nation, and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay political organization, as well as numerous AIDS service organizations. Anderson starred as Dr. Jack McGuire on the ABC series “Doogie Howser, M.D.” His starring roles in television movies have included Richard Carpenter in “The Karen Carpenter Story”; “Is There Life Out There?” opposite Reba McIntyre; “The Comeback,” as Robert Urich’s son; and “Back to Hannibal,” as an adult Huck Finn. He appeared with Sharon Stone and Ellen DeGeneres in the HBO special “If These Walls Could Talk 2,” which aired in March 2000. On film, Anderson starred opposite Jennifer Tilly in the critically acclaimed “Relax, It’s Just Sex,” which had its world premier at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. He will also be seen in the upcoming independent film “The Last Place on Earth.” Other film credits include “Space Camp,” “Deadly Dreams,” and “All-American Murder.”
Sexuality Week sponsors include UAlbany’s Student Association. M. Dolores Cimini, Ph.D., of the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program at the University Counseling Center, chaired the Sexuality Week 2003 Planning Committee.
|
|
Digs
Resumed in Yugoslavia
By Karl Luntta
After an 11-year hiatus dictated by United Nations sanctions against
Serbia, UAlbany archaeologists have been invited again to Yugoslavia
to collaborate on researching a major historical site.
Classics Professor Michael Werner will lead a UAlbany team in an excavation at the ancient Roman Legionary Base at Viminacium, on the Danube River. The Roman military base dates back to A.D. 33 and, in addition to its use as a Roman encampment, might have been used by subsequent military forces, including the fifth century’s Attila the Hun.
“We’re very excited about returning,” said Werner, who by summer of 2003 expects to assemble a team of 10-12 students and research faculty. “This is a significant archaeological site on an empire-wide basis, and we’re gratified to be back in Yugoslavia to learn and contribute. It feels like coming back home.” This time around the team will utilize magnetic resistivity and ground-penetrating radar devices, all non-destructive procedures, to initially identify certain types of remains.
For
some 25 years before the U.N. introduced sanctions in 1991, UAlbany
collaborated with Yugoslav institutions and international agencies on
projects of historical and archaeological importance. In November 2002,
Werner was invited by the Yugoslav Federal Ministry of Technology and
Develop- ment to the capital of Belgrade to meet personally with government
officials to negotiate details of the project. He also delivered lectures
on the Roman imperial architecture and mining practices at Belgrade
University and at the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Earlier
in the summer, two UAlbany students initiated participation in the Viminacium
excavation.
“The mission is more than an single archaeological dig,” said Werner, who teaches Roman Art and Archaeology and is the official city archaeologist for Albany. “It’s an expansive and ongoing regional research project involving numerous government entities and educational institutions. We’re able to re-establish a wonderful working relationship with Yugoslavia, which participates in and benefits from the research, and our students get invaluable hands-on experience at Roman sites.”