President Hitchcock Selected to Serve as Leader with National Group
By Karl Luntta
The U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention has announced that UAlbany President Karen R. Hitchcock has been selected to serve on the Presidents Leadership Group (PLG), a group of higher education presidents and chancellors who have declared their commitment to student substance abuse prevention. Higher education officials from 31 campuses representing 22 states have now joined in this effort.

The Presidents Leadership Group (PLG) was originally formed by the Higher Education Center in 1997 with support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to bring national attention to alcohol and other drug prevention on college and university campuses. That year, the six-member PLG published an alcohol prevention report urging college presidents to become more active leaders on this issue on their campuses and in their surrounding communities.

The expanded PLG will build upon the activities of the original group, with members serving as prevention spokespersons, change agents, and models for other presidents. PLG members will also serve to further statewide and regional alcohol and other drug prevention efforts, with members adopting leadership roles in existing regional initiatives or taking the lead in states where statewide efforts have not yet taken hold.

Twenty-six new PLG members were chosen based on their previous leadership and their plans for future leadership in alcohol and other drug prevention. The rigorous selection process required applicants to submit personal statements, letters of support from people within their institutions and their surrounding communities, and biennial review reports - a federal reporting requirement under the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Regulations. Other higher education presidents and chancellors who have been selected include Philip Dubois of the University of Wyoming, Gregory Farrington of Lehigh University and Stephen Weber of San Diego State University.

“Presidential leadership is a critical component of successful prevention efforts on college and university campuses, and of effective partnerships between these institutions and their surrounding communities,” states Higher Education Center Director William DeJong. “We are looking forward to seeing these presidents serve as change agents in their campus communities, and also as models for other presidents who are looking to take action.”

“I have the privilege of joining with the Presidents Leadership Group in supporting our common goal of alcohol and other drug prevention,” said President Hitchcock. “As college presidents, we gain nothing by denying that some college students come to us with complex personal and behavioral problems. However, we also fail if we do not make it a priority to create a campus and community environment that discourages substance use and supports the quality academic programs to which we are committed.”

Under President Hitchcock’s leadership, the University at Albany is a leader in campus alcohol and drug abuse prevention initiatives. As one of a select group of university presidents who are nationally recognized for their substantial efforts in substance abuse and violence prevention, she was chosen to participate in the presidents’ panel “Experiences in Leadership” at the U.S. Department of Education’s 15th Annual National Meeting on Alcohol, Other Drug and Violence Prevention in Higher Education. The University’s Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program, a peer counseling program, was nationally recognized by the education department as one of six universities to be awarded the Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Models on College Campuses grant. Under her stewardship, the successful Committee on University and Community Relations has made an impact on student alcohol use by creating an effective partnership with local tavern owners in order to eliminate drink specials and other pub enticements which promote high risk drinking. The committee, consisting of local tavern owners, University professionals, law enforcement representatives from the city of Albany and the University at Albany, and the New York State Liquor Authority, is nationally recognized in the area of university-community coalitions for the prevention of alcohol misuse and underage drinking.

U.S., Middle East Explored
By Jennifer Rudolph
Professor Leon Carl Brown, the Garrett Professor in Foreign Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University and a specialist on the Middle East, will present this year’s Phi Alpha Theta Lecture on April 17 at 4 p.m. in HU 354. Brown’s talk, “Looking Back at the U.S. and the Middle East after September 11,” is sponsored by the Department of History and Phi Alpha Theta, and is free and open to the public.

An expert on the Arab world and U.S. diplomacy with the Middle East, Brown will explore the broad lines of U.S. involvement in the Middle East from the 19th century to the present. He will discuss the parallels between the age of American preeminence in the Middle East and the earlier period of British influence. In addition, Professor Brown is expected to delve into the “Eastern question” as a pattern of politics in the region that continued past the fall of the Ottoman Empire, into the Cold War leading up to the present.

Brown started his career in the foreign service with assignments in Lebanon and Sudan. His academic career included posts at both Harvard and Princeton. Now retired, his expertise has been extensively sought since the 9/11 tragedy. Brown’s writings span decades and include International Politics in the Middle East: Old Rules, Dangerous Game (1984) and Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to Politics (2000). He has also edited numerous books, including Centerstage: American Diplomacy Since World War II (1990) and Diplomacy of the Middle East: The International Relations of Regional and Outside Powers (2001).

UAlbany to Improve Sign System
In the not-too-distant future, visitors to the University at Albany will no longer have to ask: Where am I? How do I get where I need to go?

UAlbany has hired Corbin Design of Traverse City, Michigan - a firm that specializes in improving sign systems for colleges, universities, and commercial entities.

In general, the charge of this firm is to produce a specification manual for a comprehensive system to promote and reinforce University identity and to make it easier for people to find their way around campus. This manual will serve as a guide when signs are created for future capital and renovation projects on all UAlbany properties.

The University’s Master Plan, compiled in 1998, first outlined the need for a better sign system and focused graphic identity as powerful marketing tools that can promote a positive image of the campus to all who visit. Corbin’s work will build on the Master Plan Report by identifying needs for the East Campus, CESTM, and leased University buildings, and more thoroughly documenting the needs of the uptown and downtown campuses.

The search for and hiring of this company was the result of a nine-month process conducted by the Signage and Wayfinding Committee -- a cross section of the UAlbany community. The final phase of the process came in December, when each of the three firms under consideration gave an oral presentation to the committee. The Corbin group’s presentation clearly showed its understanding of the architectural challenges of the UAlbany campuses and demonstrated the research necessary to determine an effective “wayfinding” system for all three campuses.

“We define wayfinding as the orderly structuring and presentation of the information needed to let people comfortably access an environment. Signage is the primary tool used to communicate that information,” says Jeffry Corbin, the firm’s principal. This statement underscores the firm’s philosophy and understanding of the committee’s goal -- to help provide a more welcoming and friendly environment for prospective students, their families, and other first-time visitors.

• ther goals and objectives established by the committee that were also evident in the work of this group included:
• reflecting the University’s cultural heritage and the importance of communicating its vision
• addressing the various architectural styles of the University
• cost effectiveness, affordability, and phased implementation
• flexibility to meet changing needs
• strengthening the University’s identity

As part of the first phase of this project, the Corbin group recently spent two days touring the three campuses to view existing signage. Under Corbin’s leadership, the design team will next present a program verification report that will include the results of its investigation and analysis on the state of existing signage and wayfinding on all three University campuses and affiliated properties. This report will also articulate the University’s signage and wayfinding needs, the design team’s understanding of the University’s goals and objectives for this project, and three possible design approaches to be developed in the next phase of the project.

Over the coming months, as the project proceeds through the schematic design phase, design development phase, and final manual phase, there will also be informal meetings and opportunities for wider input from the University community.

Commencement Volunteers Needed
By Christy DeLaMater
Spring Commencement has evolved from a one-day event to a full weekend celebration on May 18 and 19, with all events being held on campus grounds.

“Last year, more than 150 University faculty and staff volunteered their time and creativity for all or part of the weekend,” said Stephen Beditz, assistant vice president for human resource management. “The event was a huge success due, in large part, to the volunteers’ commitment to the activities. I served as team leader for a large group of volunteers, and not only did we fulfill our commitment, we had a wonderful time in the process. It’s really a ‘feel good’ experience. The graduates and their families are so happy, it’s impossible not to have it rub off on you, and it’s nice to see up close and in person the culmination of all our academic, administrative and support efforts.”

This year, hundreds of volunteers are needed for the following areas:

• graduate and undergraduate ceremonies (ushers, escorts for disabled guests, student lineup and procession)
• Family Picnic and Torch Night
• information booths throughout campus
• individual school ceremonies

As a special thank you, all volunteers will receive a commemorative shirt prior to the weekend.

Contact Christy DeLaMater, assistant Commencement coordinator, to volunteer. DeLaMater can be reached by telephone at 591-8626, or by e-mail at cdelamater@uamail.albany.edu.

University Bookstore’s First Senior Salute
By Christy DeLaMater
The University Bookstore will host its first Senior Salute, an event geared toward graduating students, on April 10 and 11 in the Bookstore Atrium. Vendors will be on hand to showcase student rings, diploma frames, and regalia. The event will also feature several University offices, including Career Development Services, Student Activities, and Alumni Relations.

“We hope this event becomes an annual tradition that not only helps graduating students, but also our faculty and staff,” said Carol VanDenburgh, general manager. “We encourage faculty and staff to stop by and learn more about the Commencement experience and how they can be involved.”

A general Commencement weekend information booth will be set up so that questions can be answered throughout the two-day event.

Check www.albany.edu/commencement for the latest Commencement information for students, families, faculty and staff.

Conversations in the Disciplines Conference Draws Nation’s Leaders on Urban Schools
By Greta Petry
Leave No Child Behind, a three-day conference featuring 55 national experts on improving under-performing urban schools and held March 14-16 at the University at Albany, drew more than 300 participants in a collaborative effort across a wide spectrum of disciplines.

Hal Lawson, the provost’s special assistant and the lead organizer, said the conference, supported by Conversations in the Disciplines funds, was an effort that began by reaching out to Binghamton University, as well as the university centers at Stony Brook and Buffalo, in conjunction with school communities around the state.

Ginette Chambers, a representative from SUNY System Administration, which oversees Conversations in the Disciplines funds, is director of faculty awards and development in System Administration’s Office of Academic Affairs.

“This conference embodies exactly what we want to see come out of this program,” Chambers said as she looked around the packed Campus Center Ballroom on the second day of the conference. She continued: “Since 1965, the SUNY operating budget has funded more than 400 conferences like this. We aim to bring schools, faculty, and students across the disciplines together to examine new trends and review developments in the field, as well as to promote professional development and intellectual growth. This [conference at UAlbany] is really fantastic. They’ve done a spectacular job. I am seeing people from across the country here . . . This highlights the University at Albany as a center for addressing these problems for the rest of the nation.”

Lawson said, “Most of the conference focused on positive ways for schools to access family, neighborhood, and community resources for learning and healthy development; and, reciprocally, how schools can strengthen families and neighborhoods.”

Henry Louis Taylor Jr., professor and director of the Center for Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo, gave the keynote speech to open the conference. Taylor, who teaches American urban history, urban management, neighborhood planning and regional development, and African-American history, discussed “Linking School Reform to the Neighborhood Revitalization Movement.” Taylor is the author of Historical Roots of the Urban Crisis.

Numerous UAlbany faculty gave talks on such topics as school violence; special-needs children and youth; policy; school improvement; demographics; character development; early childhood education programs and school readiness; meeting the needs of Latino and African-American children; and dropout prevention. UAlbany speakers included School of Social Welfare Dean and Professor Katharine Briar-Lawson; Acting Dean and Associate Professor of Public Administration James Wyckoff; Associate Professor of Economics Hamilton Lankford; Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Statistics Kevin Quinn; Chair and Professor of Educational Administration and Policy Studies (EAPS) Alan Wagner; Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research Director John Logan; Assistant Professor of EAPS Sandra Vergari; Educational Theory and Practice Associate Professor Joseph Bowman; Chair and Professor of Reading Sean Walmsley; Associate Professor of Africana Studies Marcia Sutherland; Assistant Professor of EAPS Kathryn Schiller; Center for Women in Government Project Staff Associate Dawn Knight-Thomas; and Chair and Professor of Geography and Planning Ray Bromley.

On the second day, Distinguished Professor Terence P. Thornberry addressed the issue of gang violence, which may occur when at-risk youths fall through the cracks. Thornberry is an internationally known expert on juvenile delinquency. With his colleagues, Thornberry has tracked the behavior of 1,000 at-risk youths in Rochester from seventh through 12th grades, updating their development every six months. Thornberry, Marvin D. Krohn, Alan J. Lizotte, Carolyn A. Smith, and Kimberly Tobin have a book that is being released on this research later this year, Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective (Cambridge University Press).

The researchers found that 30 percent of the 1,000 adolescents studied were members of a gang at one time. Thornberry noted that girls (29 percent) and boys (32 percent) were joining gangs in almost equal numbers.

Half the boys and 67 percent of the girls belonged for only a year, with a small minority, 7.3 percent, joining for more than four years, showing the “fleeting quality” of gang membership.

Low expectations by parents that the child will go to college, or low standardized test scores, increase the risk of a teen joining a gang.

Early dating for both sexes was a key factor, according to Thornberry. “Kids, both boys and girls, who got involved [in dating] early on had much higher rates of joining gangs,” he said.

The strongest indicator of whether a youth would join a gang was whether friends and family (a cousin or sister, for example) were gang members. Almost 50 percent of boys and 60 percent of girls said they joined for this reason. Only 20 percent of each sex joined for physical protection.

Fun and action were other reasons, although Thornberry noted that within a year or two of joining, members found it was at times fun but at other times “very scary.”

Do violent teens join gangs or do gangs make teens violent? Thornberry said the evidence clearly points to the latter. While 68 percent of non-gang members committed general acts of delinquency, 98 percent of gang members did. And 46 percent of non-gang members committed violent acts, compared with 90 percent of gang members. The correlation held true for drug use, drug sales, and arrests.

The research also found that 30 percent of the youths, those who belonged to gangs, were committing 87 percent of the violent offenses. “No matter how you look at the data, when one is not in a gang the rate of delinquency is not significantly different from others; the rates double the year they join a gang.” Gang membership, he said, encourages “heavy involvement” in crime, including greater access to guns. Joining a gang increases the likelihood that one will carry a gun by 10 times.

One of Thornberry’s charts showed long-term gang members committing 80 to 110 offenses a year, when they were in the gang, but only 40 or 50 in the years they were not in the gang.

Finally, while 33 percent of non-gang members dropped out of school, 71.5 percent of male gang members and 46.5 percent of the female members became dropouts.

Not only is this picture of life for youth in gangs a bleak one; Thornberry said that many programs designed to intervene directly and provide peer counseling are ineffective, and in fact are likely to promote gangs by allowing a group of peers to build and bond with one another.

He noted one University of Oregon study that showed, “If there is family intervention, the kids do better.”

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