Philosophy Young and Noteworthy

The Department of Philosophy has received national recognition in the 1997-98 edition of The Philosophical Gourmet Report. The Department's young Ph.D. program reached a solid ranking because of what the publication called "the careful and successful hiring of younger faculty in recent years." The report notes the strengths in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, political philosophy and ethics of the department.

The ranking ties the Univeristy with such better established programs as the ones at the Unversity at Buffalo and the Graduate Center at CUNY.

"We expect the favorable notice our program has received to enhance our ability to recruit outstanding faculty and graduate students in the future; We are heartened by this evidence that our efforts to establish our Ph.D. program have been recognized and that we have used to good effect the resources made avaliable to us," said Anthony M. Ungar, chair of the Department of Philosophy.

President Hitchcock took on a large responsibility in October, one which represented a signal recognition in higher education, when she served as chair of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges' evaluation team of 11 senior faculty and administrators reviewing the University of Rhode Island.

The comprehensive evaluation, which judged the university's worthiness for continued accreditation by the New England group of colleges, took place from Oct. 5 to 8, with the evaluation report due in mid December.

This was the President's first assignment on an evaluation team for the NEASC, and it was a particular honor to be selected as chair for the team's critical responsibility. Albany is a member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Universities, and will undergo a full accreditation evaluation in the academic year 1999-2000.]

The State University College at Oswego is sponsoring a writing competition among all SUNY faculty, students and staff on issues concerning "Our Digital Age."

A $500 first prize, $200 second prize and $100 third prize will be given to the short fiction, poetry and magazine nonfiction that addressed issues related to the emerging global communication and the computer revolution, which, said contest coordinator Leigh Wilson, director of the Writing Arts Program in the Oswego's English department, "have already and will continue to change culture on this planet."

She said she believes this contest to be the first such ever offered to the entire 64-campus SUNY community. "We welcome fiction - cyberpunk to humanist - fantasy, realism, humor, autobiography, the visionary and the re-visionary," she said. "In short, we welcome any stories, poems or articles that explore our techno-realities or our techno-possibilities."

Judge for the contest will be James Patrick Kelly, in 1996 received the coveted Hugo Award for his novelette, "Think Like a Dinosaur," which was part of a 1997 collection by the same name.

Submissions - which can not have been previously published - will be accepted through Dec. 1 by e- mail at [email protected]. Manuscripts should be in plain ASCII text format, either in the message body or as an attachment.

Mailed manuscripts can go to Leigh Wilson; Director, Writing Program, English Department, Oswego State University; Oswego, NY 13126, or be faxed to Wilson at (315) 341-2854.

Questions can be sent to Wilson at the above e-mail address or fax number. Prizes will be bestowed at award ceremonies in April 1998.

Students involved in a number of recent crimes were arrested by the University Police Department (UPD). Two students were arrested and charged with defacing the campus with graffiti. They were also referred, along with two other students whose involvement in this crime was less serious, to the Judicial Affairs Office for violation of the Student Rights and Responsibilities code.

In other UPD action, a student was arrested and charged with Criminal Mischief for setting fire to a bulletin board on the Academic Podium. He was also referred to Judicial Affairs.

UPD Chief Frank Wiley stated, "Although these arrests represent a positive example of community policing, it remains regrettable that our students committed acts that necessitated their being arrested."