UAlbany in the News

by Lisa James Goldsberry (June 4, 2004)

� The April 29 edition of The New York Times featured a story about how the University Libraries� search engine helped to restore a little girl�s best friend. �A Second Life for a Scruffy Bunny� detailed a mom�s desperate search for the manufacturer of her 6-year-old daughter�s stuffed bunny, which had lost an eye. According to the article, the woman came across the Libraries� Web site, which �had a nifty chart comparing different sites� search strategies.� Through that, she was able to find a site called Ixquick.com, which permits users to search for partial words, very important since her daughter had chewed off the part of the tail with the manufacturer�s name on it. She found the manufacturer and ordered a replacement on the spot.

� The May 2 issue of the San Antonio Express-News featured a profile of former UAlbany professor Richard Stankiewicz (1923-1983), who taught in the art department from 1967 to 1982. �Retrospective Boosts Junk Sculpture Master: Stankiewicz�s Work is Often Humorous, Self-deprecating� described him as �the originator of junk sculpture and a master of assemblage.� It also stated that although he is not a familiar name, from the mid-1950s to 1960s, he was considered one of America�s leading artists. �Miracle in the Scrap Heap: The Sculpture of Richard Stankiewicz,� a retrospective, will be on view at the McNay Art Museum through July 11.

� The May 3 edition of Newsweek magazine featured quotes from Joseph Zimmerman of the Department of Political Science. �Cradle of Democracy� focused on Concord, Mass., and its town meetings. The meetings, about issues such as an extension of the town�s sewer line, sometimes stretch for 20 hours over six nights, and attendance has increased. �Concord is really the first town to come up with a program to make the town meeting more comfortable,� Zimmerman was quoted as saying. According to the article, the town offers free rides for seniors and broadcasts the auditorium debates into the cafeteria, where residents often do puzzles or eat pizza. Zimmerman is the author of The New England Town Meeting.

� The May 15 issue of the Economist featured quotes by Liang Zai of the Department of Sociology. �Villa Envy: China� discussed Chinese emigration and how it is being driven by relative, not absolute, poverty. According to the article, Liang and fellow sociologist Ye Wenzhen wrote an essay on the topic a few years ago in which they argued that it was more a sense of �relative deprivation.� In the article, Liang was quoted as saying potential emigrants �simply discount the chances of failure and tragedy.�