• William R. Kunsela, credited with convincing lawmakers to establish SUNY’s Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, died Sept. 26. Kunsela was president of the Institute of Technology from 1973 to 1982 and president of Delhi from 1955 to 1973. He was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at Utica/Rome on Aug. 29.

• Maestro James Levine of the Metropolitan Opera was awarded a SUNY degree Oct. 6 at List Hall in Lincoln Center in New York City. Maestro Levine was nominated for the degree jointly by the SUNY Colleges of Optometry and SUNY College at Potsdam. Chancellor John W. Ryan and Board Trustee Chairman Thomas F. Egan attended the ceremony.

• More than 300 faculty and academic officers from SUNY’s 64 institutions were on hand for a first-ever Conference on General Education on Oct. 4-5 at the University. Chancellor Ryan, trustee Candace de Russy, and trustee and Student Association President Simon Johnson were among those delivering welcoming remarks. Keynote speaker was Carl Hayden, chancellor of the State Board of Regents.

• Vice Chancellor Scott Steffey has announced the appointment of Cynthia Cornwell to the new position of director of issues management in the system administration office of University Relations, effective Oct. 1. Cornwell has worked for almost five years as a legislative liaison in Albany for the City University of New York. Previously, she spent five years as a legislative assistant to Assembly Majority Leader James Tallon.

• The future of the State University includes less state regulation that will allow the campuses to “pursue private research, real estate development, manufacturing contracts and business partnerships,” according to University at Buffalo President William Greiner, interviewed for Business First of Buffalo on Sept. 30. Greiner said that these changes could help transform the school and Western New York “into a center of excellence.”

• Congressman Maurice Hinchey is hoping to tap the resources of Cornell University, SUNY campuses and local organizations to develop high tech industries in the Hudson Valley. Hinchey was joined at a news conference on Sept. 30 by Ulster Community College President Robert Brown and New Paltz President Roger Bowen.

• The College Board will modify its Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT), the main determinant in awarding National Merit Scholarships, to answer criticism that the test gave an unfair advantage to boys. In an agreement with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, the College Board will add a multiple choice test on writing to the PSAT, similar to the one already administered in the Scholastic Assessment Test. Donald M. Stewart, president of the College Board, said in the Oct. 2 New York Times that girls “tend to do better than boys” on such a multiple choice writing test.

• The recent Congressional action on the federal higher education appropriation saw efforts by Congressman Jerry Solomon to attach riders that prohibit federal aid to campuses that refuse to allow military recruiters on campus or refuse to allow students the opportunity to participate in ROTC programs. The final outcome of these efforts was a much modified amendment which requires the institution to provide name, address, phone number, and if known, age, level of education and major. Schools prohibited by state law or state court order from allowing recruiters on campus will be exempted for a one year period.