Professor Jean-Francois Briere, chair of the Department of French Studies, has published On the Cultural Achievements of Negroes (University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), an annotated translation into English of the abbe Gregoire’s famous De la literature des negres (1808), one of the first books to attack pseudo-scientific racism in the early 19th Century.

During the 1995-96 academic year, the Educational Policy Council (EPC) of the University Senate voted to form a faculty “Task Force on the 4-credit Standard” with the charge to investigate and report to EPC, and through EPC to the larger University community, on the feasibility of the adoption of a 4-credit standard to be applied across the University’s undergraduate programs. The Task Force met throughout the Summer of 1996 under the leadership of Ronald A. Bosco of the Department of English, and has now submitted a comprehensive report to EPC recommending a move to a universal 4-credit standard by the beginning of the academic year 2000. The report recommends that the 4-credit standard be implemented in a partial and progressive manner. It also recommends that all levels of the University community be provided an opportunity to participate in discussions preceding EPC’s decisions

Copies of the “Task Force Report” are being sent to all department chairs and deans offices. Individuals may also obtain copies from Madelyn Cicero in the Senate Office (AD 259).

David E. Duffee of the School of Criminal Justice and Bonnie E. Carlson of the School of Social Welfare have collaborated on “Competing Value Premises for the Provision of Drug Treatment to Probationers,” in the October 1996 issue of Crime and Delinquency.

Martha Rozett of the Department of English critiqued the Baz Luhrmann film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet — which sets the piece in a modern-day Miami Beach — in the Albany Sunday Time Union’s Life & Leisure section of Nov. 1.

Eric Block of the Department of Chemistry, an international authority on the chemistry of garlic and onions, will give the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society public lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Recital Hall of the Performing Arts Center.

His topic is “Chemistry in a Salad Bowl: Sulfur and Selenium Chemistry of Garlic and Onion.” Medical researchers around the world are seeking to identify the chemical nature of garlic’s health benefits. Block has been studying garlic for more than a quarter of a century, focusing on analyzing its hundreds of sulfur compounds.

Articles on his work have appeared in Scientific American and USA Weekend. Two years ago an Associated Press article dealt with his work was carried in newspapers around the country.

Block was the 1994 recipient of the International Council on Main Group Chemistry Award for Excellence in Main Group Chemistry Research and the 1987 recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Award for Advancement of Application of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. He received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1984.

Alissa Worden, associate dean of the School of Criminal Justice, is currently engaged in an evaluation of New York’s mandatory arrest law, working closely with two alumni of the School, Donna Hall of the Division of Criminal Justice Services and Lisa Frisch of the New York State Office for Prevention of Domestic Violence.

This evaluation, which involves examination of case-processing data and recidivism data in 14 communities in the state, began in 1994 and will continue through 1999, at which time the state legislature will consider whether or not to extend the mandatory arrest provision of the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Act of 1994, or allow it to lapse under a sunset provision.

The goals of the current research, which is funded by annual legislative appropriations, are to assess the impact of mandatory arrest policies on prosecutorial decisions, sentencing decisions, and, ultimately, offender behavior.

Since October 1995, Worden has also been engaged in a companion study to the mandatory arrest evaluation, a study funded by the National Institute of Justice, that has as its objectives the assessment of the relative effectiveness of diverse coordination models and the mapping of dimensions along which coordination varies.

It may just be pennies, but enough of them can help homeless youth and increase student community involvement, says one University sophomore.

The Class of 1999 Council is having a “Million Pennies Drive” and is giving 50 percent of the donations to Equinox and Project Strive, two youth shelters in Albany. The remaining 50 percent will benefit the Class of 1999 Council and spur student activities on and off campus. The goal of the drive is to raise $10,000.

“I feel that we really do have an obligation to the community, since everything we do outside of campus involves the community. This is our home away from home and we should give back to it just as we would do for our communities at home,” said Grant Kletter, the president of the Class of 1999 Council.

Mayor Gerald Jennings of the City of Albany gave his support for the Drive, commending the students for their efforts as citizens of the community. “I am pleased that the students have taken an interest in our city. I also commend them for their previous efforts in organizing a blood drive for the American Red Cross and sponsoring an AIDS Walk that raised funds for Albany Medical Center,” said the mayor.

President Karen Hitchcock similarly praised the service that the Class of 1999 Council is attempting for the community’s benefit. “I have long admired our students not only for their outstanding academic achievements, but also for their dedicated sense of community service to the Capital Region,” said the President “I believe that the æMillion Pennies Drive’ is a worthy endeavor for our students to undertake and it has our full support and best wishes for success.”