a monthly publication for students, faculty, staff and friends May 10, 2012

BINNEKILLVol. XXIX No. 13

Also in this issue:

•Foundation gives $100K for musicrecording studio... Page 2

•Meet more members of the Class of 2012... Pages 3, 5

•Nano grads have job offers... Page 3

Congratulations Graduates

When Marisa Demarest earns herdegree this month it will mark twofirsts. She will be the first one in herfamily to graduate from college andshe’ll be the first female pilot tograduate from SCCC’s Aviation Scienceprogram with a private pilot’s license,instrument rating and commercialpilot’s license.

Her face lights up asshe describes theexhilarating feeling oftaking the controls ofCessna aircrafts, hittingup to 12,500 feet andbeing in total control ofa solo flight from theSchenectady CountyAirport o Martha’sVineyard or Bangor,Maine.

“What’s not to loveabout it?” she asked.“Your office is the sky.You just know whensomething’s for you. This is where I’msupposed to be I feel.”

Marisa first became enamored withflying when she was a 16-year-oldjunior at Ichabod Crane High School inValatie, N.Y. It was either take mathand science or get involved in theVOTEC aviation program. “It got meout of math and science classes,” shejoked. “But I really fell in love with it.”

She put that passion aside howeverafter graduating from high school andattended a neighboring college to majorin counseling and addiction recovery.But, “The program just wasn’t for me,”she said. It was serendipity when onenight she was watching TV and saw acommercial for SCCC and first learnedabout the Aviation Science A.S. degreeprogram.

She enrolled in Fall 2010 and felt

comfortable despite the fact she was theonly female in most of her classes. “Ithought it would be weird being theonly girl, but I just fit right in,” shesaid. “I didn’t feel awkward at all.”

She also had an inspiring role model inBarbara Jones, Associate Professor andAviation Liaison. “Barbara is amazing,”Marisa said. “She’s a great teacher and

instructor. It was good tohave a female professorsince I was the only girl.Kids can see that womencan be pilots.”

She became Captain ofthe SCCC Flight Teamin 2011, participating inthe NationalIntercollegiate FlyingAssociation competitionat Dowling College onLong Island. Shecompeted in landingevents and for thenavigation event, she

calculated how much fuel it would taketo get from Point A to Point B,something she does for all of her solo flights.

Marisa still hasn’t been able to take anyof her family members on a flight withher, but appreciates their support as shegraduates this month, enters EmpireState College to pursue her bachelor’sdegree in business and then plans toenter flight school through the UnitedStates Marines in summer 2013. “Myfamily thinks what I’m doing isawesome,” she said. “Since it’saviation, they think it’s extraordinary. Iplan to take them up with me soon.”

After flight school, she hopes to beselected to fly with the Marines andthen eventually begin flying helicoptersearch and rescue missions.

No tuition increasenext year The SCCC Board of Trustees passed abalanced budget presented by Dr. QuintinBullock, SCCC President, at a regular boardmeeting last month. There will be no increasein tuition for 2012-2013. Tuition will remain$1,692 a semester for full-time study or $141per credit hour.

An aviator’s love of flight College to hold 42ndCommencement SCCC will hold its 42nd Commencement onThursday, May 24, 2012, at 4 p.m. at Proctors.The College will be presenting degrees andcertificates during the annual ceremony.

Alain E. Kaloyeros, Ph.D., Professor andSenior Vice President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the College of Nanoscale Scienceand Engineering at the University at Albany,will serve as this year’s keynote speaker

This year’s speakers include students Deryle McCann, President of the Student Government Association, and Emily Miller ’10, SUNY Delhi student.

There are more than 680 A.A.S., A.S., A.A.,and A.O.S. degrees and certificates beingawarded this year.

Reminders for Grads...Remember to bring your cap, gown and yourname card to Commencement.

Graduates should arrive at 3 p.m. and will lineup outside of the back entrance to Proctors(the entrance closest to the Parking Garage,NOT the State Street entrance). Guests shouldgo directly to the theater to be seated.

Eileen Abrahams, Assistant Professor in the Division of Liberal Arts, has beenawarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship to partici-pate in an NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop thissummer in Concord, Mass. The workshop is titled, “Concord, Massachusetts:Feminists, Utopians and Social Reform in the Age of Emerson and Thoreau.”Eileen will focus her studies on the utopian communities of Brook Farm andFruitlands and incorporate her work into the Early American Literature courseshe will teach in Fall 2012. She also plans to establish strong connections withlibrarians and archivists in Concord so that SCCC students will have theopportunity to conduct research and take a field trip to this center of earlyAmerican history and culture.

Also, Eileen has been re-elected as the Vice President of the Faculty Council ofCommunity Colleges.

Louise Basa, Adjunct in the Community Archaeology Program (CAP),presented a paper titled, “The Story of the Silver Braid from 23 Front Street,Schenectady, NY,” co-authored by Thomas Blaber (SCCC-CAP student intern)at the NYS Archaeological Association’s 96th Annual meeting in Poughkeepsielast month. The braid was found in a military context dated to the French andIndian War (1754-1763). A poster, prepared by Ron Kingsley, CAP Adjunct, andCAP students, was also displayed. “Mystery Solved” described the 19thcentury ice house foundation excavated on the same property.

2 BINNEKILL, May 10, 2012

Faculty, staff Development

Findings published - Jason Lampkin, an Advance Certificate student in theSCCC Community Archaeology Program (SCCC-CAP), had his article, “The Van Der Veer Farmstead,Town of Florida, Montgomery County, N.Y.,”published in the Fall 2011 Dutch Barn PreservationSociety Newsletter. Jason’s article documents aspectsof a mid-18th to early-19th century farm inMontgomery County with measured drawings ofstanding Dutch barns and the 19th century house, aswell as a report on his excavation of a foundationfrom a likely 19th century tenant farmer’s house. Hisstudy was supervised by Ronald Kingsley, Adjunct.Walter Wheeler, Adjunct and an architecturalhistorian, mentored Jason under the auspices of theDutch Barn Preservation Society. The newsletter isavailable by contacting the Society and will be published electronically on theSociety’s web site, www.dutchbarns.org, at the end of 2012.

Staff memberreceives YWCA honorAngela West-Davis ’94, Coordinator ofMulticultural Affairs/EOP, was recentlyselected as a 2012 Women of AchievementAward Winner by the YWCA NorthEasternNew York.

Angela and other award recipients werehonored at the 29th Annual YWCANorthEastern NY Women of Achievementand Reach Awards dinner last month.

Angela was chosen for the award for herwork at SCCC and in the community and“helping lead to the elimination of discrimi-nation based on race, gender or creed,”according to the YWCA.

In addition to leading the Multicultural andEOP initiatives at SCCC, Angela is aReverend and Associate Minister at theMacedonia Baptist Church in Albany.

SCCC student Donna O’Connor, HumanServices major, pins a flower on AngelaWest-Davis, YWCA Women of Achievementaward winner. Renee Adamany, AssociateProfessor in the Division of Liberal Arts, isshown at right.

Recording studio boost - The SCCC Foundationcontributed $100,000 to equip a new state-of-the-artrecording studio, part of the $3.9 million School of Musicaddition. The Foundation also announced recently that the $100,000 contribution will be part of a matching gifts campaign.

“We are honored to be entrusted with these gifts and to knowwe are putting them to good purpose, providing a valuable,hands-on educational experience for students in the musicprogram at SCCC,” said Dr. William Meckley, Dean of theSCCC School of Music.

Left to right are: Dr. Meckley; Michael Karl, Treasurer of theSCCC Board of Trustees; Christine Mallozzi, SCCC Trustee;Lois Smith-Law, Member of the SCCC Foundation Board ofDirectors; and Dr. Quintin Bullock, President of SCCC.

3BINNEKILL, May 10, 2012

Steve Barkley, who willgraduate this month withdegrees in Performing Arts:Drama and TeacherEducation Transfer,describes hisfirst foray intoacting asnothing short ofa “disaster.”

His role as ahomophobicfather,performedduringProfessorSandyBoynton’sTheatre Workshop class,involved several missed cuesand a healthy portion ofstage fright. Despite thefumbles, he was bit by theacting bug and it haschanged his life.

At the time in Spring 2008,Steve, a returning adultstudent, had just switchedhis major from Science toTeacher Education Transfer,and took the theater class asan elective.

He soon discovered thatsomething had a hold onhim. “I had no aspirations toact,” said Steve, who hadnever attended a play orperformance except forBeatlemania in the 1980s atthe Palace Theatre. “ButSandy opened my eyes totheater. She was fascinating.I didn’t choose acting, itchose me.”

He followed up the theaterclass with a basic actingworkshop and declaredanother major, PerformingArts: Drama. In Spring 2009he was cast as PrinceEscalus in the SCCC Playersproduction of Shakespeare’sRomeo and Juliet, honing hisacting chops and stillbattling stage fright.

Next came a trip to theAmerican ShakespeareCenter in Staunton, Va., withProfessor Boynton and otherstudents, that solidified hisgut feeling that acting was

something he wanted topursue seriously. “They werethe most incredible actors Ihad ever seen in my life,” hesaid. “I vowed right then and

there that Iwould try this. Iwould tryacting.”

He was thencast as ahelicopter pilotin Douglas C.Wager’s InConflict aboutIraqi Warveteransreturning home

to the United States. Therole was special to Steve,who at the age of 18 was aMarine involved in the finalevacuation of Saigon duringthe Vietnam War in 1975.

He and the 15 other actorsfrom the show were selectedto compete in the Region IKennedy Center AmericanCollege Theater Festival inJanuary 2010 at theUniversity of NewHampshire, the only castfrom a community collegechosen to participate.

He garnered an Irene RyanScholarship nomination forhis performance as ColonelJohnson, a Southern planta-tion owner in CarlyleBrown’s Pure Confidence inFall 2010, finally conqueringhis bouts of stage fright. “Itonly took three plays tofinally get over that.”

This past fall Steveperformed his final role withthe SCCC Players as BigDaddy in Cat On A Hot TinRoof. He plans to attendSiena College this fall topursue a bachelor’s degree inEnglish.

He would then like to attendMary Baldwin College inVirginia and earn a master’sdegree in theater. “I will dothat so that I can teach if Iwant to, but I plan to reallytry my hand as an actor,” hesaid.

The play’s the thing

Simon Miner ’09, Adjunct in the Division of Math, Science,Technology and Health, works on a sputtering training system inthe Nanoscale Materials Technology lab with Andrew Doucet, EdSpringli and Apollo Marmarinos. All 13 students in the College’sNano program are being recruited for employment even beforethey have graduated.

Nano jobs are plentifulfor upcoming gradsEd Springli doesn’t have to guess what he’ll be doing thissummer. He has already received a confirmation from GlobalFoundries that he can start as a new employee with the high-techcompany in early July. He’s been hired as an AssociateTechnician of Process Engineering.

“I definitely feel prepared for this,” said Ed, who will graduatelater this month with an A.A.S. in Nanoscale MaterialsTechnology. “It’s a great opportunity to start a career, not justanother job.”

Ed chose the Nano program at the College after starting as acomputer science major at another college. He said that he madethe right choice because of the rapid growth of Tech Valley initia-tives. “This is the right place to be right now. A lot of the otherstudents in the nano program are having great opportunities rightnow, too. It’s excellent,” he said.

In fact, the Division of Math, Science and Technology reports thatall of the students who will graduate this month with Nanodegrees have already been recruited by local companies foremployment opportunities.

Simon Miner, the first of SCCC’s Nano graduates in 2009, is nowan Adjunct at the College, alongside Assistant Professor TaniaCabrera. He also had a job before graduating from the College.“It’s really exciting,” Simon said. “It’s rare in today’s economy tosee students offered jobs right out of school and to have jobslined up even before they graduate.”

Mike Cole ’96, another Nano major, has been hired at theUniversity at Albany College of Nanoscale Science andEngineering (CNSE) as a Research Technician II after interning atCNSE since February 2012. He’ll start there one week aftergraduating from SCCC. “Our Associate’s degrees are getting us alot of attention,” Mike said. “A lot of my peers have been hired atGlobal Foundries and elsewhere, so I was hoping I would havethe same success.”

4 BINNEKILL, May 10, 2012

Calendar of EventsMonday, May14 - Saturday, May 19Finals

Monday, May 21Trustees meeting, 5:30 p.m., Lally MohawkRoom

Thursday, May 24Honors Convocation, 9 a.m. Taylor Auditorium

Commencement, 4 p.m., Proctors

BINNEKILL Publication ScheduleSummer 2012

Deadline (9 a.m.) Publication DateMonday, June 6 Wednesday, June 27

Please e-mail submissions tomeaneyhl@sunysccc.edu.

The Binnekill will resume a regularschedule in September 2012.

Look for deadline and publication dates in the first issue.

Summer 2012 at SCCCSix SessionsSession I: May 21 – June 8 (3 weeks)

Session II: June 11 – June 29 (3 weeks)

Session III: May 21 – June 29 (6 weeks)

Session IV: July 9 – August 17 (6 weeks)

Session V: July 9 – July 27 (3 weeks)

Session VI: June 4 – July 27 (8 weeks)

Important DatesSummer tuition paymentis due Monday, May 14.

Summer tuition paymentis due Monday, June 25 ifregistering late forSessions IV and V.

Late Registration ends thefirst day of the session.

Register now.

http://www.sunysccc.edu/register.htm

What’s up for the summer?Read what some students have planned this summer.

Kabir Persaud, Health Studies

Maybe a summer job, a littlevacation and hang out with friends.I’ll go to the beach if I go to Florida.

Teresa Gavigan, Health Studies

I’m taking two classes, pharma-cology and developmentpsychology online, and then when they’re done I’ll be going on vacation to Maine, camping and enjoying the month with my children.

Joe Wehle, Performing Arts:Music

I’m going to take guitar lessons witha private instructor and work.

Joquan Gordon, Health Studies

I’m trying to get a part-time job andI’ll probably pick up a class thissummer too. I want to go to SixFlags and I’ll be going to MyrtleBeach.

5BINNEKILL, May 10, 2012

A promise fulfilledWe all made promises when we were kids: I promise tohelp out around the house more; I promise not to nagmy parents for something I really want them to buyme; I promise to do my homework. Maybe we keptthose promises for a while.

But Ben Barbur made a promise when he was a childand he kept it. It took him almost 10 years, but hefollowed through on a promise he made to hisgrandmother when hewas just a boygrowing up inGreenwich, N.Y.

He watched how hisgrandmother helpedpeople as anEmergency MedicalTechnician (EMT)with the Easton-Greenwich RescueSquad and decidedthat was a goal hewould set for himselfalso. “I watched herdo some of hertrainings at home,” Ben said. “I watched her help a lotof people and that’s what I wanted to do. I told her thatI would follow her and I promised her that I wouldbecome an EMT when I had the chance.”

In December 2011, Ben, a Fire Science student atSCCC, passed the statewide EMT exam, after takingthe EMT class at the College as part of the certificateprogram. Sadly, his grandmother was not alive to seethat he had fulfilled his promise to her. “It was kind ofemotional when I got my EMT certificate,” Ben said.“I had that piece of paper and I almost didn’t want tolook at it, but I was really happy that I accomplishedwhat I set out to do.”

Later this month Ben will graduate with his FireScience certificate, the first step in becoming a profes-sional firefighter. He has been a volunteer with theMiddle Falls Volunteer Fire Department for eight years,after going through the department’s explorer programwhere youth ages 14 to 18 get a feel for what it takes tobecome a first responder by accompanying firefighterson non-emergency calls and participating in trainings.

This summer Ben will take a break from school to workfull time on his family’s dairy farm, BLB Acres inGreenwich, something he might have chosen to do overattending SCCC.

“My family really talked me into going to college,” Bensaid. “I wanted to stay and work the farm, but I’mreally glad I did this. I have a lot of training behind meand I met a lot of people like my professors, includingChief (Robert) Farstad, Chief (Michael) DellaRoccoand Chief (Richard) Kasko. They’ve helped me out a lot.”

Ben’s next goals are to become a paramedic and a paidfirefighter. “I thank all of my family, friends, andteachers for the help and support through all of mygoals,” Ben said.

Sisters are close friends as wellSisters Erin, 21, and Tiffany Newkirk, 19, are similar. Smilescome easy to these native Texans and they laugh almost as if oncue when they talk about the brief amount of time during elemen-tary school when they were competitive with each other. But afterthey graduate from SCCC they will be taking very different paths.

After finishing one more class this summer and earning her A.S.in Business Administration, Erin will head back to Texas tobecome a junior at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls,Texas. She will pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Tiffanyis not sure yet where she will be this fall after she graduates fromSCCC with an A.A. in Liberal Arts, but she’s clear on her goal.She will be going into ministry and plans to complete a six monthdiscipleship training program through Youth With A Mission, aChristian outreach organization. She will find out soon if she’ll beheading to Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, New York Cityor Nashville.

Tiffany plans to then enroll in the University of the Nations,taking 12-week courses at locations around the world andpursuing a bachelor’s degree in education. “I’d like to travel andthen settle down and teach either in a Christian school setting orin an elementary school,” Tiffany explained.

Erin decided that she wanted to learn more about business aftertaking a few courses in high school. She then narrowed it down toaccounting and has a clear vision of what she wants to do. “Aftertaking business courses in high school, I felt I was good at it andthat it was a good career to get into,” she said. She plans toeventually become a Certified Public Accountant. While at SCCCshe also put her writing strengths to work as a Peer WritingConsultant in the Learning Center/Writing Lab.

The Newkirks arrived in the Capital Region in July 2010,relocating from Dallas, Texas, with their parents after their fathergot hired at Global Foundries in Malta. They describe the experi-ence as “culture shock,” especially adapting to the cold weather.“In Texas, if there is ever snow, everything closes,” they said.“But here if there are five inches of snow, you just have to getwhere you need to go.”

It is their faith, having grown up in a Southern Baptist church, thevalues that their parents instilled in them and their close knitrelationship that have helped them both succeed. “We’ve becomeeven greater friends,” Tiffany said. Erin added, “Our parentsalways told us to never settle for mediocrity and don’t have adefeatist attitude. If you fail, learn from it and use that knowledgetoward your success.”

BINNEKILL, May 10, 20126

Campus Resources

Academic AdvisementElston 222/ext. 1277Monday-Thursday 8:30 am-7 pmFriday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Academic Computing LabElston 529, 530/ext. 1213Monday-Thursday 8:30 am-10 pm Friday 8:30 am-4 pmSaturday 9 am-3:30 pm

Accounting/CIS Tutor LabElston 330/ext. 1041Monday, Wednesday 8 am-2 pmTuesday, Thursday 8 am-4 pm

ADA Transition ServicesElston 222/ext. 1345Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

AdmissionsStockade 120/ext. 1166Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

AthleticsElston 222/ext. 1356Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Begley Library/ext. 1239Monday-Thursday 8 am – 9:30 pmFriday 8 am – 4:30 pmSaturday 10 am – 2 pm Closed Sundays

Business Office, StudentElston 517/ext. 1346, 1347Mon. and Thurs. 8:30 am-7 pmTues., Wed., Fri. 8:30 am-4:15 pm(May)

Career and EmploymentServicesElston 222/ext. 1365Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

The College StoreElston 109/ext. 1332Monday-Wednesday 8 am-6 pm Thursday 8 am-4 pmFriday 8 am-2 pm

The Commons Elston/ext. 1330Monday-Thursday 7:30 am-8 pmFriday 7:30 am-2 pm

Counseling (Career, Transfer and Personal)Elston 222/ext. 1365Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

College Central NetworkSCCC’s career management systemwww.sunysccc.edu/ces

Financial AidElston 221/ext. 1352Mon.-Wed.,Fri. 8:30 am-4:30 pmThursday 8:30 am-7 pm(March)

Gateway MontessoriGateway 124/ext. 1455/1295Monday-Friday 9 am-11:30 am(Call for program information.)

Language LabElston 520/ext. 1373Mon.,Wed.,Thurs. 9:30 am-12:30 pm

1-2:30 pm4-7 pm

Tuesday 9:30-11:20 am12:20-2:30 pm4-7 pm

Friday 10 am-12 pmSaturday 10 am-1 pm

Learning CenterWriting LabElston 523/ext. 1246Monday-Thursday 8 am-7 pmFriday 8 am-4 pmSaturday 10 am-3 pmMath Lab Elston 518/ext. 1435Monday-Thursday 8 am-7 pmFriday 8 am-3 pmSaturday 10 am-3 pm

Multicultural/EducationalOpportunity ProgramsElston 222/ext. 1279Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Registrar’s OfficeElston 212/215381-1348, 381-1349/ext. 1148Mon. and Thurs. 8:30 am-7 pmTues., Wed., Fri. 8:30 am-4:30 pm(May)

Student Affairs, VicePresidentElston 222/ext. 1344Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Student GovernmentElston 220/ext. 1388By appointment or walk-in

Testing CenterElston 427/ext.1293TestingCenter@sunysccc.eduMonday-Thursday 8:30 am to 8 pmFriday 8:30 am-3 pmSaturday 10 am-2 pm (beginning 2/4)

TRIO Student SupportServices Elston 328/ext. 1465Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Tutor ServicesElston 328-C/ext. 1461Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Veterans AffairsElston 223/ext. 1284By appointment or walk-in

Workforce DevelopmentStockade 120/ext. 1315Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm

YWCA Children’s CenterGateway Bldg`./ext. 1375 or 1389Monday-Friday 7:30 am-5:30 pm(Evening hours available dependingon enrollment.)