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SEIDENBERG SCHOLARS GET OFF TO A GOOD START
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"I love it here. There is nothing more to say."
These are the words of Alex Quick, from Easton, PA, one
of five select computer science majors who has been chosen to
participate in the newly launched Seidenberg Scholars Program. He is
joined by Jose Antonio Diaz-Gonzales from Westbury, NY; Jeff Marvin from Elkins Park, PA; Seth O'Brien from Cabot, VT; and Igor Pokryshevskiy
who was born in Ukraine but raised in Bensalem, PA. They are all
equally as enthusiastic as Alex about their Pace experience to-date.
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(l-r)Federico Younes, Emily Estime, Stiliyan Lazarov, Jose Antonio Diaz-Gonzales,
Igor Pokryshevskiy, Jeff Marvin, and Seth O'Brien |
The Seidenberg Scholars Program was created at
the request of Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon
Communications, Inc., who is encouraging the school that now bears his
name to actively recruit from among the nation's "best and brightest."
It is his hope that the Seidenberg School will one day assume a position
at the forefront of America's effort to reclaim global IT leadership.
To bring this about, a substantial portion of his $15 million gift will
be dedicated to providing scholarships to students in the program. Each
student accepted into the Seidenberg Scholars Program received a
$10,000 scholarship. Since these students are so scholastically strong,
they also qualify for the Pforzheimer Honors College that provides an
additional $15,000. Between the two scholarships and any additional
financial aid they might receive, these students are fortunate to have
nearly all of their tuition expenses paid for.
This first group of scholars is indeed exceptional. They
graduated with honors from high school and received recognition for
their accomplishments in such diverse activities as music and athletics.
Their SAT scores averaged 1440. All five chose to study on the New
York City campus because of what the city has to offer. Seth O'Brien
expressed his enthusiasm when asked if he enjoyed going to school in New
York City, "I think NYC is amazing! I am from Cabot, VT, which is
tiny. My graduating class had 21 members. The city is quite a change
for me but I love all the opportunities it provides."
The scholars all seem to be enjoying their classes and campus
life in general. Seth O'Brien likes all of his professors and thinks
that "they are doing a wonderful job." Igor Pokryshevskiy said "I have
joined a lot of clubs and am getting along with people here." Three of
the five like to program and think that they may ultimately pursue
careers in software engineering; one expressed interest in doing
research in artificial intelligence or perhaps in next generation
computing technologies; and another is contemplating possibly combining
computer science with business or biology. Yet, all know that they are
just beginning to explore the exciting world of computing and that at
this point in their lives almost anything is possible.
In order to enhance the synergy of this small group, three
sophomore computer science majors, who would have qualified as
Seidenberg Scholars had the program been established when they entered
Pace, have been appointed mentors to the entering scholars. They
include Emily Estime from the New York City campus and Stiliyan Lazarov and Federico Younes from Pleasantville.
The school plans to expand the program and has set a goal of an additional 10 Seidenberg Scholars for next year.
[ To learn more about Seidenberg Scholars Program ]
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RESEARCH FINDINGS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SPARKS INTEREST WORLDWIDE
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| Catherine Dwyer |
Faculty member Catherine Dwyer recently conducted
a study with Katia Passerini (NJ Institute of Technology) on privacy
issues relating to the publication of personal profiles on Facebook and
MySpace, the wildly popular social networking sites. The study is
titled "Trust and Privacy Concern within Social Networking Sites: A
Comparison of Facebook and MySpace."
Among the most surprising findings to come out of their
research was that only 5 percent of the users believed that their site
provided sufficient privacy protection, yet were willing to exchange
personal information such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers, likes
and dislikes, and work and school background, for free access to photos
and personal profiles of others to add to their list of "friends." Also,
only 18 percent of Facebook users and 21 percent of MySpace users
strongly agreed that the site would only use their personal information
as part of their social networking profile and not for monetary gain or
other purposes.
Dwyer states that most users are naïve about
the use of their information as "both sites are really interested in
monetizing this information as much as possible. They don't exist to
give people ways to upload photos." While this is of serious concern, it
poses an interesting dilemma to those who participate in social
networking. As Dwyer put it, "If you want any kind of interaction you
have to be engaged and reveal things. Privacy means having a small
number of friends, but that is not really consistent with being a fully
engaged user."
While issues regarding privacy on social
networking sites have been the topic of ongoing discussion for some
time, recent reports about Facebook listing users' profiles on public
search engines such as Google, and MySpace's plans to provide user data
to advertisers, have rekindled concern.
Dwyer was first quoted in "Facebook, MySpace Users will Swap Privacy for Goodies" that appeared in Computerworld on September 19. The article quickly appeared in PCWorld .
Within a few days, news of the findings spread to newswires throughout
the world and stories appeared in Europe, the Middle East and India, as
well as the Far East and Australia.
Catherine Dwyer, a lecturer in Information
systems, is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at NJIT where she is
completing a dissertation on "Appropriation of Privacy Management in
Social Networking Sites."
[ Read the Computerworld article ]
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RESEARCH TEAM RECOGNIZED FOR WORK IN GERONTECHNOLOGY
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Dr. Jean Coppola, Technology Systems, accepted the Isabel Brabazon Research and Evaluation Award
on behalf of her team that has been pursuing research in the realm of
intergenerational computing, also known as gerontechnology. Other team
members included Darren Hayes, coordinator of service learning courses for the Seidenberg School; Jessica Morta, an undergraduate nursing student from Pace's Lienhard School; Barbara Thomas, professor of nursing, Westchester Community College; and Linda Forman, vice president of community relations, United Hebrew Geriatric Center.
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| Dr. Jean Coppola (3rd from right) and her team accept the Isabel Brabazon Research and Evaluation Award |
The award was presented at the International Conference on
Generations United held in Washington, DC on July 26. It carries with it
a $5,000 research grant and inclusion of an article in the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships .
The award is given annually to an agency or organization with an
existing intergenerational program in recognition of being among the
best evaluation research efforts currently being conducted in the field.
The research that culminated in this award is an
extension of CIS 102T Intergenerational Computing, the service learning
course that instructs students in the technological needs of the
elderly and how best to teach them to use and be comfortable with a
computer. The students then go out into the community and work
one-on-one with a senior to share their knowledge. There has been an
ongoing relationship between Pace students and seniors at the United Hebrew Geriatric Center
in New Rochelle for several years. This relationship has enriched the
lives of both the student mentors and their senior students. Pace
students have gained a greater appreciation of the elderly, while
seniors feel more closely connected to family, friends and the outside
world through e-mail and their newfound ability to search the Internet
for information on a myriad of subjects.
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HAP GAYLORD DEVELOPS MODEL DIRECTORY PROTOTYPE
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The Directory of the Westchester Center for Creative Aging Arts,
a publication for Westchester senior residents that helps them find
resources and events for exploring, learning about and enjoying many of
the arts, comes from an Access database created by Hap Gaylord, an instructor in Pace's Computer Learning Center, through a consulting contract with United Way of Westchester and Putnam.
According to Karen Bonaparte, vice president
for strategic initiatives at United Way, the directory was recently
recognized as a model prototype for other Centers for Creative Aging
across the country by the National Center for Creative Aging, and will
be available to Centers that want to publish their own directories.
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CENTER FOR HISTORICAL INFORMATICS MAKES ITS DEBUT |
A unique consortium of Seidenberg School faculty, students and alumni has spearheaded the creation of a new Center for Historical Informatics. Historical
Informatics is defined as an interdisciplinary approach which
facilitates the application of computer technology in the preservation,
access, and research of historical documents and the dissemination of
historical scholarship. Faculty and students in the school have been
working in this growing field for some time.
The Center was recognized by the university with a 2007
Presidential Grant that will fund the development of the Center and
provide support for a conference in spring 2007.
The Center has been conceived as a way to
develop new computer-based technologies which service the humanities in a
"think globally, act locally" endeavor. Specifically, the center is
focusing on digitizing 19th century primary sources relevant to New York
City 's history which was chosen as the focal point of data to be
digitized for several reasons. From the computer science side, the
city's many libraries and archives contain a vast quantity of
information, in a wide variety of formats, making this a good testing
ground for digitally merging different types of sources - such as city
directories, health records, and banking records - into a unified
electronic historical research tool. From the historian's point of view,
New York City is one of the few localized geographical regions within
the United States that has maintained a near constant influence on a
wide range of issues of national importance.
The Center's co-directors are Jeffrey J. Remling, a former curator of collections at the South Street Seaport Museum and Seidenberg alumnus (MS/CS '05) and Dr. Jonathan Hill, assistant dean. The work is supported by fellows Dr. Susan Merritt, dean, and Drs. Richard Kline and Paul Benjamin of the Computer Science Department, who have worked closely with Mr. Remling on the project, and by Dr. William Offutt of the History Department.
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PACE TEAM PLACES 2ND IN PROGRAMMING COMPETITION
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Three undergraduate computer science majors from the Pleasantville
campus placed 2nd in a programming contest held at St. Joseph's College
in Patchogue, NY on October 13. They were Jason Terranova (BS/CS), Igor Pokryshevskiy (BS/CS), and Federico Younes (BS/CS). Dr. Mehdi Badii, computer science, coached the team.
The contestants competed against 18 teams from schools as diverse as Adelphi, Bloomsburg (PA) University, and Smith College.
The competition is sponsored by the Consortium for Computing Sciences
in Colleges - Eastern Region and is held annually on the campus of one
of the member institutions.
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TOP STUDENTS INDUCTED INTO UPE HONOR SOCIETY |
On October 17th, 29 outstanding Seidenberg Students were inducted into the New York Delta Chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon
(UPE) at Pace University. UPE is the first and only international honor
society for the computing and information disciplines established to
recognize academic excellence and service to the disciplines.
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| (l-r) Vikram Keshav, Yonesy Nunez, Cosmin Gliga
(left-back), Derwin Lugo, Florin
Tihon (left-back), Ted Markowitz, Andrew Harris,
Andres Nieto, Rocco
Donofrio, Lara Lee, Helen Uzamere, Tarjani Buch |
At the event, Dr. Michael Gargano, computer science and mathematics, gave a talk on "The Mathematics Involved in a Google Search."
Every third semester, Seidenberg juniors,
seniors, master's and doctoral students meeting the eligibility
requirements and receiving the recommendation of the faculty, are
invited to join the society. Members of UPE receive a one-year student
membership in ACM, a certificate, and a key pin with the UPE insignia.
The next induction ceremony will take place in spring 2009.
This year's inductees included: Alpha Amatya, Tarjani Buch, David Budet, Thomas Cavuoto, Lawrence Cayenne-McCall, Sarika Chebiyam, Marilena Coletto, Rinaldo Di Giorgio, Rocco Donofrio, Paul Dumoulin, David Fronckowiak, Cosmin Gliga, Andrew Harris, Eric Jeskey, Vikram Keshav, Lara Lee, Jarrett Lin, Derwin Lugo, Ted Markowitz, Geraldine McCabe, Andres Nieto, Yonesy Nunez, Robert Phillips, Sartorius Reede, Gioconda Sosa-Biziack, Jason Terranova, Florin Tihon, Helen Uzamere, and David Weissler .
UPE is endorsed by the Association of
Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society. It was first
established at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, in
1967. Today, there are 230 chapters of UPE around the world. Pace's
chapter was established in 1986.
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STUART VARDEN NAMED EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR |
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| Stuart Varden |
Dr. Stuart Varden, information systems, was named Educator of the Year
by the Association of Information Technology Professionals/Special
Interest Group for Education (AITP/EDSIG). He will be honored at the
Information Systems Educator's Conference (ISECON) to be held in
Pittsburgh, PA on November 3 where he will offer remarks on Rethinking
Doctoral Studies in Computing: A New Approach.
Dr. Varden has been active in AITP/EDSIG for many years, serving as
president of EDSIG and secretary of the Foundation for Information
Technology Education, the research and development arm of AITP. He has
also assumed a leadership role in organizing the annual ISECON
conference in 2000 and again in 2001. Until 2000, he was a full-time
faculty member in the Information Systems Department in Westchester. He
is currently an adjunct professor, teaching online master's level and
NACTEL courses as well as in the Doctor of Professional Studies for
Education Professionals program.
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FACULTY MEMBER JUDGES AT FIRST LEGO LEAGUE WORLD FESTIVAL |
Dr. Richard Kline, computer science, volunteered to serve as a technical judge at the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival,
held in Atlanta from April 12-14 at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World
Conference Center. Ninety-four teams from all over the world
participated in the event. Each one earned the right to compete by
winning a regional, state, or country-wide tournament.
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Crowd cheering at FLL World Festival
at the Georgia Dome |
Dr. Richard Kline (3rd from left)
with Japanese team |
The World Festival was part of the FIRST
Championship event, which simultaneously held the finals of the FIRST
Vex Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition. In total, more than
500 teams from 23 countries participated in three divisions. All of
the robot competitions took place on the floor of the 70,000-seat
Georgia Dome at six different stages. At times, all six were in use
simultaneously, so at nearly any moment one section or another of the
stands was cheering wildly for the action on the stage they were
watching. It was an electric atmosphere, but the cheers were for
achievements in computing and engineering rather than for athletics!
Ultimately, the first place Champion's Award was given to the "Pigmice"
team from Oregon, USA, who had the best overall showing in all four
aspects of the competition: robot design and programming, robot
performance, research, and teamwork.
Dr. Kline has been actively involved in the FLL tournaments hosted by
Pace and is overseeing the Manhattan qualifying tournament and Junior
Expo scheduled for December 2 in New York City. He also teaches CIS 102Q
Problem Solving Using LEGOs and creates challenges for prospective
students participating in the Seidenberg Scholar Summer Experience.
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PACE COMPUTER LEARNING CENTER PARTNERS WITH NETCOM |
The Pace Computer Learning Center (PCLC) recently
announced an affiliation with Netcom, a training center located at the
Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan. PCLC's and Netcom's classes
complement each other, with PCLC offerings leaning toward business
applications, Web design, Red Hat Linux, and project management, while
Netcom offers more technically-oriented classes, including bootcamps in
Java, Cisco, Citrix, and much more.
Those interested will soon be able to register for Netcom classes through the PCLC Web site ( http://pclc.pace.edu ).
For more information, call PCLC at 914 422-4328 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 914 422-4328 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or 212 346-1222 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 212 346-1222 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
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MASTERCARD AND CIBA OUTFIT KIDS FOR SCHOOL
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| Tanya Torello(left) and her daughter with Gloria Chin-Fatt, volunteer for MasterCard |
Once again, through the generosity of their corporate
partners, MasterCard Worldwide and Ciba Specialty Inc., children of
CLOUT students were the recipients of brand new school clothing and
supplies in advance of the new school year. On August 27th,
representatives from both companies were on-hand to distribute their
donations at the Graduate Center in White Plains. A reception followed.
Faith L. Faulk, coordinator of this event, stated that many of the
students were overwhelmed by the generosity of the donors. One student
exclaimed "This is like Christmas in the summer."
A total of 60 students were outfitted by these two
organizations -- 53 by MasterCard and 7 by Ciba. They have been
sponsoring the Back-to-School-Clothes-for-Kids program for 7 and 14
years, respectively.
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UPDATE ON IT'S TIME: THE CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN |
The university continues to make excellent progress towards its
capital campaign goal of $100 million. To-date, $71.6 million has been
raised. Similarly, the Seidenberg School is doing its part and nearing
its $20 million goal. Through the combined efforts of Dean Susan
Merritt, Kimberly Bendus, Seidenberg's development director, and the
Office of Philanthropy, the school has raised nearly $18.8 million so
far, representing 94.0 percent of its goal. The most recent gift to come
in was in the form of a grant from Oracle in the amount of $365,000.
Since 2003, 479 individuals, corporations and foundations
have made contributions with 81 at the $5,000 or higher level and 338 in
the $1,000 - $4,999 range.
Seidenberg is optimistic that it will even exceed its goal. If
you would like to help with this effort and contribute to the Seidenberg
School segment of the capital campaign, please contact Julie Davidson,
assistant vice president for philanthropy, at jdavidson@pace.edu or (212) 346-1661 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (212) 346-1661 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
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