Harpur College of Arts & Sciences : October 26, 2001

Lawyers Roundtable Portrays Real Life to Students

Joel Kellman, Dean Mileur, Marty Triano, and Robye Shaw Margolius

Aspiring law students got a taste of the real world at Harpur College’s Alumni Lawyers’ Roundtable on Friday, October 12, 2001. Joel Kellman `63, Marty Triano `76, and Robye Shaw Margolius `93 talked about how they succeeded in law school, passed the bar exam, and sailed through the highs and lows of their careers.

Triano, a graduate of New College of California School of Law, currently sits as a Commissioner in the Alameda County Superior Court and as a Pro Tem Settlement Judge in the San Francisco County Superior Court.

Kellman graduated from St. John’s University School of Law and also holds an M.S. in International Studies from New York University. He is now a full time investor and also advises venture capital startup companies. His work is divided between Silicone Valley and Singapore.

Shaw Margolius is an alumna of Fordham University School of Law. She is a technology associate at the law firm of Piper, Marbury, Rudnick & Wolfe in New York City. Her duties include helping new attorneys adapt to their new jobs.

The alumni first discussed the rigors of law school. They stressed the importance of being prepared for class. Shaw Margolius likened law school to having a full time job. "It's a lot of work," she said, "and you will get called on!" Kellman emphasized the importance of reading cases. Triano said that law school teaches students to think like lawyers.

They spoke about the flexibility of a law degree. "It doesn't mean you have to be a lawyer," said Triano, "A law degree opens a lot of doors. Law teaches you to solve problems, which is a skill you'll need in any career." Shaw Margolius advised students to work in a law firm for a year before applying to law school. "Find out what you're getting into first," she said.

The topic shifted to the infamous workloads faced by lawyers. "The first few years out of law school are hard and competitive," said Kellman. Triano agreed and confirmed, "As a new associate, your life is run by billable hours."

Surprisingly, job security has diminished in law. Firms are shifting from full-service to more specialized practices. Lawyers are not with the same firms for the duration of their careers. The alumni told the students it's not necessary they know exactly what kind of law they want to practice. A successful career evolves as attorneys develop new interests over the years.

Kellman, Triano, and Shaw Margolius said solving problems and helping people are the most satisfying part of law. They answered several questions about applying for law schools and jobs. Students left the roundtable with valuable and realistic information that will help them down the road of life.
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Harpur Celebrates Homecoming

Harpur College Alumni Reconnect with Campus

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but no photos can do Homecoming 2001 justice. The first of its kind at Binghamton, Homecoming attracted several hundred alumni from all over the country, as well as thousands of students on the weekend of October 21, 2001.

Friday night was Midnight Madness, featuring indoor fireworks and the newly christened "Baxter Bearcat" kicked off both Homecoming 2001 and the start of Division I Basketball at Binghamton.

Sylvain Ruest was named "Student of the Year" at Midnight Madness. A junior mechanical engineering major from Canada, he will receive a $1,700 scholarship sponsored by the Alumni Association and the University Foundation and a $500 gift certificate from the University Bookstore.

On Saturday, the women's soccer team defeat Canisus College 5-0 and the men's soccer team fell to Philadelphia 3-2 in double overtime. Meanwhile, alumni and students feasted on spiedes and ice cream at the Bearcat Barbecue. Harpur College stole the show with two large tables of photos, free cider, doughnuts, candy apples, Harpur College hats, and tiny "Harpos" in recognition of our old mascot, Harpo the burro.

The Bearcat Barbecue was followed by a memorial service for those lost on September 11, 2001 led by President DeFleur and Marty Triano `76, president of the Alumni Association.

Harpur College wishes to thank the many alumni and students who came to the Homecoming activities and made the weekend so memorable. Plans are already underway for Homecoming 2002. We hope you'll come and reconnect with your alma mater.

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Harpur College Dean Mileur spoke with over 100 parents at an open question and answer forum at Family Weekend on Saturday, October 20, 2001. The informal session began with a warm welcome by the Dean and a brief update on Harpur College news, such as our ever-improving law and medical school acceptance rates and our increased ranking in U.S. News and World Report. Parents used the opportunity to ask lots of academic questions and learn more about life at Harpur College.

The "meet the Dean" session was one of many enjoyable activities during one of the most highly attended Family Weekends in the school's history. No one walked away hungry as families enjoyed coffee and doughnuts in the Hospitality Suite in the Union's East Lounge and a tasty array of treats at Sodexho's free food show. Many local artists sold their wares at a large craft show in the union. Saturday evening featured a multicultural dinner in the Mandela Room followed by performances of the Harpur Chorale, University Wind Ensemble, Women's Chorus, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi, the 2001 Van Cliburn Piano Competition's silver medallist. Others watched "The Firebugs," in the Watters Theater. Before families and students parted, they enjoyed the continuation of the book sale in the Bartle library, more sports events, and surprisingly gorgeous autumn weather.

For more about Family Weekend 2001, check out http://alumni.binghamton.edu/parent/weekend.html.

Jeff Gould, director of parent relations, was delighted with the turnout. "I saw some very satisfied parents. The craft and vendor fairs were very successful," he said, "We saw a lot of smiles."


Claudette Lawrence and Terri Parkin `05 from	Gail Kohn, Khosrow Akaberi, Adam Akaberi `04, and Ariel Akaberi from Long Island.

Shari `05 and Eleanor Gold from New City, NY	Dan `05, Lucy, and Steve Stroiman from Philadelphia.

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What's Cooking in Chemistry?
An Interview with Alistair Lees, Department Chair

What’s new in Chemistry at Harpur College?
The most significant development is the dramatic increase in Chemistry majors in the last few years. I think at one point we had about 15 per year; now we graduate about 40. That’s a big change.

One of the more exciting things is the opportunity for undergraduate research. We have a lot of high quality new faculty and [therefore] new research areas in the department.

C.J. Zhong is studying nanoparticles.
Omowunmi Sadik is researching biosensors and the Electronic Nose, both with undergraduates and graduates.
Antifreeze proteins are a project of Robert Ben. He’s working with undergraduates and graduates and has a nice new grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Scott Handy is studying Green Chemistry. He’s doing other things as well, but that’s one of the things that is very interesting.
Scott Oliver is preparing new zeolite materials.
Wayne Jones’ area is conducting polymers.

These are all new things that we've added to the department in the last 5 or 6 years, and they are providing research opportunities for our students. They are all highly exciting new areas of science and we’re at the front of all of them, so we’re very fortunate.

We’ve now got better equipment from faculty who’ve sought out research grants and we have a lot more graduate students supported on our research budget. The department is by no means large [compared to other] graduate programs in the country. We still need more new faculty, but the quality of what we’ve got is really good.

I think hiring is the most important [role] of the Chair and the department in general — it’s replacing yourselves.

What kind of faculty are you looking for?
Hiring new faculty is a hard process and involves a lot more hours than anyone could imagine. There’s a lot of checking, digging into applications, interviewing, and not always hiring right away. We try to hire people who are appropriate for the university, interested in both teaching and research, not just one or the other, will be happy here and a good match for us. We want people who are innovative and versatile with fresh, new ideas. They’ve got to work with students in the lab, be entrepreneurial, and seek out funding. We’ve done a very good job hiring so far, but we’re not by any means finished.

What do Chemistry majors typically do with their education?
Well I think a chemistry degree is very good because students can go on and do a variety of things. A number of them go into the health professions, such as medicine and dentistry, and many go to graduate school. Companies are looking for chemists faster than we can generate Bachelor’s degrees. Chemistry has a low unemployment rate. There are plenty of jobs in government agencies, laboratories, technical companies. With Chemistry, you can go a lot of different ways.

Tell me about yourself.
I’m from Britain. I’ve been here 20 years following an initial two-year period in California. People know I still regard myself as very British and I keep this up by interacting substantially at various institutions in Britain by lecturing or doing joint research projects. The twenty years have gone by very quickly and they have been most productive scientifically.

What’s kept you at Harpur College?
The balance between teaching and research has kept me here. I enjoy working with the students very much. I think the Chemistry department, as well as the whole campus, has a very good atmosphere and collegial spirit. This location in the US is very good from the living point of view and for domestic and international travel. Chemistry here is a developing program. We are moving in the right direction, as opposed to just staying where we were.

What is the future for the Chemistry department?
I think if everything continues to work out well, we’ll add a few more people and we’ll get some better facilities. The [Science 2] building was never designed for chemistry. We’ve made the best of it, but we’ve outgrown it. We cannot grow any more without some new facilities as we basically work in a classroom building with research pieces being placed around. The undergraduate labs should also be improved. So I think there will be a big jump forward when these facilities finally arrive.

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Vernell Johnson `83 Helps Students Succeed on SAT

Vernell Johnson `83

Vernell (Wilks) Johnson `83 has launched a business, SATPreparation4u, that assists high school students in preparing for the Scholastic Assessment Test. Johnson was a Rhetoric & Literature major at Harpur College. She has a master's degree in secondary education from George Mason University and was motivated to begin the enterprise by her experiences in teaching an SAT preparatory course in Fairfax, Va.

Finding that few minority students were taking advantage of the program, and concerned that the high costs of some prep courses were prohibitive to them, Johnson created a low-cost alternative. She is currently teaching the verbal portion of the SAT through SATPreparation4u. Johnson's success story appeared in the March 2001 issue of Black Issues in Higher Education.

Johnson is raising three children and is currently Graduate Admissions Coordinator at George Mason University. More information about SATPreparation4u is available on the website http://www.satpreparation4u.com.

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Marc Abrams `76 Named Steimer Professor at Penn State University

Dr. Marc D. Abrams `76, professor of forest ecology and physiology at Penn State University, has been named the Nancy and John Steimer Professor in Agricultural Sciences. Abrams's accomplishments and role as a university faculty member earned him this elite title as a named professor.

Along with the prestige of a named professorship, Abrams will receive financial support for the acquisition of equipment, scholarly travel, graduate assistants and other activities related to his academic program.

"Being awarded this endowed professorship is one of the great honors of my academic career, and I am humbled by that," says Abrams.

He joined the School of Forest Resources in 1987. His research program deals with broad-scale temporal and spatial changes in forests of the eastern United States. This has been accomplished using a unique multidisciplinary approach, including the fields of community ecology, disturbance ecology, historical ecology, dendroecology (tree-ring analysis) and tree physiology.

His work focuses on understanding how stresses such as drought, climate change, fire suppression and land-use alter forests. Abrams and his collaborators have contributed significantly to the understanding of how forests in the eastern United States have changed over the last 200 to 300 years and may change in the future. The professorship will provide the opportunity for Abrams to continue his work. "The endowment will allow me to fund another graduate student in my laboratory," he says. "I enjoy training graduate students, particularly at the Ph. D. level. I find that to be one of the most stimulating academic activities."

Abrams did forest ecology research and taught during a sabbatical in Japan in 1997. He was the recipient of the Hokkaido Japan Guest Researcher Award.

He received the Charles Bullard Fellowship in 1998 from Harvard University for his research. His work was featured in a story about red maple proliferation in the Eastern Oak forest published in the New York Times in April 1999. Abrams has served on the editorial board of a number of leading scientific journals including: Ecology and Ecological Monographs, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Tree Physiology and Trees -- Structure and Function. He is presently serving as a committee member for "State of the Nation's Ecosystems-Forests" for the H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment.

Abrams received a bachelor's degree in biology in 1976 from Harpur College. He earned his masters degree in forestry from Michigan State University in 1979 and his Ph.D. in forestry from Michigan State University in 1982.

Marc Abrams would enjoy hearing from his Harpur College classmates from 1976. His e-mail is agl@psu.edu.
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Seen around the union…
Harpur College Students Raise Awareness of Pain

Among the cultural, religious, and Greek organizations "tabling" in the union last week was the Association of Students Against Pain (ASAP). This new organization seeks to "make the community aware of emotional pain," according to their president, Emily Simone `02. She and ASAP’s Public Relations officer, Noel Marcelo `02 are among the group’s 20 active members who want to be supportive of people who are grieving, depressed, or feel alone.

"ASAP was an idea that came to me when one of my friends started going through a rather rough time in her life and she began to look to me for advice. Upon speaking to some of my friends we decided that it would be a good idea to start a club where you could learn about ways to help those in need. This small idea developed into ASAP. The club is supposed to bring awareness to the community about the varying forms and topics found within emotional stress, trauma, and abuse. This month we are working on a series dealing with nutrition and mood, leading up to a discussion on the fashion industry and how it affects the ideal body. We are also planning a trip to a local nursing home to volunteer time with the elderly; which will work into a forum on the elderly and how their moods can become altered with age. We are also working on our stress relieving techniques, such as stress balls, meditation, yoga, and massage therapy. "

Although the name puzzles people initially, Simone and Marcelo agreed that the campus has responded favorably to ASAP. Recently, members created a mural to commemorate the lives lost in the September 11^th tragedies.

These Harpur College students are not only community-minded, they also have high aspirations for their careers. Simone, an economics major, wants to work as a financial analyst on Wall Street. Marcelo, a biochemistry major, wants to work in his field for a year and then start graduate work in microbiology or pharmacology.
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Share A Memory On-Line

Updated October 16th. Be sure to visit the Harpur College Memory Book - and leave your mark. Share a favorite memory of your Harpur experience, whether as a student or as a faculty or staff member. Or, maybe you just want to wish Harpur a happy Anniversary. Memories will be listed and updated on a regular basis. Put those thinking caps on and tell us about your favorite Harpur moment.

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Shop Harpur Online!

Announcing a new way for you to buy Harpur merchandise. Shop the campus bookstore from the comfort of your PC or Mac. Want to pick up a copy of the new Harpur history book The Cornerstone? Visit...
Binghamton University Harpur College Shopping Online

Check out the Harpur mugs, the cool notecards and bumper stickers.