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October 6 Rededication Marks Harpur Milestone

Online First for Humanities Journal

Giving Voice to the Silent Stars

Harpur Workshop Explores Rising Tuition Costs

Kessler Memorial Service, September 27

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For those present, it was a moment of satisfaction at the achievement of a long sought-after goal: inclusion into the state university system and a new identity as Harpur College. Fifty years later, Harpur will return to its roots at Colonial Hall in Endicott, for a rededication ceremony to commemorate the College's early pioneers and the vision they worked so hard to achieve.

Scheduled for October 6, 2000 at 6:30 p.m, the rededication event will feature a tour of the newly renovated Colonial Hall. The original home of Harpur College is being refurbished to serve as a visitor's center. Although the center is not officially open yet, attendees to the October 6 event will get a 'sneak preview' of the new and improved Colonial Hall. The rededication event will also feature a selection of speakers including, President DeFleur, Harpur Dean Jean-Pierre Mileur, Professor Emeritus Pete Gruber, Professor Richard Eckert, Chair of the Faculty Senate and Professor Rosmarie Morewedge, Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate.

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For a long time, William Spanos, professor of English and comparative literature, was a book person. But over the last 15 years, his philosophy toward the printed word has changed somewhat. The reason? The Internet. Although critical of the way the electronic industry is using the world of 'web-surfing', Spanos is happy to acknowledge the information revolution swirling around him. And with recent news that boundary 2, a journal of postmodern literature and culture he founded over 30 years ago is to be archived online, he's ready to go digital.

The task of uploading and archiving boundary 2 through the Internet will be the job of an organization known as Jstor. Originally conceived by the Mellon Foundation for the purpose of preserving foundational knowledge to perpetuity, Jstor has undertaken the mammoth task of converting back issues of ground-breaking paper journals-- dating back as far as the publications of the Royal Society in the 18th century-- into electronic formats. Having already electronically archived a series of mathematical and natural sciences journals, Jstor will now be turning its attention to the humanities. Acting upon advice from the Modern Language Association (MLA), boundary 2 will be one their first projects. "I'm extraordinarily happy that a journal I started is to be honored in this way," said Spanos. "MLA is the leading institutional association for all people in literature and letters in English and Romance Languages. For boundary 2 to be recognized by them for its importance in the world of humanities is very rewarding."

Founded by Spanos and colleague, Robert Kroetsch in 1970, boundary 2 was established as a forum for the dissemination of an anti-traditional form of literature and thought - also known as 'postmodern' - and was considered to be revolutionary at the time. Spanos edited the journal for 17 years, ensuring a forum for advanced literary theory that drew on the thought of such radically innovative thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Antonio Gramsci. For literary criticism, boundary 2 analyzed the work of post-modern writers as Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Thomas Pynchon, and Robert Coover. Hanging up his editor's hat in 1987, Spanos selected a former student, Paul Bové, now a professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, to take over the reins as executive editor.

As a member of the journal's editorial collective, Spanos continues to contribute to the journal's changing mission and vision. "With globalization becoming such an important practical and intellectual issue, the focus of boundary 2 has also shifted in that direction," said Spanos. "Accordingly, the journal's contributors now consist of a growing number of highly respected international intellectuals, and an ever-widening audience that is more global in scope than it was in the past. So, the fact that boundary 2 is to be one of the first journals in the humanities to be archived online by Jstor is a perfect fit. The editorial policy of the journal, despite its radical politics, fits neatly into what the Internet is capable of doing - which is to ensure global access to the innovative material it publishes. It's a wonderful partnership with significant political potential."

Does Spanos ever see a day when boundary 2 will only be available online? "I certainly think the Internet is here to stay," said Spanos. "It is increasingly evident that we are becoming a visually oriented culture and it's a revolution that's been going on since the advent of television. There is a growing future for online scholarly journals, but with so much information out there in cyberspace, the trick is to be able to sift through it all and pick out the most reliable data - which is something I'm not sure we are teaching our students how to do." As Spanos notes, students are turning to the Internet more frequently to conduct their research. The problem, as he sees it, is that most of what is available on the Internet is not particularly reliable. "Many of the websites students are turning to contain information that has not been scholarly justified or refereed in any way," said Spanos. "For the most part, students don't know what's worth quoting and what's not. As a society, we all agree that something needs to be done to develop the ability of Internet users to discriminate between knowledges. But we haven't as yet decided to undertake this important, indeed, crucial task.

From Spanos's perspective, the technological revolution continues to change our daily lives at an increasing pace and, if we want to escape becoming its pawns, we need to prepare ourselves to make it serve us. "We have to face the fact that technology has changed the way we access and program knowledge in our individual minds, " said Spanos. "It is not enough to have access to computers and certainly, the Internet's wealth of information. We have to know how and when to use it and this educational goal should be as important as teaching our kids how to read."

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Anita Page & Ramon Navarro

"The silent stars were pioneers, each with a unique story to tell," said Villecco. "If I give the reader a mere glimpse of what it was to make a movie back then, then I have succeeded in giving these uncommonly talented men, women, and children, a voice." Silent Stars Speak features 12 men and women - 11 former screen stars and one director - including Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Virginia Cherrill, child star, 'Baby Peggy', director Andrew Stone, and original 'Our Gang' member, Jean Darling.

"Selecting stars to highlight was somewhat of a challenge," said Villecco. "So many of them had already passed away, I had to really do my homework to target those who were left. But the ones I was able to track down, offered an illuminating look into an era that is fading with every passing year. They were fascinating folk and helped shape present day Hollywood. Much of what we see down at the cineplex would not have been possible without them."

Gathering data for Silent Star Speak was, according to Villecco, fairly easy, highly interesting but very time consuming. Aside from the recollections of the stars, many with careers going more than sixty years, Villecco spent hours at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, preparing the book's filmography and going through newsclipping files. Along the way, he was able to gather a large selection of rare photos, many of which will appear in the book. "For the most part, the silent starts were very approachable," said Villecco. " But there were a few like Fay Wray of King Kong fame and Loretta Young , who refused to be interviewed. For the most part, they felt that they had been 'looked' at far too long and that this period of their lives was over. But there were others who were delightful to interview - people like Francis Lederer, who recently passed away at age 101."

According to Villecco's research, Lederer was well known as a stage actor in Germany before coming to America to appear on Broadway in a 1932 production of Autumn Crocus. He caused such a stir in New York that he was soon courted by the Hollywood moguls and appeared in a string of leading-man roles including Man of Two
Worlds (1934), Romance in Manhattan (1934) and One Rainy Afternoon (1936).

Tony Villecco '98

"Interviewing Lederer was truly special," said Villecco. "He founded an acting studio in California and taught right up to the time of his death. Lederer once told me told me that 'like De Vinci, through teaching I have learned...' He was a true gentleman, speaking so kindly of everyone and his career. In particular, he had a 'soft spot' for American actress, Louise Brooks, who starred with him in Pandora's Box, the German silent classic. The way Lederer told it, the shooting of the movie was somewhat awkward. He spoke very little English and she spoke no German. But then that is the beauty of the silent movies - they cross any and all language boundaries!"

Due to be released in late Fall, Silent Stars Speak is already being advertised on the web, both on the McFarland publishers site, www.mcfarlandpub.com and through Amazon.com. Villecco is also scheduled for a series of book signings at various Barnes and Noble bookstores.

With momentum building for Silent Stars Speak, Villecco credits Harpur College with giving him the initial spark. "During an independent study through the Cinema department, I started batting around the idea of this book with Mark McElHatten who was very supportive," said Villecco. " And as for the writing part of it, I have Professor Ruth Stone in the English department to thank for that. She used to tell us that there is really no right way or wrong way to write - everyone has their own style and preference. All we needed to do was just write in our own voices. It was a great learning experience."

Anthony Villecco writes for such publications as Classic Images, Films of the Golden Age, and Silent Film Monthly. A classical tenor soloist, he lives in Tunnel, New York.

From Ehrenberg's perspective, it's an 'arms-race' out there, with selective universities vying to have the best in facilities, faculties, student living and learning tools and athletics. And as he observes, private universities do not easily make economically efficient choices. He blames the absence of meaningful budget constraints, relatively little hierarchical authority and decentralized units that do not share the universities' goals as some of the factors that have continued to push up tuition. As he pointed out during his Harpur Workshop discussion, there is no simple solution. "As long as lengthy lines of highly qualified applicants keep knocking at its door, no institution has a strong incentive to unilaterally end the spending race. In the long run, however, it is not at all clear that the increases can be sustained."

A regular visitor to the BU campus, Ehrenberg is always ready to share his knowledge and expertise with Harpur students. "Living only about an hour away in Ithaca, I regularly come back to Harpur and make presentations to the faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students in the Economics Department," said Ehrenberg. "I also serve on the Department's advisory committee. I love to come back to Harpur because my learning experience here was so fundamental to my life. Harpur provided me with both great undergraduate education and a wife - who could ask for more."

Professor Kokkelenberg, chair of the Economics Department said, "We are always pleased to see Ron as he brings fresh and thoughtful economic insight and perspective to very interesting problems and policy issues. Ron is a strong supporter and a good counselor."

Dr. Ehrenberg graduated from Harpur College in 1966 with majors in mathematics and economics. He continued his education at Northwestern University, where he earned an MA and PhD in Economics. He is currently the Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics at Cornell University and Director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. Several years ago, as a sign of their continued support for Harpur College, Dr and Mrs. Ehrenberg endowed a scholarship in his parents' names.

http://www.binghamton.edu/econ/people/ehrenberg.htm

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Kessler Memorial Service,
September 27th

A memorial service honoring Milton Kessler, poet and professor, will be held on Wednesday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Casadesus Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Building. A reception will follow in the Green Room.

Milton Kessler taught at Binghamton University for 35 years. He founded the writing program, and for more than a decade, was a co-editor of Choice, a magazine of poetry and photography. Kessler authored four collections of poetry: A Road Came Once, Woodlawn North, Sailing Too Far, and The Grand Concourse. His work earned praise from colleagues and fellows poets, including Elizabeth Bishop, John Crowe Ransom, Jerome Rothenberg, and David Ignatow. Kessler was legendary as a teacher. In a memoir she wrote for Sulfur magazine (a publication that frequently featured Kessler's work) former student, Camille Paglia said, "Milton Kessler embodies for me an ideal of the arts in dynamic synthesis . . . Everything that you were, everything that you had ever seen or experienced pressed upon the text in front of you. The class hour seemed to melt and expand."

At the September 27 memorial service, family, friends, colleagues and students will share their remembrances of Professor Kessler. His daughter, Paula Kessler, is producing a film for the program while Harpur music professor, Paul Goldstaub, is composing a piece for the occasion titled "Out There." The piece is a musical setting of four of Milton Kessler's short poems: 'A Boy' and 'Tree' from Sailing Too Far, and 'Tree' and 'Sun' from The Grand Concourse. Soprano and BU music professor, Mary Burgess, will perform 'Out There', with piano accompaniment by the composer, Paul Goldstaub.

To honor Kessler's extraordinary contribution to Binghamton University, a Memorial Poetry Fund has been created which will bring poets and poetry to campus each year.

Memorial gifts can be forwarded to:

The Milton Kessler Memorial Fund
Binghamton University Foundation
P.O. Box 6005
Binghamton, NY 13902

If you have any questions about the memorial service, contact Ruth Stanek (777-2417 or rstanek@binghamton.edu), Liz Rosenberg (lrosenb@binghamton.edu), or Christine Gelineau (gelineau@binghamton.edu).

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This just in!

Alum gathering in Madison.

Date: Thursday, October 5, 2000
Place: The shelter at Westmoreland Park
Time: 5:30-7:30 pm.

Steven Zwickel '71 is heading up plans for a cook-out at the Westmoreland Park in Madison, Wisconsin. Bring food to share and your own beverages. Zwickel will be marinating meat for spiedies, but can't promise the real Binghamton flavor. Bring yearbooks, photos, mementos, etc. to remember those 'good ole days'. When you get to the park, look for the colored party lights and a guy in the Harpur T-shirt holding a Harpur Alumni mug.
RSVP: zwickel@engr.wisc.edu

Be sure to visit the new feature on Harpur's 50^th Anniversary page - 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 so put those thinking caps on and tell us about your favorite Harpur moment.

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