Discimus ut serviamus:
We learn so that we may serve.
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Visiting the Louis Armstrong House Museum on Monday, December 2, Congresswoman Grace Meng (second from left) enjoyed a most informative tour of Satchmo’s home courtesy of Ricky Riccardi, director of Research Collections. The LAHM board met the next day, including Acting Director Jeffrey Rosenstock, and approved new board members Philip Berry, president of the human resources consultancy Philip Berry Associates LLC, and Michelle Stoddart, director of public relations and community development for Resorts World Casino. The agenda also included nominating and approving a new slate of officers: chair Jerome Chazen, founder and chair of Chazen Capital Partners; vice chair Jay Hershenson, QC’s vice president for Communications and Marketing and senior advisor to the president; secretary Jackie Harris, executive director of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc.; and treasurer Stephen Maitland-Lewis, author and jazz aficionado.
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The last Business Forum Breakfast of the year, held in the Student Union Ballroom on Wednesday, December 4, covered a topic that’s timely in any season—“Financial Literacy 101: What to Know and What to Do.” Lisa Kidd Hunt (right), executive vice president of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., and QC’s Joan Nix (left) (Economics), were the panelists. The forums will resume in the spring.
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Students chosen for “In the Footsteps of Dr. King”—an immersive tour of historic southern sites associated with the civil rights movement—attended a pre-trip orientation luncheon on Wednesday, December 4. “Footsteps,” an annual QC program started and led by Rabbi Moshe Shur (Jewish Studies), takes place in January during the week of Martin Luther King Jr., Day.
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Kim Bodden ’81, senior vice president/editorial and brand director of Hearst Magazines International, shared insights from her top-level publishing career on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 4, courtesy of Professionals on Campus. Bodden oversees the direction of Hearst’s nearly 250 global editions of powerful brands, including
Cosmopolitan,
Harper’s Bazaar,
Esquire, Good Housekeeping, and many others.
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The Center for Career Engagement, led by Director Zavi Gunn, hosted an internships’ luncheon for QC interns and stipend recipients on Monday, December 9, that was the occasion for an exciting announcement by Interim President William Tramontano: The Queens College Foundation Board, chaired by Lee Fensterstock, contributed almost $100,000 and created the Felix V. Matos Rodriguez Internship Fund, to be administered by the center. Another highlight of the luncheon was the
first screening of a video about QC/Google summer intern Bibi Hassan. The video was developed and produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing.
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QC’s newest food offering in the Student Union is prepared by Sushi Chef Mike. After immigrating from China more than 15 years ago, Mike worked his way up from sushi chef assistant to premier sushi chef at restaurants across New York City, as well as supermarket sushi bars. He may be familiar to patrons of Aron’s Kissena Farms, which delivers fresh kosher sushi to the college every day.
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NABA Explains VITA
The National Association of Black Accountants is holding a presentation on VITA—volunteer income tax assistance—tonight, Tuesday, December 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, in the Dining Hall, President’s Lounge. An IRS initiative, VITA offers free federal tax return preparation and electronic filing to people in certain categories. For the past two years, the college has hosted a VITA clinic on campus; much of the help was provided by QC accounting majors who underwent VITA training. To RSVP for tonight’s session,
click here.
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Math and 3D Printing Figure in Professor’s Artful Designs
Christopher Hanusa (Mathematics) has always found beauty in math; recently he has taken it to another level by designing pieces of jewelry inspired by mathematical concepts.
It all started for Hanusa about four years ago while he was modifying the curriculum for his project-based course, Math with Mathematica. Hanusa decided to have his class design three-dimensional art with Mathematica—a computing software used in many technical, scientific, engineering, mathematical, and computing fields—and then send it to be printed. While teaching the class, Hanusa proved to be adept with 3D design and decided to explore it further.
“I’ve loved visualization for a while. I love to make the diagrams that go into my research,” Hanusa noted. “When I saw that I had some skill in 3D design, and that I was making things that were beautiful, I decided at home on my spare time to make some jewelry and see if I could make a business out of it.”
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Hanusa partnered with Shapeways, a local 3D printing company, and produced jewelry made out of several materials including nylon, brass, steel, silver, and gold. Examples of some of his designs include a Fibonacci pinecone pendant, a golden ratio necklace, and fourth-dimensional hypercube earrings. His work is being sold in gift shops at the Museum of Mathematics in Manhattan and the Queens Museum in Flushing. Also, his “Riemondrian Collection,” a collaboration with origami artist Uyen Nguyen, appeared at the 2019 Bridges Fashion Show in Linz, Austria.
“My background in math gives me some understanding of this intricate way that geometry works, which gives my jewelry a unique look,” said Hanusa.
Honored for Innovative Teaching
In October 2019, Wolfram, the designers of Mathematica, honored Hanusa for his innovative use of the software—creating tools to advance the visualization of concepts in the classroom through computational technology and 3D printing. A few years earlier, Ultimaker, a producer of 3D printers, recognized him as an Ultimaker Pioneer for his groundbreaking use of 3D printing in the classroom.
Hanusa, who joined the Queens College faculty in 2008, has a PhD in Combinatorics (an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting families of discrete objects) from the University of Washington. He has published numerous articles on the subject in top journals. However, his most rewarding work is done in the classroom.
“The best part about Queens College is the students,” observed Hanusa. “I give a lot of energy to my teaching. I set high expectations for my students. The vast majority of the time, they meet or exceed them.”
Some of those students have been assisting him with his research at QC, where the themes of art and visualization are also prominent. Recent research includes trying to understand how to create three-dimensional versions of two-dimensional images, as well generative art, which is created through algorithms that incorporate randomness.
“These days you can use a computer to generate thousands of copies of something,” Hanusa explains. “Adding in randomness gives it a different flavor. . . and based off that you can generate a thousand different examples and choose the one you find most pleasing. So, what makes something beautiful? That’s something I’m interested in exploring.”
To see more of Hanusa’s jewelry and artwork, visit his website at
hanusadesign.com. His jewelry will also be on sale at the Queens Museum Holiday Market on December 15.
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Last Week for Toys for Tots
Want to brighten the holidays for less fortunate children? Until December 17, the Offices of Veterans Services and Human Resources are collecting donations for the Marine Forces Reserve’s Toys for Tots program. To contribute to this effort, deposit new, unwrapped toys at collection boxes in three locations—the Student Union lobby, Student Union 320, and Kiely Hall 163.
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QC Posts Financial Data
To ensure a more transparent environment, the college has launched a
financial data page on the QC website. The archive contains current financial documents for CUNY, QC, and affiliated corporations—such as the Auxiliary Enterprises Corp. and the Student Services Corp.—that support the college’s mission. This information will be updated each fiscal year; new official financial data will be posted as it becomes available. Please contact the offices of the vice president for Finance and Administration at VPFA@qc.cuny.edu if you have questions regarding the data provided.
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Fast-track Graduate Program in Special Education and TESOL Seeks Applicants for its Third Cohort, Starting Next Summer
Developed by Queens College in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education and New Visions for Public Schools, QC’s Urban Teacher Residency Program is currently recruiting qualified, diverse candidates—including undergraduate liberal arts students slated to graduate from QC in spring 2020—who are interested in equity and social justice issues and becoming NYCDOE secondary teachers in the areas of special education and TESOL.
The UTR program provides candidates with a Masters of Arts in Teaching that leads to long-term employment with the NYCDOE and professional teacher certification in New York State. Accepted candidates will spend summer 2020 taking graduate coursework in adolescent education; in the following fall and spring, they will be paired with mentors (highly qualified NYCDOE teachers) and participate in a full-time clinical residency in NYC DOE schools in communities historically marginalized by systemic inequities. When residents begin their clinical residency in the fall, they will receive a salary as a teacher apprentice and medical benefits from their host school. In the second year, residents serve as full-time teachers of record and receive a full salary while continuing to receive intensive professional support and finishing their graduate work. Program participants commit to at least four years of teaching in a high-needs New York City public school upon successful completion of the two-year residency, when they receive their master’s degree.
The UTR program is actively recruiting individuals with a passion for learning and a commitment to supporting students—especially African American, Indigenous, and other students of color—and their communities through education. The program looks for diverse candidates who are committed to growing and developing as sociopolitically conscious and socioculturally responsive educators. Applications must be submitted by March 15.
To learn more about QC’s Urban Teachers Residency,
click here.
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Making Work Visible in 2020
All CUNY undergraduates are invited to submit entries to the next Making Work Visible contest, sponsored by CUNY, Brooklyn College, and Labor Arts—a nonprofit that gathers, identifies, and displays images that promote understanding of the past and present lives of working people. Making Work Visible offers cash prizes of up to $1,000 in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Entries should be about work and be linked in some way to an image of work and workers. March 9, 2020, is the deadline for submissions. For guidelines and other information about the contest, or to see winning entries from the previous year, visit www.LaborArts.org/contest. Questions can be directed to
mwv@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
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Looking to Warmer Times
Cold weather last week reminded us that summer is only seven months away! QC offers four summer 2020 sessions, and registration for all of them has already opened. This is a great benefit for planning and scheduling purposes. To learn more, students can
click here, view “Enrollment Dates” on their CUNYfirst Student Service Center, or consult an academic advisor.
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Elissa Bemporad (History) has published a new book,
Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms, and Ritual Murder in the Lands of the Soviets (Oxford University Press).
The book launch will take place at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, Manhattan, on Thursday, February 6, 2020, at 7 pm . . .
Andrew Beveridge (Sociology) will be making a presentation on redistricting and other legal issues of the census tabulations at the Committee on National Statistics Workshop on 2020 Census Data Products, taking place December 11-12 in Washington, DC . . .
Tony Gonzalez received a $10,000 grant from the William Talbott Hillman Foundation toward QC's new BFA program in Photography & Imaging, which Gonzalez is leading. The award will help the department acquire equipment needed for the launch of the major . . .
Bobbie Kabuto has been elected the new chair of EECE. She replaces
Daisuke Akiba, now serving the Division of Education as special advisor on Institutional Accreditation.
Happy Holidays to all! This is the last QView of 2019; publication will resume in the spring semester.
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The
Q View
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