Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
#69
What’s News
Health Information For You
QC has set up a webpage that offers quick access to key updates and resources from multiple sources regarding coronavirus (COVID-19). The site includes the most recent message from Interim President William Tramontano on steps the college is taking, working with university and health officials. The site can also be accessed from the college’s homepage, www.qc.cuny.edu , or by clicking on either the coronavirus banner or on the link under News and Announcements. 
The college has initiated increased cleaning, ordered and distributed additional supplies such as hand sanitizer, and posted signs with reminders about the importance of hand washing. The New York State Department of Health has released a list of simple steps, including hand washing, that help stop the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses.

Staff at the Health Services Center, 718-997-2760 or [email protected] , are available to address questions or concerns about the coronavirus. Members of the campus community who believe that they may have been exposed to the virus should contact the Health Services Center after consulting their primary care provider. Faculty and staff who are unable to come to campus for medical reasons or because of concerns about exposure should also contact Human Resources, to provide documentation.

QC is committed to providing continuity of instruction and services despite any interruptions. The college is preparing to accommodate affected students to the greatest reasonable extent through measures such as facilitating enrollment after the deadline, fast-tracking academic advising, permitting make-up exams, and extending due dates of final assignments and projects.
As part of NYC Open Data Week—an annual city-wide event that raises awareness of NYC Open Data as a free public resource—the Tech Incubator and Serval Ventures co-organized the Data Viz (short for visualization) Hackathon at the Dining Hall Midway Court on Sunday, March 1, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm. Speakers included Serval Ventures CEO June Choi, Zachary Feder from the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, and QC’s Alex Pang (Computer Science) and Danne Woo (Art Department). Eighty participants came from QC, other New York City schools, and the community; teams were awarded achievement certificates for most creative concept, best data insights, highest potential social impact, most accessible data visualization, and happiest team.
State Farm was there. So were the U.S. Census, Teach NYC, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. These employers were among more than 60 that sent representatives to the Career and Internship Fair held on the fourth floor of the Student Union on Monday, March 2, by the Center for Career Engagement and Internships. Speaking of internships, students may not have to choose between making money and taking an unpaid position that offers experience that’s ultimately more valuable. With the support of members of the Queens College Foundation, The Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez Internship Fund offers one-time $2,400 stipends to Summer or Fall 2020 students who expect to participate in an unpaid internship of at least 150 hours over five to ten weeks. For more information, go to www.qc.cuny.edu/stipend or call 718-997-4465.
Prize-winning nutritionist and author Marion Nestle spoke about the influence of the food industry on nutrition research and policy when she visited campus on Monday, March 2. After her talk, she had lunch with students and faculty from the FNES department. The talk and lunch were sponsored by Con Edison as part of the Con Edison STEEM Distinguished Lecturer Series.
Alumni and friends of the Aaron Copland School of Music gathered at the home of Edward Smaldone (ACSM) on the evening of Monday, March 2, for a musicale and reception featuring the Denmark-based Kegelstatt Trio. The chamber ensemble performs music for clarinet, viola, and piano and takes its name from a work Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed for that instrumentation; clarinetist Soren-Filip Hansen is a Copland School alumnus.
Vote Early (But Not Often)

Following last night’s debate of the Queens borough president candidates held at the Student Union, QC will set aside space for early voting for eligible Queens community residents in the BP election. From March 14 to March 22, the faculty and staff lounge on the first floor of the Student Union will be turned into a polling place; the “fishbowl” in the Student Union Diner will temporarily replace the lounge. 

To find the addresses of both your early voting location and your regular polling place, go to https://vote.nyc . Early voting sites will be open seven days a week, but the hours vary: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, noon to 8 pm; Tuesday and Friday, 7 am to 3 pm; and on weekends, 10 am to 4 pm. The regular election will take place on March 24.

The Borough of Queens introduced early voting options last year during the race for district attorney. For the special election for borough president, 18 early voting sites are available, including LaGuardia Community College and York College; the Cross Island and Rockaway YMCAs; and the Museum of the Moving Image.
Herstory on Campus

On Monday, March 16, the Virginia Frese Palmer Women’s History Month Symposium will present Women, Activism, Advocacy, Action: A Conversation with Queens College Alumni and Activists on Women’s Advocacy in Changing Times . Taking place in the James Muyskens Conference Room in the The Summit Apartments from 11 am to 3 pm, the event will feature QC graduates Indrani Goradia and Hetal Janai, who founded and direct nonprofits focusing on women and girls; Jenny Brown, a teacher and activist with the National Women’s Liberation group; and Diana Moreno, director of the Worker Rights Program at New Immigrant Community Empowerment. The symposium is sponsored by the Queens College Women and Gender Studies Program, with support from the Queens College President’s Office. Women, Activism, Advocacy, Action is free and open to the public. To reserve seats, send an RSVP to [email protected] .
McDermott Event Postponed

Remembering John McDermott , a celebration of the life and work of a widely admired philosopher and educator who taught at QC early in his career, will not take place on Friday, March 13. Efforts are being made to reschedule the event. Please keep reading QView for information about the new date.
Athletic Department Members Receive Grants for Professional Development

Three members of the QC athletic department were awarded grants to cover the cost of attending the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) annual conference. Interim Athletic Director Rob Twible was a Borden Perlman Professional Development Grant Recipient, Associate Athletic Director Jay Bijani received the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association Grant, and Associate Athletic Director Jaime Browne earned the National Association for Athletics Compliance Grant.

NACDA’s annual conference, which will be held in Las Vegas in June of this year, offers a variety of networking and educational opportunities for athletic administrators throughout the country. 

Browne was also selected to participate as a mentee in the 2020­–21 cohort for the NCAA and Division II Athletic Directors Association Women and Minorities Mentoring Program. This program provides women and minority athletics administrators in NCAA Division II the opportunity to enhance career development through a mentoring relationship that fosters personal and professional growth. The program encourages participants to pursue a long-range career in athletics administration and ultimately become a Division II director of athletics. Participants are paired with an assigned mentor, attend an orientation session, and take part in monthly webinars.
Alumni Entrepreneurs

The recent study of QC’s economic impact includes profiles of alumni entrepreneurs, such as Barbara Ann Feingold ’60.

Feingold (right) and fellow special education specialist Caryl Bank teamed up in 1969 to open the Little Village, offering educational and therapeutic programs on Long Island to infants, pre-school, and elementary school children with developmental delays and disabilities. In 2002, after a generous gift from Amy Maiello Hagedorn ’73 and her husband Horace, the school expanded, moved to its current location in Seaford, and changed its name to The Hagedorn Little Village School, Jack Joel Center for Special Children. The school employs hundreds of educators, therapists, and social workers, posting more than $19 million in revenue in fiscal 2019.
Building Futures: Lauren Comito
One for the Books

Lauren Comito’s 2019 ended on a high note: Library Journal named her Librarian of the Year, along with her longtime friend and colleague Christian Zabriskie, in recognition of their decade of advocacy on behalf of urban libraries and librarians through their group, Urban Librarians Unite www.urbanlibrariansunite.org . It’s the latest of a number of awards received over the past seven years by Comito (MLS ’07), the neighborhood library supervisor since 2017 at the Leonard Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

Had it not been for her interest in fine art, she might have become something other than a librarian. That interest took her to Brooklyn College where she ultimately received her BFA. While at Brooklyn, she became entranced by its library. “It’s just this amazing building,” she says. “They did a really good job of building an addition to it that stayed true to the spirit of the original building. It’s this gigantic gorgeous red brick library with WPA murals and a humongous art reading room.”

Also, while still an undergraduate, Comito got married. “My husband was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a lot of the guards there ended up going to library school,” she says. “There was a joke at the time that libraries are where guards at the Met go to sit down.” Several of her husband’s friends pursuing library degrees suggested she should consider, too.


Heard Around Campus
Shannon Gibbons , a media studies major, advanced to the Hollywood round of “American Idol” on Sunday, March 1, by singing “I’d Rather Go Blind,” by Etta James. Gibbons now has a shot at the grand prize in the televised contest: a recording contract and $250,000 . . . Fariaz Rabbani ’06, an actor, comedian, and undocumented “dreamer,” got married on February 18; the circumstances around his wedding were covered in the New York Times “Vows” column on March 7 . . . Maria Salcedo , a three-time graduate of the School of Education (Grades 1-6, undergraduate; TESOL; bilingual extension) was profiled on WNBC as a star teacher in STEM subjects . . . The success of NYC Men Teach was highlighted in the latest issue of Academically Speaking , the newsletter of the university's Office of Academic Affairs. Congratulations to Williams Anders, QC's former NYC Men Teach counselor, and Nathaniel Smith, the current counselor.
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