Red Tail Hawks at Rose Hill

At least two red tail hawks were visiting Fordham's Rose Hill campus on Sunday, June 27. These images of the hawks atop the Keating Hall towers were shot by Nicholas D. Lombardi, S.J., Ph.D., the associate director of online services, The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies.

FordhamScience: I Feel the Earth Move...

On Wednesday of this week, The New York Times City Room blog asked "Earthquake Shakes New York: Did You Even Notice?"

It turns out some people did notice. They called their local news outlets, who in turn called the News and Media Relations Bureau at Fordham. They were all looking for Benjamin C. Crooker, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and director of the Fordham University Seismic Station.

We couldn't reach Crooker that day, but happily for the readers of Science Friday, he did give a great interview to The Observer, the Lincoln Center student newspaper, in February: "Fordham Monitors World’s Seismic Activity."

What about New York? Can a big one happen here? The odds are against it. The biggest quake in recent years here was in 2002, when a magnitude two earthquake hit New York City. It was caused by an “ancient” (meaning relatively inactive) fault, Cameron’s Fault, which runs through 125th street, said Crooker.

Inside Fordham also wrote about the Seismic Station a couple of years ago: "New York’s Shaky Legacy Traced to Rose Hill Underground."

Fordham is one of a handful of broadband seismographic stations in the New York-New Jersey region that feeds its data to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, which in turn compiles and sends all the regional data to Boulder. The Guralp DM24 CMG3T machine, which combines the functions of a seismometer and digitizer, helps researchers make, effectively, a “CAT scan of the Earth,” according to Crooker. “Fordham’s station is like one cell in a giant camera,” he said, “used to build a seismic map of the earth.”

Just in case you're wondering, the earth did not move for the News and Media Relations staff on Wednesday.

FordhamScience: The Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station

The Calder Center was established in 1967 for ecological research and environmental education. Its 113 forested acres offer undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to develop hands-on skills in field biology and environmental studies. The Calder Center is one of the few field stations in North America with relatively undisturbed communities near a large urban center.

The center's research faculty and scientists from other research institutions direct a diversity of research programs, including work on ecosystem responses to loss of eastern hemlock due to exotic insects and climate change, ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, avian population dynamics, urban wildlife ecology, behavioral and biochemical adaptations of mammals to extreme environments, the role of ectomycorrhizal fungi in forest soils and their responses to control burning and wildfire, and the role of benthic algae in stream food webs.

Fordham University's partnerships with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the New York Botanical Garden foster collaboration between Calder Center researchers and scientists at these institutions.

Calder Center Background and Research Profiles

Fordham's Calder Center Named State Entomology Lab

Calder Director Measures Aquatic Health in Upper Mississippi

Scientist Charts Effects of Climate Change on Hibernating Chipmunks

Fordham Plays Key Role in Gathering Pollen Counts That Reach a Wide Audience

Calder Center Awarded NIH Grant to Study Tick Pathogens

Fordham Biologists Create Index to Measure Tick Risk

Calder Center Photo Gallery












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Fordham Employees Hit Spiritual Reset Button on Ignatian Retreat

A participant reflects at the Fordham Ignatian retreat.
(Photo courtesy of Campus Ministry)

After a long academic year, silence and reflection can be golden. Just ask a group of faculty and staff members who participated in Fordham University’s most recent Ignatian retreat.

“The demands and distractions of the school year do not leave enough time for me to talk to God,” said Juliana F. Gilheany, Ph.D., adjunct professor of history. “I went on the retreat because I wanted to find the peace and quiet that would let me get closer to Him.”

“Living in the Spirit in Ordinary Time,” was held from May 25 to 28 at the Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center in Ossining, N.Y., and was organized by Campus Ministry.

The setting on the Hudson River was “conducive to quiet reflection on God’s nature, in company with His birds, deer, rabbits, turkeys and chipmunks,” Gilheany added.

The first of the faculty and staff retreats, which also are open to graduate students, was held in 1998, said Joan Cavanagh, associate director of campus ministry. There is a fee to attend, though a limited number of scholarships are available. Activities include prayer, Eucharist, optional confession and conferences on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus.

“The purpose of the retreat is to encourage faculty and staff to step back from the busyness of life and spent a few days in prayer and reflection in line with Ignatian spirituality,” Cavanagh said.

Giselle Esquivel, Psy.D., professor of school psychology in the Graduate School of Education, said she found much peace “in silence, walks by the river, conversations with her spiritual director, art work in the creativity room, labyrinth walks and sleeping to soft music.”

“Most of all, I feel a sense of grace in a community of love and inclusiveness. I am awed to be able to kindle and express my spirituality among those with whom I work. It is indeed a rare gift to have such blessings,” Esquivel added.

Melissa Alvarenga, associate coordinator of service learning at Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, agreed.

“The retreat gave me the opportunity to reflect on my work during the past year while connecting more deeply and intentionally with the University’s mission,” she said. “As a young professional, I was able to take four days to grow my spirituality in a beautiful retreat center in the middle of a serene, picturesque setting on the Hudson. By nurturing my mind and heart, I was able to rejuvenate and center myself.”

For more information on this retreat and other like it, contact Joan Cavanagh at jcavanagh@fordham.edu.

-Gina Vergel

Book About the 'Myth of Digital Democracy' Wins Prize at Fordham

The Donald McGannon Communication Research Center at Fordham University has announced the winner of the 2009 Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Policy Research: The Myth of Digital Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2008).

The book, written by Matthew Hindman, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at Arizona State University, provides a detailed examination of the extent to which the Web is democratizing political discourse. The book’s thought-provoking findings suggest that policymakers need to be skeptical of much of the utopian rhetoric proclaiming the democratizing potential of the Web.

“The Center congratulates Professor Hindman on his work in this vital research area,” said Philip Napoli, Ph.D., professor of communication and media management and director of the Donald McGannon Communication Research Center.

The Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Policy Research is awarded each year by the McGannon Center to honor the best in book-length research in the field of communications policy. The award carries with it a $2,000 prize and is named in the honor of Donald H. McGannon, former CEO of Westinghouse Broadcasting and a 1940 graduate of Fordham University. More information about the book award, including a list of previous winners and nomination guidelines for the 2010 Award, can be found at www.fordham.edu/mcgannon.

The Donald McGannon Communication Research Center, founded in 1986 in memory of Donald H. McGannon, conducts, supports, rewards and disseminates research in the fields of communications policy and ethics, with a particular emphasis on research that addresses the public interest dimensions of communications policy. In pursuit of this mission, the Center serves as a resource and forum for scholars, policymakers, industry groups, and public interest organizations.

-Gina Vergel

Lombardi Set to Open on Broadway

This fall Lombardi, a new play by Academy Award-winning playwright Eric Simonson, debuts on Broadway. The play, directed by Tony nominee Thomas Kail, is based on When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, David Maraniss' book about the legendary coach and Fordham College graduate of 1937.

Lombardi opens on Thursday, October 21, 2010, at the Circle in the Square Theatre On Broadway. Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) plays the title role.

From Left to Right: Frank McLaughlin (FCRH '69), executive director of athletics at Fordham; John Cirillo (FCRH ’78), former vice president of public relations for the New York Knicks and principal of Cirillo World public relations; Tom Masella, head football coach at Fordham; Joe Favorito (FCRH '85), sports media consultant, former sports information director at Fordham and former vice president of public relations for the New York Knicks; and John Johnson (FCLC '02), Lombardi's associate producer.
Photo Courtesy of Jessica Lewis, www.broadwayworld.com

University Press Musical Performance and Book Reading

Fordham University Press
June 8, 2010 | 6 p.m. | Barnes & Noble | 555 Fifth Avenue | New York, NY 10017

Officers Commissioned for Service at Fordham

Two Fordham Class of 2010 graduates and members of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) were sworn in as Ensigns in the United States Navy, and another was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps during a commissioning ceremony held on the Rose Hill campus on May 21.

Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) alumni Matthew Sanders and Devin White were commissioned as Ensigns into the United States Navy. Sanders, who received his degree in biology, was selected for duty as a Surface Warfare Officer, Nuclear Option. White, who received degrees in history and classical civilization, received the Distinguished Midshipman Graduate award for his work as a Battalion Platoon Commander and his numerous other contributions to the Battalion over the years in the NROTC Unit.

Allan R. Boehm, who received his degree in political science from FCRH, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the United States Marine Corps. He will report to the Basic School (TBS) in Quantico, VA.

The ceremony was conducted at the William D. Walsh Family Library. Rear Admiral Christopher J. Paul, Deputy Commander Naval Expeditionary Combat Command, was the guest speaker at the event.

Sixteen newly commissioned officers from SUNY Maritime attended the event. Friends and family were able to participate in the joyous occasion as they pinned on the new officers’ rank insignia.

(Photo courtesy of SUNY Maritime)

-Gina Vergel

Fordham to Host Graduate School Fair

Fordham University will be hosting the New York Idealist.org Graduate Degree Fair for the Public Good on Tuesday, June 15.

The event, which takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Pope Auditorium, Lowenstein Center, on the Lincoln Center campus, is co-sponsored by Fordham’s Graduate Schools of Arts and Science, Education, Social Service, Business Administration, Religion and Religious Education, Fordham College of Liberal Studies and the Law School.

The fair provides an opportunity to explore career development options available through graduate education. Attendees will meet with representatives from specific programs and learn about graduate degree programs. The range of programs represented at the fair includes, but is not limited to, International Affairs, Public Health, Nonprofit Manage­ment, Business Administration, Public Policy, Education, Law, and Social Work.

For more information on this event, go to www.idealist.org/gradfairs or register here.

-Gina Vergel