Vote for Fordham Seniors as Oscar Correspondents

Fordham seniors Justin Shackil (correspondent) and Garry Van Genderen (camera) are on the ballot to be mtvU Oscar correspondents. See them interview Fordham students at Rose Hill below, and go to the mtvU contest page to vote for them.



Good luck, Justin and Garry—we'll see you on the red carpet.

Director of Creative Writing Lauded

Sarah Gambito, assistant professor of English and the new director of creative writing at Fordham, was awarded one of three Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Awards for service to the literary community.

Gambito is the co-founder of Kundiman, a nonprofit organization that promotes Asian-American poetry. She is the author of Matadora (Alice James Books, 2004) and Delivered, forthcoming from Persea Books. Her poetry has appeared in The Antioch Review, Fence, Field, The New Republic, and other journals. She is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, and Urban Artists Initiative.

Russell Banks and Robert Caro are the other two recipients of the 2009 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Awards, and Daniel Halpern is the recipient of the inaugural Editors’ Award. Poets & Writers established the Writers for Writers Award in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. The title of the awards has been given to Barnes & Noble in appreciation of their sponsorship of Poets & Writers. The awards will be presented at Poets & Writers’ annual gala benefit, In Celebration of Writers, on March 25, 2009 in New York City.

Take the Kastberg Women’s Athletics Challenge

James Kastberg, CBA ’85, and Joanne Krebs-Kastberg, CBA ’87, have issued a challenge grant to help take women’s athletics to new heights at Fordham. They have pledged to match—dollar for dollar, up to $20,000 each year for the next three fiscal years—all gifts made to the Women’s Athletics Cornerstone Fund.

To make your gift today, visit www.fordham.edu/onlinegiving and select “Women’s Athletic Cornerstone Fund” from the Athletics dropdown menu.

You may also contact Lynette Rivera, director of development for Fordham athletics, at
lyrivera@fordham.edu or (212) 636-6589.

Fordham Hosts Nike Super 6 Showdown

The Rose Hill Gymnasium will host some of the nation’s best high school basketball teams at the Nike Super 6 Showdown on Friday, February 13, 2009, beginning at 5 p.m.

The 2009 games include five of the top 30 ranked high school basketball teams, according to the ESPN Rise Boys Basketball Pre-Season Poll: 3rd ranked St. Patrick High School (NJ), 8th ranked Abraham Lincoln High School (NY), 15th ranked Rice High School (NY), 25th ranked Hopkins High School (MN), 28th ranked Paterson Catholic High School (NJ) and Thomas Jefferson High School (NY).

The games kick off with Paterson Catholic vs. Rice, followed by St. Patrick vs. Abraham Lincoln, and closing the event is the Hopkins vs. Thomas Jefferson.

Note that this is not a Fordham event: tickets are required and are on sale for $10 and $15.

Rose Hill Senior and “Team Fire” Raise Money for Cancer Research

Christine Schwall, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, has raised $3,390 to date for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Fordham University. Her fundraising efforts puts her among the “Relay All Star,” volunteers who raise $2,500 or more in donations. Schwall first got involved with Fordham's Relay For Life two years ago when her father, Alan--a New York City firefighter--was diagnosed with Leukemia. Alan Schwall died less than a year after his diagnosis, and Christine's "Team Fire" raises money and walks at the event in her father's memory.

Schwall, a biological sciences major, plans to pursue biochemistry research. The majority of her fundraising has been through personal relationships, and her team's goal this year is to raise $7,000. “Talk to everyone you can,” she said. “It never hurts to reach out to people. You never know who will say ‘yes.’”

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. Teams of people come together and have fun while raising much-needed funds for the organization, and raise awareness of cancer prevention and treatment. The 4th annual Relay For Life of Fordham University will take place on Rose Hill campus in April 2009. For more information log onto their website at www.fordhamUrelay.com.

Dr N’s Rhythm Review on the Web

Mark Naison, Ph.D., professor of African American studies and history, and principal investigator of the Bronx African American History Project at Fordham, debuts his YouTube Rap, "The Palin Effect."

Ignatian Awareness week

Monday, 26 January
12:15 p.m. Rupert Mayer, S.J. Chapel, LL221
Daily Mass*
Presider: George Drance, S.J.
12:45 p.m. South Lounge
“Why are Jesuits in Schools?”
Charles J. Beirne, S.J., Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Education, consultant on Jesuit Higher Education in Africa, will lead the discussion. Lunch will be served.
5:15 p.m. South Lounge
The Mission
Vincent DeCola, S.J. will lead a discussion of various themes running through this award winning film, starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons as Jesuits working among the Guaraní Indians of South America.

Tuesday, 27 January
12:15 p.m. Blessed Rupert Mayer, S.J. Chapel, LL221
Daily Mass*
Presider: Rev. Terrence Klein
5:30 p.m. McMahon 109
Meet the JVC (Jesuit Volunteer Corps)
Come and meet the Jesuit Volunteer Corps members who are currently serving in New York City. It’s a great chance to find out more about life in the JVC. Former JVC Director Vincent DeCola, S.J., will also be on hand with information. Dinner will be provided.
6:10-7:45 p.m. Blessed Rupert Mayer, S.J. Chapel, LL221
Interfaith Zen Meditation
Roshi Robert Kenedy, S.J., Jesuit priest and zen master, will speak about the Jesuit mission on interreligious dialog and lead zen sitting meditation. All are welcome! Healthy refreshments will be available after the meditation.

Wednesday, 28 January
12:15 p.m. Rupert Mayer, S.J. Chapel, LL221
Daily Mass*
Presider: Robert R. Grimes, S.J.
7 p.m. McMahon 205/206
Black Robe
Damian O’Connell, S.J., will lead the discussion, following a viewing of this engaging movie about the challenging relationship between the Jesuits and Native Americans in the 17th century and the implications for interreligious dialogue today. Light dinner will be served.
9:30 p.m. McMahon 6G
Mass in McMahon 6G
Join other students for Mass in an informal setting in Fr. O’Connell’s suite. Refreshments will be served following Mass.

Thursday, 29 January
11:30 a.m. TBA
Ambassador Luncheon
Campus Ministry will host the student ambassadors and will discuss the Jesuit Catholic identity of the University.
12:15 p.m. Rupert Mayer, S.J. Chapel, LL221
Daily Mass*
Presider: Patrick Ryan, S.J.

Friday, 30 January
12:15 p.m. Rupert Mayer, S.J. Chapel, LL221
Daily Mass*
Presider: Damian O'Connell, S.J.
1 p.m. Lowenstein Plaza
Ice Cream Social
Join us on the plaza for some ice cream and good company.

*Themes of the Spiritual Exercises will be addressed at daily Masses.

Ignatian Awareness week celebrates the rich Ignatian heritage
with which Fordham has been blessed.

The events of this week are aimed at helping us to appreciate this heritage
through the work of local Jesuits and their colleagues. For more information, contact Campus Ministry at campusminlc@fordham.edu.
FREE FOOD AT ALL EVENTS!

English Professor Stalking Edgar

Leonard Cassuto, Ph.D., professor of English at Fordham, is up for an Edgar. Cassuto’s book, Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories (Columbia University Press, 2008) is on the ballot for the 2009 Edgar Award in the Best Critical/Biographical book category.

The winners will be announced at the 63rd Annual Edgar Awards Banquet, held on Thursday, April 30, 2009, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan. 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth, and Cassuto’s 20th year at Fordham.

First awarded in 1954, the Edgar, in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, is given by The Mystery Writers of America to the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction produced the previous year. Past winners include James Lee Burke, Dick Francis, Elmore Leonard and Ken Follett.

Fordham University Association Hosts Winter Wonderland Fun

Fordham staff and faculty came together for the annual Winter Wonderland luncheon organized by the Fordham University Association (FUA) on Jan. 9 in the McGinley Ballroom on the Rose Hill campus. Approximately 75 staff shared holiday stories and lunch while preparing for the return of the student population.

Patrick Ryan, S.J., vice president for University mission and ministry, opened the afternoon with a prayer of thanksgiving. Preparing for the feast, he added:

“Tomorrow we diet.”

Ann Gannon, co-president of FUA, handed out prizes at the post-luncheon raffle, which included tickets to South Pacific at Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic.

The Fordham University Association is comprised of members of the faculty, administrative, clerical and maintenance staff of the University. The group is sponsored by the Office of the President. FUA’s goal is to sponsor events and activities that bring the Fordham community together for fun and fellowship.

FUA also is planning a Bring Your Child to Work day in April, as well as the annual Easter Egg Hunt.

–Gina Vergel

Rose Hill Alumnus Named to Top Administration Post

Central Intelligence Agency veteran John O. Brennan (FCRH ’77) has been named deputy national security adviser for homeland security in President-elect Obama’s administration. Brennan served as Obama’s foreign policy and intelligence adviser during the presidential campaign, and will now advise the president on counter terrorism.

Brennan was interim director of the National Counter-terrorism Center immediately after its creation, and since 2005 has served as CEO of The Analysis Corp. Since 2007, he has served as chairman of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.

An intelligence officer since 1980, Brennan began his career in the CIA's Directorate of Operations. He has served with the Department of State as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; in a variety of analytic assignments in the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis in the Directorate of Intelligence; and was in charge of terrorism analysis in the DCI's Counterterrorist Center during the Gulf War. Brennan has also served as the CIA's daily intelligence briefer at the White House; the executive assistant to the director of the CIA, and as deputy executive director of the agency.

Brennan earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fordham, including study at the American University of Cairo. He received a master’s degree in government with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980.

Inaugural Fordham Westchester EMBA Class

The inaugural Fordham Westchester Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) cohort of 2010 started classes on January 8. The vibrant, dynamic and diverse class consists of 22 executive students (see details below).

The intensive 22-month program is growing in popularity: in Fiscal Year 2005, it generated 1,392 credit hours (AEMBA Cohorts 1 and 2); in Fiscal Year 2009, the EMBA program will generate 2,352 credit hours (AEMBA Cohorts 5, 6 and Westchester Cohort 1). This represents a 69 percent increase in credit hours in a four-year period. GBA anticipates the credit hours to grow in Fiscal Year 2010, as it will have four EMBA cohorts running concurrently for the first time.

Cohort Statistics
Number of Executives in Cohort: 22
Program Tuition: $80,000
Mean Age: 35
Mean Years of Work Experience: 13
Percent Male: 59
Percent Female: 41
Percent Full Financial Sponsorship: 16
Percent Partial Financial Sponsorship: 58
Percent Self Sponsored: 26
Mean Salary: $125,000

Industries Represented in Cohort: finance, insurance, utilities, sports, non-profit, media, medical, pharmaceuticals, banking and packaged goods.

Titles Represented in Cohort: senior director, vice president, associate executive director, content director, sales consultant and chief construction inspector.

Organizations Represented in Cohort: ESPN, Medco Health Solutions, Mastercard, Con Edison, Crossfire Consulting, Academy of Management and WFUV.

Academic Institutions Represented in Cohort: New York Medical College (MPH), University of Maryland, Fordham University, Manhattan College, DePaul University, City College of New York, St. John’s University and Penn State University.

Cyber Attacks: Don’t Blink

In his ICCS conference presentation Thursday on “Defending Cyberspace: A Practitioner’s Enduring Journey,” Simon Y. Liu, Ph.D., said that back in 2001, a computer network had up to 338 days to patch its system before it suffered fatal file information losses. By the year 2005, however, the window of opportunity had shrunk. Today, the “window of remediation” to recover files can be minutes or even seconds. In fact, Liu, who is the director of the office of computer and communications systems for the U.S. National Library of Medicine, said that a human response to an e-mail virus is still possible, but e-mail worms and blended threats can no longer be stopped by human intervention; only pro-active software can defend such attacks.

—Janet Sassi

Done In by Love

When someone began hacking into the TeraGrid - a network of 11 supercomputing sites across the United States - in 2004, a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) began a manual traceback to find the culprit.

In a session on Thursday afternoon, James J. Barlow, director of security operations and incident response at NCSA, explained the how the hacker was caught.

After following the path of compromised machines to several sites in the United States, then to computers in France and Croatia, the NCSA team discovered the hacker was a Swedish 16 year old. The NCSA began monitoring his IP address while the FBI worked with Swedish authorities to set up an arrest.

While monitoring the hacker, the NCSA noticed that he had posted images of his computer screen online because his girlfriend had designed the desktop patterns. A closer look at these desktop images showed open windows that proved the hacker was accessing an unauthorized computer when the images were made.

That evidence directly led to his conviction in Swedish court.

—Joseph W. McLaughlin

Eastern European Organized Cyber Crime on the Rise

Because of the vastness of the Internet, cyber crimes such as credit card fraud and identity theft can be committed from anywhere in the world. For quite some time, the FBI has seen an increase in these activities in Eastern Europe.

Though the hackers are young, they seldom work alone. In fact, Eastern European cyber crime rings are organized crime hierarchies, and the FBI is trying to tackle them, said Darren J. Mott, supervisory special agent with the bureau’s Cyber Division in Washington, D.C.

“Imagine the Cosa Nostra, with the big guys at the top and a bunch of little guys working under them; it’s just like that,” Mott said.

The FBI is taking a holistic approach to try and dismantle this burgeoning world, Mott said at a panel on Eastern European Organized Cyber Crime.

With special agents working in legal attaché offices in Russia, Romania and Estonia, Mott said the agency has established, and continues to strengthen, a working relationship with many Eastern European entities.

“We’re trying to get that cop-to-cop communication because with all cyber crimes, the information is time sensitive,” he said. “We can’t just expect to call and get or share information at a moment’s notice unless a relationship is established.”

—Gina Vergel

Cyber Boot Camp, and Beyond

Each year, Col. Joe Adams, Ph.D., trains a group of select incoming cadets in the basic military attack principles—in cyberspace.

Adams, an assistant professor and research scientist in West Point’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, gave an overview of his training at Fordham’s ICCS 2009 conference on Wednesday. His computer science curriculum culminates each spring with a final cyber defense exercise (CDX), a contest among five U.S. service academies—the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (USMA), the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

At West Point, cadets don fatigues and sit at a computer terminal surrounded by camouflage netting for the grueling four-day-long final exam. There, they battle repeated enemy penetrations—unexpected pop-ups, new users that persistently reappear, and system software shutdowns. In the crawl-walk-run method of military training, Adams says, “this is the run part.”

The next cyber battle is scheduled for April 21, and Adams claims bragging rights, legitimately. The USMA has beaten out all of the other participants in four of the eight years since the cyber-battles began in 2000.
“These cadets like to win,” he said.

—Janet Sassi

Old Phish, New Phish

News and Media Relations staff covering the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS 2009) are filing conference updates in addition to their regular stories:

Phishing—the practice of tricking computer users into voluntarily giving up sensitive information such as account passwords or social security numbers—has been around longer than many people realize.

In his keynote address on Wednesday, renowned cyber security expert Howard A. Schmidt detailed its history.

“Phishing as a way to steal things began in the early days of the Internet, when we were still paying $6 an hour for online time to America Online and Compuserve,” he said. “Users would pretend to be from AOL and ask someone else for his or her password; that way they would avoid paying the $6 charge for the service.”

—Joseph W. McLaughlin

Think Cyber Crime is Victimless? Think Again.

News and Media Relations staff covering the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS 2009) are filing conference updates in addition to their regular stories:

People generally consider cyber crime and other white-collar crimes as the younger, more innocuous siblings of violent felonies.

As FBI Special Agent J. Keith Mularsky warned, that is simply not the case.

Mularski is responsible for combating credit thieves who operate online. In his presentation Tuesday at the International Conference on Cyber Security, Mularski said that terrorists fund much of their activities through the shadowy world of stolen credit.

In fact, he cited a 2005 case in which a three-man Al-Qaeda cell in London was arrested after they raised $2.2 million through stealing and selling stolen credit card information.

—Joseph W. McLaughlin

ICCS 2009: Notes from the Floor

News and Media Relations staff covering the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS 2009) are filing conference updates in addition to their regular stories:

Tuesday’s keynote session of Fordham’s International Conference on Cyber Security featured a brief appearance by Michael Balboni, deputy secretary for public safety for the State of New York. While other speakers emphasized the need for cooperation among organizations and professionals in fighting cybercrime, Balboni added a side note to individuals: secure your own personal systems. Those who spread malicious software, or botnets, won’t have as much success if each system maintains basic, up to date security. He also emphasized the point that a network is often only as strong as its weakest link.

“We are all connected,” Balboni said. “That means whoever utilizes your system, if they’re not secure, you’re not secure.”

Balboni also mentioned that New York State has a 24/7 cyber security system that offers intrusion detection, prevention, mitigation and recovery service. Why are municipal systems important? Balboni said that most of our nation’s operating systems– dams, electrical grids, telecommunications—are done through local municipalities.

—Janet Sassi

The conference, a joint effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fordham University, will bring together global leaders in emerging cyber threat analysis and enforcement at the University's Lincoln Center campus from January 6 through 8, 2009.

Fordham in the News

FORDHAM IN THE NEWS
Print, Broadcast and Online

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

The Week Ahead for the Department of Justice for January 5-January 9, 2009
PR Newswire 2/1
The following was released today by the U.S. Department of Justice…the International Conference on Cyber Security… Fordham University at Lincoln Center…

FORDHAM WESTCHESTER

Houlihan is home to fifth generation
Journal News 25/12
(E)arlier this year it signed a lease with Fordham University to take over space at 400 Westchester for classes and support space that the school formerly had at Marymount.

SCHOOL OF LAW

Weil Gotshal Gives $1 Million Gift to Fordham Law
New York Law Journal 29/12
A gift of $1 million from Weil, Gotshal & Manges to fund a classroom in the new central building of Fordham University School of Law was announced last week by Dean William M. Treanor.
(Print Only)

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

New Adventures
Public television icon keeps going after ‘retirement’
Greenwich Post 18/12
At Fordham, Mr. Baker is working with students in the Education Department on a television program on Abrahamic religions, on a film about the history and importance of
parochial education in the world, and on educational projects and techniques that use media and broadband.
(Print only)

Sea-Tac staff excelled in storm
Seatlle Post-Intelligencer 23/12
Tom Murphy directs the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University. He wrote "Reclaiming the Sky: 9/11 and the Untold Story of the Men and Women Who Kept America Flying."

SCHOOL OF LAW FACULTY

ABNER GREENE
Senate Seat Dispute May Head to Court
Wall Street Journal
The argument for blocking the appointment of Mr. Burris is "weak" in light of provisions in the U.S. Constitution, said Abner Greene, a professor of constitutional law at Fordham University.

ABNER GREENE
Democrats Seek to Block Appointee to Obama’s Seat
New York Times 30/12
“I think the best reading of the text of the Constitution and the Powell case together is that the Senate has to seat Burris,” said Abner S. Greene, the Leonard F. Manning professor of law at Fordham University School of Law.

ABNER GREENE
Senate Leadership Weighs Blocking Burris Appointment
Newshour with Jim Lehrer 31/12
For that, we turn to political reporter Carrie Budoff Brown and Abner Green, professor at Fordham University's School of Law in New York.

THANE ROSENBAUM
The War on Terror Has Not Gone Away
Wall Street Journal 28/12
Mr. Rosenbaum, a novelist, essayist and law professor at Fordham University, is the author of "The Myth of Moral Justice" (Harper Perennial 2005).

SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FACULTY

FRANK WERNER
Are Airlines Cutting Back on the Necessities?
KCBS.com 24/12
Just take a look at airline employment for example, just since the end of 2007 they've cut 2,000 plus jobs here in the United States," said Frank Werner is an associate professor of finance at Fordham University.

ARTS AND SCIENCES FACULTY

MARK CALDWELL
Home on the Corner of Boom and Bust
New York Times 1/1
Those first settlers lived “in pits they dug in the ground and then covered over with wood,” explained Mark Caldwell, a Fordham University professor and the author of “New York Night: The Mystique and Its History.”

GAIL LANGOLETTO
What every NEW gardener should know
Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald 4/1
An entomologist by training, (Gail Langoletto’s) research at Fordham University in New York City was to develop a better understanding of how gardens can support natural pest control and pollination services.

ROGER PANETTA
Hudson River Museum Announces Dutch New York: The Roots of Hudson Valley Culture
ArtDaily.org 5/1
Dutch New York is curated by Roger Panetta, Hudson River Museum Adjunct Curator of History and Visiting Professor of History at Fordham University;

ATHLETICS

Turnaround at Rose Hill
New York Post 4/1
Despite a winless season last year, Fordham women's basketball coach Cathy Andruzzi kept a positive attitude, and it has paid dividends in a big turnaround for the Lady Rams.
(Print Only)

At 19, college swimmer faces mortality
Danny Thrall battles heart problems, which have kept him out of the pool
MSNBC.com (from The AP) 4/1
Danny Thrall, 19, a sophomore on the swim team at Fordham University in New York, forms his hands in the shape of a heart over the scars from open heart surgery he had about six weeks earlier during workouts at a downtown Chicago health club.
AND
Multiple stories on this topic

STUDENTS

Sojourners are there to try to make life better for detainees
South Coast Today (from The AP) 4/1
One booth over, Sojourner Stephanie Crane, a 21-year-old Fordham University student, chats with a 19-year-old high school student from Trenton, N.J., who was picked up in a raid at his home seven months earlier.

ALUMNI

The Possible Dream
Washington Post 30/12
Anh "Joseph" Cao…obtained a master's degree at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York.

Family Man, Bro
New York Post 30/12
Acting brothers Matt and Kevin Dillon may have gone Hollywood, but they've never missed a Christmas home with their parents - Paul Dillon, Fordham University's standout golf coach, and his wife, Mary Ellen - and their other four siblings.

New Moc Football Coach Huesman Introduces Assistants
Chattanoogan 2/1
Before coaching at Richmond, (Mike) Elko worked with former Spiders Head Football Coach Dave Clawson at Fordham University as his linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator in 2002 and 2003.

Family emphasized at Positive Image Awards
Register-Star (Hudson, N.Y.) 5/1
Robert Galluscio…(received)…the Positive Image Award given by the Columbia County Sons and Daughters of Italy #659…Galluscio attended Fordham University in the Bronx, as his father had…

Silbermann Filled Two Top Jobs And Kept Busy in the Courtroom
New York Law Journal 2/1
A 1972 graduate of Fordham University School of Law…

Combatting Crime in Brooklyn, a Curious Mind Takes a Scientific Approach
Brooklyn Eagle 4/1
It’s a perspective that (Executive Assistant District Attorney Linda) Wancel keenly understands, having received her undergraduate degree from Fordham University…