LIU Officials Vow Writers Conference Will Survive

BY OLIVIA WINSLOW
STAFF WRITER
July 23, 2005

Even if Long Island University sells its East End campus, officials say they plan to continue the Southampton Graduate Campus Writers Conference, a 30-year event that got under way this week featuring lectures from nationally known writers such as "Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt, playwrights, poets and essayists.

The conference, which started Wednesday and runs through July 31, has attracted about 115 participants from all over the country, said conference director Robert Reeves. He said the conference has "always had a waiting list," and this year was no exception.

While the lectures are for those registered for the conference, two events are open to the public. On Monday at 8 p.m., the play "Caraboo, A true fairy tale," featuring Tony nominee Celia Keenan Bolger and Joe Cassidy, will be performed in the college's Avram Theater. Tickets, $45 for the general public and $30 for senior citizens, can be obtained by calling 631-287-8175.

Conference lecturers will read upcoming works in another public event, which is free, called the "Splendor in the Grass: Gala Reading." It is scheduled for July 29, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the campus lawn.\

While Southampton's undergraduate programs will move to LIU's C.W. Post campus in Brookville this fall, its graduate programs, including the master's of fine arts in English & Writing and education and a new certificate program in homeland security, will remain.

Already, $35 million in state funds has been set aside for Stony Brook to acquire the Southampton campus. If that happens, "We will continue to keep our graduate presence on the East End on that campus," said LIU spokeswoman Paola Curcio-Kleinman. "We are building our [graduate] programs out there."

Writers Conference Going Strong

By COURTNEY ALLISON
SOUTHAMPTON PRESS
July 21, 2005

The Southampton Graduate Campus Writers Conference will take place this year from July 20 to 31, attracting a roster of speakers and prolific authors from the literary world to discuss the craft with aspiring writers. And if it's anything like last year's edition, local author and conference speaker Roger Rosenblatt expects to drink too much with Frank McCourt and regale audiences with a selection of songs.

"We know the words to enough old songs than anybody else does, or cares to," said Mr. Rosenblatt, a professor at Southampton Graduate Campus and author of "The Rules For Aging," as well as numerous essays for Time magazine. "The more singing, the better."

This familial, friendly atmosphere is part of what keeps students and authors coming back each year, according to conference director Robert Reeves, who estimates that about a third of the students are returning members. "There are always familiar faces," said Mr. Reeves.

But it is also an intense experience that is focused on the writing, he emphasized. This intensity is what forges lasting friendships between faculty and students and makes each year like a family reunion.

Returning faculty include Melissa Bank, author of the best-selling "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing," and the recently published "Wonder Spot," who will teach the fiction workshop.

"I am really looking forward to it. It's a great conference, and the people in it are amazing," the author said from her home in Sag Harbor, referring to both the writers who teach and the students. "And it doesn't hurt that it's by the beach."

Poet Billy Collins joins the conference for a fifth time, and other attendees include Frank McCourt, Bharati Mukherjee, Susan Kinsolving and Matt Klam. Marsha Norman-whose new musical, "Caraboo," will be performed as part of the conference on Monday, July 25, in the Avram Theater-will teach the play-writing workshop.

As part of the Southampton Graduate Campus Writing Program, the conference provides a forum for authors of all genres and levels of professional accomplishment to study, discuss and enhance their writing. Through workshops, lectures, readings, and small-group discussions, the conference aims to offer inspiration and guidance to new and established writers, teachers, editors and auditors.

The main work of the conference takes place in writing workshops focusing on the novel, the short story, poetry, plays, the literary essay, and the memoir. Workshop class sizes are kept small, and sessions meet for two hours on alternate mornings throughout the two-week period. The alternate days are devoted to lectures featuring faculty members and leading authors.

In creating her fiction workshop, Ms. Bank takes cues from the writing of her students and tries to create an environment that she herself would like to be in.

"I think, generally, writing is kind of a lonely business, and so I think what you generally try to do in a workshop is try to make it not so lonely," said Ms. Bank. "I emphasize a sense of community and trust, and helping each writer to find his or her own voice and material. I think sometimes that's the harder thing-to find what you should be writing about."

Though this year's conference takes place in the wake of the relocation of the undergraduate program at Southampton Graduate Campus, Mr. Reeves said it will not affect the success of the conference. "There are so many people who love it, and it will go forward accordingly," he said.

Students hail from places as far as Holland or as nearby as Southampton Graduate Campus, where the MFA in English and Writing program still exists. They range in age from young adults in their early 20s to 75-year-olds, each with a variety of different experiences, but one shared goal: writing

"Once you translate life into words, the commonality is far greater," said Mr. Reeves, noting that there is no sense of generation gap. "It's amazing. All these people speak the same language and are driven by the same ambition. They care about the same things."

The writing, he said, is what the conference about. "I'm very proud of the fact that we've carved out the identity that it's really about writing. It's a writer's writer's conference," said the director.

Students have left the conference and gone on to publish novels, according to Mr. Reeves. Many write him letters saying it was a "life-changing experience." But he's careful not to take too much credit.

"They come to us talented, we give them a situation in which they can flourish," he said.

Veteran authors, too, benefit from the conference. Mr. Rosenblatt began work on his first novel after spending time with writers like Margaret Atwood and other novelists at past conferences. "It has to do with being in the company of the other writers, and listening to how well they do what they do," explained the author.

Like Mr. Rosenblatt, Ms. Bank enjoys the collegiality that has developed among writers, all big names in their field, that attend. "Everyone's really relaxed. Nobody puts on airs or tries to be the smarter writer," she said.

As much as Mr. Rosenblatt looks forward to the social aspects of the conference, he is clear that what brings them together is a mutual desire to help writers hone their skills.

"None of this would matter if we didn't do what we said that we would do. In the center of all this activity, the student writes a little better when he or she leaves than when they entered. If that doesn't happen in those 12 days, we're not doing our job," he said. "It's very easy to be entertaining, and the area is beautiful out here, but the central work is making sure that whatever somebody needs from writing, we provide it."

Norman's Musical Fairy Tale

By COURTNEY ALLISON
SOUTHAMPTON PRESS
July 21, 2005

East End resident Marsha Norman won't need to travel far to join this year's Southampton Graduate Campus Writers Conference, where her new musical, "Caraboo," will be performed in the Avram Theater at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 25. The award-winning playwright, the author of "'Night Mother" and "The Secret Garden," will also teach a workshop in playwriting, and is looking forward to the upcoming event.

"I love that I don't have to go away to do some teaching in the summer. Usually I rent my house and have to go somewhere. This year I get to keep my house and stay close," she said in a telephone interview this week.

The musical, dubbed a "true fairy tale," is based on an 1817 narrative by Matthew Gutch about a mysterious, beautiful woman who appears in the English countryside speaking in an undecipherable tongue. The woman, who is actually a servant girl, cons the class-conscious society around her into believing she is a princess. The 1994 film based on the tale, "Princess Caraboo," starred Kevin Kline. Unlike the film version, told from a male point of view, Ms. Norman chose to tell the story from the perspective of the young woman herself.

"We liked the picture of this woman in this society that was so closed to her," said lyricist Beth Blatt, who shares Ms. Norman's enthusiasm for the material. "The show has grown a lot as we discover our own vision, taking the truth and interpreting it into a story we think is important to tell."

Drawn to the account by its inherent dramatic and Dickensian elements, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Ms. Norman took the opportunity to tap into a popular mythological conceit that she still sees around her in pop culture today, in something as prevalent as E! Entertainment.

"I was interested in it because of that need we all have for that princess, fairy tale life," Ms. Norman said. "My son was listening to Paris Hilton's pod-cast the other day, where she talks about seven days in her life, and I just thought 'This is the same thing.'"

But as Ms. Norman pointed out, Caraboo doesn't have a press agent or publicist to navigate 19th century England for her, relying only on her own wits to make her way in the world. "That's what I love about the story. She just realizes that she has suffered enough and is willing to try anything," she said. The stakes were high: back then, a person caught impersonating royalty could be hung.

"It's an incredible tale of strength," said composer Jenny Giering. "The spin that Marsha put on the story has made it a girl-power story, which is really what drew me in."

And no musical would be complete without a love story, which the creators promise to deliver. "Two characters meet up, wanting to play the same game but for different reasons. It's a very traditional, satisfying, big musical theater love story," Ms. Blatt said.

Ms. Norman knew for a long time that she wanted to make the story into a musical and turned to Ms. Blatt and Ms. Giering, the writing/composing team of "The Mistress Cycle," whom she met in a previous business venture that didn't pan out. The three got along well and were interested in working together on another project.

According to Ms. Blatt, working on "Caraboo" was a highly collaborative affair. "Getting the three of us around a table is just fun," she said. "My favorite line of Marsha's is 'Wouldn't it be fun if ...?', which is a great way to approach the process. And Jenny (Giering) just writes beautiful, unique music."

"The music strengthens the heart of the story, and makes it highly emotional and funny," said Ms. Giering, whom Ms. Norman describes as "one of the most gifted young composers in America."

Ms. Norman is also thrilled with the cast for the reading on July 25, which includes Celia Keenan-Bolger ("Spelling Bee"), Joe Cassidy, Sally Wilfert, Andrew Lippa, Alexandra Carlson and Elizabeth Stanley.

"I love musicals and the thrill of hearing big, human voices in that world," said Ms. Norman, whose list of favorites includes "West Side Story" and "Carousel."

"I find it to be just profound," the playwright said. "The power of music to change you is unparalleled."

"Caraboo" by Marsha Norman, will be presented at the Avram Theater on Monday, July 25, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45. Call 287-8175.

College To Offer Security Course

By CHRISTOPHER HENDERSON
SOUTHAMPTON PRESS
July 21, 2005

Long Island University will launch one of the first homeland security graduate programs in the country this fall with the opening of its Homeland Security Management Institute based at Southampton Graduate Campus.

The institute, which will be directed by retired New York Police Department sergeant and Fulbright Scholar Vincent Henry, will offer its entire program online for students throughout the country.

"The program will address the needs of busy homeland security professionals," Dr. Henry said. "The nature of their work means their lives don't have the predictability to be able to be in Room 206 at 8 p.m. every Tuesday. The online program allows for a flexibility of scheduling."

The institute will focus on the management aspect of homeland security by offering five different courses: Introduction to Homeland Security Management, Constitutional Issues in Homeland Security Management, Domestic and International Terrorism, the Intelligence Function in Homeland Security Management, and Homeland Security and the Private Sector. Participating students will be eligible to receive a graduate certificate in Homeland Security Management from Southampton Graduate Campus.

"Most homeland security programs are at the community college level; there are very few graduate programs," said Dr. Henry who lives in Southampton. "None of them have the features that ours will have."

Dr. Henry said the primary distinguishing factor for the Southampton program will be its faculty, whose members combine high level academic credentials with firsthand work experience in homeland security. Among the instructors at the institute will be Daniel Oates, the chief of police in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a retired NYPD chief of intelligence; Leo G. Callaghan, special counsel to the NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence; Keith Bryett, a retired detective sergeant from the Queensland Police Service in Australia and the author of six books on terrorism and law enforcement; and Frank Straub, the public safety commissioner in White Plains, New York.

In addition to the credentialed faculty, the institute's board of advisors includes several well-known law enforcement professionals including William Bratton, the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and Joseph Fuentes, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

College Gives Degrees to Local Residents

By CHRISTOPHER HENDERSON
SOUTHAMPTON PRESS
June 9, 2005

At its commencement ceremony on May 22, Southampton Graduate Campus honored a series of individuals with honorary degrees.

Former Southampton professor John “Ral” Welker was presented with an honorary doctorate in science, while current professor Robert Gerbereux and “60 Minutes” co-editor Steve Kroft received honorary doctorates in humane letters.

Mr. Gerbereux was the first to receive an honorary degree at the ceremony in front of Chancellor’s Hall. He was honored for his 39 years of employment at the school as a librarian and a professor. He currently serves as director of the college library, and will retire this year once the college’s undergraduate program moves to Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus in Brookville.

Next to receive his degree was Mr. Welker, who retired from the school in 1993. He was honored for being one of the founders of Southampton’s celebrated marine science program. The honorary degree comes on the heels of Mr. Welker’s receiving the 2004 Long Island University Environmental Leadership Award.

Following Mr. Welker to the podium was Mr. Kroft, who lives in Noyac. He was honored for his years of investigative reporting, including 25 years at CBS. The school awarded him a degree for covering socially relevant topics, ranging from the Chernobyl disaster to gasoline additive contaminants in groundwater.

“You inherit a great country,” Mr. Kroft said to the graduating class after receiving the degree. “Try not to screw it up more than it’s already screwed up.”

In addition to the honorary degrees, the school recognized two alumni for successes in their careers following their education at Southampton. Kate Hutchinson, the vice president of marketing for Citrix and Frank Iovino, vice president and general manager of Cingular Wireless Washington/Baltimore, were both honored with the annual Distinguished Alumni Award.

Ms. Hutchinson earned a bachelor’s degree in marine science from the school in 1984, before completing a master’s degree at San Francisco State University and entering the biotech industry. Mr. Iovino earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Southampton in 1981, before joining the Xerox corporation as a copier salesman. He later joined AT&T Wireless as the sales director for Long Island, and was eventually promoted to his current position.

The school also recognized two teachers for their work in the past year. Peter Solow of the Sag Harbor School District received the Secondary School Teacher of the Year Award and Southampton Schools teacher Dr. Linda Bausch was given the David Newton Teaching Excellence Award.

Local Woman Gets Top Honor

By CHRISTOPHER HENDERSON
SOUTHAMPTON PRESS
May 26, 2005

The valedictorian of Southampton Graduate Campus’s final undergraduate class did not have to travel far to earn her degree: Bridgehampton native Wendy Bennett graduated at the top of her class on Sunday with a 3.98 grade point average.

The English major spoke to a record 457 students and their families at commencement ceremonies in front of Chancellor’s Hall. She quoted T.S. Eliot by urging her fellow graduate to “not cease from exploration.”

Ms. Bennett recognized professors William Roberson and Richard Malone for helping her throughout her academic career at Southampton Graduate Campus. “I could not have done it without their constant attention and encouragement,” said Ms. Bennett.

Following graduation, Ms. Bennett will continue her education, like so many Southampton Graduate Campus undergraduates, at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus. She will begin study on a master’s degree in library science there in the fall.

5 Graduates Win Frankel Awards

SOUTHAMPTON PRESS
May 26, 2005

Five students in the Marine Science Program at Southampton Graduate Campus of Long Island University have been awarded $4,000 scholarships by the Evan Frankel Foundation of East Hampton. The Foundation, which is made its first grant to students in the College’s Marine Science Program in 1997, has now awarded 77 scholarships for a total of $292,000.

This spring’s scholarship winners are Chelsea FitzSimons-Diaz of Placentia, California, Molly Fox of Crystal Lake, Illinois, Stephanie Grassia of McCook, Nebraska, Kasey Jacobs of Levittown, and Emily Kane of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

The Frankel Scholarships have allowed marine science students to pursue such diverse fields of study.

Following talks last year, Stony Brook University will take over marine science vessels, buildings

BY OLIVIA WINSLOW
STAFF WRITER
May 25, 2005

Months after agreeing in principle to Stony Brook University taking over the marine science program of Long Island University's Southampton College, Stony Brook and LIU announced plans yesterday to formally sign a three-year lease agreement.

The agreement, to be signed tomorrow, will enable Stony Brook to use Southampton's Marine Science Center, Natural Science Building and several marine research vessels.

The agreement was developed after LIU decided last June to shut down Southampton's undergraduate division this year, citing a growing deficit, and to relocate those programs, except marine science, to LIU's C.W. Post campus in Brookville in the fall.

Southampton's graduate program will remain on campus, along with the radio station, continuing education programs and a preschool program for children.

About 60 Southampton students have transferred for the fall semester to Stony Brook, which already had a graduate marine science program, and the university has hired three of Southampton's marine science faculty, officials have said.

Financial terms of the lease agreement were not disclosed yesterday. A news conference is planned for tomorrow, when university presidents Shirley Strum Kenny of Stony Brook and David Steinberg of LIU are to sign the agreement.

In a statement, both presidents hailed their partnership.Steinberg said, "Both institutions are nationally recognized for their marine science programs."

Kenny said, "This is a continuation of a long and highly productive relationship between Stony Brook and Southampton Graduate Campus that has included years of important research collaborations. The partnership between Stony Brook and Long Island University demonstrates how public and private universities can come together to meet the needs of their students.

"Stony Brook also is studying the feasibility of taking over the Southampton campus and establishing its own programs there.

Stony Brook has $30 million in state money for land acquisition of the campus and $5 million for infrastructure needs, but LIU trustees still have not announced how much they would seek for the 100-plus acre property, saying they were conducting valuations of the land.

Bittersweet end for Southampton grads

BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN
STAFF WRITER
May 23, 2005

Standing near the rear of a crowd of 1,000, Richard Fleming watched sadly yesterday as the school for which he played varsity basketball and graduated from three years ago held its final undergraduate commencement.

"It's sad," Fleming, 28, an entrepreneur in Fort Lee, N.J., said. "This is all we knew. This is our college experience. It's sad to see that it won't be here." Southampton Town Supervisor Patrick Heaney felt the same as he watched the Southampton Graduate Campus he knew and loved vanish forever.

It's bittersweet," Heaney said, as the college graduated a record 457 students during its 39th commencement. "I had to be here."

There were 310 undergraduates and 147 graduate students getting degrees from the college, a campus of Long Island University.

While a small graduate program will still operate in one or two buildings, the bulk of the campus is up for sale. Stony Brook University is interested in buying and operating it, and the State Legislature has put $30 million for acquiring the campus and $5 million for capital construction into Stony Brook's budget. But no price has been set by LIU and there is no money in the state budget to hire faculty or operate an undergraduate program there.

Everyone in the audience knew it. But there were no demonstrations yesterday, none of the displays that have been repeated since the closing was announced a year ago.

Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-Southampton), a commencement speaker, worked at Southampton Graduate Campus for 29 years, the last 17 as its provost, before being elected to Congress in 2002. "The temptation is to focus on the wounded, diminished college of the past year. That's not the image we should carry in our heart," he said. "This is a place of promise and hope, confident and resolute."

He reminded the students and their parents of the 38 Fulbright scholars Southampton Graduate Campus has produced, of the record of achievement of its sports teams, of the All For The Sea summer concerts which drew nearly 10,000 people and raised $1 million each year for the marine science program, a program that has been transferred to Stony Brook.

Southampton Graduate Campus Chancellor Robert F.X. Sillerman, a billionaire entrepreneur who has donated millions of dollars of his own money to the campus, took time out from his address to talk to the staff. "Many of you are out of work," he said. "At least a hundred of you have not found a job."

He gave them all his phone number. "If you need anything, you call me. If you need help to pay a bill, or insurance, just call me and we'll help you."

Then, Sillerman smiled. "Graduates, you're on your own," he added.

Some of the students graduating seemed surprised that their commencement was treated as just another graduation. "We should be going out with more of a bang," said Matthew Murphy, 21, of Pittsburgh, who will be going on to graduate school at Tufts University.

Bittersweet graduation ceremony held at Southampton Graduate Campus

News12.com, 5/22/05

SOUTHAMPTON - The last graduation ceremony at Southampton Graduate Campus was held Sunday before shutting their doors to undergraduates.

Due to budget problems, the undergraduate programs at the college are being moved to C.W. Post in the fall. College Chancellor Robert Sillerman says many have mixed feelings between sadness for the situation and happiness for the graduates. Graduates say they feel bad for people who will miss out on the family atmosphere they experienced at Southampton Graduate Campus.

The college’s famous marine-sciences program will now be run by Stony Brook and there will still be a few masters’ degree programs run from the Southampton Graduate Campus campus. Chancellor Sillerman says there are about 100 staff members who have not gotten new jobs.

Protests Are Halted For Commencement

By Christopher Henderson
Issue Date: Southampton Press 05-19-05

After a year of protesting the end of undergraduate education at Southampton Graduate Campus, graduating students say they will let this year’s commencement, scheduled for this Sunday, May 22, proceed without incident.

Both the student group Orphans of LIU and Save the College at Southampton, the not-for-profit consortium of alumni, faculty and community members, voted not to turn the college’s final graduation ceremony into a spectacle.

“It’s not a day to drag down the celebratory atmosphere by bringing up the tragedy of the closing,” said Kasey Jacobs, a member of Orphans of LIU, “We’ve asked Save the College at Southampton to do the same and to be respectful of the students graduating.”

Instead of a day of protest, the students will join others in celebrating the final graduating class of Southampton Graduate Campus’s undergraduate program. The featured speaker will be U.S. Representative Tim Bishop, who served as provost of the school for 17 years prior to his election to Congress.

Mr. Bishop, who began his career at Southampton Graduate Campus in 1973 as an admissions counselor, said that he has bittersweet emotions about being selected as the person to give the final address to graduates.

“The message that I will deliver is that Southampton Graduate Campus is a very special place,” Mr. Bishop said. “It has made a significant difference in the lives of many people and it has made a great contribution to the community at large. Everyone who has graduated from Southampton should be proud of their association with the school.”

Commencement this year will mark not only the end of the school year, but also the conclusion of the undergraduate education program at Southampton Graduate Campus. Long Island University, the college’s parent institution, will relocate the undergraduate program to its C.W. Post campus in the fall. The State University of New York at Stony Brook will take over the Southampton’s undergraduate Marine Science program next year.

Southampton Graduate Campus Provost Dr. Daniel Rodas said that Mr. Bishop is the right choice for the unique honor, because of his long association with the education institution.

“There are few people who have been as devoted to Southampton College as Congressman Tim Bishop,” Dr. Rodas said. “Not only did he serve the college for 29 years, he has continued to be a supporter and friend of the college throughout his tenure in Congress.”

Mr. Bishop will not be the only longtime Southampton Graduate Campus staff member on the stage this Sunday. The school will bestow honorary degrees to professors John “Ral” Welker and Robert Gerbereux. Mr. Welker, who retired from the school in 1993, was one of the primary designers of the school’s celebrated Marine Science program.

Mr. Gerbereux will retire from the school this year, after 39 years of service. He began as a reference librarian and served in many roles throughout the school before assuming his current position as library director.

“Many others on campus are equally deserving of this honor as a result of their years of dedication and loyalty to the school,” Mr. Gerbereux said. “I look at this graduation as a celebration of all the good we’ve accomplished, rather than an ending.”

“60 Minutes” co-editor Steve Kroft will also receive an honorary degree. Mr. Kroft, an Emmy-winning journalist who resides in Noyac, has covered everything from the Chernobyl disaster in Russia to AIDS patients in Cuba.

“It is fitting that Southampton Graduate Campus, which prides itself on producing socially responsible graduates, welcomes such a distinguished journalist to commencement,” Dr. Rodas said.

Many of this year’s graduates promised to continue this tradition by taking the school’s Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. The pledge states that graduates will “take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job [they] consider.”

Graduates will mark their commitment by wearing green ribbons at commencement.

The students’ social activism has been present on campus all year as they sought to bring attention to their own predicament at the school. They will take a break to honor the seniors at commencement, but their commitment to an undergraduate institution will not end with graduation, according to Nora Detweiler, a graduating senior and spokeswoman for SC.

“The perception is once we graduate, it’s over,” said Ms. Detweiler. “We’re not finished. We will continue to be active.”

Student Film Pays Tribute to Its Influences

By Christopher Henderson
Issue Date: Southampton Press 05-19-05

Southampton Graduate Campus student filmmakers Derrick Barbanti and Bobby Shortle love movies. So much so that their first feature length film, “Once Upon a Time in a Garage,” includes dozens of references to other movies.

There's a spoof of Quentin Tarantino's trunk shots, an opening that mimics the Star Wars movies, even a “Singin' in the Rain” sequence in front of a “Clockwork Orange” poster. Lines of dialogue are lifted from films as varied as “Back to the Future” and “The Graduate.”

“We were inspired to make this movie by other movies,” said Mr. Shortle. “We wanted to see what we could do on screen.”

The 90-minute film is the first ever completed by Southampton Graduate Campus students. It began as a short script that Mr. Shortle wrote for a screenwriting course a year and a half ago. Mr. Barbanti read it and urged him to expand it to a full-length movie. They developed the script together, rewriting it seven times, until neither remembered which lines came from which writer.

The project got shelved because of location problems until Mr. Shortle moved into the house he currently rents, which included a garage. In December, the pair asked Southampton theater professor Michael Disher to sponsor the film as their senior project. Mr. Disher, who had worked with both students on stage productions in the Avram Theater, agreed and pre-production began in earnest.

The filmmakers built a set in Mr. Shortle's garage, combining their own movie posters with furniture and props from the theater department to create an authentic home for their lead character, Charlie, a movie obsessed unemployed 20something looking for direction in his life. Windmill Video, where Mr. Barbanti works, provided the other main location.

The pair also used the resources available to them to find actors. Instead of holding auditions, they recruited their friends to play the supporting cast, while Mr. Shortle himself took on the role of Charlie. His parents stepped in to play Charlie's parents.

The film follows Charlie's daily routine as he blows off work, antagonizes his parents, and trades insults with his film geek friends and a platonic gal pal named Elyse. Everything changes when his parents demand that he finish a screenplay he's been working on by a certain date or be thrown out of their house. Elyse, played by Estelle Hallick, editor of the college newspaper, offers to help, but she has troubles of her own in the form of an alcoholic father and an estranged mother.

On the night before the screenplay is due, Elyse arrives at Charlie's garage to assist him in starting the script. Instead of writing, they spend the entire night talking about their families and their problems. By the time morning arrives, the screenplay remains unfinished, but the couple has fallen in love.

“We always say this movie is ‘Clerks' if it were directed by Cameron Crowe,” said Mr. Shortle.

Mr. Barbanti and Mr. Shortle shot the entire film on digital video sporadically over the course of five weeks in March and April. Mr. Barbanti served as director, while Mr. Shortle wore the producer's hat, in addition to his acting duties.

In order to cut costs, they used the school's camera, lights, and sound equipment. Crew was kept to a minimum as there were only minimal lighting setups and little in the way of on-location demands. Off-screen actors or friends who stopped by the set held the boom. Mr. Barbanti manned the camera for almost the entire film, even during his short cameo.

“No one else could have shot this movie, because no matter how awesome it looked, I would have had an aneurysm,” said Mr. Barbanti.

Shooting moved quickly as Mr. Barbanti knew what he wanted each shot to look like before production began. This enabled him to use a sizeable number of first takes. Still, making a film while going to class and working meant many late nights.

“The past week has been a little ridiculous,” Mr. Shortle said a week ago. “I get up in the morning to go to class or whatever. At 8 p.m. I'd go to Derrick's house and we'd edit stuff until 4 a.m. Then I'd get up and do it all over again.”

Since the film was shot on digital video, the filmmakers were able to shoot and edit the film at the same time. After a day of shooting they uploaded the footage into Mr. Barbanti's Apple G5 computer each night. As with the writing process, they cut the film collaboratively, but Mr. Barbanti had final say.

“The creative process in general is collaborative,” said Mr. Barbanti. “The more ideas you have, the more good ideas you have. Besides, anything he didn't like, I kept in.”

They premiered the film two weeks ago at the Avram Theater. Up until the Wednesday before, they were shooting pick-up shots and editing late into the night on Thursday to get the film done on time.

About 50 friends, faculty, and family members attended the opening screening and the pair had plans to show it again last Saturday at the theater. The audience at the premiere gave the filmmakers a standing ovation once the credits finished rolling. Mr. Shortle's mother called the film “spectacular.”

“That doesn't count: you're a mom,” said Mr. Barbanti.

Despite the positive reaction, the filmmakers have no immediate plans to seek out a wider audience. The film's pop music soundtrack prevents them from showing it outside the school without fear of a lawsuit. If the soundtrack is reworked, they left open the possibility of submitting it to film festivals.

They have other priorities right now. Both students will graduate later this month. Mr. Barbanti will then move to New York and start a job as a live events production assistant for Showtime Network. He will also try to find work as a freelance film editor on the side.

“I love to edit,” said Mr. Barbanti. “It's the only thing I know how to do. If it doesn't work out, I'm kind of screwed.”

Mr. Shortle will return to his parents' home in western Suffolk County. He will work and save money with hopes of applying to film school within a year. His creative plans include adapting “The Adventures of Huck Finn” into a “non-Disneyfied” script. Wherever he or his filmmaking partner end up, he hopes “Once Upon a Time in a Garage” is not their last collaboration.

“Derrick's stuff serves the stuff that I wrote very well,” said Mr. Shortle. “I'm pretty sure we'll work together again.”

Tim Bishop, the featured speaker at Southampton Graduate Campus' last undergraduate commencement

By Christopher Henderson
Issue Date: Southampton Press 5/12/05

The featured speaker at Southampton Graduate Campus' last undergraduate commencement will be the same man who served as provost of the school for 17 years prior to his election to Congress in 2002 U.S. Representative Tim Bishop.

Mr. Bishop, who began his career at Southampton Graduate Campus in 1973 as an admissions counselor, said this week that he has bittersweet emotions about being selected as the person to give the final address to graduates on Sunday, May 22.

The message that I will deliver is that Southampton Graduate Campus is a very special place, Mr. Bishop said. “It has made a significant difference in the lives of many people and it has made a great contribution to the community at large. Everyone who has graduated from Southampton should be proud of their association with the school.

Commencement this year will mark not only the end of the school year, but also the conclusion of the undergraduate education program at Southampton Graduate Campus. Long Island University, the college's parent institution, will relocate the undergraduate program to its C.W. Post campus in the fall. The State University of New York at Stony Brook will take over the Southampton's undergraduate Marine Science program next year.

Southampton Graduate Campus Provost Dr. Daniel Rodas said that Mr. Bishop is the right choice for the unique honor, because of his long association with the education institution.
“There are few people who have been as devoted to Southampton Graduate Campus as Congressman Tim Bishop, Dr. Rodas said. “Not only did he serve the college for 29 years, he has continued to be a supporter and friend of the college throughout his tenure in Congress.
Over his time at the college, Mr. Bishop was involved in nearly every administrative department. He served as director of financial aid, dean of enrollment services and dean of student services before being named provost in 1985. He left his post in 2002 to run for Congress.
Mr. Bishop's intimate connection to the school made him the ideal candidate to speak as the undergraduate program prepares to close it doors at Southampton, according to Dr. Rodas. “Congressman Bishop is an excellent choice because of his familiarity with the college, as well as some of its recent struggles, he said.

LIU Presence Will Remain at Campus

By Christopher Henderson
Southampton Press
1/5/05

Southampton Graduate Campus will not close this fall.

While it is true that the undergraduate program will move to Long Island University's C.W. Post campus, Southampton Graduate Campus' graduate school, the continuing education program, the children's school, and the radio station will remain open on the Shinnecock Hills campus.

In fact, the graduate school hopes to offer two new yet-to-be-approved programs. It also will offer additional courses in its two existing masters programs, writing and education, according to Chuck Hitchcock, the college's Dean of Graduate Studies.

“One of the things we keep hearing is that Southampton Graduate Campus is closing, said Mr. Hitchcock. “That's not quite true. The undergraduate program is making a transition to C.W. Post, but the college will be open in terms of the graduate program.

With LIU sticking with its plan to move all undergraduates to Post, and with the State University at Stony Brook and other educational institutions just beginning to study the possibility of reviving the undergraduate program, the future of the entire college is unknown. Mr. Hitchcock and Provost Dan Rodas refused to discuss the impact of a potential SUNY Stony Brook takeover on the graduate school, but they have aggressively combatted reports that the entire school will close in September 2005. Mr. Hitchcock went so far as to call a local radio station to correct a closure announcement made by a disc jockey.

“It has a chilling effect on our recruitment efforts for a new class, said Mr. Hitchcock. “That can only be a self-fulfilling prophecy for those who would want the institution closed. We are doubling our efforts to make sure we get our students enrolled here.

To attract graduate students for next year, the college launched an advertising campaign in December. The campaign will continue at an open house for prospective students on January 12. Mr. Hitchcock hopes these initiatives and the new courses will increase the number of graduate students from the current total of 225, as the undergraduates leave.

It remains to be seen what impact the closure of the undergraduate school will have on the graduate programs, but Mr. Hitchcock believes the effect will be minimal on the graduate education program, because 90 to 95 percent of those students are locals.

For those [undergraduate] students that live locally and are going to finish their undergraduate program out at Post, there is every likelihood that will return here if they want to go on for a master's in education, said Mr. Hitchcock.

The writing program will continue to recruit local and national students with its popular summer conference. The program's four faculty members will remain on the Southampton Graduate Campus campus, while the education program's professors will become Post faculty and teach at Southampton two-thirds of the time. The graduate school will continue to use Chancellor's Hall as its central location.

College's Book Fair Unites Authors of Many Varieties

By Christopher Henderson
4/28/05

Under normal circumstances, the man who has illustrated "Archie" comics for more than 30 years and a practicing Southampton doctor who writes medical thrillers in his precious spare time might never travel in the same literary circles.

On May 6, however, comic book artist Stan Goldberg and physician Peter Raia will be among the first-time participants at the 28th annual Meet the Writer’s Book Fair.

The event will once again be hosted by Southampton College, with the proceeds going to scholarships for graduate writing students and possible acquisitions for the school’s library. Dozens of East End authors will be talking with readers and signing their books from 4 in the afternoon to 7:30, with the only requirements for their participation being a connection to the East End and a published work from the past year.

Among them will be well-established authors like Mr. Goldberg, who summers in Hampton Bays; the self-published, like Dr. Raia, who practices on Jobs Lane; and even the very well-known, like playwright Joe Pintauro, this year’s recipient of the annual lifetime achievement award given by the Committee for the Steinbeck Project, which has overseen the annual Book Fair since its inception as an event at founder Elaine Benson’s gallery in Bridgehampton.

Mr. Pintauro, the author of "Snow Orchid," "State of Grace" and "Cold Hands," will fly back to the East End specifically for the Book Fair from Los Angeles, where one of his plays is being performed. The Steinbeck Prize has a special significance for him because he lived down the street in Sag Harbor from John Steinbeck before the legendary author passed away. He also became good friends with Mr. Steinbeck’s wife, Elaine, one of the founders of the prize and, until her death, one of the co-chairs of the committee.

"This award comes to me with the name of Steinbeck upon it, and it just makes me feel so touched, not only by the generosity of my peers to name me to it, but by John and Elaine ... It’s to [the East End] that I am most grateful, and the honor given me by people who understand where I am coming from," Mr. Pintauro said.

The area has served as an ideal working environment for Mr. Pintauro, who at one time taught playwriting at Southampton College and has participated in the college’s annual Writers Conference. He fondly remembers the East End of the 1950s and 1960s, a time before it became a summer haven for tourists and instead remained an isolated community at the end of Long Island.

"Toward the end of John’s life, I was sitting in the bay window of a wreck of a Victorian House putting imaginary characters into the then-world, hoping, believing, I was in the very place a writer should be, right at the cusp of America in miniature, where Native Americans worked as mechanics, European immigrants were growing up their children among the Pilgrims’ descendants, like haul-seining fishermen, blacks dating back to the whaling days–all here, hard-working children of the Depression, the then-America as far as I was concerned," said Mr. Pintauro. "The loneliness of being stuck out here was writers’ boot camp."

The place may have changed a bit since Mr. Steinbeck’s death in 1968, but it continues to inspire writers, such as Dr. Raia. The family practitioner self-published his second novel, "Alternative Transit," this past year. The book follows an emergency room doctor, his nurse and an aquarist as they unravel the mystery behind a series of teenage deaths. He uses Southampton as a setting and incorporates much of Long Island’s scientific and military history into his text.

"It’s a lot of fun," he said. "I’ve always felt I had really good stories to tell. I write a lot in the middle of the night."

He has been keeping this schedule for the past few years as he continues to work full-time. He will, however, take a break to participate in the Book Fair.

"I don’t consider myself in the ranks of the well-known authors who will be there," said Dr. Raia. "I feel very privileged to be taking part."

One of the better-known artists taking part in the Book Fair is equally awed by his participation in the event. For decades, Mr. Goldberg has illustrated "Archie" comic books, but this will be his first year signing books at Southampton.

"I may be more excited than some of the so-called true authors," said Mr. Goldberg. "I say ‘Wow’ when I see them, and they say ‘Wow’ when they see me."

Mr. Goldberg certainly will be a unique attraction for attendees paying $20 and expecting strictly novelists, poets and playwrights. But he said his craft, while a different medium, is equally about creating characters and telling stories. Mr. Goldberg said Stan Lee, the head of Marvel Comics, once challenged him early in his career to come up with 30 pages of illustration without a script. He forced Mr. Goldberg not only to come up with the images but the plot of the narrative as well.

"It made me a better storyteller," said Mr. Goldberg. "I became a writer, only I was telling the story in pictures."

He continues to draw nearly all the "Archie" publications, estimating he has illustrated more than 250 or the 560 issues. Despite the invention of computers and digital animation, he continues to draw daily in pencil. While his methods have remained old-fashioned, his sketches have not: He studies contemporary clothing trends and incorporates them into "Archie." A few years ago, he even created a six-page spread for The New York Times Magazine’s annual "Fashion of the Times" section using the "Archie" characters.

Despite the changes in fashion and culture since he began drawing the comic in the 1960s, the characters themselves have remained timeless. In order to bring them to life, Mr. Goldberg maintains their distinctive personalities without using words.

"Each character walks differently and talks differently," he said. "Jughead doesn’t walk like Archie. Betty and Veronica don’t dress the same, stand the same, or talk the same."

Mr. Goldberg and his characters may draw a younger crowd to this year’s fair, increasing the popularity of one of the college’s signature events. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the college’s undergraduate program, the Steinbeck Committee plans to continue the event at the school as long as the writing program exists in some form.

Kimberly Goff, co-chair of the committee and the daughter of Elaine Benson, said her group has continued to raise funds for the Book Fair and are proceeding as they would in any other year. Southampton Provost Dr. Daniel Rodas said there are no plans at this time to discontinue the fair for 2006 and beyond. It is among the issues that the college administration will discuss in the coming months as the school takes stock of its plans for next year.

Carol Gilbert, the college’s director of alumni and the chief organizer of the Book Fair at the school, said she is concentrating on the success of the 2005 event.

"I want to make sure that the 2005 event is the biggest and best event it can be," said Ms. Gilbert, who is also a member of the Steinbeck Committee. "It is the best insurance that we’ll have it in 2006."

Book Fair To Mark 28th Year at College

The Southampton Press
04/21/05

Scores of local writers with new books will meet the public and autograph their works at Southampton Graduate Campus’s 28th annual Meet the Writers Book Fair on Friday, May 6.

Admission to the event, which will run from 4 to 7:30 p.m. in a tent at Chancellors Hall at Southampton Graduate Campus, is $20. Some of the attending authors include Southampton Graduate Campus professor Kaylie Jones, renowned children’s author Edith Kunhardt and forensic archeologist Charles Pellegrino.

Ms. Jones, who has five novels under her belt, has been instrumental in the formation of the Master of Fine Arts program at the college. Her novels have been translated into many languages, including German, French, Japanese and Italian. Her most recent work, "Speak Now," will be available for purchase at the fair, long considered one of the opening events of the summer season.

Ms. Kunhardt became acquainted with the world of children’s literature at a very young age, when her mother created the famous interactive book, "Pat the Bunny," for her in 1940. Edith herself has written 64 books for children since her debut in 1982, illustrating 16 of them herself.

In addition to the "Pat" series she has produced a number of career-oriented books, including "I’m Going to be a Firefighter" and "I’m Going to be a Farmer."

In the past decade, Mr. Pellegrino has written six books on subjects that range from the lost city of Thera to what would happen if all insects suddenly became extinct. His career as a scientist has drawn him to write about subjects of past and present civilizations, rockets, and legends. Two of his recent publications, "Ghosts of the Titanic" and "Ghosts of Vesuvius," will be on display.

East End writers who have had a book published since last May or those who will soon have a book published and who are interested in participating in this year’s event should call Carol Gilbert at (631) 287-8347.

Playwright, poet and novelist Joe Pintauro will be the 17th recipient of the Steinbeck award, which is presented at the Book Fair. His most recent play, "Beautiful Dreamer," explores the life of the only woman to receive a congressional medal of honor during the Civil War.

Past recipients of the award include E.L. Doctorow, Lanford Wilson, Peter Matthiessen, Kurt Vonnegut, Terrence McNally, Betty Friedan, David Ignatow, Wilfred Sheed, Edward Albee, James Salter, Susan Isaacs, Dava Sobel, Kenneth Koch, Gregory Rebassa, Tom Wolfe and Robert Caro.

Since its inception in 1977, the Book Fair has raised funds to support student writing awards and scholarships, acquisitions for the college library, and the John Steinbeck Writers Room, located in the Southampton Graduate Campus library. It continues to fill this crucial niche by providing funds for graduate scholarships for tomorrow’s best-sellers as they continue to enroll in the acclaimed MFA. program.

Activist Dies Fulfilling Life’s Work

By Kathryn Georgette
The Independent, 4/20/05

She was there to aid civilians whose lives had been ravaged by the war in Iraq, and became a casualty of the conflict.

Marla Ruzicka, 28, an activist traveling to visit with an injured Iraqi child, was killed on the road to Baghdad airport on Saturday when a suicide bomber reportedly set its sights on a convoy of U.S. security contractors passing her vehicle. Faiz Al Salaam, Ruzicka’s co-worker at the not-for-profit The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict Worldwide, was also killed.

Ruzicka, a former Friends World Program student at Southampton College, was in Iraq completing door-to-door surveys of civilian casualties in the region as a part of CIVIC’s mission to work with the U.S. government in aiding communities which have suffered in the course of military conflicts. She also sought to bring the human cost of war to the forefront of the public’s consciousness through her work.

The news sent a shockwave through the country and the Friends World community after early reports were released by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "There are precious few who have the courage to stand up and demand justice for all the victims of conflict wherever they may be," said April Pedersen, a former Friends World student and US Campaign Manager for CIVIC in a written statement. "This troubled world cannot afford to lose people like them." Before returning to Iraq in March, Ruzicka made Pedersen promise to continue CIVIC’s work.

Passion

Ruzicka’s passion for activism was born in high school, in Lakeport, California, while working with the human rights group Global Exchange. She entered the Friends World Program, which is based at Southampton Graduate Campus, in 1995.

Laurie Fasolino, a fellow student, recalled, "She was so excited at the prospect of the program. She could hardly keep up with her own words. Maybe there was something in her heart that told her she didn’t have much time on this earth because she was always so passionate, so gung ho about everything she was learning. She was even willing to give up her life for a cause."

Despite Ruzicka’s intense ambition, many students, including Fasolino, recall her sunny personality, even in the face of dire battles. "She was radiant," said Fasolino. "Always happy, even through she was fighting through terrible circumstances."

Known for enjoying the simple joys of life, like dancing and swimming, Ruzicka never let the sometimes dark world she worked in take over her life. "Marla never forgot to have fun and was always the life of the party," said Pedersen. "She had an incredible knack for making friends everywhere she went. Human rights workers, journalists, and many others have been bolstered by her spirit and drive."

Dedicated
"I remember her smile and excitement having just returned from Zimbabwe where she was doing research on AIDS," said former Friends World student Tami Farber in a written address to the Friends World community. Ruzicka also studied at the Middle East Center in Jerusalem, taking an internship at the Ibda Children’s Center in the Deheisheh refugee camp.

It was these experiences that gave Ruzicka the impetus to found CIVIC, campaigning with Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy to successfully get Congress to allocate millions of dollars to aid civilian victims in war torn nations like Iraq.

"She truly dedicated her life to global citizenship," said Friends World Dean, Robert Glass, in a written statement. "Let us all be inspired by her passionate commitment to making a difference in the world."

Congressman Tim Bishop, Provost at Southampton Graduate Campus during Ruzicka’s tenure there said, "The fact that she was in Iraq was not surprising to me given the ethos of Friends World students. Tackling a world problem is the philosophy of those students."

A tribute was paid on the floor of the Senate yesterday in Washington. A funeral service will be held on Saturday in Lakeport at St. Mary’s Church, with a Washington D.C. memorial planned for April 30, at a location to be announced at a later date

A Gathering Of Writers Supports Conference

By Christopher Henderson
Southampton Press 4/14/05

The troubles of Southampton Graduate Campus–which is fast approaching the day when it is slated to lose its undergraduate identity–were literally miles away from the standing room only crowd gathered at the annual fund-raiser in Manhattan last Wednesday for the school’s summer writing conference.

The audience at the French Institute Alliance Francaise enjoyed readings by such conference stars as Christopher Durang, Roger Rosenblatt, and Jules Feiffer, as the literati raised money for the conference’s scholarship fund. As part of the festivities, this year’s edition of the conference poster, an illustration by New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, was unveiled by conference director Robert Reeves.

The amount of money raised was not immediately known because donations are still being collected. In years past the event has raised about $40,000. Organizers hoped for similar numbers this year from among the 125 audience members.

"It went well," said Mr. Reeves. "It has always been a time off-season when our group gets together. It is a way to say thanks to the people who have supported us."

The theme of the night was, as it has been for many years, "Laughter and Literature." In all, eight authors read from their work, including two current Southampton graduate students: Jake Gosselin and Nicki Reno. Each reader was introduced by host David Rakoff, a regular contributor to Public Radio International and a guest speaker at this year’s conference. He told the authors to keep their remarks short or face the threat of an angry Frenchman coming down from the institute upstairs.

The audience, which included LIU President David Steinberg, Southampton Provost Dan Rodas and several Southampton students, laughed throughout the evening as the authors shared their work. Highlights included Ms. Reno reading an essay chronicling her attempts to find lingerie. She questioned with Seinfeldian deadpan whether intimate apparel carries that identifying label because it will be seen only just before an "intimate" encounter or because it is worn so close to the body.

She was followed by Mr. Durang, the celebrated playwright and Broadway veteran who brought a new work to the college for a staged reading last summer. He read from his play "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls," a parody of the Tennessee Williams drama, "The Glass Menagerie." In the sendup, Laura has become Laurence, who now fakes his ailments and collects glass swizzle sticks instead of glass animals.

Next up to the podium was Mr. Feiffer, the writer and cartoonist who designed the 2002 conference poster. He read a passage from his latest children’s book, "Room with a Zoo," about a young girl, based on his daughter, who is taking her pet cat on its first car ride complete with vomiting and a stop for cleaning supplies.

The evening concluded with Mr. Reeves unveiling the poster for this year’s conference, continuing the tradition of having a famous cartoonist design the graphic signature for each year’s event. Mr. Feiffer, Gary Trudeau, and Ed Koren have created previous posters.

This year’s poster, drawn by Roz Chast, shows a colorful beach hut entitled "Bob’s Writing Shack" that is divided into multiple panels across the front of the hut detailing various aspects of the conference.

The poster will greet students, faculty and visitors at the 2005 conference, which will run from July 21 to 30. This year’s faculty includes most of the usual suspects from previous years. Among the returning faculty will be Billy Collins, the former U.S poet laureate, "Angela’s Ashes" author Frank McCourt, and "The Middlemen" author Bharati Mukherjee.

Mr. Durang will teach playwriting and Mr. Rosenblatt will once again offer a course in literary essay writing. Guest speakers will include Joyce Carol Oates, Annette Gordon-Reed and Lou Ann Walker.

The popular conference has so far not been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the future of Southampton Graduate Campus and its undergraduate program. According to Mr. Reeves, because of the conference’s national following, the annual event has been "inoculated" from the problems facing the rest of the school.

"We have an enormous amount of momentum," he said. "A lot of people involved in the conference are not really aware of [the problems at Southampton]–They’re not as familiar a story for them as it is for us."

Southampton Graduate Campus By Beth Young
2/17/05 February 2005

Though Southampton Graduate Campus' undergraduate programs will be shutting their doors as of this fall, the graduate program at the school is hoping to continue to expand.

According to Graduate Program Director Charles Hitchcock, two new Masters Programs are in the works at the school.

The first is an education-related master's degree that would complement the three already offered by the college in elementary education, literacy education and special education.
Hitchcock was tight-lipped about the exact nature of the two new programs, which have not yet received state approval.

"The education program passed the faculty last spring," he said. "The dilemma is that new program needs to be vetted through the C.W. Post faculty. Now it has to go through the education faculty at Post. We hope to get it up to the state by April or May." Sources say the program will be on applied behavior analysis, a behavior modification practice.

The second program is an online course, a first for the college.

"We have one program proposal at the state education department," said Hitchcock. "It's been there six weeks now. It's the first time a program has been set up by LIU to be entirely online and it's taking a little longer in reviewing it. We're hoping to hear in two to three weeks." According to sources, the program relates to homeland security.

As the graduate department prepares for the end of the undergraduate programs at Southampton Graduate Campus, officials worry that enrollment at the graduate level will suffer.

"There's been so much publicity about the college closing, we've had some students here with us in the fall who have transferred to Dowling," said Hitchcock. "What we're attempting to do is make a concerted effort to make an outreach to the community. It's the first orchestrated effort to reach out to residents of the East End to create the pool of applicants that we need."

There are currently 210 students in the entire graduate program at Southampton Graduate Campus, which includes the three education degrees and the school's popular MFA program in writing.

In a normal year, 60 to 80 students would apply for the fall program. But the school's rolling admissions policy makes it difficult to tell just who will apply and when.

"We have 10 to 12 students now but we usually have 15 to 20," said Hitchcock. "We're running a little late, but we're hopeful."

In the writing program two faculty members teach full-time and a circle of eight authors teach courses every second or third semester. The college hopes to continue to staff the program in that manner, and also to continue its summer writer's workshop.

The education faculty, which currently teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses at Southampton, will transfer to C.W. Post and teach two classes apiece at Southampton and one at Post.

Most of the courses will be held in the college's newest building, Chancellor's Hall, which will also house the undergraduate marine science program overseen by SUNY Stony Brook. One other yet-to-be-determined building will be operated by the graduate program, and the current library on campus is also expected to stay open.

Housing, however, will be unavailable for any students at the school.

Book Fair To Mark 28th Year at College

East Hampton Star
April 21, 2005-04-21

Scores of local writers with new books will meet the public and autograph their works at Southampton Graduate Campus’s 28th annual Meet the Writers Book Fair on Friday, May 6.

Admission to the event, which will run from 4 to 7:30 p.m. in a tent at Chancellors Hall at Southampton Graduate Campus, is $20. Some of the attending authors include Southampton Graduate Campus professor Kaylie Jones, renowned children’s author Edith Kunhardt and forensic archeologist Charles Pellegrino.

Ms. Jones, who has five novels under her belt, has been instrumental in the formation of the Master of Fine Arts program at the college. Her novels have been translated into many languages, including German, French, Japanese and Italian. Her most recent work, "Speak Now," will be available for purchase at the fair, long considered one of the opening events of the summer season.

Ms. Kunhardt became acquainted with the world of children’s literature at a very young age, when her mother created the famous interactive book, "Pat the Bunny," for her in 1940. Edith herself has written 64 books for children since her debut in 1982, illustrating 16 of them herself.

In addition to the "Pat" series she has produced a number of career-oriented books, including "I’m Going to be a Firefighter" and "I’m Going to be a Farmer."

In the past decade, Mr. Pellegrino has written six books on subjects that range from the lost city of Thera to what would happen if all insects suddenly became extinct. His career as a scientist has drawn him to write about subjects of past and present civilizations, rockets, and legends. Two of his recent publications, "Ghosts of the Titanic" and "Ghosts of Vesuvius," will be on display.

East End writers who have had a book published since last May or those who will soon have a book published and who are interested in participating in this year’s event should call Carol Gilbert at (631) 287-8347.

Playwright, poet and novelist Joe Pintauro will be the 17th recipient of the Steinbeck award, which is presented at the Book Fair. His most recent play, "Beautiful Dreamer," explores the life of the only woman to receive a congressional medal of honor during the Civil War.

Past recipients of the award include E.L. Doctorow, Lanford Wilson, Peter Matthiessen, Kurt Vonnegut, Terrence McNally, Betty Friedan, David Ignatow, Wilfred Sheed, Edward Albee, James Salter, Susan Isaacs, Dava Sobel, Kenneth Koch, Gregory Rebassa, Tom Wolfe and Robert Caro.

Since its inception in 1977, the Book Fair has raised funds to support student writing awards and scholarships, acquisitions for the college library, and the John Steinbeck Writers Room, located in the Southampton College library. It continues to fill this crucial niche by providing funds for graduate scholarships for tomorrow’s best-sellers as they continue to enroll in the acclaimed MFA. program.

Colonials End Season On Top

By Kathryn Georgette
The Independents

When that certain Lady finally sung her song for Southampton Graduate Campus’s Lady Colonial basketball team last weekend, it couldn’t have been on a more bittersweet note. Playing not only their last game of the season, but also the last game ever to be played by a Southampton College basketball team, the Lady Colonials won the ECAC championship on Saturday by defeating Philadelphia University 68-63.

The night before the fourth seeded Lady Colonials beat number one seed Bloomfield, 71-68. In September Southampton’s undergraduate program is being moved to the campus of sister College C.W. Post, which means the end of an athletics program at Southampton. What made Saturday’s championship game victory so special was that it was played with guts, determination, and against all odds.

On Saturday Southampton could only field seven players, a far cry from the 12-strong roster that had been retained and recruited prior to June 2004, when the transfer of the undergraduate program was announced. With the announcement the top recruits jumped ship, not relishing playing one season at Southampton and then needing to find a new home. What remained were a few talented freshman recruits and a core of last season’s players.

Then, five games into the season more bad news. Head Coach Pat McGunnigle walked and shortly after two players, one a senior co-captain, also left. Left behind were eight gutsy players and new coach Cassie Arroyo, Southampton’s softball coach, who had never coached a college level basketball game. All rhyme and reason said it should have been farther downhill from there, but the opposite happened. The team went on a 7-1 run, stumbled with 0-4 after two players sustained injuries, and then finished the regular season winning four of five. The Southampton Lady Colonials ended their season 18-12 with the players holding the ECAC trophy and the pride of the Southampton basketball program over their heads.

Going out in style

CHRIS ANTONACCI
March 13, 2005

Southampton women's basketball coach Cassie Arroyo delivered a heartfelt message to her players before the program's final game yesterday.

"We told them this is it. There is no tomorrow. There is no next year," Arroyo told her team.

Thus inspired, fourth-seeded Southampton went out a winner by defeating No. 2 Philadelphia, 68-63, in the ECAC Division II final at Bucky Harris Gymnasium in Philadelphia. It was Southampton's second straight ECAC title.

Southampton (18-12) will relocate to C.W. Post, a fellow Long Island University member, in September.

"It's awesome," Arroyo said of the victory. "The kids have been through so much, but they came in and did such a great job."

Arroyo, also the sports information director at the college, replaced Pat McGunnigle, who resigned as coach five games into the season.

Junior guard Amber Gooden made two free throws to give Southampton a 65-61 lead with 1:38 left. Senior Kiley Lapointe stole an inbounds pass, then made a layup to provide the final margin with four seconds left.

Sophomore Sarah Mahan received tournament MVP honors with 13 points and six rebounds. Lapointe had 15 points and five rebounds, and freshman Danielle Castelli had 14 points and six rebounds.

Megan Zoltek's 15 points led Philly (20-13).

Southampton, which built a 31-22 halftime lead, upset top-seeded Bloomfield (N.J.), 71-68, on Friday.

Southampton overcame a sprained ankle suffered by sophomore point guard Leah Getz, who played 16 minutes. She suffered the injury with 10 minutes left against Bloomfield.

All this for a team that dressed seven players.

"This is such a great feeling," Arroyo said in a raspy tone. "To end it this way is absolutely amazing."

Avram Hosts Sire-Specific Show

A Big Prize For Pintauro

Playwright, poet and novelist Joe Pintauro has already rubbed elbows with documentary guru George Stoney and actors Ian McKellan, Calista Flockhart, Olympia Dukakis and Melissa Joan Hart. As of May 6, 2005, he will be able to walk among the country’s top authors and scholars as the winner of the prestigious annual Steinbeck Award conferred by Southampton Graduate Campus.

Past recipients of the award include E.L. Doctorow, Kurt Vonnegut, Betty Friedan and Tom Wolfe.

Mr. Pintauro will be the 17th recipient of the award when Southampton College hosts the 28th annual Meet the Writers Book Fair on May 6, from 4 to 7:30 p.m.

"I’m very excited about it," Mr. Pintauro said. "One of the things that made it so interesting is that ... I was in Los Angeles with a group called the Pacific Theatre Company and they had a production of ‘Of Mice and Men’ while I was there. Having seen that wonderful production of that play and having been so close to his work, to hear about this award just overwhelms me," Mr. Pintauro said.

The acclaimed author of two novels, "State of Grace" and "Cold Hands," he has also published several volumes of poetry. Among his plays are his debut, "Snow Orchid," "Raft of the Medusa," "Beside Herself," "By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea," "Men’s Lives," "Heaven and Earth," "The Dead Boy," "Wild Blue" and "Salvation."

Another work, "Beautiful Dreamer," explores the life of the only woman to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War.

His work has been performed at the Vineyard Theatre in Manhattan, Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor and the Circle Repertory and Gate Nottinghill theaters in London. His plays have attracted actors Calista Flockhart and Melissa Joan Hart, who both performed in "Beside Herself," Ian McKellan, who performed in "The Dead Boy," and Olympia Dukakis, who starred in "Snow Orchid."

After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Manhattan College and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Jerome’s College in Ontario, he taught fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence University and New York University and filmmaking at Marymount College and the School of Visual Arts.

He taught playwriting at Southampton Graduate Campus in 2003 at the summer writers conference.

East End writers who have had a book published since last May or those who will soon have a book published are invited to participate in this year’s "Meet the Writers" book fair. Call Carol Gilbert at 287-8348 for details.

Stony Brook set to run marine science program

BY OLIVIA WINSLOW
STAFF WRITER
Newsday: February 1, 2005

Stony Brook University is expected to announce today that it has received state approval to take over financially strapped Southampton College's prestigious undergraduate marine science program this fall.

Stony Brook and Long Island University, Southampton's parent institution, reached agreement in November for Stony Brook to take over the program after LIU announced it was relocating Southampton's undergraduate programs to the C.W. Post Campus in Brookville. Graduate programs are to remain at Southampton.

LIU officials have said the university could no longer afford to subsidize Southampton's mounting deficit, projected to reach $12 million later this year.

Stony Brook is expected to announce today that it has received approvals from the State University of New York and the State Education Department for two bachelor of science majors, one in marine vertebrate biology and the other in marine science.

Stony Brook officials have said Southampton's undergraduate marine science program would complement the university's graduate marine sciences program. David Conover, dean of Stony Brook's Marine Sciences Research Center, said in a statement yesterday that "the addition of the undergraduate marine sciences majors enables [the marine sciences research center] to expand its leading role in Stony Brook's commitment to integrating undergraduate education fully into the mission of a research university."

Stony Brook officials said the university will lease the marine station facilities at the Southampton campus on a year-to-year basis for three years, though financial details were unavailable yesterday. Nearly 70 Southampton marine science students have applied to transfer to Stony Brook, officials at both institutions said yesterday.

Stony Brook also said that three of Southampton's marine science faculty have been offered similar faculty positions at Stony Brook and that an undetermined number of staff from Southampton's marine station may also receive offers.

Stony Brook also reiterated its plans to study having an "expanded presence" at Southampton Graduate Campus, saying it was putting together committees to study curriculum, such as a program based on the environment, as well as the financial viability of such a move.

back to to

Southampton Press
1/5/05
By Christopher Henderson

Southampton Graduate Campus will not close this fall.

While it is true that the undergraduate program will move to Long Island University's C.W. Post campus, Southampton Graduate Campus' graduate school, the continuing education program, the children's school, and the radio station will remain open on the Shinnecock Hills campus.
In fact, the graduate school hopes to offer two new yet-to-be-approved programs. It also will offer additional courses in its two existing masters programs, writing and education, according to Chuck Hitchcock, the college's Dean of Graduate Studies.

"One of the things we keep hearing is that Southampton Graduate Campus is closing," said Mr. Hitchcock. "That's not quite true. The undergraduate program is making a transition to C.W. Post, but the college will be open in terms of the graduate program."

With LIU sticking with its plan to move all undergraduates to Post, and with the State University at Stony Brook and other educational institutions just beginning to study the possibility of reviving the undergraduate program, the future of the entire college is unknown. Mr. Hitchcock and Provost Dan Rodas refused to discuss the impact of a potential SUNY Stony Brook takeover on the graduate school, but they have aggressively combatted reports that the entire school will close in September 2005. Mr. Hitchcock went so far as to call a local radio station to correct a closure announcement made by a disc jockey.

"It has a chilling effect on our recruitment efforts for a new class," said Mr. Hitchcock. "That can only be a self-fulfilling prophecy for those who would want the institution closed. We are doubling our efforts to make sure we get our students enrolled here."

To attract graduate students for next year, the college launched an advertising campaign in December. The campaign will continue at an open house for prospective students on January 12. Mr. Hitchcock hopes these initiatives and the new courses will increase the number of graduate students from the current total of 225, as the undergraduates leave.

It remains to be seen what impact the closure of the undergraduate school will have on the graduate programs, but Mr. Hitchcock believes the effect will be minimal on the graduate education program, because 90 to 95 percent of those students are locals.

"For those [undergraduate] students that live locally and are going to finish their undergraduate program out at Post, there is every likelihood that will return here if they want to go on for a master's in education," said Mr. Hitchcock.

The writing program will continue to recruit local and national students with its popular summer conference. The program's four faculty members will remain on the Southampton Graduate Campus campus, while the education program's professors will become Post faculty and teach at Southampton two-thirds of the time. The graduate school will continue to use Chancellor's Hall as its central location.

Local Molecule Makes Good

Hamptons Independents,
12/14/04:
By Mariah Quinn

A little mold may do the body good. Scoriosin, a new antibiotic compound derived from sooty mold (Scorias spongiosa), was discovered by Ailish Bateman, a senior at Pierson High School. It is currently being tested against HIV, SARS, and West Nile virus.

This small molecule may lead Batemen to one of the biggest prizes in high school science, an award in the Intel Science Talent Search. She entered her research project into the Intel competition, formerly sponsored by Westinghouse, which awards scholarships of between $1000 and $100,000 to the semifinalists and finalists. The winners of the Intel Science Search will be announced in March.

Dr. Robert Schumacher's Research in Science class at Pierson provided Bateman with the impetus for her research into sooty mold. Bateman has been in Research in Science since her sophomore year. Joining the class "was definitely a key point in my interest in Science," she said. Students under Schumacher's tutelage study organisms from the local environment. Bateman was particularly interested in "substances in nature that produce an antibiotic effect," she said.

Medicinal Mold
A clump of sooty mold on a beech tree outside Schumacher's home that seemed to resist decay proved to be just the substance that Bateman was looking for. Schumacher gave a sample of the mold to Bateman, and the rest may be microbial history.

Bateman soaked the sample in methanol for 24 hours to extract the organic compound. The scoriosin was then placed in a test dish with bacteria. "A zone of inhibition after 24 hours indicates biological activity," Bateman wrote. A zone of inhibition, an area where the bacteria was killed or neutralized, developed around the samples of scoriosin that were placed in three different types of bacteria, B. megaterium, B. subtilis, and M. luteus.

"When we looked at the data we knew we were investigating something good," Bateman said.

The samples were sent to Memory Pharma, a pharmaceutical company where Schumacher's brother works, for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis, a method used to determine the structure of a compound.

Bateman has narrowed down the structure to a few possibilities. Solving the structural puzzle is vital if the scoriosin is to be manufactured in bulk as an antibiotic.

HIV Antibiotic
In order to determine the efficacy of scoriosin against particular diseases, the University of Mississippi has been testing the antibiotic compound against HIV, SARS, and West Nile Virus. In her paper about the discovery of scoriosin Bateman wrote, "This fungus produces at least one novel compound with medicinal promise."

Schumacher is no stranger to significant scientific discoveries by his students. Before coming to Pierson in 2001, Schumacher taught Science at East Hampton High School, where his students discovered a new antibiotic derived from marine bacteria. The results of their research were published in the Journal of Natural Product. A graduate of Southampton Graduate Campus, he received his doctorate degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Hawaii.

Bateman, the likely valedictorian of Pierson, plans to study chemistry or engineering in college. She has applied to Brown University, Dartmouth College, Swarthmore College, and Olin College, a school that specializes in engineering.

While she awaits word from the colleges, Bateman and Schumacher are preparing the results of her research for publication in a scientific journal.