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newarkRutgersA newsletter for

the Rutgers-Newark

community and neighbors

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It’s three in the morning and a Rutgers-Newark student night owl is taking anonline exam for one of his courses.

When he finishes and submits it, he’llinstantly get his grade. Earlier in theevening, he engaged in an onlinediscussion with his professor and a groupof classmates to clear up some nagginglast-minute questions, then consultedsuggested links on the cyber-syllabus foradditional information. When he finisheshis term paper next week, he’ll send anelectronic copy into the instructor’s virtualdrop box, saving trees and a trek up to heroffice. She’ll correct the electronic versionand send it back to him with comments.His professor receives constantly updatedrosters of students registered in the course,

and come the end ofthe semester, she’llzap her final gradesdirectly from her Webgrade book to theregistrar.

Welcome to the brave new world ofBlackBoard 6, a Web-based coursemanagement system making its officialpilot run in the economics department thisfall, though many tech-savvy R-Nprofessors have already seen BlackBoard’spotential to complement their classroominstruction and adopted it. According toBetsy Rowe, R-N’s director of the Office ofAcademic Technology, 123 classes acrossthe campus are employing BlackBoard 6this semester. In the spring, the pilotprogram will expand to the Department ofClassic and Modern Languages andLiterature. Rutgers Business School, whichalready uses the earlier 5.5 version of thesystem, plans to make the switch toBlackBoard 6 as well.

BLACKBOARD 6:A WHOLE NEW SLATEOF POSSIBILITIES BY MIKE SUTTON

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Phylis Peterman, chair of the Department of Social Work,uses BlackBoard 6 in her classes.

BY CARLA CAPIZZI

The sounds of music are in the air at Rutgers-Newark, where an expanded 2004-2005concert schedule is the perfect complement tothe campus’s recently expanded music facilitiesin Bradley Hall.

The entire music program has beenconsolidated on the facility’s second floor,which now boasts improved soundproofingand acoustics, renovated classrooms, anenlarged university chorus rehearsal halland classroom, six faculty offices/studios,a storage room for the Newark YouthSymphony, an equipment room, eight newpractice rooms, and a student lounge.

This year’s expanded classical concertschedule includes the Chamber Music atDana Library Series, which kicked off with“Atlantic Crossings,” a concert celebratingHispanic Heritage Month featuring guitaristAna Maria Rosado, on Sept. 28.

Future Dana concerts will feature theLewis Porter Jazz Quartet, Nov. 10, 2:30p.m; the Strathmere Ensemble, offeringRenaissance and baroque music, Feb. 3,12:30 p.m.; the New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra String Quartet, playingStradivarius, Guarneri and otherinstruments from the symphony’srenowned “Golden Age”collection, March 22,12:30 p.m.; and

soprano Julianne Baird performing TheJane Austen Songbook, April 7, 12:30 p.m.

All concerts are free. For a listing of allmusical programs on campus, as well asvisual arts and theater offerings, please goto www.newark.rutgers.edu/arts.

NEW MUSIC FACILITIES, CONCERTS HERALD A LYRICAL YEAR

recreational activities geared toward college students, as well as offer discounts at local restaurants and stores. This

new effort kicked off with a series of events in September, including a battle of the bands at Military Park and a party at the Newark Museum;

• Longer operating hours at the Golden Dome and the PRCC, making them more customer-friendly for commuting students;

• Enhanced student health and psychological services;• Creation of a “Family Weekend” in September to bring families

of students onto the campus to view college life first-hand;• And establishing a commuter services office, with plans to

develop a commuters’ lounge.

The times are a-changing at Rutgers-Newark, and that’s good news for students.

Campus administrators are making across-the-board movesdesigned to improve the quality of student life, from tastierdining-hall food and more varied menus – including veganand vegetarian meals – to increased after-school recreationalactivities and expanded hours at campus facilities.

Some of the changes come in response to Provost StevenDiner’s goal of turning R-N into a “24/7 campus,” whileothers address student concerns about university services,voiced during meetings between Rutgers administrators andstudents last February. The decentralization of studentservices gives campus administrators the autonomy to makeimprovements geared to the specific concerns of R-Nstudents, notes Gerald Massenburg, assistant provost forstudent life.

The multi-faceted plan focused on making students’ R-Nexperience an even richer and more stimulating oneincludes:• Improved food quality, larger selection – including

pasta, stir fry and other food-preparation “action stations” featuring chefs cooking meals to order – and vegetarian/vegan offerings in Stonsby Commons, The Center for Law and Justice Cafeteria and the Paul RobesonCampus Center (PRCC);

• Campus participation in “GoNewarkU!” – a collaboration of Newark-based colleges, the Newark Alliance and other city groups – to provide and promote after-class

ENRICHING STUDENTS’R-N EXPERIENCE BY CARLA CAPIZZI

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Longer operating hours at the Golden Dome will help students balance study and recreation.

...continued on page 6

R-N CALENDARRR--NN CCAALLEENNDDAARRNOV. 5–JAN. 14The Artists’ Book in the Digital Age: 10th Annual New Jersey Book Arts SymposiumA daylong discussion will kick off this exhibitabout the cultural and artistic impact of thedigitization of the book. LOCATION: JohnCotton Dana Library, 185 University Ave., 4th floor, Dana Gallery. Symposium is Nov. 5,8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. TICKETS (for symposium):$10 faculty, free for students (pre-registrationis required), $30 others. Lunch is included.INFO: Lynn Mullins, 973/353-5222.

NOV. 10Lewis Porter Jazz QuartetLOCATION: John Cotton Dana Library, 185University Ave., Dana Room. 2:30 – 4 p.m.TICKETS: free INFO: Campus InformationServices, 973/353-1766.

NOV. 10–13A Class ActThis musical production opens the jointRutgers-NJIT Theatre Arts Program’s season.LOCATION: Jim Wise Theatre, NJIT Campus,Kupfrian Hall. TICKETS: $5 students andseniors, $7 others. INFO: Rutgers-NewarkVisual & Performing Arts Department,973/353-5119 ext. 17.

NOV. 18–DEC.17Avoda: Objects of RitualFeaturing the works of artist Tobi Kahn.LOCATION: Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., PaulRobeson Campus Center Art Gallery, 1st floor.Artist’s talk: Nov. 23 (time TBA). INFO:Campus Information Services, 973/353-1766.

www.newark.rutgers.edu/events

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A Golden Opportunity for R-NFulbright ScholarFulbright Scholar Ko-Lin Chin, professorof criminal justice, will be spending histime this school year in the company ofpowerful drug warlords, addicts and law-enforcement officials in the steamyjungles of an area known as the “GoldenTriangle” – a geographic region where theborders of Burma, Thailand and Laos allmeet, and one of the world’s premiersources of illegal drugs such as heroinand methamphetamine.

Chin received the prestigious Fulbrightgrant to expand on his research of thepast two decades, which has involvedever-widening studies of the web ofinternational crime involving Chineseoffenders and victims. He will beexamining the social organization

and processes of heroin andmethamphetamine production, drug use and drug distribution in China and Southeast Asia.

Joel’s Work Earns Healthy Dose of KudosCollege of Nursing professor Lucille Joelreceived the 2004 Governor’s NursingMerit Award in the category of excellenceas a nurse educator at a ceremony June2. Joel was selected from among 135,000licensed nurses in New Jersey.

Joel was first vice president of theInternational Council of Nurses, Geneva,and is the council’s representative to the United Nations and to UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. She has served as president of both theAmerican Nurses Association and theNew Jersey State Nurses Association.

New Jersey State Health and SeniorServices Commissioner Clifton Lacynoted, “A panel of your peers from thecommittee chose you from a group ofoutstanding nominees. Selecting anaward recipient is challenging, as all ofthe nominees are superior in their areasof practice.”

Griffin Teams with R-N as New Athletic DirectorMark Griffin took the field Aug. 2 asRutgers-Newark’s new director ofintercollegiate athletics and recreation.In his new position, Griffin oversees all of

the campus’s intercollegiate athleticprograms for both women and men. Healso administers the campus recreationalprogram, which includes the intramuralprogram and serves the entire campus aswell as the Newark community. Griffinmost recently was associate director ofathletics at New Jersey City University.

“We are excited that Mark has joined ourcampus community,” said Marcia Brown,vice provost for student and communityaffairs. “By bringing his wealth ofexperience as a coach, administrator and teacher to the position, he is already making a difference.”

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Professor Ko-Lin Chin

Griffin oversees both athletics and recreation as R-N’snew athletic director.OONN

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LERNERS’ GIFTSYMBOLIZES SUCCESS OFRUTGERS CAMPAIGN BY MIKE SUTTON

When Rutgers-Newark alumnus Irwin Lerner decided to joinmore than 57,500 fellow Rutgers graduates and do his partfor the university’s six-year-long Rutgers Campaign, hebrought the same level of extraordinary intensity to hisphilanthropy that has long been his hallmark in the world of business.

The Blanche and Irwin Lerner Center for PharmaceuticalManagement at Rutgers Business School (RBS) will befounded through a $1 million commitment from the couple.Irwin Lerner – who retired as CEO of Hoffman La Roche – isa double graduate of the business school (B.S., 1951;M.B.A., 1958), a longtime member of the school’s Board ofAdvisors and its first Distinguished Executive in Residence,as well as one of the first RBS graduates to be honored onthe school’s Wall of Distinguished Alumni.

The Lerners’ exceptional generosity is a fitting symbol of themost successful fund-raising campaign in Rutgers’ history.More than 85,300 individual donors joined about 5,800corporations, foundations and organizations to ring up atotal exceeding $615 million – 23 percent more than thecampaign’s $500 million goal. Of that total, $122 million isearmarked to assist students in paying for their education, toensure that Rutgers remains affordable to low- and middle-income families. The campaign also established 194 new endowed scholarships and strengthened existingscholarships and other financial aid programs, will supportnew and ongoing research, and will assist in recruitingoutstanding faculty.

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“This is in no way intended as a replacement forthe superior interaction of in-class instruction,”Rowe emphasized. “It’s a tool for greatlyenhancing that experience.” Marie Botticelli,director of Rutgers-Newark Computing Services,notes that this generation of undergraduatestudents is especially comfortable with Web-basedcommunication.

In addition to allowing students enrolled in acourse to access its BlackBoard component usingtheir existing Net IDs, BlackBoard 6 is connectedwith the university’s student records database toallow incoming class rosters and outgoing finalgrades to make their way to and from a professor’sBlackBoard Web site, said Botticelli. Online

tutorials show professors how to personalize theway they wish to use the system. In addition,faculty enrolled in the pilot program are assignedhighly trained student mentors during the first fiveweeks of the semester for up to 10 hours ofindividualized assistance each week.

Phylis Peterman, chair of the Department of SocialWork, said that her entire department had alreadyadopted BlackBoard 6. In addition to extensivecost savings on photocopying syllabi andhandouts, she noted, “We are fully dedicated toexcellent teaching and want to take advantage ofevery technology that supports this goal.”

To learn more about BlackBoard 6, gohttp://blackboardinfo.newark.rutgers.edu.

BlackBoard 6… from page 1

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One is engaged in research involvingbehavioral neuroscience, with plans to focus on learning, memory, andAlzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The other, a native of Ecuador whoimmigrated to America five years ago,spent this past summer as a medicalinterpreter at the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH), enabling non-English-speaking patients from other countrieswith serious illnesses to communicateclearly with their American physicians.

But what Honors College students andjuniors Stephanie Lazzaro and VanessaFlores have in common is that both areRutgers-Newark undergraduates whosework has earned them prestigious nationalscience scholarships.

Lazzaro was one of only nine New Jerseyresidents – and one of just 310 studentsnationwide – to be awarded a $15,000,two-year Barry M. Goldwater Scholarshipthis past academic year. The Goldwater

Scholarship, named for the late UnitedStates senator, is considered the nation’spremier undergraduate award for studentsstudying mathematics, science andengineering. She already is interning inthe laboratory of Mark Gluck, professor ofneuroscience at R-N’s Center for Molecularand Behavioral Neuroscience.

Flores, a biology major, was one of only16 recipients out of 300 applicants toreceive a one-year, $20,000 NIHUndergraduate Scholarship – which isrenewable for up to four years. The awardcovers her tuition and other educationaland living expenses. She beat out studentsfrom universities such as Harvard, Brownand UCLA to earn the honor.

In addition her recent stint at the NIH,Flores will complete another 10-weekinternship at the NIH next summer beforebeginning her senior year at R-N. Aftershe completes her studies, she mustcommit to working for the NIH for oneyear. Flores plans to eventually pursue acareer as a research physician.

HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS EARN PRESTIGIOUS SCIENCE SCHOLARSHIPS BY MIKE SUTTON

Professor Mark Gluck and Honors College studentStephanie Lazzaro

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The late Bessie Nelms Hill, the first African-American

to serve on the Rutgers Board of Governors, was

honored in a rededication ceremony of the building

that bears her name, Hill Hall, on Oct. 20. An English

teacher and guidance counselor in Trenton for 40

years, her students included former New York City

mayor David Dinkins. Shown in this photograph on

the day of her appointment to the board in 1965, her

activism in the cause of racial equality included

serving as New Jersey state secretary for the NAACP

and as a life member of the board of governors of the

Trenton Council of Human Relations.

Hill with Mason Gross (r), Rutgers president 1959–71,and board member C. Douglas Dillon, former U.S.secretary of the treasury

BUILDING RECOGNITION FORA CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER

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From the hillside in Carlstadt, N.J., where Frank Carvill grew up, you can see across the Hackensack Meadowlandsto Manhattan. It was a fitting home for a man whose life linked New Jersey and New York, along with Ireland andAmerica, until he was killed in action

as a sergeant with the

New Jersey Army National Guard inBaghdad, June 4, 2004. He was 51.

The son of Irish immigrants and adedicated social reformer, Carvill attendedRutgers-Newark from 1970 to 1971, thentransferred to Livingston College andmajored in political science. He joined theNational Guard in 1984.

Carvill was working in the World Trade Centerduring the 1993bombing and helped toevacuate elderly peopleduring the long walkdownstairs from hisoffice. He narrowlymissed the September11, 2001 attack: Hewas getting into a car with a colleague

outside the complex, where he worked asa paralegal, moments before the first planestruck.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Carvill supportedthe war in Afghanistan but opposed theUnited States invasion of Iraq. Still, heresponded with solidarity when his Guardunit, the Third Battalion of the 112th FieldArtillery, was deployed. He believed thatthe United States was obligated to repairIraq, but he thought the effort’s cost inlives and money would be “exorbitant.”His wake and funeral drew many mournersand inspired widespread media coverage.

The non-profit foundation “Friends ofFrank Carvill” has been established tosupport organizations with which heworked. Donations should be sent to Peggy Carvill-Liguori at 98 South GlenRoad, Kinnelon, N.J., 07405.

To read more about Frank Carvill and three other Rutgers alumni who have lost their lives in the Iraq war, and to viewa list of alumni deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, please go to www.alumni.rutgers.edu/share/iraq.shtml.

Office of Campus CommunicationsRutgers-Newark249 University Ave.Newark, NJ 07102

www.newark.rutgers.edu

Connections and Connections: News Digest

are published by the Office of Campus

Communications, Rutgers-Newark. Your

comments are welcome. Please contact:

Helen Paxton, Senior Editorpaxton@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Michael Sutton, Managing Editormsutton@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Carla Capizzi, Editorcapizzi@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Room 210, Blumenthal Hall249 University Ave., Newark, NJ 07102phone 973/353-5262 fax 973/353-1050

For current and back issues, see

www.newark.rutgers.edu/occ/pubs/connections.

Enriching Students… from page 2

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Massenburg is forming a Student Life Committee to get ongoingstudent feedback on services and other aspects of student life.His new role as assistant provost for student life is itself another

move that reflects the campus’s heightened emphasis on studentsatisfaction, as does the designation of Marcia Brown as viceprovost for student and community affairs.

The war in Iraq has meant active duty for both Rutgers alumni and current students. Some, like Frank Carvill, who graduated from Livingston Collegebut began his college years at Rutgers-Newark, have made the ultimate sacrifice. Carvill (LC ’75) attended Livingston along with Robert Snyder (LC ’77), director and associate professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers-Newark, who writes here about his close friend.

A LOSS FOR RUTGERS, A LOSS FOR A FRIEND BY ROBERT SNYDER

Photo: Nick Romanenko