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The City College of New York Black Studies Program presents a symposium, “Confronting the Carceral State II: Activists, Scholars and the Exonerated Speak,” 1 – 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 14, in The Great Hall of Shepard Hall, 160 Convent Ave., New York. The event, consisting of two panels of activists and scholars plus a book signing, is free and open to the public. The symposium builds upon the work begun by “Confronting the Carceral State: Policing and Punishment in Modern U.S. History,” a symposium held in March 2010 at Rutgers University. At that conference, it was made abundantly clear that

Contest Benefactor Harvey Kaylie, ’60, Adds $25,000 Cash Prize Five student teams have been chosen as finalists for The City College of New York’s Second Annual Kaylie Prize for Entrepreneurship. Over the next four months, the teams will refine their business ideas as they compete for the first prize: financial support and housing to work over the summer in a Silicon Valley garage-like environment to further develop their projects, plus a $25,000 cash award from entrepreneur and contest benefactor Harvey Kaylie, CCNY Class of 1960. “Our finalists were selected from an outstanding group of

Scientists at The City College of New York Report Nitrogen Contained in Caffeine Enhances Odor-Adsorbing Properties of Carbons For coffee lovers, the first cup of the morning is one of life’s best aromas. But did you know that the leftover grounds could eliminate one of the worst smells around – sewer gas? In research to develop a novel, eco-friendly filter to remove toxic gases from the air, scientists at The City College of New York (CCNY) found that a material made from used coffee grounds can sop up hydrogen sulfide gas, the chemical that makes raw sewage stinky. Dr. Teresa Bandosz, CCNY

Alumnus Says Storytelling Skills Learned as Grad Student Helped Him Transform Happy Teenage Moment into Winning Commercial The day his father bought him his first car was one of the happiest of Zachary Borst’s teenage years. That joy provided the creative spark for a television commercial that will air during Super Bowl XLVI that the 2010 graduate of CCNY’s MFA program in media arts production wrote, directed, produced and edited. His spot bested 200 other entries in a competition sponsored by Chevrolet, earning him tremendous exposure and a $25,000 cash prize. "The exposure is worth millions

The City College of New York will celebrate Black History Month 2012 with a rich array of cultural events throughout February that includes exhibits, film screenings, conferences, lectures, discussions and performances. Among the highlights are: a lecture by actor Ben Vereen, February 27; a concert by George Brandon and The Blue Unity Orchestra, February 24, the Third Annual “Is Hip Hop History” conference, February 24 – 25, and the “Confronting the Carceral State II,” symposium, February 14. Four City College units have organized Black History Month events: the Black Studies program, the

February 3 Spitzer School of Architecture Event Commences Design Studio Focused on Historical Kansas Community Established by Freed Slaves CCNY’s Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture is one of nine institutions chosen from a field of 41 to advance to the second round of the “Parks for the People” design studio competition. Graduate landscape architecture students comprise the CCNY team, which will develop plans and designs for the Nicodemus National Historic Site in Nicodemus, Kan., a Reconstruction-era settlement of emancipated slaves, and participate in a jury review this summer.

Quitting smoking is never easy. However, when you’re poor and uneducated, kicking the habit for good is doubly hard, according to a new study by a tobacco dependence researcher at The City College of New York (CCNY). Christine Sheffer, associate medical professor at CCNY’s Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, tracked smokers from different socioeconomic backgrounds after they had completed a statewide smoking cessation program in Arkansas. Whether rich or poor, participants managed to quit at about the same rate upon completing a program of cognitive behavioral therapy, either with or

A scientific innovator from The City College of New York (CCNY) whose research unites the divergent fields of medicine, biology and high-speed laser physics will be honored this month for his pioneering work in biomedical optics by SPIE , the international society for optics and photonics. SPIE will present Dr. Robert Alfano , CUNY Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering at CCNY, with the first annual Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award January 24 at the SPIE Photonics West Conference in San Francisco. The Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award “honors contributions to optical

Dr. Gregory Downs, associate professor of history, and Dr. Emily Greble, assistant professor of history at The City College of New York are recipients of faculty research awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grants, announced by NEH December 9, will support book projects currently in development. “The NEH fellowships are extremely competitive; only eight percent of applicants are successful. To have two early-career faculty members in the same department come up winners is remarkable,” said Dr. Geraldine Murphy, acting dean of humanities and the arts at CCNY, in

Patient Activation Interventions Help Raise Awareness for Role in Managing Health, Could Yield Better Outcomes For some patients, knowing how to ask questions in a doctor’s office could make a huge difference in their outcomes. A pilot program at The City College of New York’s Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education is teaching future physicians to help patients take charge of their health by querying their medical providers. “Some patients are good at effectively negotiating the healthcare system. They know what they want and how to partner with their doctor so they can take charge of