Campus Report
News, Calendar & Events

Sophomore and childhood education major Christine Padasak of Springville, N.Y., is one of 40 students nationwide with Cystic fibrosis who have received a $2,500 scholarship from Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., based on her essay about achieving her goals despite living with the disease. She is now eligible for a $10,000 scholarship from the company which will be awarded through an on-line voting process.

The Presidential Debate of Tuesday, Oct. 7 is the focus of a DebateWatch program at SUNY Fredonia, which is one of a handful of hosts in New York State for the DebateWatch voter education program.

The Musical Journeys Program of the SUNY Fredonia School of Music will kick off its third season of free concerts designed to appeal to very young children. Selected student ensembles from the Fredonia School of Music will perform half-hour Children’s Concerts on four Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. beginning on Saturday, Oct. 4 in Darwin R. Barker Library.

A new SUNY Fredonia Ticket Office has returned to the Williams Center, but in a larger, more customer-friendly "digs." The office is now located in room G-144, which is directly across from its previous Williams Center location.

New York Governor David A. Paterson has appointed Cynthia A. Ahlstrom of the Visiting Nursing Association to the SUNY Fredonia College Council. Her appointment became effective in August 2008, and she will serve until June 2015

SUNY Fredonia is hosting a national certification to teach group fitness on Sunday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This one-day program is designed for fitness enthusiasts who would be interested in teaching group fitness classes.  The course will be offered by the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, the world’s largest fitness education company.

On Saturday, Sept. 13, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., the men's ice hockey team will host “Power Plays for Cancer,” to officially unveil the team’s extended commitment to raising funds to battle cancer. From its first game of the season on Oct. 17 until its 2009 “Pink the Rink” game on Feb. 7, 2009, supporters will be asked to pledge money for every power play goal Fredonia scores.

SUNY Fredonia Assistant Professor of Biology Patricia Astry,’81, has been promoted to chairperson of the university’s biology department.  Since 1981, she has been director of the Medical Technology degree program at SUNY Fredonia.  She was honored with the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2001, and succeeds Dr. Ted Lee who had been chair of the department since 2005.  She is the first female chair the department has had since it was formed in the late 1960s.

Cast members in an upcoming production of the Chautauqua Opera will include three faculty members and two students from SUNY Fredonia programs in music and theatre. Part of a large cast of singers, dancers, and actors in "Street Scene" will be theatre faculty members James Ivey, Tom Loughlin, and Tina Rausa, along with sophomores  Michael Valvo of Kennedy, N.Y., and Kyle Blount of McKean, Pa.

A landmark new graduate program will now allow students with a bachelor’s degree in a natural science area of study to more quickly complete requirements for both the initial and professional teaching certifications needed to teach within New York State public schools.

Mathematical Sciences Professor H. Joseph Straight has been named among this year’s recipients of the Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Faculty Service. This award is a statewide honor conferred to acknowledge and provide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement.

The Fredonia State Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2008 will include three multiple-choice All-Americans, the Hall's first softball inductee, and a former athletic trainer who now plies his trade with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL.  Hall of Fame committee members meeting in March selected Chris Hughey, Chris Whitmore, Robert Healy, Melanie (Yaskulski) Deemer, and Bud Carpenter (Buffalo Bills trainer, in photo) for induction Oct. 18 on campus.

Besides being SUNY Fredonia faculty who enjoy seeing their students graduate each year, Michael and Carolyn Grady are, this year,  proud parents who will be watching two of their own children mark the milestone.  “We love Fredonia; it is a very nurturing and supportive place for students, and they have done so well here,” Mrs. Grady said. “Any student that goes to Fredonia can end up going anywhere.”

The Research Corporation of Tucson, AZ, has awarded $27,376 to Chemistry Professor Matthew Gronquist for his project, "Ecological Chemistry of the Pine Spittle Bug," which starts this summer. The Research Corporation is an active, hands-on foundation that stimulates advances in science.

Joseph Flaxman, a 2006 graduate of the Fredonia School of Music, will be one of four resident artists of the Opera Memphis to perform in a one-hour broadcast on Wednesday, May 14, for National Public Radio station WKNO. He will be singing, "Avant de quitter" from Gounod's "Faust." The program can be heard online with Windows Media Player.