Students Take to the Air with Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola's give-away of five round-trip airline tickets to any location in the continental U.S. has given one student on each of the University's residential quads cause for bubbling delight.
The following students were the winners of the Oct. 7 drawing:
Scott Turnchild (Alumni Quad)
Margie Pitta (State Quad)
Nicole Anello (Dutch Quad)
Liz Lowery (Colonial Quad)
Fernando Luciano (Indian Quad)
A luncheon, with date not yet announced, will be held at the Patroon Room to honor the winners. Coca-Cola officials will be on hand to present the tickets.
Former Adjunct Given Optics Research Honor
Yung S. Liu, a physicist at the GE Research and Development Center and a former adjunct professor of physics at Albany, has been elected a fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), a professional organization devoted to increasing and diffusing knowledge about optics for scientific, technical, and educational purposes.
The honor of being made an OSA Fellow is restricted to fewer than ten percent of the organization�s membership. Liu was honored for his contributions to the development of high-average-power slab lasers, non-linear frequency conversion technologies, and to the field of applying lasers to microelectronic material, device processing, and to optical interconnect technologies.
Liu received his BS degree in physics from National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University. He became a member of GE�s R&D staff in 1972, and worked at Albany from 1986-93.
CTG Leads State-Local Info System to Award
The University�s Center for Technology in Government (CTG) has helped the New York State-Local Information Systems Project, "Tying a Sensible Knot," win a national award for excellence from the National Association of Information Resource Executives (NASIRE).
The state-local information system project is one of ten selected for the 1998 awards for Outstanding Achievement in the field of Information Technology and represents the Statewide Policy, Planning, and Management category.
With the combined efforts of Albany�s CTG, the New York State Office for Technology (OFT), and the Office for Technology�s Special Work Group on Intergovernmental Information Systems, the best practices were identified from 11 state-local information system projects throughout New York State. This was done in order to better understand how effective state-local information systems were built. As a result of their findings, a set of tools and recommendations were developed to help others design and construct effective information systems.
The handbook, "Tying a Sensible Knot: A Practical Guide to State-Local Information Systems," offers state and local officials a variety of practices that project managers and participants can use to develop successful state-local informational systems. The handbook identifies consequences that hinder success and environmental factors that lie outside the control of the project team.
It also emphasizes collaborative development of information systems, recognizes the diversity among local communities, and recommends ways to integrate systems with local business processes and existing systems. The project is the first attempt in the U.S. to analyze and document successful practices in intergovernmental information systems.
The CTG, an Innovations in American Government award winner, often forms strategic partnerships with government agencies, technology corporations, and university faculty and students to solve problems related to public services through the use of information technology in state and local government.
Promoting Community Safety
On Oct. 3-4, the University Police Department participated in the 14th Annual Albany Count Traffic Safety Awareness Weekend, held at Crossgates Mall. Officer Bill Yankowski is shown with UPD�s display, which consisted of a marked patrol car and police mountain bike. Officers assigned to the detail provided information on bicycle and pedestrian safety. Approximately 35,000 people passed through the mall during the two-day event to see exhibits from UPD and 11 other law enforcement agencies.
SEFA/United Way Goal is $76,000
By Christine Hanson McKnight
The University has kicked off its SEFA/United Way campaign with a goal of raising $76,000 in employee contributions by Thanksgiving. Last year, a record of more than 500 employees contributed a total of $75,000 � also a record � to help the University meet its target.
As a first step in this year�s effort, SEFA and United Way packets were sent late last week to 5,000 University faculty, staff, other employees and retirees.
Rockefeller College Associate Provost Helen Desfosses, who is serving as the United Way faculty coordinator, praised the past generosity of University employees and said she is hoping that the number of participants will continue to grow.
"The University has been increasingly offering itself as a partner to the Capital District community," said Desfosses, who is a professor of public administration and policy and of Africana studies. "We are already a fine community partner. But as we turn to the community for more and more support, it�s equally important that we are able to respond strongly to appeals like the United Way campaign."
Desfosses pointed out that a contribution of $1 a week for a year would provide 48 hot meals to a chronically ill person or leadership training material for health agency support-group services. Two dollars a week for a year will provide six disabled persons with round-trip transportation to medical appointments, while $10 will pay for six nights of emergency shelter for a homeless family of four.
Gail Cummings-Danson, interim assistant vice president for student affairs, is overseeing the SEFA/United Way effort. She pointed out that approximately 93 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to charitable agencies, which are strictly screened by state employee committees to ensure that they, too, have the lowest possible "overhead" expenses.
University employees on the state payroll are receiving packets of information about SEFA � the State Employees Federated Appeal. Other University employees, including retired faculty and staff, employees of University Auxiliary Services and the Research Foundation, receive similar material from the United Way of Northeastern New York. In either case, Cummings-Danson said, employees may elect to make a donation through payroll deduction. The donor decides not only how much to donate, but also where the funds will go.
For more information about SEFA/United Way, or to request a packet, call Joanna Kreps at 442-3381.
