Faculty News

October / November 2008

Dr. Karl Alorbi and Dr. Enrique Nuñez, Assistant Professors of Business Administration, and Dr. Joyce Henson, Associate Professor of Business Administration
On Thursday, October 30, 2008, a chapter of Sigma Beta Delta, the honorary society for business and management students, was officially established at Saint Peter's College with the induction of three business administration faculty: Dr. Enrique Nuñez, Dr. Karl Alorbi, and Dr. Joyce Henson.  The first group of students will be inducted into the society this spring 2009.

Dr. James Clayton, Assistant Professor of Education and Dr. Nicole Luongo, Assistant Professor of Education
On October 23, James Clayton and Nicole Luongo from the education department made a 90-minute presentation at the annual Association of Math Teachers of New Jersey's (AMTNJ) conference in Somerset, N.J. "Bloomin' Cubes: Paper Folding Gives Meaning to Perimeter, Area, and Volume!" included a theoretical and hands-on view of various geometric concepts. The conference participants explored technology and learned hands-on paper-folding strategies with respect to theoretical foundations and current pieces of educational technology. Using Bloom's Taxonomy as the educational foundation, Drs. Clayton and Luongo discussed the basic principles of plane geometry, as well as the relationships between perimeter, area and volume.

Dr. James Clayton, Assistant Professor of Education
On October 24, James Clayton from the Education Department co-presented a second workshop for teachers at the annual Association of Math Teachers of New Jersey's (AMTNJ) conference in Somerset, N.J. "Come Fly With Me: Paper Airplanes Make Math Lessons Soar!" was a 90-minute presentation that included a theoretical and hands-on view of various concepts of mathematics and physics. The conference participants discussed educational theory before using hands-on paper-folding strategies to explore the science of flight while applying the mathematical concepts of measurement, geometry and statistics. Dr. Clayton was pleased to co-present the workshop with his daughter, Sera, a fourth-grade classroom teacher.

Kevin Cummines, Adjunct Lecturer for Fine Arts, Performing Arts Coordinator for The Office of Student Activities
On October 25, Cummines’ Symphony No. 1: The Peacock premiered on campus, as part of the Hudson Symphony Orchestra’s first concert as Symphony-in-Residence.  The concert also featured the works of Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber.  The Hudson Symphony Orchestra is under the direction of Dr. YiLi Lin, director of the Hoboken School of Music and founder of the Hudson Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Brian Hopkins, Associate Professor of Mathematics
On October 11 and 12, Brian Hopkins gave an invited talk in the Special Session on the History of Mathematics at the Eastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. His presentation, "Fleury and Hierholzer on Euler Paths," considered two proofs from the late 1800s that completed Euler's 1736 work on the bridges of Königsberg.

Dr. William Luhr, Professor of English
On October 23, Dr. Luhr organized and chaired a presentation by Professor John Belton of Rutgers Univeristy, New Brunswick and Professor Scott Higgins of Wesleyan University titled, "Silent Color" at Columbia University.  Dr. Luhr also participated as an invited scholar in Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (Festival of Silent Cinema) in Pordenone, Italy, from October 3 through 12.

Patricia Redden, Professor of Chemistry
Pat Redden’s daughter Maggie competed in the Paralympics in Beijing as a member of the USA track-and-field team.  The Paralympics, a part of the Olympics, are a series of games for elite physically disabled athletes including wheelchair athletes, amputees and blind athletes.

Different from the Special Olympics, which requires that an athlete have a developmental or intellectual disability, the Paralympic athletes have only physical disabilities.  According to the Paralympic Web site, "In Beijing, a total of 4,000 athletes from around 150 countries will be competing in 20 sports and the U.S. will be represented by 213 athletes."

The games ran from Saturday, September 6 to Wednesday, September 17.  Maggie competed in the 100- and 200-meter wheelchair events on Thursday, September 11 and Saturday, September 13 in the Bird's Nest venue, the same venue used for the Olympic track events. Maggie was also profiled on the Paralympic Web site. There was a special presentation of the events on NBC-TV on October 18.