@ John Jay College Newsletter (february 18, 2009)

@John Jay Worth Noting February 23 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM Making (Much) Better Sense of the Culture of Black Men in Crisis Dr. Alford Young Jr. University of Michigan Co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Department of AfricanAmerican Studies, Gender Studies Program, the John Jay Black Male Initiative and the Center on Race, Crime and Justice. Gerald W. Lynch Theater Lobby

February 24 6:00 PM Lloyd Sealy Lecture Leadership in Police Equity: Using Research to Reduce Racial Bias Dr. Tracie L. Keesee Denver Police Department Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff University of California-Los Angeles Gerald W. Lynch Theater Lobby

February 27 8:30 AM Prisoner Reentry Institute Occasional Series on Reentry Research

Incarceration and Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Neighborhood Perspective James Thomas University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Gerald W. Lynch Theater Lobby

February 27 9:00 AM 19th Annual Malcolm/King Breakfast

Keynote speaker: The Hon. Malcolm A. Smith Majority Leader, New York State Senate Honoree: Dr. James Malone Professor of Counseling RSVP to 212-237-8764 Gerald W. Lynch Theater Lobby

February 28 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Law Day @ John Jay Including the Samuel and Anna Jacobs Foundation Lecture on the Law and the Legal Profession Speaker: The Hon. Juanita Bing Newton Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives Criminal Court of the City of New York RSVP to www.jjay.cuny.edu/lawday Various locations, Haaren Hall

News and Events of Interest to the College Community February 18, 2009

Gazing into the Crystal Ball

Symposium Looks at Criminal Justice Challenges on the Horizon

A two-day conference intended, in the words of its organizer, to produce more light than heat, the Fourth Annual Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America returned to John Jay on February 2-3, with journalists, academicians and practitioners from across the United States taking a nuanced look at recent and impending changes in criminal justice. “This symposium has become a meeting place for people in criminal justice, a field that’s changing even as we speak,” said Stephen Handelman, Director of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice, which organized the event, with funding from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Focusing on the theme “A New Beginning? Exploring the Criminal Justice Challenges Over the Next Four Years,” the symposium wasted no time before diving into one of the thorniest issues currently on the American agenda, as panelists discussed the nation’s distressed economy and its relationship to crime trends. Crime trends, like economic conditions, are characterized by volatility, observed Professor Richard Rosenfeld of the University of MissouriSt. Louis. While Rosenfeld’s research showed similar patterns between crime trends and consumer confidence, he said that an increase in crime is not inevitable despite the recent sharp reversals in the economy. “After all,” he said, “crime did not increase substantially during the Great Depression.” Professor Delores Jones-Brown, Director of the Center on Race, Crime and Justice said the Obama Administration must deal with the “lack of legitimacy for police in communities of color.” With the economic downturn, she added, people may seek out jobs in law enforcement solely for the pay and benefits, rather than for publicservice reasons, thereby increasing the potential for incidents of excessive or lethal use of force by

Distinguished Professor Todd Clear makes a point during a panel discussion on “The Sentencing and Corrections Challenge” during the Guggenheim symposium. Also on the panel were (from left) Beryl Howell, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner of Massachusetts.

police, particularly against young black males. Col. Dean Esserman, the Police Chief of Providence, RI, called on the assembled journalists to “tell the story” that America is losing its children to violence. “We bury our children or we arrest them. Where’s the moral outrage?” Esserman said. “The story is not being told.” Keynote speaker Judith S. Kaye, who recently retired after 15 years as Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, was introduced by President Jeremy Travis as “one of my heroes in this world.” Kaye, who was making her first public appearance since stepping down from the bench, urged attendees to focus on the “crucial but thoroughly unfulfilled job of educating the public about criminal justice matters.” Among the issues that Kaye pointed to were the cost of incarceration compared to the cost

of education; the prosecution of certain juvenile offenders as adults; and the need to provide alternatives to criminal justice, such as youth courts or restorative justice. “This is the time for all of us who care about justice in this country to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” Kaye said. Steven Brill, founder of American Lawyer magazine, Court TV and Verified Identity Pass Inc., served as keynote speaker for the symposium’s awards luncheon, and reminded the audience of his rule for covering the justice system: “Skepticism is an absolutely essential virtue.” “The real challenge for us as reporters is not to be anyone’s lapdogs,” said Brill. The symposium also included sessions on “solutions-oriented” crime coverage, privacy and civil liberties, the future of forensics, and the online world and crime.

College Salutes Reporters’ Quest for Justice A newspaper need not be big to achieve big things, as was proven by Christine Young, a reporter for the 80,000-circulation Times HeraldRecord of Middletown, NY, one of the 2009 winners of John Jay College’s Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Awards. Young was honored at a luncheon on February 3 for her investigative report on the 1989 conviction of Lebrew Jones, who has spent 20 years in prison for the murder of a Manhattan prostitute. Young’s article, “I Didn’t Do That Murder,” prompted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to open a new investigation into the case. The awards are presented annually in conjunction with the Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America. A second award was presented to Eric Nalder and the investigative team from the Seattle

Post-Intelligencer, for their series “The Strong Arm of the Law,” which exposed Seattle police bias in arrests for obstruction of justice and the questionable handling of complaints against police for wrongful use of force. “This year’s winning news stories show that newspapers large and small take seriously their commitment to reporting on criminal justice issues,” said President Jeremy Travis. Honorable-mention citations were awarded to Steve Weinberg of Miller-McCune magazine, for his exploration of wrongful convictions around the United States; Lomi Kriel and John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News, for their critical examination of the San Antonio police Tactical Response Unit, and Geoff Dutton and Mike Wagner of the Columbus Dispatch, for their series on Ohio’s DNA inmate testing program.

Award winners Christine Young and Eric Nalder are joined by keynote speaker Steven Brill, founder of Court TV.

Deadlines Loom for Scholarship Aid to Qualified Students Deadlines are looming for qualified John Jay students to apply for hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds, and dozens of awards for graduating seniors. “We have no shortage of highly qualified students at the College, and we’re always looking for more,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Richard Saulnier. “We’re trying to ensure that institutional scholarship funds are being spent for the purposes they were intended, which is why we are encouraging as many qualified students as possible to apply.” The College offers scholarships for freshmen, sophomores, upper-division and graduate students as well as some specifically aimed at women, international students, law enforcement

employees, researchpdf. Many also require minded students essays and/or letters of and more. Many recommendation. scholarships at both For a list of the undergraduate and scholarships that are graduate levels have currently available, March 2 deadlines, and including descriptions still others have March and eligibility criteria, 23 closing dates. go to http://www.jjay. Scholarship cuny.edu/scholarships. Coordinator Michael php. Information is also Scaduto pointed out available in the Office The Office of Scholarship Services is taking a strategic apthat most scholarships of Scholarship Services, proach to finding qualified candidates for scholarship aid. require completion and Room 1285N. submission of the John Jay Scholarship General “We’re taking a more strategic direction with Application form, available online at http://www. regard to scholarships,” said Scaduto. “We want jjay.cuny.edu/GeneralScholarshipApplication08. to recruit and retain qualified students, based on

things like academics, public service and activities outside of academics, and then support them once they’re on campus, keeping them active in the larger John Jay community.” Scaduto noted that a “representative” 11member scholarship committee, chaired by Saulnier, has been working proactively to inform students about available scholarships and encouraging them to apply. “We develop criteria, select candidates and set application deadlines,” he said. A new Web feature allows students to sign up for the “John Jay College Scholars Network” to receive information about new and current scholarships, application information and deadlines, invitations to workshops and seminars, and other relevant updates.

Study Abroad Experience to Go Farther Afield in 2009

Hometown Heroes The John Jay baseball program gave a tip of the collective cap on January 24 to two prominent members of the local baseball scene, at the annual Lou DeMartino Memorial Dinner. John Brant, a member of the John Jay Athletics Hall of Fame and three-year team co-captain in the late 1970s, was presented with the Distinguished Baseball Alumni Award. Brant, a summa cum laude graduate of John Jay and a decorated lieutenant with the Port Authority Police Department, told guests at the fundraising dinner that “playing at John Jay was one of the greatest points of my life.” Lou Santos (right), a longtime figure in sandlot baseball and youth baseball instruction, was honored with the Lou Demartino Lifetime Achievement Award. Dan Palumbo, John Jay’s head baseball coach and interim Director of Athletics, presented the awards and served as the dinner’s master of ceremonies.

Flush with the success of John Jay’s first faculty-led study abroad programs last summer, four new courses will be offered by the College in 2009, in such locales as Korea, Greece, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The new study abroad programs are: ¶ “Caribbean Cultural Criminology,” taught by Professors Luis Barrios (Latin American and Latino/a Studies) and Douglas Thompkins (Sociology), meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. ¶ “Religious and Cultural Co-existence Among Christians, Jews and Muslims in Greece,” taught by Professor Effie Cochran (English), meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece. ¶ “Korean Art and Culture,” taught by Professor Thalia Vrachopoulos (Art and Music), meeting in Seoul and selected other cities in Korea. ¶ “Women in Mexico: Labor, Violence and Social Change,” taught by Professor Natalie J. Sokoloff (Sociology), meeting in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Ken Lewandoski, the Director of International Studies and Programs, noted that the study abroad programs provide John Jay College academic credits, and qualify under the Study/ Travel Opportunities for CUNY Students (STOCS) program, through which participating students can receive $750 to $1,500 in financial aid. (The deadline for STOCS applications is March 16.) “These programs are academically rigorous,” Lewandoski said. “They are all designed to enhance a student’s chosen course of study.” The four-week programs include classroom lectures and discussions, field trips and presentations by

The White Tower, one of Thessaloniki’s most famous architectural landmarks.

local persons of interest. Housing arrangements will vary from one program to the next, including apartments, dormitories or living with indigenous families. All students will be required to attend a pre-departure orientation, and to share their experiences with the broader John Jay College community upon their return, Lewandoski said. Application dates for the four courses vary. For more information on the study abroad opportunities, contact the appropriate faculty program directors, or Lewandoski at 212-4841339, email [email protected].

CUNY FIRST Application Package Packs a Lot of “Wow!” CUNY FIRST, a comprehensive array of applications that will streamline and enhance finance, personnel and student service processes, is coming to John Jay, and members of the Department of Human Resources are hoping to share with the rest of the College the various “wow! moments” they say are built into the system. Addressing a Town Hall meeting on January 29, Christel Colón, the College’s Director of Human Resources, said the implementation of CUNY FIRST – which stands for Fully Integrated Resources and Services Tool – will be “a change for the better, the faster, the easier, the more accurate.” It will also represent a major step

toward making the College a more paperless operation. “I can’t wait for the PAF bonfire,” she said, referring to the personnel action forms that would be phased out by the creation of an online reappointment process. Praveen Panchal, John Jay’s Chief Information Officer, moderated the gathering and pointed out that existing CUNY systems are “archaic, difficult to maintain and failing every day. The lack of information in the existing systems, Panchal said, leads to enormous redundancy and inaccuracy. According to Panchal, CUNY has more than 35,000 employees, with no comprehensive

human resources system. In addition, the University receives more than 10,000 job applications a year. The Talent Acquisition Management (TAM) module of CUNY FIRST will be used to help streamline the hiring process, and then a Human Capital Management (HCM) module will come into play, handling a broad range of personnel functions such as time and leave, reappointment, and changes in personal information or status. The two modules will be the first human resources components to roll out, with an implementation target date of summer 2009. The entire system, Panchal emphasized, is designed with privacy and security in mind.

Personal information can only be viewed by the individual in question and authorized College officials. The new system’s potential for doing mass reappointments as opposed to processing them individually, and its “Quick Hire” function for speeding the process of hiring college assistants and adjuncts, were among the “wow! moments” noted by Colón, who underscored her own excitement with CUNY FIRST by adding that “I came into HR for the people, not the paperwork.” CUNY FIRST is being launched in stages, with the entire system expected to be operational by the winter of 2010-2011.

and “International Courts and Conflict Resolution: Toward a New Normative Framework, Social Justice and New Debates,” at the annual meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, held in New Orleans, LA, in early January. She also chaired a panel on Domestic Implications of International Law and served as a discussant on a panel on Pedagogy and Research.

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Strobl was nominated for her paper “The Women’s Police Directorate in Bahrain,” which appeared in the International Criminal Justice Review Journal.

FACULTY / STAFF NOTES ON BOARD BEN JORGENSEN (Physical Education and Athletics) was named as the College’s new head men’s tennis coach. Jorgensen, who has been a tennis instructor for more than 15 years, was the top singles player as a member of the men’s tennis team at New York University in 1989 and 1990. He is also a working actor who has appeared in several films and daytime soap operas.

be presented by the Mystery Writers of America on April 30. DAVID BROTHERTON (Sociology) had his book Keeping Out the Other: A Critical Introduction to Immigration Enforcement Today (Columbia University Press) cited as “Outstanding Academic Title for 2008” by Choice, the review magazine of the American Library Association. Brotherton co-edited the book along with Philip Kretsedemas of the University of Massachusetts.

BETWEEN THE COVERS KIMORA (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) will have her article titled “The Correctional Educator: A Nontraditional Occupation” published in the May/June 2009 issue of Offender Programs Report, a publication from the Civic Research Institute that is devoted to “innovative programs, management strategies and legal developments in offender rehabilitation.”

PRESENTING…

SIMON BAATZ (History) had his book, For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago (HarperCollins), chosen as a finalist for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Non-Fiction Crime Book in 2008. The award will

ELLEN BELCHER (Library) presented a paper titled “Is there a Halaf Bead and Pendant Typology? A Look at the Evidence” at the Bead Technology Workshop hosted by the British Museum in London, England, on January 12-13.

@ John Jay is published by the Department of Institutional Advancement John Jay College of Criminal Justice 899 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10019 www.jjay.cuny.edu Editor Peter Dodenhoff Submissions should be faxed or e-mailed to: Office of Communications fax: (212) 237-8642 e-mail: pdodenhoff@jjay.cuny.edu

ADINA SCHWARTZ (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) made a Continuing Legal Education presentation on “Daubert Challenges to Firearms Identification” on January 10 at the Fifth National Seminar on Forensic Science and the Law, sponsored by the Office of Defender Services of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

PEER REVIEW STACI STROBL (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) is one of the finalists for the Richard J. Terrill Paper of the Year Award to be presented in March by the

NISHAN PARLAKIAN (Communication and Theatre Arts, emeritus) received the St. Vartan Award from the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), for his lifelong achievements in the performing arts. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese, said, “It is through individuals like [Parlakian] that the future of Armenian theater will remain vibrant among the next generation of Armenian Americans.”

JANE KATZ (Physical Education and Athletics) conducted one-day clinics on “Swimming for Total Fitness and Swim Basics” at the Jewish Community Center in Tucson, AZ, on January 4 and The Club for Women, an all-women health club in Phoenix, on January 6. M. VICTORIA PÉREZ-RÍOS (Government) presented two papers, “Cooperation against Transnational Crime: Lessons from the Balkans”

Research under Glass

educating for justice

A student pauses to take in the latest gallery display in the lobby of Haaren Hall, an eight-panel salute to student-faculty research efforts. The exhibit features faculty members and students representing a broad range of disciplines, from hard science to the humanities, from criminal justice to computing.