Video to document the Montclair community
The New Jersey Council for the Humanities has awarded $2,500 to Montclair
State University to fund a video project about the Township of Montclair.
"Montclair: The Struggle for Community" will be a 30-minute
documentary that explores the community's efforts toward race relations
and racial integration.
The project director is William Berlin of Political Science, who is involved
with the University’s Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC).
Developed last year with a $399,000 grant from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, COPC provides technical assistance, training
and applied research to community-based organizations in Montclair.
Berlin is an Emmy Award-winning producer for the television show "Caucus:
New Jersey," which appears on New Jersey Network, Channel 13 and
Comcast Channel 8. For the past three years Berlin also has produced and
hosted Montclair State's student-produced cable television show, "Carpe
Diem."
"The Township of Montclair offers a rich and admirable history of
encouraging participation and community involvement," he said. "Although
seen as a diverse, unified and desirable community, Montclair exhibits
considerable differences in wealth and income among its residents. Efforts
to attract new businesses and encourage human traffic, plus the start
of a new rail line, the Montclair Connection, are leading to significant
change."
Funding from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities will be used for
research and script preparation.
UNICO hosts fund-raising dinner for endowed chair
The Bayonne chapter of UNICO will present a screening of the Metropolitan
Opera Production of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" on Sunday, Feb.
2, at a fund-raising dinner for an endowed chair in Italian and Italian-American
Studies at Montclair State. The event will be held at the Chandelier Restaurant
located at 1081 Broadway in Bayonne.
Renowned diva and Toscanini's favorite soprano Madame Licia Albanese will be the honored guest at the event. Frank Celenza, who has lectured extensively on the art form, will provide a detailed explanation of the opera and composer.
A champagne reception begins at 2 p.m. followed by the opera program at 2:30 p.m. A four-course gourmet dinner with wines will be served inter-acts. Tickets are $125; $62.50 for students. Proceeds will go toward a $1.25 million endowed chair in Italian and Italian-American Studies established last year by Montclair State and UNICO National, the largest Italian-American service organization in the United States. This is UNICO's first endowed chair in New Jersey and its fifth nationally.
Founded in 1922, UNICO National has 6,000 members nationwide who work to support charitable, educational, scientific and literary projects while promoting Italian heritage and combating negative stereotyping.
For more information about the dinner, call Joseph Coccia at 201-712-5512 or Ludo Nolfo at 201-339-7220.
Award-winning wildlife artist offers workshop
Internationally renowned, award-winning wildlife artist, conservationist
and educator Carol Decker will offer a workshop on the techniques and
strategies of wildlife art on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
at Montclair State's New Jersey School of Conservation.
Decker will cover topics ranging from supplies, outdoor journaling and
sketching techniques to utilizing computer technology as a tool, business
and marketing strategies and copyright.
Class size is limited to 25 people. Cost is $200 and includes lunch. To
register, call 973-655-7614. The New Jersey School of Conservation is
located in Sussex County, about 10 miles north of Branchville in Stokes
State Forest. A division of the College of Science and Mathematics, the
School of Conservation is the oldest, largest university-operated environmental
field center in the nation.
Handcrafted items available at art gallery gift shop
The University Art Gallery Gift Shop, located in the front of the gallery
in Life Hall, is offering handcrafted items by Franc Palaia and Joan Webster
Price, two of the artists whose works were part of the "Cycles and
Recycles: Regeneration" exhibit.
Palaia's work uses everyday objects juxtaposed with classical antiquities.
He also creates picture lamps and children's coloring books. Items by
Price in the shop include her recent collaged paintings.
Also available for purchase are one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry made from
authentic gemstones, unique papier-maché hand puppets, an autumnal
wreath, T-shirts and many other items.
The shop is open during regular gallery hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
Indoor track takes five first places at Robert Morris
Invitational
The Montclair State University men's and women's indoor track and field
teams posted five first-place finishes at the Robert Morris University
Invitational held on Jan. 19, in Moon Township, Pa. The meet was a non-team
scoring event.
On the men's side, juniors Darryl Louis and Alex Torres continued their
individual competition in the 400 Meters. Louis won the event, posting
a time of 49.55 seconds. Torres, who edged out Louis at the Yale Classic
earlier this month, finished second with a time of 50.07. The Red Hawk
men also finished first and third in the 4x400 Relay with times of
3:22.8 and 3:31.7 minutes, respectively. Freshman Paul Noel won the 500
Meters with a time of 1:08.64 minutes.
On the women's side, senior Tierra Hicks won the 400 Meters with a time
of 57.80 seconds. It was the second straight week Hicks won a 400-meter
event, having taken first at the Yale Classic. Freshman Hashan Johnson
continued her strong season with another first-place finish in the Long
Jump. She recorded a winning leap of 5.36 meters on her final jump after
faulting on her previous three attempts.
Harry Potter added to Gifted and Talented offerings
"Harry Potter" is one of the magical new course offerings this
spring from the Gifted and Talented Youth Programs.
Intended for children in grades K-3, "Harry Potter" will take
students through an enchanting journey through Hogwarts where they will
brew polyjuice and other potions, grow a flesh-eating plant in Herbology
and learn about the care of magical creatures. Extracurricular activities
include the ever popular quidditch, wizard's chess and a feast involving
chocolate frogs.
The variety of courses offered to talented young scholars is indeed magical,
whether it's "Introduction to Veterinary Medicine" for inquisitive
scholars in grades 4 to 6, "How Did Caesar Say It" for budding
linguists in grades 7 and 8 or "Power Writing" for aspiring
essayists in grades 9 to 11.
The Gifted and Talented Youth Programs, now in its 22nd year, has more
than 60 offerings this semester including courses in physics, math, algebra,
biology, geometry, creative writing, chemistry, archaeology, computers
and more.
Other new courses include "Philosophy for Children II," "Entomology,"
"Etymology," "Click/Quick for Computing Kids," "Introduction
to Statistics" and "Logic, Who Needs It?"
All courses are offered on Saturdays and Sundays unless otherwise specified.
The spring semester begins March 8 and 9, and continues through May 17
and 18.
"The common wisdom says that parents of academically gifted children
have nothing to worry about," said Richard Taubald, director of the
program. "But parents know, and Montclair State knows, that rearing
exceptionally bright children is far from easy. While each child is wonderfully
unique, many parents share a number of concerns. You want your students'
exceptional promise to grow through stimulation and challenge. You want
them to benefit from advanced courses and subjects that many schools don't
offer. You think about the social aspects of life, too, the friendships
and fun that should be part of growing up. Montclair State's programs
for academically gifted youngsters address all these concerns, in a stimulating
and enjoyable environment."
The application deadline is Friday, Feb. 14. An Open House will be held
Saturday, Feb. 1, and Sunday, Feb. 2, at 9:30 a.m. in Richardson Hall,
Room 120.
For more information or a brochure, call 973-655-4104.