Mingling with Honors Director Dr. Ida Dupont and Advisor Bill Offutt

Honors College One Pace Plaza – Suite W 207G

New York, New York 10038 Telephone: 212-346-1697

Dr. Ida Dupont Director idupont@pace.edu, x11146 Dr. Bill Offutt Faculty Advisor BillOffutt@aol.com, x10399 IM: BillOffutt Charissa Che Advisor, Editor cche@pace.edu Aydde Martinez Program Coordinator amartinez3@pace.edu, x10398 Annamaria Santamaria, Noor Fatima, Andrea Carlson Student Assistants x 10397 & x10395

Newsletter Staff:

Mosammad Rahman

Samuel Harrington

Sierra Chandler

Jordan Jhamb

Contributor:

Maytav Koter

In This Issue:

Honors Welcome BBQ

The Corner will Bill and

Dr. Ida Dupont

Meet our Staff!

Pace’s Got Knowledge:

Dr. Emilie Zaslow

“Peace: Just Do It”

Meet the New Face of

Spider-Man

Dive into the Arts!

Honors Goes Apple

Picking

The Music of Maytav

Koter

Upcoming Events

Submit to the

Newsletter and E-

Journal!

On Wednesday, September 7, new and returning Pforzheimer Honors College students flocked

to the Multipurpose Room to the smells of our Welcome BBQ event. Pace’s cream of the crop

feasted on hot dogs and cheeseburgers while meeting their cohorts, and our faculty and staff.

Honors College Director Dr. Ida Dupont and Honors Faculty Advisor Dr. Bill Offutt stressed

that our club of over 600 students is expected to perform exceptionally well, given the criteria

that they successfully met in order to be admitted.

Academics aside, special Honors activities taking place in upcoming months not only inform, but

also give students opportunities to bond as a community. As always, we have monthly Movie

Nights. Pace’s Got Knowledge hosts talks by esteemed Pace professors about their research. Also

in store is a tour of City Hall and a Potluck Dinner.

I was given a warm welcome as a new staff member of the Honors College. I graduated from

Pforzheimer’s with a BA in English Writing and Literature and am currently pursuing an MA in

English. I am thrilled to return to serve alongside Bill as Honors’ new advisor, as well as the

editor for the Honors Newsletter and E-Journal.

At the event, all had kind words to describe the Honors College. Freshman and Communications

major Mosammad Rahman raved about our scholarship, and having first preference in registering

for classes. “The second you get into Pace, you are given an advisor,” our Newsletter staffer adds.

“It’s a close-knit community. Scheduling with Bill is awesome because he does everything for

you, so that you’d have an easy road ahead of you.” We give students ample opportunity for

leisure; our activities, Rahman notes, are not “serious.”

Juniors Drew Cimimo, who is double-majoring in Computer Sciences and Economics, and Zach

Tierney, a Communications major, agreed. Cimimo highlights a huge Honors perk: No long

waits to alleviate scheduling conflicts. “You can focus on things you want to do instead,” he said.

Tierney remarked, “I love Ida; Aydde is always helpful, and Bill got me to be self-sufficient

during my freshman year.” He remembers his Honors trips around the city, and fondly recalls

the Squid and the Whale piece at The Museum of Natural History.

To inner-transfer student and sophomore Jordan Ho, being accepted into Honors was a seamless

transition, given his 3.91 GPA. Quite aptly, he summed up the Honors experience thus far as

being auspicious. “I am looking forward to meeting people with high standards,” he remarked.

Thanks to all those who attended our BBQ! If you are interested in learning about the events we

have planned, please visit us at W207 to pick up our calendar, as well as to say hello to our

friendly faculty and student aides. I will be here to assist in advising—and don’t be taken aback

you are stealthily approached with interview questions at a future event for the Newsletter!

--Charissa Che

“You may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for…” Billy Joel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo9t5XK0FhA

“The more I know, the less I understand/All the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again…” Don Henley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo9t5XK0FhA

For me, college was magic. It was a time and place of great beauty and ideas, but more than anything else,

it was a moment when I could become myself. I went without knowing what I was getting into, in terms of

work, of people, of emotions. I only knew that I wanted, that I needed something different from the home,

the neighborhood, the high school that had all limited me. And though I still carried within me all those

boundaries, college let me, forced me beyond those limits. And I now had friends who would see me

through.

For me, college was painful. For the first time in my life, I

suffered real failure, in courses that I didn’t understand (and

ended up dropping to avoid bad grades), in jobs I wanted

and couldn’t get, in relationships that I wanted and couldn’t

get. One of my sophomore roommates, a guy who I’d played

poker with endlessly, a guy in whose room me and others sat

up til 3am redesigning the world (we had a Secretary for Ping-

pong in our cabinet), went quite mad and had to be

involuntarily committed after a couple months of hell. For all

the gains, there were many losses.

Yet I kept going to schools, to law school, to grad school, back

to college as faculty. When I took over Honors in September

2001, I planned to make a space where the magic I knew then

could happen here, yet my first Honors task became trying to

hold together a college experience in the face of unimaginable

pain. And I’ve come to realize repeatedly (see Don Henley

above) in the last 10 years, that for all Honors can create

academically, what matters comes from carving out a space where

students can care for each other, in magic and in pain.

From the opening episode of “Friday Night Lights” 5 years ago came this speech, which I replay in my

mind’s Tivo regularly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2vWfLceuo :

Give all of us gathered here tonight the strength to remember life is so very

fragile....We are all vulnerable, and we will all, at some point in our lives... fall. We

will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts... that what we have is special. That it

can be taken from us, and when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be

tested to our very souls. We will now all be tested. It is these times, it is this pain,

that allows us to look inside ourselves.

What we have in Honors is that chance, to look inside ourselves together, for what is fragile, special

and magic; for what is painful and testing. That’s all, and that is enough.

Welcome (Back)!

I hope that your academic year is off to a great start. I am really thrilled to be the new director of the Honors College in NYC. I have

already met many of you and look forward to meeting the rest of you!

There are many exciting things happening. Our new website is up and running thanks to the diligence of our student aides, Suhas

Ravish and Sagar Patade. We hope that you will visit it often and join us on Facebook! The website has many updated features,

including our newsletter, E-journal, and events calendar. Charissa Che, our new part-time advisor and newsletter/journal editor, has

been working tirelessly and wearing many hats (figuratively speaking). With her assistance, I am hoping Bill might have a minute to

drink his soda in peace every once in a while (although this is not very likely). Our program coordinator, Aydde Martinez, and our

student aides, Andrea Carlson, Annamaria Santamaria, and Noor Fatima, have resuscitated the Honors Council and are busy

planning events. We would love your ideas and feedback! To get involved in the Council, contact Andrea at ac65401n@pace.edu.

This summer, I reviewed the policies of the Honors College and have made minor

changes to the thesis, internship, and Honors option course requirements. Please review

important policy changes below:

Honors thesis:

The thesis must be a minimum of 25 pages (unless an exception is granted by the Honors College Director)

All students must defend their thesis to their advisor and a second reader at a

presentation during an Honors research conference day (unless an exception is granted

by the Honors College Director)

Internships:

Before starting your internship, you must apply to the Honors College by submitting the Internship Responsibilities Form (which can be found online)

Upon completion of the internship, you must submit an 8-10 page final paper tying the internship to your academic

discipline.

Honors option courses:

Students MUST apply within the first two weeks of the semester to be permitted to take an Honors Option course

Students must complete a significant amount of extra work in order to receive Honors credit for the course. This will be

determined by the Director and faculty member supervising the work.

Senior Thesis Deadlines:

Deadlines for students graduating in December 2011:

December 2- Draft is due to your thesis advisor

December 12 or 13- Thesis presentations will take place

December 14- Final draft is due to the Honors Office

Deadlines for students graduating in May, 2012:

November 21- Honors Thesis Information Form with your thesis advisor’s signature must be handed in to the Honors Office

April 20- Draft is due to your thesis advisor

April 27 & 30- Thesis presentations will take place

May 1- Final draft is due to the Honors Office

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this or anything else. You can contact me at idupont@pace.edu.

Have a great semester,

Prof. Ida Dupont

Charissa Che Advisor, Honors Newsletter and E-Journal Editor

Aydde Martinez Program Coordinator

Annamaria Santamaria

Andrea Carlson

Noor Fatima

By Mosammad Rahman

On Thursday, September 21st, Dr. Emilie Zaslow initiated what will be a series of talks by distinguished professors of Pace University about their works. Zaslow presented her research entitled, “Revalorizing Feminine Ways of Knowing: The Challenge to Biomedical Epistemology in an Online Mother’s Health Community.” Her experience as a mother, along with her concentration in Women’s Studies are the driving forces behind her interest of mothering in the digital era.

Students were both perplexed and intrigued by what they would be presented with. Said sophomore Jordan Ho, “I saw the title and it seemed interesting. I had no idea what it was about, so I thought I’d find out.” Clarity developed, however, as Zaslow provided details of her work.

Zaslow’s research involved a small group – as opposed to a large one that would give more variety but

less depth – that she examined closely. Set for 7 years, the research involved monitoring a parenting listserv for children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), which causes irregularities in behavioral and motor functions. The forum gathered around 3,000 members and garners around 1,000 messages a month. Zaslow’s concentration was based on archival research as opposed to direct contact with the focus group.

The mothers on the listserv relied heavily on “the mother’s instinct,” which provided a foundation for

most of the topics discussed. According to Zaslow, fundamentally, these mothers asked each other, “What did you find?” and “What was you experience?”

Mothers of children with SPD generally seek an extra outlet for their parenting woes because it still has

not been medically diagnosed as a disorder. Insurance companies do not cover SPD, forcing it to be a dangerous territory in the medical field. With Internet technology, mothers could potentially self-diagnose their child and apply measures to reduce the effects of the problem.

With the Internet readily available, women have scientific research at their fingertips. “Women... have a

notion of the diagnosis before entering [the doctor's] office," said Zaslow. Scientific research, however, is often geared towards pharmaceutical drugs. She believes that forums serve information that research would not touch upon.

The most relevant criticism that such forums received was that they had “more emotion than

information.” Zaslow disagrees. Though fueled with passion, most comments have a significant amount of information as well as valuable anecdotes. She concluded that the forums can be informative and positive.

Due to the limited quantity and form of the research, however, there are certain questions that remain to

be answered. As the forum consists of a conservative group of people, personal information is kept under wraps. Despite this, the formation of social online groups is fairly new, and there is more information about mothers making the transition from the doctor’s office to the Internet to look forward to in the near future.

By Samuel Harrington

Every person is beautiful in a unique way. The time has come for humanity to realize

that the way we think, act, feel and live must change drastically. Internally, we are not

satisfied. We have been striving to achieve happiness and freedom but end up falling into the

system our ancestors invented which has become corrupt with greed and unquestionable

power. All economies have failed; we must think outside of the box and eventually leave

money behind. "Mo Money Mo Problems" is a well-known song from The Notorious B.I.G.’s

album Life After Death. Money has created a competitive and selfish society in America and

other developed countries. The rich die greedy and the poor die broke. As a planet of peaceful

beings that only output positive energy, we would accomplish so much more.

People are mean and I never understood why. It must be how we are raised because

even as a child, I recall negative energy people had towards each other. No one should be held

above another, but by the way we have lived, that is exactly the case. Power is corrupt.

Police officers are strong examples because they take advantage of the power they are given. I

was beaten by a Chicago police officer for what felt like ten minutes this past summer. He

nearly choked me to unconsciousness as I begged for him to stop. After he handcuffed me to a

fence I told other officers and higher- ranked captains about the senseless beating but they

were racist and didn't care.

The unequal distribution of power in this dimension is no secret. CEOs such as Bill

Gates, Warren Buffet and Larry Page earn hundreds of millions; even billions of dollars in one

year (Forbes.com) while single mothers struggle and debt-ridden people are living paycheck to

paycheck. Not to mention the starving, homeless, and hopeless people scattered in abundance

around the world. I pray that powerful men and women have compassion for the World we

are in and the others living in it because they have the most power to inflict change at this

point in time, late 2011: Right now, money is power.

No longer should we judge a person's rank in society by the amount of money in his or

her bank account. No longer shall we judge any person at all at any time. We must revolt,

peacefully. It is a revolution of love that will evolve humanity. Think like Jesus, act like

Gandhi, firmly hold and promote the beliefs of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We do not have to

settle for less. We can create an amazing life experience that will stretch our imaginations and

perceptions of being. A movement of people cannot be stopped. If a leader is what the people

need then I am not afraid to lead.

My brain has evolved to a level of thinking that does not process negative emotions. I

effortlessly feel happy at all times. Fear, awkwardness, pity, sorrow and anger are all

weaknesses. Some popular belief in areas of psychology state that fear is necessary to our

survival. This idea is false and all negative emotions only hold us back. Desire to be lifted

higher. We are all beings in the universe and therefore connected. We are the most advanced

physical beings of our World considering that we have the skill of metacognition (thinking

about thinking) and ultimately, humans can do the most with their imaginations. Keep in

mind that we are no more divine than a spider or a tree. We are all equal. Together we will

create a new beginning. Spread Love, stop hate… advance humanity.

By Sierra Chandler

Forty-nine years ago, Stan Lee saw a spider crawling around on his ceiling, thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if

a guy could do that?” and a legend was born. When Spider-Man first appeared in 1962, he was a new breed of

superhero. Peter Parker, a mere teenager, was a hero rather than someone’s sidekick. He was moody and not

always a very good role model: all new things in the superhero realm. Today, Spider-Man is one of the most iconic

comic book characters in the world. After 49 years of battles, love, and loss, he is changing again.

September 14th marked the beginning of Marvel’s Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man. Peter Parker has died.

Miles Morales, a 13-year old half-black, half-Hispanic kid from Brooklyn gets the fateful spider bite and grapples

with a whole new host of powers, taking over as “Web-head.” Although Morales first appeared in Ultimate in April,

his reintroduction is not a reprise, as there has been support to diversify the character for a few years now.

When Marvel announced that another Amazing Spider-Man movie was in the works, fans saw a golden

opportunity. One blogger suggested that black actor-comedian Donald Glover would be perfect as the new hero. In

response, Glover jokingly tweeted, “I would love to be Spider-Man. Let’s make this happen.” Almost overnight,

“Glover for Spider-Man,” a fan-based Internet campaign emerged. On the Nerdist Podcast in September 2010,

Glover discussed the racism he experienced due to the campaign: “Spider-Man could be anyone. He’s from New

York, he’s covered from head to toe and he lives in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the country.”

The role ultimately went to British actor Andrew Garfield, but the support for a different Spider-Man

lived on. As a nod to “Glover for Spider-Man,” Glover’s character on Community wore Spider-Man pajamas in the

season two premiere episode. Ultimate Marvel writer Brian Bendis saw this and thought, “I would like to read that

book.” With that, the decision to bring Morales into the limelight was made.

Morales is a new superhero not just because of his race. In an interview with USA Today, Bendis said,

“Here is the birth of a superhero that has both parents at the time of his origin. It has never been done before in

the history of Marvel Comics where the father isn’t dead, really the villain or dies in the moment of the hero’s

birth. We’re going to break ground here.” At only 13, Morales is free from extreme life drama when he is suddenly

given amazing powers. “You have to be incredibly self-aware at that age to know what’s going on with you. The

spider will be the thing that cracks his shell,” said Bendis. Sarah Pinchelli, illustrator of the new Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, raved, “I love to remember that Spidey is an ordinary person who has acquired his powers, which are

not there from his birth, and must be somehow discovered and mastered.”

It is a testament to the spirit of Spider-Man that after nearly 50 years, the character can still grow,

and his writers show no signs of stopping. Bendis even hinted, tongue-in-cheek, that he would not be opposed to

Miles being gay. Fans have shown their “enthusiastic response” to the new series via their wallets, according to

Midtown Comics Downtown. Only time will tell if the new Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will earn his place in

comic book history, but he is making a running start.

On Saturday, October 1, Honors College students headed to Bethel, Connecticut for some apple picking. Though chilly, the town exuded brightness. Paving their way through muddy grounds and wet branches, students retrieved apples from the vast fields of the Blue Jay Orchard, but not without getting a tad unclean. However, “It was wonderful to see so much greenery as opposed to the city landscape,” said freshman, Fiona Yu.

In the week prior to the event, Bethel suffered from a series of storms, which caused the wear and tear of the apples. Regardless, their freshness was unmatched by typical grocery apples. Beyond the apples, there were small fields dedicated to pumpkins as well. According to the Blue Jay Orchard site (www.bluejayorchardsct.com), these 140 acres of land are home to 36 varieties of apples, giving the orchard the commercial success it has had in the last 50 years. Also serving the needs of the apple pickers was the bakery, which sold baked goods made daily. There were also various kinds of dressings, apple cider, honey, and honey products.

Hello, student body! I'm Maytav, and I'm a Sophomore in the Honors College

majoring in Marketing with a minor in Communications, as well as Music. I moved to the concrete jungle because this is where dreams are made of. Originally from Israel, I'm a pop/dance singer and recording artist. Growing up, I was strongly influenced by Britney

Spears—back in her good days—and in high school I began writing lyrics myself and I fell in love with it. After having two tracks professionally produced and engineered in upstate New York by producer Mike Miller and The Bird Suit's Richard Powda, I moved on to explore and develop my career in The Big Apple. With four tracks completed for my upcoming album, I am now on the edge of releasing my two new singles, so keep an ear our for the release date! Currently, I'm working on a new project to start playing out in the city at bars, cafes, clubs, etc. Visit my website to learn more: http://www.thesixtyone.com/maytavmusic

Check me out on iTunes under Maytav YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/maytavmusic. Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/maytavmusic and

Twitter: @MaytavMusic on Twitter!

Thanks for the support Pace!

11/2 Pace’s Got Knowledge:

Prof. Roger Sayre Fine Arts Department

Common Hour Meeting Room A

11/6 Movie Screening

9PM Honors Floor

11/16 Pace’s Got Knowledge: Prof. Mark Weinstock

Economics Department Common Hour

Meeting Room A

11/20 City Hall Tour

10AM Honors Floor

11/21 Potluck Dinner

8PM Student Union

11/10 Play Night

TBA

11/22 Speaker Session

9PM Honors Floor

11/15 “Electoral Politics: Does it

Still Matter?” Panel Q&A with Dr. Chris

Malone of Political Science Dept. and NY State Senator

Gustavo Rivera (Dem) 3:30PM-4:30PM

Lecture Hall North

The Honors Newsletter is a monthly online publication that features work

by Honors students ranging from art work, to Op/Ed pieces, to essays, to news

stories. Additionally, each Newsletter will cover some special Honors and Non-

Honors events that took place that month. If you are interested in submitting art,

poetry, photography, music, commentary on important social/political issues, or

any topic you feel strongly about—or, if you simply plan on attending any of our

future events and reporting on them—this may be the outlet for you!

The Pforzheimer Honors College E-Journal is an interdisciplinary

publication produced online each semester, and includes a selection of both

literary and academic works. You are encouraged to submit a piece of work that

you have completed during your undergraduate years. Works published in the E-

Journal may cover a wide range of subjects, including poetry, memoirs, theater

arts, women and gender studies, biology, politics, and history.

If you are interested in submitting to The Honors Newsletter and/or The Honors

E-Journal, please email me at cche@pace.edu.

I look forward to perusing your work!

Charissa Che

Advisor Editor of Honors Newsletter and E-Journal