CUNY Podcasts

Matthew Bishop, chief business writer and US Business Editor of The Economist Magazine, addresses the global financial meltdown and how the media has failed to do its job covering it. Bishop spoke with Prof. Anthony Mancini, director of the journalism program at Brooklyn College, at the CUNY Journalism, Broadcast and New Media Conference and Career Fair at the Graduate Center. “We’ve been worried, as a magazine, about the American financial system for at least a decade,” said Bishop. “We’re at a very, very dangerous moment. Listen Now

Set in the middle of the Jazz Age, the infamous Leopold and Loeb murder case had all the elements of a true-crime thriller. In his acclaimed book, For The Thrill Of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago, Simon Baatz sheds new light on the brutal murder of a 14-year-old boy by two privileged and brilliant young men. Baatz, an associate professor of history at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center, breathes life back into the personalities in the case, including legendary defense lawyer Clarence Darrow. It was really my background in the history of science that persuaded me that this was a book that needed to be written, says Baatz, who has a Ph.D. in history of medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. I knew that it would be very complicated and intricate, as well as fascinating. It turned out to be both. Listen Now

By using spongy tracks instead of metal ones, passenger trains could travel faster and more safely, theorizes Distinguished Professor Sheldon Weinbaum. The remarkable part (is) that we can lift a 70-ton train car using soft, porous material just like a goose down pillow, says Prof. Weinbaum, who retired in 2007 after 40 years at City College, where he continues to conduct research and advise. In recognition of his work in mechanical and biomedical engineering, including his revolutionary prototype for trains, he was honored by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Engineering with its 2008 Davies Medal for Engineering Achievement. Listen Now

Dr. Rohit Aggarwala, Director of New York City s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability on plans for a greener New York, Grammy Award-winning folk singer Pete Seeger on using music to promote environmental issues, and Bruce and Russell Barton of Bits Limited Manufacturers on reducing electricity consumption and costs. Featured Green Artists: Pete Seeger, The Classic. Listen Now

A new study headed by the chairs of the 9/11 Commission has given the federal government a D for its efforts in preventing the spread of weapons and protecting the homeland. The same report awarded a B minus, its highest mark, for government efforts to combat chemical weapons. Prof. Joseph King explains the discrepancy. I credit that panel it s a bipartisan commission and they have come up with any number of recommendations, most of which the government hasn t adopted yet. Listen Now

Subcommittee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Subcommittee Investment, Monday, October 6, 2008. Download

Those fierce-looking critters, horseshoe crabs, have roamed the earth for an incredible 440 million years. Their eggs have been a vital source of nourishment for migratory birds, and their blood, which runs blue, has been used by the pharmaceutical industry to test for pathogenic bacteria. Now, due to pollution, human encroachment and commercial exploitation, the horseshoe crab is nearly extinct. “These animals have been used without regard for dwindling numbers. People have gone out and bled them to death,” says Martin Schreibman, distinguished professor emeritus of biology and founder of the Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center at Brooklyn College, which has reared the crabs since 1999 to study their reproductive behavior and growth rates. “We’re one of very few institutions that can culture horseshoe crabs in this country, and that’s very important.” Listen Now

Dr. Robert Paaswell, Director of the City University of New York Transportation Research Center on alternative technologies for transportation. Ira Dorfman, Emission Solutions on switching diesel engines in delivery trucks for those that run on natural gas. Mark Aubry, Smith Electric Vehicles on the advantages of electric commercial trucks. Featured Green Artists: MZ, Wet Pain. Listen Now

Small business owner Ed Taylor, on NYC s first all electric delivery truck, Dr. Carolyn Williams, President of Bronx Community College on the green collar workforce, and major event producer Chris Wangro on making concerts and other events green. Featured Green Artists: Will Hawkins, Peggy Atwood, David Grubs. Listen Now

The unabated demand continues for highly qualified registered nurses as the profession confronts a more complex heath care industry. The care in the hospitals has changed, says Patricia Dillon, the deputy chair of nursing at LaGuardia Commmunity College who entered the profession three decades ago. When I started as a nurse they just gave you a stethoscope. Now we have all kinds of computerized equipment. LaGuardia s emphasis on keeping pace with change has paid dividends for its students. For the past five years, the program s graduates licensure pass rates have surpassed the state average. Scores have ranged from 93 to 100 percent while the state average is 75.6 percent. Unlike other sectors in a contracting economy, employment prospects are bright: Among associate degree graduates, registered nurses are very well compensated and the job market is projected to grow by 23 percent over the next seven years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Listen Now

Ron Spalter, the City University of New York s COO on making the change to sustainability. Lisa Shpritz, Bank of America on the Bank of America Tower, their new LEED skyscraper made with recyclable materials. Adam Gardner of the band Guster on Reverb, not for profit that helps musicians and concerts go green. Featured Green Artists: Emily Zuzik, Scott Krokoff, Guster. Listen Now

Roll over Beethoven, or at least rap to the beat, says Prof. Howard Meltzer, deputy chair of music at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Prof. Meltzer designed his survey course, Music and Western Civilization, to encourage students to merge their musical tastes with classical music. “People feel personally attached to music they listen to,” said Prof. Meltzer, who’s been teaching the class since 2005. Without these contemporary cultural touchstones, you’ll set up a barrier between the students and the teacher. It s a technique that puts music in an historical context as a means to help analyze the piece, he says. Listen Now

In his report to the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein highlights Fall 2008 achievements, including record-high SAT scores, increased student enrollment and new doctoral degree-granting authority at both City College and Hunter College. In response to the declining economy, the Chancellor discusses new working groups to review finances, physical assets and other areas. Listen Now

Public meeting of the Board of Trustees, September 22, 2008. Download

Notorious for its pollution, Brooklyn s Gowanus Canal is being studied by two New York City College of Technology biology professors as a possible source of life-saving antibiotics. Profs. Niloufar Haque and Nasreen Haque, who are sisters, say that by examining micro-organisms that have learned to adjust to such filthy conditions, they could potentially be used to combat heart disease, Alzheimer s and AIDS. (These organisms) are not only fighting against other organisms, but a lot of other chemicals that have been dumped in that canal, says Prof. Nasreen Haque. They re finding mechanisms to resist those chemicals as well as other microbes. They are survivors. Listen Now

Creating state-of-the-art facilities and sustaining a top-notch doctoral faculty, are two initiatives CUNY is undertaking during its “Decade of Science,” says Dr. Gillian Small, the University s new Vice Chancellor for Research. Another goal of the 10-year project is to increase the number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (S.T.E.M.). The additional buildings-–including the Advanced Science Research Center currently under construction on the south campus of City College will benefit both faculty and students. Listen Now

As the country marks the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an historic presidential race is rounding the final stretch. Was the issue of homeland security given the attention it deserved by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain in their battle for the White House? No, says Prof. Joseph King. I don t think either candidate has addressed it other than in vague generalities. Prof. King notes that neither campaign has discussed domestic security, including the candidates future plans for the Department of Homeland Security, in any detail: There is a lack of specificity in both camps. Listen Now

Public hearing on items on the Board of Trustees Calendar for the September meeting of the Board, September 15, 2008. Download

Creating state-of-the-art facilities and sustaining a top-notch doctoral faculty, are two initiatives CUNY is undertaking during its Decade of Science, says Dr. Gillian Small, the University s new Vice Chancellor for Research. Another goal of the 10-year project is to increase the number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (S.T.E.M.). The additional buildings-–including the Advanced Science Research Center currently under construction on the south campus of City College will benefit both faculty and students. Listen Now

The Baruch Business Report offers a conversation between John Elliott, the Dean of Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business, and Terrence Martell, Saxe Professor of Finance and International Business in Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business. The discussion starts with the results of the second quarter 2008 “Chief Financial Officers Outlook Survey,” which is conducted quarterly by Financial Executives International and Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, and continues into a larger economic analysis including economic confidence, market predictability, soaring oil prices and the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in the US. The survey results are available on Baruch College’s website at: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/cfosurvey/. Listen Now

A unique initiative that aims to correct decades of old science mistakes has just been launched by the Center for Modern Forensic Practice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The Arson Screening Project, says center director James Doyle, will work to exonerate the roughly 5,000 inmates currently incarcerated in U.S. prisons for arson crimes. This is a novel response to a new situation, explains Doyle. All over the United States projects have sprung up to deal with DNA cases, but, unlike DNA, this is a situation where there is new science that brings old science into question. In concert with the Innocence Project and a JEHT Foundation grant, the project will work to address recent discoveries in forensic science that reveal an entire generation, at least, were investigated by poorly trained officials who relied on false fire science indicators. Listen Now

Thirty-four million years ago the earth was much warmer than it is today, with carbon dioxide levels as high as what scientists predict for the end of this century, says Dr. Stephen Pekar, assistant professor of geology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queens College. The land mass that would become New York City was at the bottom of the sea and lush green forests ringed the coastlines of Antarctica until it abruptly became colder. “This (phenomenon) becomes a great analog of what our future could be like,” says Prof. Pekar. In October, Prof. Pekar will lead a forty-day expedition to Antarctica to study sediments deposited there during this warm period, known as the Greenhouse World. The research, part of a massive two-year effort by the International Polar Year (IPY), is being conducted to help scientists understand the nature of global warming and forecast future climate conditions. Listen Now

Standing committee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Committee on Faculty, Staff and Administration, Wednesday, September 3, 2008. Download

Standing committee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Committee on Fiscal Affairs, Wednesday, September 3, 2008. Download

Standing committee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Committee on Facilities, Planning and Management, Wednesday, September 3, 2008. Download

Standing committee meeting of the Board of Trustees, Committee on Academic policy, Program and Research, Wednesday, September 3, 2008. Download

Professor Tom Angotti s Beyond Bike Lanes: Retrofitting the 21st Century Metropolis for Bicycles and Pedestrians investigates ways to make the United States less dependent on automobiles by exploring how other cities have successfully integrated alternative modes of transportation. A professor of urban affairs and planning at Hunter College and an avid bicyclist, Professor Angotti, who spoke at the Governor’s Island Lectures on Sustainability, argued that bicyclists and pedestrians must reclaim their streets. Listen Now

Project Manager Laura Sawgert Winkel of The CUNY Sustainability Project explores CUNY’s involvement with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030, a comprehensive, long-term plan to reduce global warming emissions by 30% by the year 2030. In her presentation, part of the Governor’s Island Lectures on Sustainability, Prof. Winkel discusses the overall design of PlaNYC 2030 and the how CUNY has already taken early steps to realize the ultimate goal of a sustainable future. Listen Now

In his lecture “New Materials for Renewable Energy Technologies,” part of the Governor’s Island Lectures on Sustainability, Steven Greenbaum, professor of physics at Hunter College, explores different strategies to lower the world’s carbon dioxide output through renewable energy, which cannot occur without developing technologies for mass energy storage. Greenbaum shares details of his own research, including the inexpensive lithium iron phosphate material that he says might ease reliance on expensive materials used in rechargeable batteries. This is the material that might save us, he said. Listen Now

As a sociology graduate student at Harvard University, Peter Moskos thought the best way to see the inner workings of a police unit in a high-crime area was to join the force himself. So he did. The result is his first book, Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore s Eastern District, which was published this summer to rave reviews. Now an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Prof. Moskos discusses his year patrolling the area of Baltimore made famous by the hit HBO series The Wire and why he is in favor of legalizing drugs. I prefer to say I want to regulate drugs, explains Prof. Moskos. The fact that anybody can go to a corner and buy any drug, is what leads to violence and overdose deaths. We cannot regulate what we prohibit. Listen Now