HUNTER HEADLINES ( 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 archives )

Hunter Student Plays Key Role in Global Model UN Program in Malaysia

Hunter Professor Named Brooklyn Poet Laureate

Academy Nominates Hunter Professor’s Film for “Best Documentary” Oscar

Kerry Kennedy Speaks at Hunter's Historic 200th Graduation
Hunter and Duane Reade Team Up to Offer H1N1 Vaccine
Hunter is #2 on Princeton Review's 100 "Best Value Colleges" List

HUNTER HEADLINES

Hunter Student Plays Key Role in Global Model UN Program in Malaysia

Hunter College junior Jeffrey Ruiz was chosen as the student representative at the launch of the Malaysia Global Model U.N. Program 2010 (GMUN 2010), which will take place this July.

In addition, Ruiz has been named a co-chair of the Program Committee for GMUN 2010, along with another Hunter junior, Christine Batilloro.  Ruiz and Batilloro are both head delegates on the Hunter College Model U.N. Team.  Ruiz was chosen for his new post at a meeting held earlier this month at U.N. headquarters in New York.

More than a thousand top-level college and university students from all over the world are expected to attend the Global Model United Nations Conference in Malaysia, which is part of the U.N. effort to encourage young people to strive on behalf of peace and development.  The aim of the Malaysia meeting is to build on the success of the inaugural Global Model U.N. Conference, held in Geneva last summer.

Emphasizing the importance of the Model U.N. meetings, Kiyo Akasaka, U.N. undersecretary-general for communications and public information, stressed that “It is crucial to engage young people.”

Added Ruiz, “As students we study law, theory, the sciences, and history, “but we rarely have the opportunity to apply what we learn in order to come up with innovative solutions to the problems facing people the world over—such as extreme poverty, nuclear disarmament, epidemics, and, as we have recently seen, terrible natural disaster.  Model United Nations brings students as close to hands-on work as one can get in trying to draft plausible solutions and to experience the indispensable value of dialogue and compromise.”

Hunter’s Model United Nations Team has competed at Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Oxford, and has consistently won honors.  Most members of the team are students in Hunter’s Model U.N. class, a political science course taught by Professor Pamela Falk, who also serves as advisor to the team.

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Hunter Professor Named Brooklyn Poet Laureate

Tina Chang, Hunter adjunct professor of English, has been chosen over 21 other applicants to become Brooklyn’s next poet laureate.  Borough President Marty Markowitz announced the news in his State of the Borough address on February 3, citing Chang’s many literary accolades and her commitment to becoming a “poetic ambassador.”  At the event, Chang read her poem “Praise.”

Chang is the author of the collection Half-Lit Houses and co-editor of Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond.

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Academy Nominates Hunter Professor’s Film for “Best Documentary” Oscar

On Sunday, March 7, Hunter professor of Urban Affairs and Planning Peter Kwong will be at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, where he hopes to find himself onstage after the announcement of the winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).  Among the category’s five nominees is a film he co-produced: “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province.”

“China’s Unnatural Disaster” looks at the devastating aftermath of the 2008 earthquake that killed at least 70,000 people, including thousands of children crushed by school buildings.  The film follows parents coming to terms with their loss and challenging government officials to explain the inadequate construction.  

“It’s about heroic people struggling to find justice and about the larger demand for political reform in China,” said Kwong.  “We want the government to be accountable.”

In fact, the government has attempted to suppress the movie and the news of its Oscar nomination.  Kwong and his co-producers were themselves previously detained in China and have since had their visas denied.  For Kwong, the value of the Oscar nomination, and hopeful win, goes far beyond the glitz and glamour of Hollywood prestige.

“We are pleased that this film will finally get another chance for viewership,” he said.

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Kerry Kennedy Speaks at Hunter's Historic 200th Graduation

Hunter College observed a milestone on January 21 - its 200th commencement exercise. Exuberant families and friends filled Assembly Hall for the historic ceremony at which 1,300 degrees and certificates were conferred.

Commencement speaker Kerry Kennedy was quickly caught up in the spirit of the occasion, breaking off at one point from her prepared text speech to tell the enthusiastic audience, "I love this crowd - you're just great."

Kennedy is one of the nation's foremost human rights activists. She established the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights in 1988 in memory of her late father, and she has led more than 40 human rights delegations around the globe. Drawing on her long experience as an activist, Kennedy urged the graduating students to always remember that "determined people can change the world."

She spoke of her own first job after graduating from Brown, an internship at Amnesty International. "I found myself surrounded by Davids who stood up against a world of Goliaths," she said. "They were armed only with determination, but they never stopped fighting to make the dream of human rights come true."

She noted how far the world has come since the dark days of the 1970s and '80s when the Soviet Union was intact, dictators dominated Latin America and South Africa was ruled by an apartheid regime. Now, she said with evident pride, 183 nations have approved CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination).

But despite such gains, she said, millions of people around the world are still denied their basic rights. "The struggle goes on," she concluded. "We all have to speak out against injustice."

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Hunter and Duane Reade Team Up to Offer H1N1 Vaccine

Hunter staff members Clay Williams and Anne Lytle receive their H1N1 vaccines at the Duane Reade on 3rd Avenue and 74th Street.

The Office of the President has teamed up with Duane Reade to provide Hunter students, faculty and staff with convenient, affordable access to the H1N1 vaccine. The first 1,000 vaccines are being offered free of charge. After that, they will be available at a special discounted rate of $15.

The H1N1 vaccines are being offered at two Duane Reade locations: 1279 3rd Avenue (at 74th Street) and 155 East 34th Street (at 3rd Avenue). To receive the vaccine, you must pick up a voucher from one of several campus locations and bring it, along with your valid Hunter ID, to either of the participating stores.

On the 68th Street campus, students can pick up a voucher in room E1119. Faculty and staff can pick up a voucher in room E1502. On the Brookdale campus, resident students can pick up a voucher in the Resident Life Office (room BC117). Vouchers for faculty, staff and non-resident students will be distributed by Dean Gebbie's office in room 401 Brookdale West.

Vaccines are available Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm, between Wednesday, January 13 and Friday, February 26.

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Hunter is #2 on Princeton Review's 100 "Best Value Colleges" List

Hunter College has been named the #2 "Best Value Public College for 2010," according to the Princeton Review and USA Today. This is the second year in a row in which the College has been recognized with this distinction and has landed in the top 10.

The Princeton Review noted that "for many New Yorkers seeking a college degree, Hunter College (within the CUNY system) offers the best, most affordable option available. In many ways, a Hunter education is a no-frills experience... Hunter has a lot to offer beyond its miniscule tuition. For one thing, the school's faculty is a huge asset. Professors are very often experts in their fields, and they work hard to accommodate undergraduates. Location is another major plus, because New York City is a virtually limitless source of valuable internship opportunities."

The Princeton Review selected its "Best Value" choices for 2010 based on surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private colleges and universities. The selection criteria covered more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, cost of attendance, and financial aid, using the most recently reported data from each institution from the 2008-09 academic year.

Said Robert Franek, Princeton Review SVP/Publisher, "Among the nearly 16,000 respondents to our 2009 'College Hopes and Worries Survey,' of college applicants and parents, 85% said financial aid would be 'very necessary' for them this year. However there are many first-rate institutions offering outstanding academics at a relatively low cost of attendance and/or generous financial aid, including some that may surprise applicants. We're pleased to have again teamed up with USA TODAY to identify and commend the 100 colleges that do just that and do it best in the nation."

The College was featured in a segment on the Today Show and in USA Today, among other media outlets.

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