Trustees approve hall names
In its monthly meeting Jan. 23, the SUNY board of trustees approved the names for the two new residence halls. The first residence hall, scheduled to be ready for students for the fall 2001 semester, will be Esopus Hall. The second residence hall, with construction scheduled to begin in the spring, will be called Lenape Hall. The names were chosen to recognize the Native American heritage and cultural influence in the region. They were selected after reviewing more than 300 names suggested by faculty, staff and students.

Faculty Conversations
Invitations were sent to 45 randomly-selected faculty and professional staff to attend February's Faculty Conversation on Feb. 7. The monthly meeting is designed to bring together a variety of campus employees with the president and cabinet members for informal discussion about campus issues. For February, the meeting is moving from the Terrace to the Purple Lounge.

If it's payday, it's lunch day!
The first bi-weekly faculty/staff luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday. The buffet-style lunch is the result of suggestions made at December's Faculty Conversations on ways to increase informal "networking" among the faculty and staff. The cost is $6 and the buffet line will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Based on the success of this initial lunch, faculty/staff lunches will be scheduled for each payday through the semester.

Niza Cardona moved into her new position as the director of student accounts Thursday. She moves into the new job after three years in the Financial Aid office as the senior financial aid advisor and federal work study coordinator.

The State University honored 21 of its top researchers in a recognition dinner Jan. 22. Among those honored was Lawrence Fialkow (Computer Sciences). Chancellor Robert L. King, who presented the achievement awards, cited Fialkow's 17 years of National Science Foundation-funded research into the classical problems of Moments.

Carol Wax (Art) returns from Michigan this week after a slide presentation on evolution of the mezzotint process and a mezzotint demonstration at the Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan. Her collection of mezzotint prints will be exhibited at the FIA through March 25.

Anne R. Roschelle (Sociology) gave a talk entitled "Trash Talk and Gangsta' Bravado: Identity Construction Among Homeless Kids and the Unintended Reproduction of Poverty" at Dartmouth College's Colloquium Series. She discussed her book, No More Kin: Exploring Race, Class, and Gender in Family Networks, with students in a Social Problems class.

Jamie Bennett (Art Studio) exhibited his work in a solo exhibition at Tiller & Ernst Gallerie, Vienna, Austria, in November and December. He will exhibit his work in another solo exhibition at Hnoss Gallery, Guttenburg, Sweden, and will be lecturing at the Guttenburg Academy of Art and Design in February.

Wenshan Jia will speak at the Keynote Panel of the Eighteenth Annual Intercultural Communication Conference of the University of Miami which is scheduled March 1-3.

Two for "Who's Who": Senior Shivohn Garcia and December graduate Raymond Savage will be included in the 2001 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. The listing selection is based on academic achievement, service to the community, leadership in extracurricular activities and potential for continued success. Garcia is a secondary education/English major, and Savage earned a bachelor's in art education. Both are residence assistants.

Early risers watching WABC-TV Channel 7 will see SUNY New Paltz through the eyes of 92-year-old music major Clara Pankow Miller. The ABC crew was on campus Jan. 23 and the story is expected to air at about 6:40 a.m. late this week or next week. In addition to Miller, Nancy Kassop (Political Science) and senior political science major Desmond Dutcher were interviewed for the story.