Eastbound Freight will come to Stony Brook on Sept. 9. Photo courtesy of LIM
Bluegrass fans rejoice! The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook in conjunction with the Bluegrass Club of Long Island will welcome Eastbound Freight with the Jeff Davis Maria Fairchild Duo for an evening of live bluegrass in the Carriage Museum’s Gillespie Room on Friday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m.
The band members share a life-long connection to the music and a love for the big bluegrass sound of the original groups: Bill Monroe and the Bluegras Boys, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys and others. Their repertoire includes tunes popularized by these groups as well as many original songs by banjo player Bill DeTurk.
Advance tickets may be purchased at www.longislandbluegrass.org for $14. If available, full-priced tickets may be purchased at the door (cash only) for $20. For questions, please contact [email protected].
With a new school year around the corner, look back at Port Jefferson alumni through the years
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Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Port Jefferson alumni from the past. Photo by Richard Olson
Richard Olson taught U.S. History in the Port Jefferson school district from 1967-2002. He also served as the yearbook advisor from 1988-2014.
During that time, he amassed a collection of photos from events like homecoming, prom and class trips. With a new school year set to begin, take a look back at alumni from eras gone by.
Do you know where and when this photo was taken? Email your answers to [email protected]. To see more wonderful vintage photographs like this, visit The Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s ongoing exhibit, It Takes a Team to Build a Village, at The WMHO’s Educational & Cultural Center, 97P Main Street, Stony Brook. For more information, call 631-751-2244.
Photo from WMHO
Last week’s photo:The WMHO received many responses identifying this photo, which was a bowling alley located at the Stony Brook Village Center. The lanes were built in the basement of the Woodbox (now Latitude 121) in approximately 1956. Whitney Roberts of Stony Brook reminisced working there as a young man. “I set the pins there in 1959 for the Ladies’ Duck Pin League. Still remember the 5 cent root beers in the frozen mugs as I’m sure the few others that are still in the area remember.”
From left, Paul Dodorico and Fred Drewes stand by ‘the sun' at Heritage Park. Photo from Fred Drewes
Volunteers at the Heritage Park in Mount Sinai, known affectionally as The Wedge, recently added a unique feature to the park. “The Solar System has landed at the Wedge,” said volunteer Fred Drewes. Along with fellow volunteer Paul Dodorico, Drewes installed signs modeled after The 1000 Yard Peppercorn Model of the Solar System throughout the park.
Tom and Nick Nagle of Letter Perfect Graphics formatted and printed the signs on metal sign plates, funds for the posts and screws were donated and Yvonne Francis of Port Jeff Bowl donated the bowling ball sun. Visit the Wedge and tour the Solar System by starting at the south end of the park. Look for the planet signs along the fence line and find out where Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto would be in this model of the solar system.
Heritage Park, located at 633 Mount Sinai-Coram Road in Mount Sinai is open daily from dawn to dusk. For more information, please call 631-509-0882.
When Commack resident Nancy Lang-Feldman wrote a story to comfort her sister Susan, it turned into her first children’s book, “Hermann Finds Home.” The heartwarming tale tells the story of Hermann, a cute, lovable tortoise, who sets out on an unexpected adventure. Recommended for children from 4 to 8 years old, the book, which includes some interesting facts about tortoises, is not only fun but educational, too. Lang-Feldman recently took time out from preparing for her book’s Sept. 6 debut to answer a few questions about “Hermann Finds Home.”
Tell me a little bit about your background.
I started out as a fine arts major in college, then switched to journalism. I spent my career as a magazine editor. After being laid off in 2006, I enjoyed not having to commute into Manhattan for a while. Then I was offered a freelance gig with Consumer Reports, working on its twice-yearly Electronics Buying Guide, but that special issue was discontinued last year. I think the pause from constant work was very beneficial for me, because I had the free time to get my creative juices flowing.
What inspired you to write ‘Hermann Finds Home’?
I never actually intended to write a children’s book. But my sister Susan was very distraught over the loss of her tortoise Hermann. So one night, while sitting on the couch watching “Two and a Half Men” reruns, I thought, “I wish there were a way I could make Susan believe Hermann might still be OK.” So in 20 minutes, the story of Hermann was born. Then I decided I would go all the way and illustrate it and present it to her as a Chanukah gift. This process was much more time-consuming; it took a few months, and I was just barely able to get it done in time to present it to her at her annual family Chanukah party. But when, with tears in her eyes, she said it was the best present she’d ever gotten, I knew it was totally worth all the time and effort.
How would you describe Hermann the Tortoise?
Hermann is an adorable tortoise who just wants to love and be loved. He enjoys playing with children and has a penchant for strawberries.
How would you summarize the book?
Well, as I mentioned, “Hermann Finds Home” is the story of my sister’s tortoise. So the first part is about how Susan, a school teacher, adopts Hermann from a boy who brought him to school. Hermann spends winters with Susan at school and summers with Susan at the day camp where she works. Tragically, one morning, when Susan arrived at camp, she learned that Herman had disappeared from the building in which the animals slept at night. (Hermann spent weeknights at camp and weekends with Susan.) There was no sign of damage to his habitat, so his disappearance was a mystery. Susan was devastated. She had grown very attached to Hermann, and he had become a member of her family. The camp staff searched high and low for Hermann, but they found no sign of him. The rest of the story is obviously fiction, as Hermann tells the story of how he sets out in search of Susan.
How did it feel when you received the finished version of the book from the publisher?
We had just gotten home from a long weekend, and there was a big stack of boxes in front of the house. At first, I thought they were for my husband, but then I realized what they were, and I was very excited. The publisher did a great job and the books look fantastic.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of your book will be donated to Galapagos Conservancy. Why did you choose this organization?
A few years back, my husband and I cruised the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands near Ecuador. The islands have been on my bucket list for many years, and the trip turned out to be everything I dreamed it would be. It’s a very special place that’s home to the greatest number of animal species found nowhere else on Earth. And as we all learned in school, Charles Darwin’s study of these species led to his theory of evolution. The islands’ fragile ecosystem is in dire need of protection, and Galapagos Conservancy has done incredible work toward this end. I want many future generations to be able to get up close and personal with the blue-footed boobies, the Galapagos penguins and, of course, the amazing giant tortoises, which can be found in only one other place on the planet.
Darwin Animal Doctors is also receiving a part of the proceeds. Why did you choose it?
Darwin Animal Doctors is another great organization. It helps protect the biodiversity of the Galapagos by providing lifesaving veterinary care to its endemic wildlife and free spaying and neutering of domestic animals.
In the About the Author section, it’s mentioned that you and your sisters always had turtles growing up? Do you remember how many?
My first experience with turtles was when my cousin Lori and I visited my aunt Lillian, who lived across the street from Coney Island Amusement Park. She would give us each $2 to spend however we wanted, and I spent mine on a little green turtle. We left it in the car when my parents came to get us, and it died of sunstroke. I cried hysterically until my parents bought me another one to quiet me down, and I always remember my sisters and I having at least one turtle ever since, until I was about 15.
What do you hope children will learn from reading your book?
While the love of a child for his or her pet is very special, it is also important for animals to experience the love and companionship of their own kind. Like humans, animals do feel love — and loss — whether for the children or adults who care for them or for their own mates and offspring.
Do you have plans for a new book?
I have some Hermann sequel ideas percolating in my head, but I’d like to make Hermann famous before I take him to the next level. Let’s hope everyone loves him as much as Susan and I do.
Cover of ‘Hermann Finds Home’
Little readers can meet Lang-Feldman at the “Hermann Finds Home” launch party at Book Revue, 313 New York Ave., Huntington, on Sept. 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. In addition to the author signing copies, the event will include a reading by her sister Susan, as well as face painting and a crafts project. Lang-Feldman said she also hopes to bake some of her Hermann the Tortoise cookies for the party. After Sept. 6, “Hermann Finds Home” may be purchased online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well as other bookstore websites. For more information or to purchase a signed copy of the book, visit www.hermannfindshome.com.
The audience at Cinema Arts Centre enjoys a scene during the horror movie marathon. Photo by Kevin Redding
By Kevin Redding
Living corpses, seductive vampires, hungry werewolves, mutant children, body-swapping aliens, a book that unleashes demons and evil spirits, and a whole lot of blood.
Projected on the big screen in beautiful 35mm prints, all these things brought great joy and camaraderie to a roomful of strangers last Saturday night, Aug. 27, at Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington.
A total of 115 eager horror fans packed the theater — fully equipped with pillows, blankets, snacks, and plenty of caffeine — ready to take on the 12th annual Pay To Get Out Horror Movie Marathon that started at 10 p.m. and didn’t finish until a little after 8:30 a.m. the next morning. Five movie titles are released to the public, with the sixth kept a secret until you’re in.
People from all walks of life were huddled together with an instant, unifying bond: a love for all things scary.
At 10 p.m., there was a buzz in the air as everybody settled into their seats. Just before the marathon started, Michael and Nina Ciani of Retro Picture Show, co-presenters of the marathon, announced three raffle ticket winners and presented each of them with a vinyl soundtrack for Lucio Fulci’s “The House By The Cemetery,” one of the better and more intense entries of the night.
The movies ranged from schlocky and ridiculous fun with “The Hidden” to a little bit dull ‘The Company of Wolves” to downright scary David Cronenberg’s “The Brood”, and I loved every second of it. When there wasn’t laughing and hollering at cheesy acting and unintentionally funny moments, there was cheering when the protagonists escaped their monsters’ clutches and gasping at grisly kills. We, as an audience, were treated to a reel of classic trailers that ran before the movies, pertaining to the theme of each one. Before “The Hidden,” we got John Carpenter’s “They Live;” before “The Brood,” we got “Videodrome;” and before “The Company of Wolves,” we got Joe Dante’s “The Howling.”
The big question of “what the final mystery film would be?” hung over the theater all night.
As we took our seats one last time at around 7:10 a.m., we were all quiet with anticipation.
As soon as the black screen filled with fog and a few seconds of musical score blared, the theater erupted, instantly recognizing the Sam Raimi classic “Evil Dead II,” perhaps the greatest movie choice to be experienced by this kind of crowd in a theater. Bruce Campbell’s demon-induced pratfalls were never more exhilarating.
Throughout the marathon, the film prints were scratchy and crackly in the best ways possible, only enhancing the atmosphere. But no print was more fitting than the one of “Evil Dead II,” which warped and fizzled out a few different times early on as characters were undergoing the wrath of the Book of the Dead. An audience member put it best when he shouted out, “This film is possessed!”
It’s a testament to the love and passion for the horror genre that almost everybody in attendance,including myself, stuck it out to the end of the marathon with a healthy dose of energy and excitement intact.
Maureen O’Leary on an expedition in Mali. Photo by Eric Roberts
By Daniel Dunaief
At their greatest depths, oceans hold onto their secrets. With layers of light-blocking water between the surface and the bottom, they hide the kind of clues that might reveal more about who, or what, lived or traveled through them.
What if a sea dried up millions of years ago? And, what if that sea left behind pieces of information — some of them small and subtle and others larger and easier to spot? That’s what happened in a part of Africa that long ago gave up any signs of flowing water. The Sahara desert was, millions of years ago, home to an inland sea called the trans-Saharan seaway.
Maureen O’Leary, a professor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences in the School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has been to Mali, a country in the northwest of Africa, three times on expeditions, most recently in 2008. There, she collected fossils that are members of extinct groups that are part of larger evolutionary units with living members today.
O’Leary has explored and cataloged a number of remnants from the region, including a turtle and crocodile skull. She and her collaborators have also discovered sting ray fossils. Originally considered likely residents after an asteroid hit Earth that caused a massive extinction, these fossils now suggest that these sting rays lived in the area earlier than previously believed.
“This suggests that the sting rays did survive” the asteroid impact, said O’Leary. “Often extinction events are described in very broad terms but specific studies like this help us” hone in on the kind of species that survived.
She also found intriguing deposits in fossilized feces. Invertebrates burrowed through these fossilized remains, leaving a cast of the shapes of their bodies. The group that left traces of their activities in fossilized feces includes Pholadidae, which has living members. “A careful inspection of a whole fauna of fossils allows you to find invertebrates you had no record of,” said O’Leary.
Leif Tapanila, the director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History and an associate professor of geosciences at Idaho State University, joined O’Leary on an expedition to Mali in 1999, where he was the invertebrate expert. Tapanila said the feces of sharks, crocodiles and turtles have bone fragments that tend to preserve well. Some of these fossilized feces can be four- to five-feet-thick deposits. A prehistoric diver from 30 million years ago would have found that the bottom of the seaway, which was probably 50 to 70 meters at its deepest points, was covered in these hard feces, Tapanila said.
Tapanila described O’Leary as an effective collaborator who ensured scientists formed effective partnerships. “She brings people together,” Tapanila said. “One of her biggest strengths is that she finds pieces of the puzzle that are needed for a particular scientific question. She sets up the infrastructure to make a research project work.”
In one of the blocks of limestone recovered in 1999, O’Leary found a crocodile skull with well-preserved ear bones. That level of detail is unusual in a fossil because of the relatively small and fine nature of those bones. Robert Hill, who was a doctoral student in O’Leary’s lab and is now a professor at Hofstra University, noticed that the ear bones had bite marks on them. A closer examination suggested that the marks were made by a shark, either during a prehistoric battle or after the crocodile had died.
O’Leary is currently working with Eric Roberts, the head of Geoscience at James Cook University in Australia, to write a review paper on Mali that would contain some reconstructions of the region and the species. The paper would emphasize a big picture story using the specialized details she and others collected. This will not only help people see the world as it was but also may help them see the Earth as a changing place, where rising sea levels could cause another transition in a dry and arid region.
While O’Leary would like to return to Mali, she and numerous other scientists have kept their distance amid the political instability in the area. In 2008, Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler was taken hostage for 60 days. “There were some diplomats there who seemed unflappable and serious” who suggested that O’Leary and her colleagues return home during their expedition. “The American Embassy was instrumental in leaning on me to leave.” O’Leary said the politics of these areas, despite the rich story they may have to tell about the past, “can play into whether science can even be done.”
In addition to her research in Mali, O’Leary raised the money and created an online system called MorphoBank, which enables scientists studying anatomy all over the world to collect their information in one place. MorphoBank encourages those interested in anatomy of any kind to find data in one place. Tapanila credits O’Leary for creating a valuable resource. For the time, MorphoBank was “totally new. It takes a lot of effort and vision to pull that off,” he said.
O’Leary is married to Michael Novacek, an author and senior vice president and curator in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. He is one of the team leaders of the joint American Museum of Natural History/Mongolian Academy of Sciences ongoing expeditions to the Gobi Desert. The duo, who collaborated on an expedition in Morocco, have co-authored papers on the philosophy of science, placental mammal evolution and a team-based study of mammal evolution that was published in the journal Science.
O’Leary watches the political scene in and around Mali from afar.“I do keep an eye on it and would love to return,” she said.
Stony Brook’s Center for Planetary Exploration opens
Renee Schofield explains the testbed for the PIXL she built. Photo by Kevin Redding
By Kevin Redding
Although some might not think of Suffolk County as an obvious hotbed of planetary exploration, it doesn’t take long to discover just how impactful the research and work conducted on Long Island has been on the growth of space science.
Going back to the Apollo program in the early 1960s, the Grumman corporation was vital in landing astronauts on the moon by designing, assembling and testing the lunar module at its facility in Bethpage.
Even closer to home, the founder of Stony Brook University’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Dr. Oliver Schaeffer, became the first person to date celestial objects. He confirmed that the moon rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts were more than four billion years old.
Donald Hendrix leads a research team to help future astronauts prevent long-term illnesses. Photo by Kevin Redding
Now half a century later, Stony Brook University has once again cemented Long Island’s place in innovative planetary research.
In 2014, Timothy Glotch, a professor in the department of geosciences, received a $5.5 million grant from NASA through their Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute program to support his research. The department eventually obtained a 6,500-square-foot, world-class facility consisting of three different labs.
On Aug. 26, the public was invited to the official opening of Stony Brook’s Center for Planetary Exploration, where faculty members and students in the department gave a tour of their labs and showcased the inspiring work that has taken place so far.
At the core of CPEX is the Stony Brook-led multi-institutional Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration Institute, one of the nine nodes of the NASA program.
“We’re trying to pave the way for future human exploration of the solar system,” Glotch said. “Right now we are doing basic science; we are doing exploration activities that are going to get humans to Mars, back to the moon, and to the moons of Mars. That work is going on right here. We’re kind of leading the way in space exploration and we’re very proud of that. ”
He stressed the importance of the overall goal: to train the next generation of solar system explorers and scientists. The students are going to be running missions in the next decade or two, he said.
“Just as Schaeffer put together a young and talented group of researchers, we now have an extraordinarily talented group of young researchers working in planetary science,” current Chair of the Department Dan Davis said.
“We’re trying to pave the way for future human exploration of the solar system.”
—Timothy Glotch
As for the three different labs, professor Joel Hurowitz runs the geochemistry lab, which includes a student-built test bed for the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, which will fly on the Mars 2020 rover.
The PIXL is an X-ray microscope that looks at rock samples and builds maps of the elemental distribution in those samples to make it easier to analyze.
“From there, we can start to dig in and try to understand whether the environment that those rocks were deposited in were habitable,” Hurowitz said. “PIXL can detect things that are chemical biosignatures. It can detect biosignature in a rock on the surface of Mars. So we’re trying to place some constraints on whether or not there was ever life on Mars.”
The lab is also conducting a series of experiments to determine the damaging effects of lunar dust inhalation by future astronauts.
“What I do is I try to find minerals here on Earth that are similar to what’s found on the moon,” Donald Hendrix, a graduate student leading the research, said. “I grind them up into powders and determine what chemicals are made when they are exposed to fluid, because whenever you breathe in a mineral powder, they can produce chemicals inside your lungs that can potentially cause a lot of damage and turn into lung cancer.
Since humans are going to go back to the moon in the next 20 or 30 years, for really long periods of time, I want to know what hazards astronauts might face while they’re up there.”
Through the research he’s conducting with his team, he’s trying to figure out where astronauts could go that won’t be quite as dangerous.
Professors Joel Hurowitz, Deanne Rogers and Timothy Glotch guide their students in planetary research. Photo by Kevin Redding
Deanne Rogers runs the remote sensing facility, where faculty, students and postdoctoral researchers analyze various images and infrared data that come from Mars and the moon. From there, they incorporate observation skills and geological training to learn about the planet or moon’s environmental and climatic history.
Glotch’s spectroscopy lab is where students acquire infrared spectra of minerals and rocks for comparison to data collected by Mars and Moon orbiters. Within this lab is the Planetary and Asteroid Regolith Spectroscopy Environmental Chamber, used to re-create the conditions on the lunar surface for accurate measurements.
“I can make the moon on Earth, basically, and that’s pretty exciting,” graduate student Katherine Shirley said. “This machine is special because we can make different environments in this. Eventually we’re going to get some attachments so we can simulate the Martian surface or asteroid surface.”
The lab includes a small piece from Mars, which visitors were encouraged to hold.
Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), who was once a student and employee at SBU, spoke about how much the department means to him.
“I’m practically retired, but my heart is still here,” he said. “I served in this department and am proud to have been among such extraordinary researchers and wonderful human beings for 43 years. It’s a privilege now to help send resources in the direction of these extraordinary individuals who are literally writing the next chapter of our understanding of the universe and solar system. I look forward to continuing to work with you as you go forward. They say I’m technically retired, but don’t believe it. I’m just one phone call away.”
Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) presented the faculty with a proclamation from the county legislature to celebrate what this research means for the community, the university and the overall future of science.
Supervisor Frank Petrone says staying within cap will force town to cut art and youth programs
Supervisor Frank Petrone receives the 2016 budget last year. File photo by Rohma Abbas
Huntington residents have the chance to weigh in on possible tax increases for the coming year, as Supervisor Frank Petrone (D) set a public hearing on a proposal authorizing the board to adopt a 2017 budget that would pierce the state tax cap if passed.
This year’s tax levy cap is set at 0.68 percent, and according to town spokesperson A.J. Carter, town employees’ health care costs alone would pierce that tax cap.
The state cap limits the amount a municipality can increase its tax levy, which is the total amount collected in taxes, from budget to budget. While commonly referred to as a “two percent tax cap,” it actually limits levy increases to 2 percent or the rate of inflation — whichever is lower — before certain excluded spending, like on capital projects and pension payments.
Carter said staying within the tax cap would require the town to cut arts and youth programs.
Petrone said when he began the 2017 budget process this summer, he realized how much the town would have to cut to stay within the cap, and started to draft a second budget that Carter said would cost residents approximately $18 to $30 more per household.
At the town board meeting on Aug. 16, Petrone and the board scheduled a public hearing at the Sept. 27 town board meeting to get a feel for how community members would receive the potential increase.
“What we want is a clear direction from the public,” Carter said in a phone interview. “Does the public want us to preserve our existing programs or not?”
Carter said the board will decide at the September meeting if the town will go ahead with either the budget that stays within the tax cap, or the one that pierces it, depending on feedback from the public.
Councilman Gene Cook (R) has disagreed in the past with how Petrone handles the town’s budget, and said he wants to hear how the public feels about a proposed budget that pierces the tax levy cap.
“I am definitely not for it,” Cook said in a phone interview. “I would like to do anything to avoid tax increases. But I am willing to listen to what the public thinks.”
Last year the board passed a roughly $188.7 million budget, which was a 1.3 percent increase in the town’s tax levy, and about a $29 increase for the average homeowner. Overall spending decreased by 0.2 percent.
International students meet their host families. Director Rhona Goldman is in center of back row. Photo by Dwayne Moore
By Wenhao Ma
One local organization is helping international students adjust to American life.
An evening reception was held at the Wang Center on the Stony Brook campus Aug. 25 to introduce new international students to their host families. For 40 years, the Stony Brook Host Family Program has been providing opportunities for international students to learn about America by having them develop relationships with local volunteer families.
“It’s very difficult when you are not really comfortable with the language,” said Rhona Goldman, director of the program. “This [program] gives students a chance — off campus — to relax and interact with a family.”
Students do not live with the families, but they are invited to join them for meals or to attend events together. Goldman said some families meet with their hosted students two or three times a year, while others see each other on a regular basis.
Goldman and her husband, Dick, are hosting two new international students this year, one from Ghana and the other from China.
“There are so many international students,” Dick said. “They come in not knowing anyone. So they will gravitate to people from their own countries. The dorms, classes, study groups — everything turns out that way.”
He said a lot of international students have a difficult time adjusting to the culture. For example, they don’t know how to get a driver’s license or open a bank account. A family can ease the transition and make finding their way a much more pleasant experience, he said.
“Rhona and her husband Dick are wonderful,” said Jianing Yan, a former hosted student of theirs who graduated in May. “They helped me adapt to the life in America. They took me to shopping malls and grocery stores on the very first day I arrived. Also they helped me learn about the American culture … They really make me feel comfortable here. To me, they are my family.”
Goldman said the students are not the only ones who have benefited from the program. The families benefit, too.
David Altman became a volunteer last year. He hosted three students last semester and will host another two this fall. He said that he has traveled with his daughter to many countries and is interested in different cultures.
“I’ve studied many languages myself,” Altman said. “I know a little Chinese. [The program] helps me also. So it works both ways.”
The host family program works with the university to send out a notification to all international students after they have been admitted. To become enrolled in the program, both students and host families need to submit applications. Goldman said she matches students with families that share similar interests.
On average, about 120 students a year are assigned to 65 local families. However, according to Goldman, this year many students could not be placed simply because there are not enough hosts. She encourages families to learn more about the program and consider becoming hosts.
“We want to serve as many students as possible,” she said. “It’s a most rewarding program.”
Tom and Nick Nagle of Letter Perfect Graphics formatted and printed the signs on metal sign plates, funds for the posts and screws were donated and Yvonne Francis of Port Jeff Bowl donated the bowling ball sun. Visit the Wedge and tour the Solar System by starting at the south end of the park. Look for the planet signs along the fence line and find out where Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto would be in this model of the solar system.
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