From left, Councilwoman Susan Berland, Grant Shaffer, Alan Cumming, Jud Newborn and CAC board member Jacqueline Strayerd at the reception. Photo by Jessica & Andrew Attard, FlashBack Photography
On Sept. 18, the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington hosted a sold-out event with actor Alan Cumming and his partner and literary collaborator Grant Shaffer to celebrate the publication of their recent children’s book, “The Adventures of Honey & Leon.”
Guests were treated to a cake decorated with the cover of the book. Photo by Jud Newborn
The event kicked off with a rare screening of “The Anniversary Party,” written, directed, produced and starring Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh. A Q&A session followed with Jud Newborn, Cinema Arts Centre’s special events curator where Cumming and Shaffer discussed their book, which is based on their own dogs and their adventures while their parents are away on vacation, and concluded with a book signing.
Through an anonymous donation from a Cinema Arts benefactor, being made in honor of Cumming and Shaffer, copies of the book will be donated to area elementary schools and libraries. “We are delighted that this book will be enjoyed by local children and their families,” said Dylan Skolnick, co-director of the Cinema Arts Centre. “The book supports the values and openness, acceptance and the importance of family that are fundamental to the Cinema Arts and it’s over 10,000 members,” he said.
“I would like to thank the anonymous donor and the Cinema Arts Centre for making available to our local schools and libraries copies of this beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written book,” added Councilwoman Susan Berland (D). “‘The Adventures of Honey & Leon’ highlights the love and devotion pets have for their families and that families come in all shapes and sizes. We all have to leave our pets home periodically and now we know how they are planning to follow us when we are gone. Bravo!,” she said.
The cheese has a sweet, nutty flavor with a tart aftertaste, similar to cheddar.
By Bob Lipinski
Bob Lipinski
Monterey Jack, a cow’s milk cheese, was developed in the 1880s in Monterey by a Scot merchant named David Jacks. He derived the name, Monterey Jack, from the shipping point, Monterey, California, and his last name, Jacks, minus the “s.” There are, however, several other versions as to the origin of Monterey Jack cheese.
Although the cheese was first developed and sold in Monterey, it is now produced in several other states and with variations from dairy to dairy. Most Monterey Jack has an inedible rind, often black in color. The rind is sometimes coated with a mixture of oil, pepper and cocoa. It generally has a pale yellow-orange interior with numerous small holes. It is rectangular or wheel shaped, depending on the preference of the dairy.
The cheese has a sweet, nutty flavor with a tart aftertaste, similar to cheddar. When old, the taste becomes sharp and tangy. It is sometimes flavored with caraway seeds, dill, fennel or jalapeño peppers. It has a semihard texture and when labeled “Dry Jack,” it is a hard, tangy cheese suitable for grating.
Dry Jack cheese is Monterey Jack that has been aged 6 to 9 months or longer. It came into existence during World War I, when San Francisco cheese wholesaler, D.F. DeBernardi found his Monterey Jack cheese had aged too long and “gone hard.” Italian immigrants immediately found it useful because it could be grated like Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino.
Monterey Jack is also called Sonoma Jack (brand name), California Jack or Jack. The cheese can be paired with syrah, merlot, zinfandel, and, of course, cabernet sauvignon.
Four California wines I recently tasted would pair quite well with a wedge of Monterey Jack. My tasting notes follow:
2010 Mayacamas, “Mt. Veeder” Cabernet Sauvignon: (blend of 95 percent cabernet sauvignon, 5 percent merlot; aged 36 months in oak). Full bouquet with flavors of dried berries, herbs, black currants, dill and coffee. Full bodied, tannic and still quite youthful.
2012 Inglenook “Cask” Rutherford, Cabernet Sauvignon: (blend of 85 percent cabernet sauvignon, 12 percent cabernet franc, 3 percent merlot; aged 18 months in oak). Dark colored with a bouquet brimming with berries (blackberry and blueberry), black cherries and black currants. Layers of fruit; great depth of flavor with plenty of acidity.
2013 Hourglass “Blueline Estate” Merlot, Calistoga: (blend of 84 percent merlot, 12 percent cabernet sauvignon, 4 percent malbec; aged 2 to 3 years in oak). Deepest color, very fruity with hints of plums, chocolate and spices. Quite smooth and elegant with toasted oak on the finish.
2012 Snowden “The Ranch” Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon: (blend of 75 percent cabernet sauvignon, 14 percent merlot, 8 percent cabernet franc, 3 percent petit verdot; aged 18 months in oak). Great depth of color; fruity and powerful with a certain sweetness; concentrated flavors and very complex with overtones of dark chocolate, oak and black currants.
Bob Lipinski, a local author, has written 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need to Know About Whiskey” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple,” available on Amazon.com. He conducts training seminars on wine, spirit and food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com or [email protected].
The Middle Country Public Library will once again host the Women's EXPO on Oct. 5. File photo by Heidi Sutton
By Kevin Redding
There’s an unattributable quote out there that says, “Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women that have her back.” It wouldn’t be surprising to learn its source was referring to a certain annual event at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach.
On Thursday, Oct. 5, for the 17th year in a row, the library will host a diverse group of women entrepreneurs — from artists to chefs to designers to craftspeople and beyond — during its Women’s EXPO, a one-day event where they can all network with colleagues, showcase and sell their work at the library and spread the word about their products.
“The expo’s really always been about seeing a group of women supporting women,” said Elizabeth Malafi, coordinator of Adult Services and the Miller Business Resource Center. “Our planning committee is made up of professional women. We select exhibitors who are women looking to grow their businesses and make new connections. Before and after the exhibit, we try and facilitate those connections.”
Malafi said shoppers this year should expect a total of 82 vendors, roughly 25 of whom will be brand new to the EXPO. And whereas last year, somewhere around 2,300 people squeezed into the library, this year’s goal is to break 2,500.
“It’s going to be a nice balance of women that people come to see every year and also newbies,” she said. “That way the new people can be guided by the people that have been here for a while and those who have been here awhile get a nice, new perspective of somebody who might be starting out.”
Malafi continued, “I think ultimately people should come out to support women entrepreneurs and the economic engine of Long Island. We need to keep our money local so we’re supporting where we live. This is a great opportunity to do that while also shopping for the holidays.” Meet some of the vendors at this year’s EXPO:
Maria Castilla
Maria Castilla
Coram’s Maria Castilla has come a long way since making clothes for her Barbie dolls when she was young. Now, as owner of ImuGifts, her home-based business, Castilla designs unique handmade bags, jewelry and sewn accessories, none of which are remade, her website boasts.
“I love getting to make something spectacular and super unique for someone that nobody else is going to have,” Castilla said. “Sometimes you buy something at Target or a retail store and it’s not made in America or not made by your neighbors. This is something special I want to share with the community.”
Castilla was raised in Bogota, Columbia, and came to the United States when she was 10 years old and, although she always had a love for art, she followed in her father’s footsteps by studying hotel management and tourism in college. After several years in that industry, she said, she felt burnt out and was in need of a creative outlet. She began to make her own products, like soap, and then taught herself to sew through YouTube videos around 2013. Channeling her childhood hobby of making jewelry, she delved into organic handmade beadwork, and soon a business was born.
“I work full-time so this business is mostly during off hours and weekends,” said Castilla, who works for a nonprofit helping mentally disabled people function in the community. “It’s awesome to have the opportunity to have the flexibility to work 9 to 5 and then come home and do what I love to do. And my husband is amazingly supportive and helps me do pretty much everything.”
Of the EXPO, Castilla said, “It’s the most awesome thing ever … it’s nice to know there’s something like this on Long Island geared toward women empowerment and creativity.” Visit her website at www.imugifts.com.
Suzette Montalvo
Suzette Montalvo in front of her Puerto Rican food truck
Suzette Montalvo, the owner and chef of a booming Bay Shore-based Puerto Rican cuisine food truck called ANEWYORICANTHING LTD., took a giant leap of faith in 2015 by quitting her office job to pursue her dream full time. And it’s paying off. Montalvo, who was born in Spanish Harlem and grew up in Queens, was always surrounded by her mother’s traditional Puerto Rican cooking and soon honed her own skills in the kitchen, eventually selling heritage-style seasonings and drinks at farmers markets in 2012.
After 20 years as a purchasing agent at a building supply company, Montalvo, at 50 years old, decided enough was enough. “I hated my job and I was always trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up,” she said with a laugh. “So I took a chance on my dream. I bought a food truck and just focused on making this a business I could live off of. I know I’ve made a good decision.”
Suzette Montalvo
Montalvo even recently appeared as one of four competitors on a food truck-oriented episode of the Food Network’s “Chopped.” Although she wound up on the chopping block, Montalvo said the experience was worthwhile. “It was such a huge opportunity,” she said. “I could never have imagined that’s where I would’ve ended up. It’s all really bizarre to me how everything’s been coming about.”
Among the many delicacies Montalvo and her staff of family members — her husband and three children — serve up to the hungry public are tripleta sandwiches, rice and chicken, empanadas, yucca and coquito, “the Puerto Rican eggnog.”
“I love feeding people, it makes me happy,” Montalvo said. “People are loving what I’m bringing to the table here. And Puerto Rican food trucks on Long Island — there are no others.” For more information, visit www.anewyoricanthing.com.
Deborah Urbinati
Deborah Urbinati at her restaurant, The Fifth Season
No matter what state a restaurant’s in, there’s a good chance that Deborah Urbinati, the owner of The Fifth Season restaurant in Port Jefferson, has worked there at some point. She grew up in Lake Grove and got her first restaurant job at Red Lobster in Stony Brook when she was 18 and, soon after, became a server at Red Robin when it was still in the Smith Haven Mall.
“It really helped with my future career because I was taught in a really good way how to be efficient and work with a team,” Urbinati said of the early gig.
She eventually moved to Colorado in 1994, where she worked in restaurants and served as a bartender, was promoted to management, coordinated schedules and bounced between a number of eateries. In Maui, Hawaii, she worked at the Hard Rock Cafe and then was a bar manager in Cannon Beach, Oregon, where she met her husband, the chef at The Fifth Season.
“I’ve just picked up a lot of knowledge through my travels and now I’m able to bring it here and do what we do at the Fifth Season and it’s really cool,” she said, describing the Fifth Season’s menu as “contemporary food with American ingredients.” She runs the front of the house, which includes everything from answering the phone to organizing private events to keeping inventory of the alcohols and overall making sure the flow of service stays up to her standards.
“I’m the conductor,” she said. “I’m really good at what I do because I love what I do. I don’t ever walk into the restaurant thinking, ‘Oh my god, I own this.’ I walk into the restaurant and say, ‘Oh yeah, this is where I am and this is where I’m supposed to be.’” Visit www.thefifth-season.com.
Loretta Giuliani
Loretta Giuliani with some of the signs she makes from home.
Northport resident Loretta Giuliani once carried a badge; now she carries wooden signs. After retiring as a New York City police detective with 20 years under her belt, Giuliani rekindled her artistic roots with Just 4 You, a small, home-based business launched last year wherein she builds, sands and paints custom wooden signs, each decorated with beautiful art or quotes.
“The signs vary in different styles,” Giuliani said, specifying that some are large, others are small, and sometimes she repurposes old kitchen cabinet doors for them. “I try to recycle wood into all different kinds. I’ve also recently starting going to people’s homes and hosting parties, teaching them how to paint and helping them choose designs and create their own signs.” She also said she often builds custom pieces for weddings and baby showers. “It’s a wide gamut of everything. Anything goes.”
Giuliani grew up in Brooklyn and said she was inspired artistically by everything around her, from graffiti in the subway to exhibits in museums, but most of all by her older brother, a fellow artist.
“Art was just always around me growing up,” she said. “It was always a big interest for me.” That interest eventually landed her in New York Institute of Technology as a graphic arts major. She said a friend of hers urged her to take the police exam to gauge how she did and, after she passed it, she wound up taking the job.
While Giuliani said being on the police force was a good job, she’s happy to be exploring her creative side again. “I love meeting and speaking with the different people, getting a feel for what they want, and seeing their face when they see the finished product,” she said. For more information on Giuliani’s signs, visit www.facebook.com/just4youbyloretta.
Admission to the 17th annual Women’s EXPO, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., is free. Lunch will be served in the EXPO cafe, catered by Fifth Season Restaurant of Port Jefferson. The library is located at 101 Eastwood Blvd., Centereach. For a complete list of vendors, visit www.womensEXPOli.org. For more information call 631-585-9393, ext. 296.
Caroline Church is hosting an exhibit exploring the early history of the church, the Three Village area and the country, Oct. 7 through 9. Photo from Beverly C. Tyler
By Beverly C. Tyler
A new exhibit, “The 1800s, Growth and Change: The Church, The Community, The Country,” will be open to the publicOct. 7 through9 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the history center ofCarolineChurch of Brookhaven, located at 1 Dyke Road, Setauket.
The exhibit details how Caroline Church recovered and prospered following the decades after the Revolutionary War. It also features the 1887 Caroline Church carriage shed which is one of the structures listed along with the church on the National Register of Historic Places in America and is currently being restored to its original state.
Caroline Church at the turn of the 20th century. Photo from Beverly C. Tyler
The exhibit section on the community illustrates, on various panels, how the Three Village area moved from an agricultural base to an industrial community with shipbuilding, a piano factory, a rubber factory and other industries. Featured photographs in the exhibit include two 4-foot long overlapping images of the Setauket area photographed on site in 1878 by George Bradford Brainerd (1845-1887). The photos, taken when there were few trees to hide the view, show the entire area from the Setauket Mill Pond to Route 25A. A series of questions then asks the viewer to identify various structures. Barbara Russell, Brookhaven Town historian and a member of the Caroline Church Historical Commission said, “We thought it would be more interesting to give a background on the photos, and then let the viewer find things, rather than point everything out.”
The section on the country features women’s work in both home and community, some of the local effects of the Civil War, the expansion of the public school system and other events that defined community life in the 19th century.
The exhibit opening is scheduled as part ofNew York State’s Path Through History weekends, when many events are scheduled to celebrate the state’s rich heritage. In addition to the exhibit at the1729 Caroline Church, the Three Village Historical Society walking tour “Abraham Woodhull: Farmer and Revolutionary War Spy” will be held on Saturday, Oct. 7, starting at 2 p.m. from the Caroline Church front parking lot. The tour will include locations where the Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring operated.
Beverly Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730 or visit www.tvhs.org.
Sean Leister, deputy superintendent; Fred Koelbel, facilities and operations administrator; and architect John Grillo discuss aspects of the bond with attendees of the walk-through. Photo by Alex Petroski
They say seeing is believing, and administrators from the Port Jefferson School District are hoping that rings true for homeowners in the district.
Paul Casciano, superintendent, Sean Leister, deputy superintendent, Danielle Turner, athletic director, principals from the three schools, architect John Grillo and other administrators took interested community members on two guided tours over the past week to examine the classrooms, hallways, buildings, grounds and athletic fields slated for renovations and repairs should a $30 million bond proposal pass a vote scheduled for Dec. 5.
Several residents have expressed concerns with committing to the 15-year payment plan with the looming possibility of a substantial loss of revenue from the Long Island Power Authority, with litigation pending against the energy provider. At least one resident who attended the high school tour said the LIPA specter might impact her vote.
“I for one, as a citizen, am concerned about what [the LIPA situation] means for our taxes, and really that’s the only reason I would say ‘no’ to this,” the resident said.
Other residents raised questions about why certain aspects of the bond, for the most part referring to upgrades associated with athletics, can’t be done during regular annual budget appropriations.
1 of 16
$1.7M would be spent on locker room renovations to upgrade the facilities and create a more equitable balance of space between boys and girls facilities. Photo by Alex Petroski
$1.7M would be spent on locker room renovations to upgrade the facilities and create a more equitable balance of space between boys and girls facilities. Photo by Alex Petroski
For $450K, new bleachers would be installed at the varsity football field. Photo by Alex Petroski
For $1.4M, a synthetic turf varsity football field would replace the grass one, which according to athletic director Danielle Turner, would alleviate the need for recovery time to allow grass to grow, causing some games and practices to be moved. Photo by Alex Petroski
According to Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister, moisture is causing cracks in the high school tennis courts. New ones would be built for $600K. Also, stairs to the "bowl," or athletic fields in front of the high school would be added for $145K. Photo by Alex Petroski
Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister said the windows at the high school were last replaced in the 80s, and have outlived their useful life. New windows would cost $1.2M. Photo by Alex Petroski
Kitchen and cafeteria renovations to upgrade what administration called outdated equipment, repairs to the exterior of the cafeteria, expansion of the space, and widening of the lunch line area at the high school would cost $2.2M. Photo by Alex Petroski
Portable classrooms at the high school used for music instruction are beginning to deteriorate, according to administration. Construction of a new music instruction classroom and instrument practice space, adding on to the existing building, would cost about $2.3M. Photo by Alex Petroski
A three-story addition here at the high school above an existing breezeway would create about six new classrooms, according to Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister, allowing the elimination of the use of portable classrooms. The cost would be $7.6M. Photo by Alex Petroski
Administrators want to eliminate the need for students to cross a parking lot used for receiving shipments and the climb up this set of stairs at the high school to the tech ed. building. If passed, the bond would allow district office to be relocated here, the existing district office portable on Scraggy Hill Road to be demolished, and classes currently housed in the building up these stairs would move within the main building, at a cost of about $4M. Photo by Alex Petroski
This wing in the elementary school would be divided to create two new classrooms for guidance and resource room use, according to administrators. The project would cost $2.5M Photo by Alex Petroski
A new security vestibule would be added here at the elementary school, which would require a slight change to the building's footprint and would cost $210K, according to facilities and operations administrator Fred Koelbel. Photo by Alex Petroski
Erosion is occurring on a hill that leads down to the middle school building, so a drainage and erosion control system would be implemented to alleviate the issue for $1.6M. Photo by Alex Petroski
The main office at the middle school is on the building's third floor, which is not ideal for security purposes, according to administrators. It would be moved to a more convenient area for $480K as part of the bond proposal. Photo by Alex Petroski
The portable district office building is failing structurally, according to administrators. Rather than repair it for a cost of about $4M, it would be demolished and the space would be used for an expanded bus loop at the elementary school, for a total cost of about $4M. Photo by Alex Petroski
The floor in Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister's office is shifting, he said, which is part of larger structural problems in the portable district office building. The demolition of the building and relocation to the tech ed. building at the high school would cost about $4M. Photo by Alex Petroski
“We try and do the smaller items — when I say smaller I mean around $200,000 — through the budget process,” Leister said in response. “But for a capital project you’re talking millions, and that’s much harder to add to the budget. It would cause a big spike in the tax rate.”
Casciano further explained the thinking behind presenting the bond, which administrators have been working on since 2015, to residents this year at the end of the high school tour.
“We have a responsibility to give [the residents] an opportunity to decide what they want to do given their budget, given their beliefs, and everything else,” he said. “If they’re not supportive of it, we get that, but if we don’t give them the opportunity then I wonder if we’re fulfilling our responsibility to do what we’re supposed to do.”
A tour of Edna Louise Spear Elementary School and the adjacent district offices was held Sept. 20. Around seven Port Jeff residents attended the first walk-through, according to social media posts by at least one attendee on a private Facebook group comprised of a few thousand villagers.
Following the Sept. 20 tour and public comments made by the Port Jefferson Village Board in opposition of pursuing permission to borrow the money, members both in favor and against the bond referendum have taken to the group page to publicly state their case. Perhaps as a result of the warming debate over virtual avenues, about 30 people attended the physical tour of the high school and middle school Sept. 25.
A common refrain from district administration since the topic was introduced in depth during a Sept. 12 board of education meeting is that the projects designated in the bond proposal are too urgent and too expensive to address within standard annual budget appropriations or with an unappropriated reserve fund. The district currently has about $1.5 million in unappropriated surplus, according to Leister. State law allows districts to keep up to 4 percent of its total budget in reserves to be used on unforeseen expenses.
About $5.9 million of the proposed project would go toward upgrades associated with athletics, with the largest sticker price belonging to the replacement of the grass varsity football field with a turf surface.
“We’re a small school but we run a very full athletic program,” Turner said. Overuse of the grass high school football field has resulted in the football and lacrosse teams needing to relocate for practices, on occasion, and even for some games during the last calendar year. A turf field and lights at the athletic fields on Scraggy Hill Road would alleviate crowding issues with sports practices, according to Turner.
Upgrades at the adjoining high school and middle school building would cost $13.6 million and $2.2 million, respectively. The construction of a three-story addition to the high school building would add up to six brand new classrooms at a cost exceeding $7 million.
“We want to make sure that the kids have every opportunity to expand programs, to expand course offerings and space is something that we need,” said Christine Austen, the high school principal. She added she understands the decision is ultimately up to the community.
Fixes at the elementary school would total nearly $4 million, and the adjoining district office portable building would be demolished and relocated to the grounds of the high school at a total cost of $4.3 million.
The elementary school elements of the proposal include fresh air ventilators for 12 classrooms in the building’s 200 and 300 wings. It would also include the construction of two new classrooms to be used by the guidance department and resource room teachers, who currently are periodically educating some students in a hallway, according to Tom Meehan, elementary school principal.
“With these improvements everyone would have a home — we wouldn’t be juggling,” Meehan said.
Casciano said there is a possibility the board of education will decide to split the referendum into multiple propositions, rather than an “all or nothing” vote, though it would not be more than two propositions. If passed, the upgrades would cost a taxpayer who pays $8,000 annually in school taxes to pay an additional $396 annually.
A public meeting regarding the bond is scheduled for Oct. 2 at the elementary school in the board of education meeting room at 7 p.m.
Stony Brook University is facing a huge financial hole in 2020. File photo from Stony Brook University
During his annual address, Stony Brook University’s president celebrated the past and looked forward to the future.
President Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr., delivered his State of the University Address to the Stony Brook campus community Sept. 27.
He said the first graduating class of 1961 consisted of approximately 40 students. In 2017, the university granted 7,313 degrees and certificates, including master’s and doctoral degrees that did not exist the first year.
The number of buildings has also changed on campus from a few to 136 structures.
Stanley said the students attending the university come from more diverse backgrounds compared to bygone decades. Diversity he said is something Stony Brook is committed to.
“We hope to reflect the diversity of the state we live in as well as the country we live in,” he said.
Stanley said while the number of international students has increased since 1957, this is the first year the amount of freshmen from other countries has decreased. He said he has received feedback that a number of international students are hesitant to study in the United States due to changes in immigration policies. The president is a supporter of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan instituted by former President Barack Obama (D). He said students protected by DACA at the university come from tough economic backgrounds yet succeed academically and epitomize the American Dream. He said SBU is committed to working with legislators to create a pathway for the students.
Stony Brook University President Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr. File photo
“Stony Brook University I hope has communicated to the campus and the world our support for these students,” he said.
Stanley said the university is trying to change the way it recruits in order to create more diversity within the crop of faculty members, as well.
Another development at Stony Brook through the years has been the change in athletic success. The president said most teams originally operated as club sports, then developed into Division 3 and eventually Division 1 teams.
Stanley touched on the addition of Southampton Hospital as part of the Stony Brook University medicine family, which occurred this past summer.
“It’s really going to improve service at both hospitals,” he said.
The president said with a $1.7 billion budget, Stony Brook University Hospital serves 400,000 patients and offers a Level I trauma center, while the newly dubbed Stony Brook Southampton Hospital serves 100,000 with a $175 million budget.
He said the university is currently working on the Medicine and Research Translation Building and construction is scheduled to be completed in spring of 2018. The eight-level 240,000-square-foot building and 225,000-square-foot new Bed Tower will create opportunities for scientists and physicians to work side by side in the hopes of advancing cancer research and imaging diagnostics.
Stanley also addressed the university’s $24 million deficit, and he said he knows SBU can overcome it. The president said the biggest issue was the failure of the state as the university has not been included in state allocations in recent years
“I absolutely support faculty and staff getting raises, they are completely appropriate,” he said.
Despite the deficit, hundreds of faculty members and students have been welcomed to Stony Brook University while the number of administration positions has decreased. The president said administrators are “working harder than they ever been before to help the university.”
Stanley has asked department heads to look at their needs when an instructor leaves, and to consider if the workflow can be adjusted if the position cannot be filled. The goal, he said, is to have the least amount of impact on students.
The president said The Campaign for Stony Brook to raise funds for scholarships and research is $559.2 million toward a $600 million goal. It strives to reach the goal by June 30, 2018.
OUR REVOLUTIONARY STORY The weather cooperated as the community came out in droves for the 3rd annual Culper Spy Day on Sept. 16. Ticket holders were able to visit 15 locations in the Three Village and Port Jefferson area and learned how people lived during the Revolutionary War with blacksmithing and colonial cooking demonstrations, and about the infamous Culper Spy Ring which originated from Setauket. Historic churches and the oldest home in Brookhaven, the Brewster House, opened their doors to tours on this rare occasion.
HELLO WORLD! Maria Hoffman of Setauket was in the right place at the right time when she snapped this photo of a diamondback terrapin hatching at West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook on Aug. 20. She writes, ‘I met a young woman, Emmy Silver, who was standing watch over a diamondback terrapin nest that had begun to hatch on the side of the path to the Gamecock Cottage. She was a volunteer for Friends of Flax Pond, which monitors the turtle nesting. While I spoke with her, we watched this one egg hatch. The little turtle was only about 2 inches long. Once it broke its head out of the egg, it rested for a long while. But once it was ready to come out, it made a fast push and then all its movements were fast. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen!’
From left, Lisa Miller with her research team Andrew McGregor, Alvin Acerbo, Tiffany Victor, Randy Smith, Ruth Pietri, Ryan Tappero, Nadia Hameed, Tunisia Solomon, Paul Panica and Adam Lowery. Photo by Roger Stoutenburgh, BNL
By Daniel Dunaief
Most of the people at the building that cost near a billion dollars are pulled in different directions, often, seemingly, at the same time. They help others who, like them, have numerous questions about the world far smaller than the eye can see. They also have their own questions, partnering up with other researchers to divide the work.
Lisa Miller, a senior biophysical chemist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, lives just such a multidirectional and multidimensional life. The manager for user services, communications, education and outreach at the National Synchrotron Light Source II, Miller recently joined forces with other scientists to explore the potential impact of copper on a neurodegenerative disease called cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA).
Miller is collaborating with Steve Smith, the director of structural biology in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University and William Van Nostrand, a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at SBU who will be moving to the University of Rhode Island. The trio is in the second year of a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Miller’s role is to image the content, distribution and oxidation state of copper in the mouse brain and vessels. Van Nostrand, whom Smith described as the “glue” that holds the group together, does the cognitive studies and Smith explores the amyloid structure.
In an email, Smith explained that Van Nostrand’s primary area of research is in CAA, while he and Miller were originally focused elsewhere.
Potentially toxic on its own, copper is transported in the body attached to a protein. When copper is in a particular ionic state — when it has two extra protons and is looking for electrons with which to reduce its positive charge — it reacts with water and oxygen, producing hydrogen peroxide, which is toxic.
Miller and her colleagues are working on a technique that will enable them to freeze the tissue and image it. Seeing the oxidation state of the metal requires that it be hydrated, or wet. The X-rays, however, react with water, causing radiation damage to the tissue.
To minimize this damage, the researchers freeze the tissue. At NSLS-II, a team of scientists are working to develop X-ray-compatible cryostages that will allow them to freeze and image the tissue.
Miller is trying to figure out where and why the copper is binding to an amyloid beta protein. This is the same protein that’s involved in plaques prevalent in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
In Alzheimer’s patients, the plaques are found in the parenchyma, or the extracellular space around the brain cells. In CAA, the deposits are attached to the surface of the blood vessels on the brain side.
Lisa Miller and her dog Dora on a recent 100-mile trek from Hiawassee, Georgia, to Fontana Dam in North Carolina Photo from Lisa Miller
The current hypothesis about how copper becomes reactive in the brain originates from work Van Nostrand and Smith published recently. They suggested that the amyloid fibrils in CAA adopt an anti-parallel orientation and the fibrils in the plaques in Alzheimer’s are in a parallel orientation. The anti-parallel structure predicts that there is a binding site for copper that, if occupied, would stabilize the structure.
“We are currently working to establish if this idea is correct,” Smith explained in an email, suggesting that the NSLS-II provides a “unique resource for addressing the role of copper in CAA. The data [Miller] is collecting are essential, key components of the puzzle.”
The NSLS-II will provide the kind of spatial resolution that allows Miller to measure how much copper is in the deposits. Ideally, she’d like to see the oxidation state of the copper to see if a reaction that’s producing hydrogen peroxide is occurring.
A challenge with peroxide is that it’s hard to find in a living tissue. It is highly reactive, which means it does its damage and then reverts to water and oxygen.
As someone with considerable responsibilities outside her own scientific pursuits, Miller said she spends about a quarter of her time on her own research. One of Miller’s jobs during the summer is to host the open house for NSLS-II, which allows members of the community to visit the facility. This year, at the end of July, she “was thrilled” to host about 1,600 members of the community.
“Most of them wanted to go on the floor and meet the scientists and walk” around the three quarters of a mile circle, she said. While they are interested in the research, the surprising mode of transportation strikes their fancy when they trek around the site.
“The thing that fascinates them when they walk in the door is the tricycles,” she said. The NSLS-II can’t take credit for being the first facility to use these adult-sized tricycles, which number over 100 at the facility. “It’s a synchrotron thing.”
The previous NSLS at BNL was too compact and had too many turns, which made the three-wheeled vehicles, which, like a truck, need a wider turning radius to maneuver on a road, impractical.
Miller, who is a part of the trike-share program, is an avid hiker. This summer, she completed a 100-mile trek from Hiawassee, Georgia, to Fontana Dam in North Carolina. This section was located in the area of totality for the solar eclipse and Miller was able to witness the astronomical phenomenon at Siler Bald in North Carolina.
A resident of Wading River, Miller, who grew up in the similarly flat terrain of Cleveland, spends considerable time walking and running with her rescue mutt Dora, who accompanied her on her recent hike.
While Miller finds the research she does with copper rewarding, she said she also appreciates the opportunities NSLS-II affords her. “Every day is different and we never know what project will show up next,” she said.
From left, Neil Watson, Nicholas Frizalone, Donald Sadowsky, Kelynn Z. Alder, Neil Leinwohl and Paul Edelson
By Heidi Sutton
The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook kicked off its latest juried art competition, Animal Kingdom: From Tame to Wild, with an artist reception on Sept. 15. This year the museum invited amateur and professional artists from across Long Island to submit up to three pieces of art representing the Animal Kingdom, whether it be a favorite pet, a memorable adventure or a scene from nature.
Neil Watson, executive director of the LIM, congratulated the artists and thanked them for addressing the theme of the exhibit. “We are really thrilled with the quality of this exhibition. Humans have had a really complicated relationship with animals — friend, foe, food — so looking at the different aspects of animals and of wildlife is a really rich subject.”
‘Pecking Order’ by Jeanette Dick received an honorable mention at the juried art show.
“We wanted to pair an exhibition like this with the show up at the Art Museum that is about dogs; so we thought this is the perfect opportunity and you all embraced the subject so beautifully,” he said.
A panel of museum staff members selected 75 finalists from a pool of 300 submitted works. Two judges, Seung Lee, professor of art and director of Fine Arts & Graduate Studies at LIU Post, and Christina Mossaides Strassfield, museum director and chief curator at Guild Hall, selected a first-, second-, third- and fourth-place winner along with two honorable mentions.
“Just being in the show itself [selected] from hundreds of entries we had was really significant and you should all be very, very proud. Thank you for giving the museum a beautiful exhibition,” said Lisa Unander, director of eduction at the museum, before announcing the winners.
Facing stiff competition, Paul Edelson of Setauket captured first place with “Yellowstone Bison,” oil on canvas. According to the jurors’ notes, the abstracted theme caught both of them immediately. “The treatment of the material shows experience; well done; powerful brush strokes. You can feel the animal ready to jump out,” they wrote.
Neil Leinwohl of Rockville Centre garnered second place with “Animal Farm,” multimedia on print; Kelynn Z. Alder of St. James was the third-place winner with “Dog on Carpet, Osita,” oil on canvas; and Nicholas Frizalone of Lake Grove captured fourth place with his solar plate etching on paper, “Anticipation.” Honorable mentions were handed to Jeanette Dick of Port Jefferson for her pastel titled “Pecking Order” and Donald Sadowsky of Roslyn Heights for his movable plastic model, “King Kong.”
The exhibition will be on view at The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook through Oct. 22 in the Visitors Center. For more information call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.
Prev
