The Vanderbilt Rose Garden is located next to the Reichert Planetarium. Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Museum
The Vanderbilt Rose Garden features many different varieties of roses. Photo from Vanderbilt Museum Facebook
The Vanderbilt Rose Garden features many different varieties of roses. Photo from Vanderbilt Museum Facebook
Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport hosts a special tour of the mansion’s organic rose garden with the Centerport Garden Club (CGC) on Monday, June 17 at 10:30 a.m. to celebrate the second year since its revival and redesign.
Members of the Centerport Garden Club (CGC), in coordination with Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum staff, redesigned, planted and continuously maintain the historic organic rose garden. The plantings, in addition to more than 60 young roses, include perennials, boxwoods, hydrangeas, Japanese Maples, and other companion plants.
Linda Pitra, President of the CGC, will give a brief introduction to the garden. Dr. Jane Corrarino, master gardener and member of the American Rose Society, will discuss growing roses organically without chemicals. Following the presentation, enjoy some refreshments and meet members of the CGC.
“Our club promotes mutual helpfulness among its members in the study of practical gardening and flower arranging,” Pitra said, “We encourage civic beautification and community planting and our goal is to further the conservation of native trees, plants, animals, and the environment.”
The club, organized in 1953, began maintaining the Vanderbilt Rose Garden 40 years ago.
Admission is free but registration is required by visiting www.vanderbiltmuseum.org or click below.
David Wrobel. Photo by Travis Caperton, University of Oklahoma
Stony Brook University has named David Wrobel, PhD as the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Wrobel joins Stony Brook from the University of Oklahoma, where he currently serves as dean of the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. His appointment at Stony Brook begins August 1, 2024.
In his new role, Wrobel will oversee the largest college at the university, managing 25 department chairs, 11 center/institute directors and five associate deans as well as serving as the main financial officer of CAS including managing and increasing research expenditures. CAS is a diverse and multifaceted college that serves approximately 70% of the student population across its 30 majors, 40+ minors, 25 departments, and 27 PhD programs. The Dean will work with the Advancement team to engage and inspire potential donors and secure additional funds to support the work of CAS. He will contribute to shaping CAS faculty by leading efforts to recruit and retain excellent teacher-scholars who embrace Stony Brook’s mission of inclusive teaching and scholarly, research, and creative excellence.
“Dr. Wrobel is an experienced administrator and renowned scholar who is exceptionally well-suited to lead CAS at Stony Brook. He and I have had many conversations already about the incredible strengths and potential in CAS among the faculty, staff, and students, and its many outstanding departments, centers, and programs,” said Carl Lejuez, provost and executive vice president.
Wrobel has served as dean of the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma since 2017, serving as interim for a year before being permanently appointed to the role in 2018. Under his leadership, he has worked with his team on a variety of significant achievements including:
navigating from inherited financial debt to a positive fiscal position;
securing the largest gift in OU history to name the college, as well as a $16 million gift to found a new quantum research center and two major department naming gifts;
implementing a strategic plan; establishing a School of Biological Sciences and a School of Population Health and Human Performance (pending regents’ approval); and
creating scholarships and programs to enhance support for underserved undergraduates, attract top graduate students, and support faculty research and creative activity.
At Oklahoma, Wrobel is the David L. Boren Professor and Merrick Chair of Western American History. He is an historian of the American West and American thought and culture, and has been recognized for excellence in teaching, research, and service. He was the inaugural recipient of the David L. Boren Professorship, one of the most prestigious honors at Oklahoma. Other honors include the Western Heritage Award for his nonfiction book, Global West, American Frontier: Travel, Empire and Exceptionalism from Manifest Destiny to the Great Depression; the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences Holden Award for Teaching Excellence; and research fellowships from Yale University’s Beinecke Library, the Huntington Library, the Newberry Library, and the American Philosophical Society.
Wrobel’s most recent book is America’s West: A History, 1890-1950 (2017). He is also the author of Promised Lands: Promotion, Memory and the Creation of the American West and The End of American Exceptionalism: Frontier Anxiety from the Old West to the New Deal. His current book project is John Steinbeck’s Country: A Writer’s Defense of Democracy. Wrobel co-edits The Modern American West book series and serves on the editorial board for the Steinbeck Review, and for Montana: The Magazine of Western History.
He is also known for his work with teachers around the country, participating in and directing many teacher institutes sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Department of Education, National Council for History Education and other organizations. He is past president of the Western History Association, the American Historical Association’s Pacific Coast Branch, and of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society.
Wrobel has also held positions at other higher education institutions including Widener University, Hartwick College and the College of Wooster. He holds a master’s and doctoral degrees in American Intellectual History from The Ohio University and earned a bachelor of arts degree in history/philosophy from the University of Kent, Canterbury, England. Wrobel was also department chair and professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I am thrilled and honored to begin my work in support of the exceptional faculty, staff, and students of CAS at Stony Brook,” Wrobel said. “The College and Stony Brook exemplify the ideal and the purpose of a student-centered, public research university to ensure high levels of access and opportunity to advance social mobility, and to integrate students at all levels into the mission of creating and applying new knowledge and understanding of the physical world and the human condition to make our communities stronger. I look forward to joining the Stony Brook community and continuing my work of advocacy for and integration of the Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts at one of the nation’s leading public institutions of higher learning.”
Joining Wrobel in the move east are his wife, Janet Ward, PhD, and their three children. Ward will join the Provost’s Office in an associate provost role focused on support for the arts, humanities, and social sciences. At Oklahoma, she is Brammer Presidential Professor of History and faculty fellow for strategic initiatives in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. She also served at Oklahoma as the inaugural faculty director of the Arts and Humanities Forum, as senior associate vice president for research and partnerships, and, most recently, as American Council on Education fellow at Yale University.
Volunteer Eileen Fisher (seated) at the Bright Hopes booth while volunteer Laurie Friedman interacts with a visitor during Gallery North's annual Outdoor Art Show and Music Festival. Photo courtesy of Bright Hopes
A quilt made by a member of Bright Hopes.
A quilt made by a member of Bright Hopes.
A quilt made by a member of Bright Hopes.
The Bright Hopes booth during Gallery North's annual Outdoor Art Show and Music Festival. Photo courtesy of Bright Hopes
The Bright Hopes booth during Gallery North's annual Outdoor Art Show and Music Festival. Photo courtesy of Bright Hopes
By Donna Newman
Thirteen women gathered for a bittersweet luncheon in Stony Brook recently to celebrate more than two decades of collaboration that brought joy to many children and adults living in foster care or homeless shelters. They all expressed gratitude for the opportunity to participate in a worthwhile charitable endeavor, while realizing the time had come to move on. Bright Hopes was coming to an end.
Dating back to the early 2000s, the organization Bright Hopes, created by artist Deborah Fisher, had a heart-warming origin story, told in her own voice:
“When I was young my mother taught me to sew using her portable sewing machine. I sewed dolls, clothes, bags and watched my mother make quilts — planning, tracing, cutting — until something lovely emerged.
“In 2002 I spent three months doing an artist residency in Kohler, Wisconsin. I found myself in a strange town, in a strange house, with other artists I did not know. I had brought a handmade quilt with me, a gift from my husband’s aunt. The simple gesture of putting that quilt on the bed made it feel like home, which led me to wonder: What if we made quilts for people who had no permanent home? Maybe a bright, beautiful quilt could give them a piece of home, a sense of place, to carry with them wherever they went. I asked my mom if she’d like to make some quilts to donate, and she asked the very nicest people to join us, no sewing experience necessary. And with that, Bright Hopes was born.”
Suzan Goldhaber, in speaking about the birth, said there was no big plan in place at the start, other than a desire to improve the lives of homeless children.
“The development of Bright Hopes was organic,” Goldhaber said. “So many different, talented, generous people came together forming a camaraderie of sharing.”
In the beginning, there was Quilt GIVING, a program through which one-of-a-kind, handmade quilts were given to children living in foster homes and to families living in temporary shelters. These quilts were theirs to keep and take with them wherever they went.
Bright Hopes has donated more than a thousand quilts over the years, some directly to individuals, others gifted with the help of regional agencies.
Judy Albano described an experience that formed her first real understanding of the value of Bright Hopes. She said she rode along during a quilt delivery to mind another volunteer’s baby. Upon arrival, the driver took the quilts inside. After a time, she wondered what was taking so long, so she took the baby and approached the door.
“Just then, three joyful girls ran out, each wrapped in a colorful quilt, despite stifling summer heat,” Albano said. “Their delight was amazing.”
The next step for Bright Hopes followed the realization that if simply providing a quilt can foster hope for someone, what would happen when that person learns quilt-making skills and the ability to create quilts themselves?
Beginning in the autumn of 2009, a new program called Quilt WORKS was initiated at Little Flower Children’s Residence in Wading River. Once a week, volunteers bearing sewing machines met with children (aged 8 to 19) to teach them how to use a sewing machine and the basics of quilt-making. A field trip to a fabric store let the kids choose fabric for their quilt. Each child was helped to assemble the top of a quilt, which was backed and finished by Bright Hopes volunteers, then returned to the maker to keep and enjoy.
Many volunteers came and went over the program’s 10 years, Deborah Fisher said, but the commitment of a few consistent regulars made the program possible. They were Joyce Bonitch, Clione Stancik and Ronni Camhi, who played a huge role at Little Flower before she moved away a few years ago.
“My time working with Bright Hopes introduced me to a group of amazing, committed women and gave me a very longed for sense of community, both with these women and with the community at large,” Camhi said. “I was able to give back and help many people. I grew as an individual as well as improving my creative sewing skills. It’s what I miss most about leaving New York.”
In the words of Joyce Bonitch, “To see the smiles on their faces when the quilts were done was wonderful. A few returned to make another quilt for a family member or friend. One girl made a quilt for a Little Flower staff member. There was a time we were able to visit a cabin and saw the quilts on the kids’ beds; bright colors added something special to the space.”
The next logical progression was Quilt COMMUNITY. Carole-Ann Gordon, employed by FREE (Family Residences and Essential Enterprises) and a group member, made a proposal. After receiving training at FREE’s Day Services East, their differently abled adults began sewing quilts to be donated via Quilt GIVING— a win for both creators and recipients.
Bright Hopes eventually joined with Suffolk County community groups to teach sewing skills and increase the number of volunteers making quilts for donation.
Before the luncheon ended, I asked the women seated around the kitchen table what they felt was the very best part of Bright Hopes. Without a moment’s hesitation, Suzan Goldhaber answered, “Each other!” And those words echoed around the room in unanimous agreement.
Over time, women joined the Bright Hopes family in different ways. One woman began quilting after her adult son took it up as a hobby. “I was inspired by Deb’s books about quilting,” Helen Emmerich said, “and when I learned about Bright Hopes, I was in.” Dorothy Cardi found the Bright Hopes booth at Gallery North’s annual Outdoor Art Show and Music Festival and was inspired. Sandy Miller was an editor at Newsday when a 2004 article about Bright Hopes caught her attention. “I clipped the article and saved it,” said Miller, “thinking when I retire, I’ll have time for this.” Years later, she did.
Deborah Fisher summed up the years saying she felt honored to get to know all the compassionate and caring volunteers who were involved. They became a family and had been through a lot together.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to bring together an amazing group of women who have taught me so much,” she said.
On the first Sunday in June myself and a colleague left JFK Airport with 10 university students for Berlin, Germany. Their ages ranged from 19 to 22 with one returning student who is 40. The purpose of this trip was a study abroad experience in restorative justice. My colleague is the chairperson of Criminal Justice at Saint Joseph University, and I participated representing our social science department as a sociologist and clinical social worker.
Our hope is that our students will come home with a better understanding of the profound differences between American criminal justice and German criminal justice. The differences are significant. American criminal justice focuses on punishment; the German system focuses on rehabilitation, transformation and change.
From the moment you walked on the ground of the two prisons we were privileged to visit, you could sense in the air that these prisons are different. The first thing they do when an inmate arrives is a complete psychosocial work up and a life plan that focuses on a positive treatment program with attainable goals.
All of the inmates have single rooms with a bathroom and a TV which they pay for. The walls are painted with bright colors; the inmates are permitted to post pictures and/or posters that are meaningful to them. There are plants throughout the building and outside within the courtyard that the inmates are allowed to utilize. In addition to plants, there are flower gardens and vegetable gardens that the inmates maintain.
They have the opportunity on campus to work in the woodshop and the metal shop. Things they make are sold in the community to support the important work of the prison. Every six months, the social therapy team convene to see how the inmate is doing. If he’s not doing well, they look at what to do to adapt and adjust his treatment plan to better empower him to make the changes he needs.
After three very intense days, I am writing this article with four more days left of our trip. Thus far the students have shared that the experience has been overwhelming; that they learn so much from visiting the two prisons. Each superintendent commented on our students’ questions and their insight. In addition to the two prisons, we’ve visited one of the first concentration camps in Berlin, the Berlin Wall, and the Holocaust memorial in the city. We were all very conscious of the innocent loss of life because of hate.
Despite the intensity of the experience, I was very impressed with these 10 students’ sense of hopefulness, especially in the positive sharing they engaged in. They conveyed in our morning conversations about their experiences and their desire to make a difference, even in the midst of our polarized world.
These students are coming home with a deeper awareness of what restorative justice is and how they can contribute to making it happen in our country. These young men and women are our future. They are amazing and give me renewed hope that tomorrow will be better.
Father Francis Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.
This antique store in Cairo, Egypt, was typical of those Vanderbilt explored when he sought to purchase a mummy for his museum. Photo courtesy of the Vanderbilt Museum
Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport continues its lecture series at the Reichert Planetarium on Thursday, June 20 with a presentation title The Mummy and the Obelisk: Reflecting on the Vanderbilts’ Captivation for Ancient Egypt from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Roberta Casagrande-Kim, an archaeologist and curator of ancient art, will explore the Vanderbilt family’s fascination with ancient Egypt.
In nineteenth-century New York, the wealthiest families pursued art collecting as one of the vehicles through which they established social and cultural prominence. Interestingly, Casagrande-Kim said, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the first in the prominent family to distinguish himself for his financial acumen, showed very little interest in this pursuit while his son William Henry, grandson William Kissam, and great-grandson William Kissam II all resorted to art to decorate their newly built mansions.
“Their taste remained eclectic and for the most part untrained, with paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts of different periods and quality taking over their living spaces,” she said. “Whereas antiquities never became a priority for the Vanderbilts, ancient Egyptian works or Egypt-inspired commissions made their way into their collections.”
Casagrande-Kim’s lecture will focus in particular on William Henry’s involvement in the transportation of the so-called Cleopatra Needle to Central Park (where it was installed in 1881), on Alva Vanderbilt’s penchant for Egyptomania, and on William Kissam II’s purchase of a three-thousand-year-old mummy still on display in the Centerport mansion.
“We will examine these objects closely, establish the motives behind these acquisitions and donations, and frame the Vanderbilts’ interest for Egypt within the largest context of wealth and power of the New York of their times,” she said.
Dr. Roberta Casagrande-Kim is the Bernard and Lisa Selz Director of Exhibitions and Gallery Curator at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. She is also an educator and curator at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.
Casagrande-Kim holds a B.A. in Christian Archaeology from the Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy) and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Roman Art and Archaeology from Columbia University. She is a specialist in Roman funerary practices and beliefs in the afterlife, Late Antique urbanism, and Greco-Roman mapping. She has worked extensively in archaeological excavations in Italy, Israel, and Turkey, and has served as the Assistant Field Director at the Amheida excavations (Egypt) since 2010.
Tickets are $10 per person, members free. To order, visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org or click below.
A humpback whale with propeller scars in inshore waters of the New York Bight. A humpback whale surface feeding in inshore waters of the New York Bight. Image taken under NOAA Permit No 26260. Credit: Thorne Lab, Stony Brook University
By Daniel Dunaief
Concerns about the connection between offshore wind farms and whales strandings are likely just a lot of hot air.
Pictured from left, Lesley Thorne with lab membersChelsi Napoli, PhD candidate; Nathan Hirtle, PhD candidate; and Josh Meza-Fidalgo, Research Associate.
In a recent study published in the journal Conservation Biology, Lesley Thorne, Associate Professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and David Wiley, Research Coordinator for NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, pointed to vessel strikes as an important driver of the increase in humpback whale strandings.
To address concerns about whether the development of offshore wind farms led to the death of these cetaceans, Thorne and Wiley compared the distribution and timing of humpbacks between 1995 and 2022 relative to anthropogenic factors, such as vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, as well as elements associated with wind farm development.
“We know that there is a narrative out there suggesting that the surveys used for site assessment and characterization are factors” in these whale strandings, said Thorne. “Studying strandings, mortalities and injuries of large whales is important as it can provide information” about the relative impact of different threats.
The researchers found that New York and Virginia were hotspots of mortalities and serious injuries, with a subset of strandings confirming that vessel strikes were the cause of serious injuries or death.
A number of parts likely played a role. Beginning in 2016, vessel traffic in New York and New Jersey increased at the same time that observers noticed an increase in humpback whales.
These whales have also expanded into new foraging areas in recent years, regularly using inshore New York waters as a foraging ground starting around 2011.
The increase in the population of menhaden, which are a fatty, energy-rich forage fish, in the mid 2010s also expanded humpback whale feeding ground.
Menhaden tend to form dense surface schools in shallow coastal waters in mid-Atlantic states such as New York. These cetaceans often use surface foraging behavior to feed on menhaden, which could make them more vulnerable to vessel strikes.
Understanding and appreciating the causes of these strandings could lead to informed decision-making, in developing offshore wind farms and in creating responsible regulations for various vessels around the time whales might be foraging.
Wind farm activity
During the time these scientists studied humpback whale strandings, seven wind turbines were constructed and then operational.
Looking at humpback strandings, the highest number of strandings in Rhode Island and neighboring states during the unusual mortality event occurred in years following construction, including 2017 and 2022, and not in the year when construction occurred.
In Virginia, the highest number happened years before construction.
Their assessment of these patterns did not suggest a link between strandings and site assessment and characterization surveys for offshore wind development. Survey authorizations increased over the course of the unusual mortality events and primarily occurred between New Jersey and Massachusetts, whereas elevated patterns of strandings did not follow this pattern.
In the year 2016, Massachusetts had one survey authorization related to offshore wind.Massachusetts, however, showed a lower number of strandings relative to other years, while the area from North Carolina to Rhode Island had higher strandings.
Thorne and Wiley are not involved in the stranding response. They used the data from the National Marine Mammal Strandings Database, which provides standardized data on marine mammals strandings collected by strandings responders.
They studied changes in the location and timing of humpback whale strandings, and of humpback whale mortalities and serious injuries that were caused by vessel strikes and entanglements.
To be sure, Thorne emphasized that their study focused on humpback whales, which are the species that strand most frequently. Other large whale species have different distributions, foraging and habitat preferences, which clouds the picture for any broader analysis.
Vessel strikes
The biggest increases in strandings occurred from Rhode Island to Virginia.
In the waters near New York and Virginia, strandings had some of the highest increases. Stranding responders confirmed the prominent role of vessel strikes in mortalities and serious injuries near these states.
As for the whales, they have also changed their spring and summer feeding ranges. Until more recently, the southern feeding range extended much further north, to the Gulf of Maine as well as areas farther north, such as Iceland and Greenland.
While humpbacks have foraged in New York waters periodically in the past, they have been consistently feeding in these waters during the summer since 2011.
The whales are following one of their food sources, as the population of menhaden has increased off the south shore of Long Island and in other mid Atlantic states.
Juveniles have also used the waters off the coast of Virginia as a supplemental feeding ground.
“We know that vessel strikes, along with entanglement in fishing gear, are the major threats to large whales around the world,” said Thorne.
When boats are moving more rapidly and whales are feeding in regions with a higher density of vessel traffic, such mortality events are more likely.
Possible solutions
For starters, the scientists urge further study to add to the body of research, including a more thorough understanding of the movements and habitat use of humpbacks and other large whales.
Additionally, assessing the abundance and distribution of prey species will contribute to an understanding of habitat use and the health of large whales.
She also suggested further work to analyze feeding and feeding in shallow coastal habitats with the risk of vessel strikes.
Slowing ships down reduces the risk from a vessel strike.
“There’s a lot of interest in how we can better use dynamic management instead of management that is focused on fixed areas and times,” said Thorne.
In last month’s column, we delved into the DMV point penalties for speeding violations in New York State. This month, we will explore the points assessed for other vehicle and traffic moving violations. Understanding these penalties is crucial for all drivers, as accumulating points can lead to higher insurance premiums, fines, and even license suspension. Below is a detailed look at the points assigned for various moving violations in New York State.
High-Point Violations (5 Points)
Reckless Driving
Reckless driving is a very serious offense that can obviously endanger the driver and other road users. In New York, a driver can be found guilty of reckless driving for operating a vehicle in a manner that unreasonably interferes with the use of public highways or unreasonably endangers other drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians. Law enforcement officials have wide discretion in determining what constitutes reckless driving. In order for a reckless driving charge to hold up in court, the prosecutor must prove that the driver was acting in a way that showed a disregard for the safety of others, in a manner that a reasonable person would not have done.
Failure to Stop for School Bus
Failing to stop for a school bus when it is picking up or dropping off children is a significant violation. This rule is strictly enforced to protect the safety of schoolchildren.
Improper Cell Phone Use
Using a cell phone while driving, unless it is hands-free, is deemed to be a significant distraction and is penalized heavily.
Use of Portable Electronic Device (‘Texting’)
Texting while driving is considered one of the most dangerous forms of distracted driving. This is why it carries a severe penalty and is differentiated from “Improper Cell Phone Use,” which does not always cause a driver to look down to use their device.
Railroad Crossing Violation
Ignoring railroad crossing signals or attempting to cross when a train approaches clearly poses extreme danger and thus incurs a high-point penalty.
Moderate-Point Violations (3 Points)
Failure to Yield Right-of-Way
Failing to yield the right-of-way often leads to motor vehicle accidents and is taken seriously by traffic enforcement.
Running a Red Light
If a police officer observes a driver running a red light, this may result in a 3-point violation. However, if a driver is photographed by a road camera running a red light and receives a red-light ticket in the mail, this is a no-point violation. Our next column will discuss the reasoning behind this, outlining the various tickets you can receive due to cameras and video recordings.
Disobeying Traffic Control Signal, STOP Sign, or YIELD Sign
Ignoring these fundamental traffic controls is also very hazardous and results in a three-point penalty. And it is worth pointing out that you must completely stop your vehicle or risk a camera violation.
Improper Passing or Changing Lane Unsafely
Unsafe lane changes and improper passing cause many collisions, making them serious enough to carry a 3-point penalty.
Driving Left of Center/Wrong Direction
Driving on the wrong side of the road or in the wrong direction is obviously dangerous and penalized accordingly. Many severe injuries or even deaths are caused by this behavior.
Leaving Scene of Property Damage Incident
Leaving the scene of an incident without reporting can complicate legal matters and is thus penalized, even when no one is injured in the accident.
Child Safety Restraint Violation
While ensuring children are properly restrained in vehicles is crucial for their safety, the police give out more summonses for this than you can imagine. Violations here carry a three-point penalty.
Low-Point Violations (2 Points)
Inadequate Brakes (Employer’s Vehicle)
If an employer’s vehicle has inadequate brakes, it incurs a two-point penalty, emphasizing the importance of vehicle maintenance.
Failure to Signal
Not using signals to indicate turns or lane changes often leads to confusion and accidents. You have probably cursed (not out loud, of course) when a driver has done this in front of you on the highway. Take solace in knowing that this can result in a two-point penalty.
Improper Turn
An improper turn can disrupt traffic flow and cause accidents, warranting a two-point penalty.
Tinted Window Violation
Excessively tinted windows can impede visibility and are thus regulated. Violations here result in a two-point penalty.
Most Other Moving Violations
Minor moving violations that don’t fit into other categories typically carry a two-point penalty.
In conclusion, understanding the points associated with traffic violations can help drivers avoid infractions and the subsequent penalties. Always stay aware of traffic laws and drive safely to protect yourself, your passengers, and others on the road. If you find yourself facing a traffic violation, it is important to contact a knowledgeable attorney to understand your options and potentially mitigate the penalties. Remember, if you incur 11 points in an 18-month period, your driver’s license may be suspended.
A. Craig Purcell, Esq. is a partner at the law firm of Glynn Mercep Purcell and Morrison LLP in Setauket and is a former President of the Suffolk County Bar Association and Vice President of the New York State Bar Association.
Hear ye, hear ye! A beloved tradition is back as the annual Port Jefferson Charles Dickens Festival returns for its 28th year on Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8.
Port Jefferson village will magically transform into the Dickensian era with streets filled with roaming characters such as Father Christmas, Dickens Mayor, Scrooge, the Town Crier and the beloved chimney sweeps, courtesy of the Greater Port Jefferson Northern Brookhaven Arts Council and the Village of Port Jefferson.
The two-day event will also feature concerts, train display, magic shows, theater, Festival of Trees, ice skating and much more with an opening and closing parade. Most attractions are free of charge, so everyone – from the very young to the young at heart – can join in the fun.
Yi-Xian Qin, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Stony Brook University, was recently elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is also Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory and Co-Director of the Institute for Engineering-Driven Medicine.
Professor Qin’s expertise and contribution in science are in the areas of biomechanics and mechanobiology in musculoskeletal tissue adaptation and cellular regulation, space medicine, and nanomaterials. His research has been focused on developing novel approaches for promoting tissue engineering and regeneration and translation through physical regulation and characterization of tissue quality, as well as evaluating the mechanisms responsible for tissue remodeling and their translation.
Andrew Singer, Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences said, “This is a well-deserved recognition for Professor Qin who is a brilliant and dedicated researcher, an alumnus of our mechanical engineering program and a leader in our College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.”
The East Setauket resident is among the pioneers who discovered bone’s ability to rapidly adapt to its functional environment, bone fluid flow, and regeneration to dynamic signals. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed articles, and related books and chapters, as well as several US patents. Some of his patents include ultrasound diagnostic imaging and therapeutics, as well as mechanical stimulation, technologies for musculoskeletal diseases like osteopenia and fracture with the potential of bone loss prediction in microgravity in long-term space mission and clinical impacts.
He earned both his MS degree and PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University.
The ASME Committee of Past Presidents confers the Fellow grade of membership on worthy candidates to recognize their outstanding engineering achievements. Nominated by ASME Members and Fellows, an ASME member has to have 10 or more years of active practice and at least 10 years of active corporate membership in ASME.
In addition to this recent honor, Professor Qin is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), and International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).
Dr. Michael Kinch
Photo courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis
Stony Brook University has announced that MichaelKinch, PhD, has been appointed as the inaugural chief innovation officer (CINO) for the university. Kinch brings extraordinary experience at the highest levels of industry and academia, including roles at Yale and Washington University—two institutions known for their cultures of innovation and demonstrated success translating knowledge into marketable solutions. He will report to the new incoming vice president for research, Kevin Gardner, beginning August 1, 2024 and will be a member of the president’s university council. He will also hold a faculty position in the university’s Department of Pharmacology.
As CINO, Kinch will lead the Office of Economic Development and provide direction and oversight of campus-wide initiatives related to accelerating innovation and economic development, including incubation and technology transfer. His efforts will focus on technology-based entrepreneurship, venture capital, and other sources of startup investment, as well as the research commercialization and economic development programs from faculty and student research and initiatives. In addition, Kinch and his staff will collaborate with departments and colleges/schools across campus to amplify the university’s service to advance Stony Brook’s economic impact on the region and develop partnerships with external entities that benefit the university and help advance economic development interests of these external entities.
“As a leader who brings people together and who knows that research, scholarship and discovery are a universal language, Michael is an excellent leader to help the university realize its boldest ambitions to make a profound, positive impact on society for generations to come,”said Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis.
Kinch has worked extensively in higher education including in his most recent role as the executive dean of sciences at Long Island University where he creates and deploys innovative approaches to improve biomedical translation and entrepreneurship. He founded and directed the Center for Research Innovation in Biotechnology, which analyzes the sources of biomedical innovation.
Previous to that position, Kinch served as associate vice chancellor, founder of the Centers for Research Innovation in Biotechnology and Drug Discovery and professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis. There he helped lead entrepreneurship activities and founded the Centers for Research Innovation in Biotechnology (CRIB) and Drug Discovery (CDD), which analyzes innovation in the science and business of medicines. At Yale University, he founded and led the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery. He has been a lecturer at the Krieger Program in Biotechnology at John Hopkins University; associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine, West Lafayette Campus at Purdue University; and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kinch has worked in the private sector overseeing Research and Development as Vice President for Research and Development/Chief Scientific Officer at Functional Genetics, Inc. and Head of Cancer Biology & Translational Sciences at Medimmune, Inc. He is also the author of six books, has published extensively in peer-reviewed publications and participated in national media appearances and interviews about his research.
Kinch earned his PhD in Immunology from Duke University Medical Center and his BS in Molecular Genetics.
“I am excited by the incredible potential for innovative commercial development on Long Island in general and Stony Brook University in particular,” said Kinch. “The university has incredible expertise in key aspects of science and technology that are needed to address looming challenges, including but not limited to affordable and sustainable energy to biomedical applications.”
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