News

Tradition, a Tribute to Townsend Harris, Dates to 1986 Continuing a tradition began more than a quarter of a century ago, Takayuki Ohguro, chair of the Shimoda City Assembly, will lead a 10-member delegation on a pilgrimage to The City College of New York July 18 to honor its founder Townsend Harris. This will be the 26th delegation from Shimoda, a city 60 miles southwest of Tokyo, to visit CCNY to pay homage to Mr. Harris, who founded what was then known as The Free Academy in 1847. He later opened the first U.S. consulate in Japan, where he is a revered figure. Mr. Ohguro’s party will

WHCR GM Angela Harden Receives Harlem Hospital Community Health Award, Congressional Recognition for Health Mission In a neighborhood where health issues are prevalent, Angela Harden, general manager of The City College of New York’s community radio station, WHCR 90.3 FM, has made spreading awareness and prevention to Harlem listeners one of her missions. Since 2006, the station has carried a weekly talk show, “Health in Harlem,” that offers practical information about medical problems that are prevalent in the community. In honor of her work, the Harlem Hospital Center’s (HHC) Community

Laser Technique Developed by CCNY and Berkeley Researchers Brings Ultrafast Computing Closer to Reality The promise of ultrafast quantum computing has moved a step closer to reality with a technique to create rewritable computer chips using a beam of light. Researchers from The City College of New York (CCNY) and the University of California Berkeley (UCB) used light to control the spin of an atom’s nucleus in order to encode information. The technique could pave the way for quantum computing, a long-sought leap forward toward computers with processing speeds many times faster than today’s

Kayhan Irani, a 2008 City College of New York graduate, Humaira Hansrod, a 2012 graduate from the Macaulay Honors College at City College and PhD candidate Susan M. Tsang have been awarded 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholarships for study and research abroad. Ms. Irani, a New York Emmy Award-winning screenwriter with a BA in Theatre and Social Change from the CUNY Baccalaureate program, will travel to India this fall. She will spend seven months in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and New Delhi researching early Parsi communities and embroidery for a play titled “Paisley” that she is writing. “For the entire

Gene Involved in Dementia Affects the Insulin Pathway, Reports Biology Professor Chris Li and Colleagues In recent years it became clear that people with diabetes face an ominous prospect – a far greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Now researchers at The City College of New York (CCNY) have shed light on one reason why. Biology Professor Chris Li and her colleagues have discovered that a single gene forms a common link between the two diseases. They found that the gene, known to be present in many Alzheimer’s disease cases, affects the insulin pathway. Disruption of this pathway is

Study Finds Similar Patterns in Epidemic’s Movement Across United States and Marketing and Distribution of Food Products An international team of researchers’ study of the spatial patterns of the spread of obesity suggests America’s bulging waistlines may have more to do with collective behavior than genetics or individual choices. The team, led by City College of New York physicist Hernán Makse, found correlations between the epidemic’s geography and food marketing and distribution patterns. “We found there is a relationship between the prevalence of obesity and the growth of the supermarket

Findings Could Give Directors, Advertisers New Ways to Predict How Audiences Will Respond Visual and auditory stimuli that elicit high levels of engagement and emotional response can be linked to reliable patterns of brain activity, a team of researchers from The City College of New York and Columbia University reports. Their findings could lead to new ways for producers of films, television programs and commercials to predict what kinds of scenes their audiences will respond to. “Peak correlations of neural activity across viewings can occur in remarkable correspondence with arousing moments

Philosopher K.D. Irani, a Student of Albert Einstein, and Student Affairs Administrator Wendy Thornton Chosen for 2012 Service Awards K.D. Irani, professor emeritus of philosophy at The City College of New York, will receive the 2012 CCNY Alumni Association's Faculty Service Award. The Association’s Administrative Service Award will go to Wendy J. Thornton, executive director, Student Services and Conduct. The awards will be presented at the Alumni Association’s 160th annual meeting, 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 13 in The Great Hall, Shepard Hall, 160 Convent Ave., on the CCNY campus. Dr. Lisa S

Nomination is Fifth Since 2006 for CCNY Film Students A five-minute short produced by Spanish filmmaker and Fulbright Scholar Alex Lora for an MFA class exercise is The City College of New York’s latest finalist in the annual Student Academy Awards. Since 2006, five CCNY student filmmakers were finalists in the competition, with three going on to win the silver medal. In addition, recent alumni have received Emmy Awards and won prizes at several festivals. One graduate, Zachary Borst, had a commercial he produced shown during Super Bowl XLVI as first prize in a competition sponsored by

CCNY-Based Center to Provide Continuous Development Support in Transportation Management and Technical Programs The Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (Abu Dhabi DoT) and The CUNY Institute for Transportation Systems (CUNY ITS) in the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York, signed a Memorandum of Understanding Monday, June 4, 2012, aimed at providing continuous development support in areas of transport management and technical programs to targeted United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Abu Dhabi DoT students, executives and staff. The Abu Dhabi DoT’s responsibilities cover aviation