QView #141 | November 15, 2022

Dennis Torres (Veterans Support Services), who did two tours in Iraq, spoke on Wednesday, November 9, at the college’s annual Veterans Day luncheon. Veteran honorees were featured in last week’s The QView. The luncheon included representation from the Offices of Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal and NYC Councilmember James Gennaro, alumni, faculty, staff and students. 

The QC Business School and the Department of Accounting and Information Systems held a roundtable on the future of accounting, bringing students, faculty, and professionals in the field to the Q-Side Lounge on Wednesday, October 9.

The Kupferberg Center for the Arts observed Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Sunday, November 6, with a lively family show, followed on Monday by a schooltime performance—the first Revelations show since the pandemic—attended by nearly 1,400 students and teachers.

Student Aims for the Moon with Artemis I Mission

QC senior Umar Kagzi has done his best to get Artemis I off the ground. Delayed from liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida by Hurricane Ian, Artemis I is now scheduled to launch for the moon on November 16—and it will go with the aid of software that Kagzi helped develop as part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) team. (The launch was postponed since a story about Kagzi was published in QNS.) The next month, the Flushing native expects to complete his bachelor’s degree.

The world has been watching this mission closely. Artemis I represents the first phase of NASA’s work on the most technologically advanced space exploration to date, culminating in manned flights to both the moon and Mars as well as scientific projects on the moon.

“At Queens College, our motto is Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve. Umar represents exactly the qualities that we seek to encourage in our students,” says President Frank H. Wu. “He is still an undergraduate, yet he has already contributed to a moonshot and, even more profoundly, the advancement of scientific knowledge important to the world. We are tremendously proud of him.”

The Sky is Not the Limit 

Kagzi, a computer science major, says that he “was always interested in the software side of things in space.” He first approached NASA in spring 2021, hoping to win one of its highly competitive internships. Awarded a paid internship by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, he worked remotely that summer as a software engineering intern with the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He and his team had less than two months to develop software for organizing a multimillion-dollar NASA competition called the Deep Space Food Challenge.

“The application we made was used for the official competition and assisted in the grading of hundreds of applications from around the world,” added Kagzi. “The fact that we were able to complete such a sophisticated application in this short timeframe was an astounding achievement and one of the best engineering projects I've ever worked on!”

His work on that project led to a second remote internship that fall with the Space Flight Software Development team, where he was able to help write test flight software for the Space Launch System–Artemis Program. “My primary task was to develop this software for both the Artemis I and Artemis II spaceships using Python and an internal NASA tool,” Kagzi explains. “The software tested the internal components and the guidance and navigation systems of the spaceships in a virtual environment to ensure they would work fine in the actual Artemis spaceship.”

Next With NASA

Since January 2022, he has held his third consecutive internship at NASA—now as a remote software engineer with the prestigious Pathways program, an opportunity designed to offer him a route to a NASA career. Kagzi was one of approximately 160 students chosen for the program out of a pool of nearly 10,000 applicants across NASA. He currently works on developing NASA software projects with his team at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In the future, Kagzi looks forward to “working on exciting and challenging opportunities” and someday pursuing an advanced degree. For now, however, he is focused on his own big date in December, when he hopes to graduate.

Men’s Soccer Makes First-Ever Appearance in NCAA Tournament

The Queens College men’s soccer team competed in their first-ever NCAA Tournament match last week in Charleston, West Virginia. The Knights came out on the losing end of a hard-fought, 1-0, contest against Adelphi University in the opening round. Despite the loss, it was a memorable season for the Knights, as they finished with a program-record 13 wins in 2022.

Women’s volleyball also wrapped up their 2022 season, as they fell to Molloy University, 3-1, in the semifinals of the East Coast Conference (ECC) playoffs. It was a great season for the Knights in 2022 as well, as they made their first postseason appearance since 2008. The Knights garnered three All-ECC Conference honors, with freshman Ryann Frontera earning Libero of the Year, acknowledging her skills as a defensive specialist.

While the fall seasons concluded, the winter sports got underway this weekend. Men’s basketball picked up a 79-72 win in its season opener against Adelphi on Friday. Tyler Carey led the way for the Knights with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Women’s basketball also opened up this weekend, but they fell to Chestnut Hill College and Jefferson University.

Coming up this week, women’s basketball will host Post University on Thursday, November 17 at 6 pm before going on the road on Sunday to battle American International College at 2 pm. The men’s basketball team visits Felician University at 7 pm on Wednesday and hosts Holy Family University on Saturday at 12 pm.

Fans can check out the action in person or follow the livestream of the games.

Be sure to visit queensknights.com for more information.

Supporting Students’ Mental Health

Counseling Services gives special attention to students’ mental health, with the aim of alleviating painful symptoms, enhancing self-understanding and understanding of others, and fostering students’ pursuit of their goals. Licensed psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed mental health counselors, and counseling interns supervised by professional staff offer individual counseling, groups, and referrals to appropriate college or community resources. 

Counselors work with students on a variety of issues, including—but not limited to—anxiety, depression, grief, family conflict, relationship issues, college adjustment, and career/life choices. All services are confidential and free of charge.

To contact Counseling Services to set up an appointment, students can call 718-997-5420 or send an email. They should leave their name, CUNY ID, and phone number. All messages—whether voicemail or email—will receive a response within 24 hours during business hours (usually Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm). Students will be scheduled a time for a brief (approximately 30 minutes) screening with a counselor to determine the best way to assist them.

CUNY also has a Crisis Text Line available to all QC and CUNY students. For access, text CUNY to 741741.

Addressing Mental Health in the Asian American Community

Catherine Vuky, assistant professor of clinical psychology at William James College, will talk about mental health in the Asian American community and obstacles in seeking help at the Clinical@Queens College Colloquium on November 21 at 12:15 to 1:30 pm. Vuky is the director of William James’s Asian mental health concentration—the only program of its type in the nation—which trains professionals to serve Asian Americans. This hybrid event, jointly presented by QC and the CUNY Graduate Center, will take place in person at the Razran Room, Science Building E-308, and over Zoom (meeting ID: 849 3079 1000; passcode: 214804).

Don't be left out in the cold! Students can make progress toward their degree during Winter Session at QC. Registration information is available at CUNYfirst.

Project Puts Spanish-language Radio on an Interactive Map

While commercial radio broadcasting began in the United States in 1920, it was another 26 years before Raoul A. Cortez overcame several discriminatory license denials by the Federal Communications Commission to launch the nation’s first full-fledged Spanish language radio station, KCOR in San Antonio, Texas. This, despite Spanish historically being the most widely spoken language after English on the American continent.

Thanks to Eric Silberberg (Queens College Library), the history of this vibrant medium—which continues to thrive—has become immediately accessible via his interactive web-based tool, TopoRadio. A librarian for Instructional Design and Education, he researches transnational education, history of special education in the United States, Mexican regional music, and, most recently, geospatial methods for bibliographic representation.

Map-Making Matters

The central feature of TopoRadio is a map of the contiguous United States across which appear several radio antenna icons with call letters indicating existing and historic Spanish-language radio stations. Clicking on an icon opens a window identifying the station, its location, and listing information on any published research (journal article, book chapter, etc.) relating to it. If the station can be heard online, a link is provided. A few icons indicate locations south of the border whose signals once were or continue to be heard in the United States. A few icons indicate locations that are not radio stations but places where relevant research material can be found, such as the Denver Public Library. The map also has a handy search feature and options for sharing information via social media.

For a quicker take on the history of Spanish-language radio in the United States, you can visit TopoRadio’s Milestones page. It includes a picture of Cortez’s hard-won FCC license that provides another reason to mark May Day.

Partners in Preserving

TopoRadio is a collaboration with the Radio Preservation Task Force, which seeks to bring attention to the multifaceted history of radio in the United States. While Spanish-language broadcasters have been part of the nation’s heritage since the dawn of the radio era, they’re often sidelined in official accounts of radio history. In creating TopoRadio, Silberberg drew heavily on the expertise of RPTF Spanish-Language Caucus Members Dr. Dolores Ines Casillas

(UC Santa Barbara) and Dr. Sonia Robles (University of Delaware).

“I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Casillas and Dr. Robles through the Radio Preservation Task Force, and they shared with me a distinctly library problem: how to present a body of knowledge and archive that has been at best scattered and at worst suppressed,” says Silberberg, who began working on TopoRadio as his capstone project at the Graduate School of Library and

Information Science at QC.

“To me, the joy of librarianship is when I can make connections among experts from wide ranging areas—in this case, scholarship on Latino media, GIS, and library systems—and build a project that promotes marginalized history and empowers others to conduct their own research. As a new member of the library faculty at Queens College, I invite similar collaborations with students and faculty.”

Queens Gets Lit

The days are shorter, but borough nights will be brighter at the Queens County Farm Museum and Citi Field.

Illuminate the Farm, an annual event, adorns the six-acre grounds with handcrafted lanterns, rideable swings, and glowing characters inspired by Chinese legends. The farm opened the show last weekend and will host it through January 8, 2023; for hours and ticket prices, click here. (In partnership with QC, the farm is holding its yearly food drive, as reported by QNS. From November 25 until December 31, visitors are encouraged to stop by the farm’s store to donate healthful, packaged, nonperishable provisions to support local CUNY families in need.)

The Amaze Light Festival, launched last year in Chicago, will make its New York debut at Citi Field on November 19 and run through January 8, 2023. Amaze will feature holiday-themed entertainment, activities, and food; hours and ticket information are posted here.

#47

Stevanne Stockheim Auerbach ’60

Stevanne Stockheim Auerbach, widely known as “Dr. Toy,” passed away in San Lorenzo, California, on Wednesday, October 19, due to complications from a stroke. She was 84. 

A native New Yorker raised in Middle Village, Auerbach majored in education at Queens College and briefly taught elementary school for the New York City Department of Education. After moving to Maryland, she earned an MA in special education at George Washington University, conducting research for the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation on the value of physical education for the developmentally disabled—work that contributed to the development of the Special Olympics. 

Relocating to San Francisco, Auerbach completed a doctorate in child development at Union Institute and University. She founded and led the San Francisco International Toy Museum, which was visited by more than 50,000 children in its four years of operation. Having found her niche, Auerbach began writing toy advice columns and reviews published in magazines and eventually on www.drtoy.com. She was the author of 16 books for parents, professionals, and children—including Dr. Toy's Smart Play/Smart Toys: How to Select and Use the Best Toys and Games, Toys for a Lifetime, and the compendium The Toy Chest. A set of her papers and materials has been given to the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY.

Auerbach is survived by her husband Ralph Whitten, daughter Amy Beth Auerbach, grandson Josiah Metz, and sister Judy Schwartz.

Charles Molesworth

Charles Molesworth, a member of the English faculty for 40 years, died on October 31 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. 

Molesworth, who was born and raised in Houston, earned an MA from Hollins College and a PhD from SUNY Buffalo. Versatile and accomplished, he wrote two books of poetry; biographies of modernist writers, including Alain Locke, Countee Cullen, and Marianne Moore; and studies of Gary Snyder and Donald Barthelme. He edited Alain Locke’s papers for Oxford University Press, and his final book was on the relationship of Roger Fry, J. P. Morgan, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Molesworth was also the author of many articles on the visual arts and the regular art critic for Salmagundi. 

After multiple terms as chair of the English Department in the 1980s and 1990s, Molesworth served for many years as the PSC grievance counselor at Queens College and subsequently as the lead grievance counselor CUNY-wide for the union. 

Molesworth was a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin and held three visiting appointments at the University of Paris-Vincennes (later St. Denis) and one at the University of Toulouse. He was awarded a Fulbright position in 1976 to Turku, Finland, where he taught at both Turin Yliopisto and Abo Akademi. 

QC alumni Michelle Coleman and Matthew Hackett documented their engagement with a recent photo session in the Dissertation Room of the Graduate Center’s Mina Rees Library. The couple have been an item since they were high school juniors; both are now in the first year of doctoral programs at CUNY, Coleman in urban education and Hackett in the biology/neuroscience subprogram . . . . the life of the late QC and CUNY alumna Carol Douglas—an administrative executive assistant for the School of Social Sciences and a founding member and leader of the Black and Latinx Faculty and Staff Association (BLFSA)—will be celebrated at the Q-Side Café on November 17, at 12:30 pm. The event marks the launch of an endowment fund established in her name . . . . Howard Elson ’69, a 2017 inductee into the QC Athletics Hall of Fame, went to Phoenix in October to play in the Over 73 Men’s Senior Baseball League National Championship as a member of the USA Volkers. The team won its second consecutive title after Elson went 4-0 for the week, pitching a 4-hit shutout in the championship game . . . . John Waldman (Biology) is among the 38 editorial board members of the journal Fishes to be featured in Stanford’s list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists. He was also the overview speaker at the Connecticut Ornithological Association’s November 5 conference with a talk titled “Long Island Sound – An Ever-Evolving Ecosystem” . . . . This year’s Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards will be announced in a virtual ceremony broadcast live at www.hamlischawards.tv on Monday, November 21, at 7 pm. Winners will be announced in six genres: musical theatre composition, film/media scoring, classical composition, jazz composition, contemporary pop, and contemporary R&B, with separate divisions for contestants under 18 and pre-professional composers older than 18. Nominees are listed here. The awards are presented annually in partnership with QC, Hamlisch’s alma mater.