John Jay Magazine (Fall 2010)

John Jay Magazine
EDU CAT IN G FO R JU S TIC E
FALL 2010

John Jay College
T h e C i T y U n i v e r s i T y o f n e w y o r k

of Criminal Justice

John Jay Magazine
E D UC A T I NG F O R JUST IC E

John Jay College
T H E C I T Y U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K PRESIDENT

of Criminal Justice
Dear friends of John Jay College,

Jeremy travis

CONTENTS

I am pleased to report to you that the transformation of John Jay College, which was launched four years ago with a historic vote of our College Council, is on track and on schedule. This fall, we admitted our first all-baccalaureate freshman class in the College’s history, completing the phase-out of associate degree programs. More than 2,000 freshman baccalaureate students were admitted, a record-breaking 24-percent increase in freshman enrollment over 2009. This new class set another record: 85 percent of them came to our orientation for new students. At the same time, almost 1,200 transfer students enrolled at the College, along with 480 new graduate students. During this past year, we successfully launched the CUNY Justice Academy, our joint degree partnership program with the six CUNY community colleges. Through the Academy, John Jay has provided guaranteed access to its baccalaureate programs for students who complete an associate degree in a criminal justice-related major at a CUNY community college. We have established joint degree programs in criminal justice, forensic science and forensic financial analysis, and this fall 4,241 students were enrolled in the Justice Academy. This accomplishment speaks to the powerful appeal of a John Jay education. Ambitious faculty hiring continues with strong support from CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. Even in these times of financial constraints, we welcomed 20 new full-time faculty to our College. In fall 2004, John Jay had 338 full-time faculty; in fall 2010 we have 424 full-time faculty. They are an impressive group, having earned their doctorates from some of the best universities in the world. They value John Jay’s distinctive interdisciplinary environment and embrace the opportunity to teach our highly motivated, justice-oriented students. Enriched academic programs lie at the heart of John Jay’s transformation. Enrollment in new liberal arts has already exceeded our expectations — 200 John Jay students declared majors in English and 174 in Economics. These distinctive majors speak to our mission of “educating for justice.” This year, our new Honors Program admitted its inaugural class of 25 students. Pulitzer Prize-winning Professor John Matteson was selected to serve as the first Faculty Director of this program, which is designed to nurture students’ academic excellence and leadership potential in order to prepare them to meet the global challenges of the future. These complementary initiatives place John Jay solidly in the top tier of the nation’s educational and research institutions, while retaining our distinctive focus on criminal and social justice, and graduating students who are prepared for challenging careers in a complex world. Finally, the most exciting development of all is the progress on our new building, rising majestically on 11th Avenue at 58th Street. The building is completely enclosed. Sheetrock is being installed to create classrooms, offices, labs and theaters. The workers have broken through walls to connect Haaren Hall to the new building. The open space between the two buildings is taking shape. We are on schedule to move into the new building next year. This new building will transform the College, providing a fitting venue for John Jay as we begin our second half-century. Your continuing support of our College is vital to our future as we continue to prepare future generations to meet the challenges of justice.

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President’s Letter

Asking the RIGHT QUESTIONS
Undergraduates shine as first-rate researchers

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BLANCHE

ELEANOR

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES:
The Phenomenon of False Confessions

CAN OBJECTS SPEAK?
College Hopes So, As Hi-Tech Teaching Takes Hold

President Jeremy Travis Vice President for Marketing and Development Vivien Hoexter Executive Director of Communications & Editor Christine Godek Senior Writer Jennifer Nislow Contributing Writers Peter Dodenhoff Marie Rosen Photography Coordinator Doreen Viñ Pineda as Alumni Contributor C. Sunil Persaud Production Coordinator Kathy Willis Designer JRenacia

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2010 JOHN JAY JUSTICE AWARDS
Recognize Extraordinary Dedication To The Cause Of Justice

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FYFE FELLOWSHIP AND MALONE SCHOLARSHIP

ALUMNI WORTH NOTING ALUMNI CLASS NOTES ANNUAL FUND DONORS

John Jay Magazine is a publication of Marketing and Development, published twice a year and distributed free to alumni and friends of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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J T R A V I S @ J J A Y. C U N Y. E D U

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J T R A V I S @ J J A Y. C U N Y. E D U

Students making presentations at conference

Posters and presentations from McNair scholars

Right Questions
Asking the

Among those students who presented research at the “Celebrating Research and Creativity @ John Jay” conference last May were those who are being mentored and funded by a program within the Department of Sciences called PRISM (Program for Research Initiatives for Science Majors).
“One thing we hope to do is find a bridge between faculty research and undergraduates’ ability to conduct research. We think it will help improve what undergraduates do at that level, and increase faculty engagement and contact with them,” said Lopes. “I think that it will spur students on to achieve more. Our hope is that 25 percent of undergraduates will engage in research at some time during their career.” While the program combines four revenue streams to award stipends of up to $2,500 per academic year, perhaps more significant is that PRISM exposes students to professional conferences, other researchers, professors and potential research advisers, and offers them the opportunity to present their work. Students are selected for the program based on their desire to do research and the submission of a research proposal. Richard Piszczatowski, 21, a junior and Forensic Science major, has been conducting original research on the protein CTGF (Connective Tissue Growth Factor) whose main function is to help cells stick together and to grow. Blood platelets are full of the substance, which makes sense since platelets stick together to form clots. The mystery, according to Piszczatowski, is where the CTGF comes from, since the cells that produce platelets have none of the protein.

Undergraduates Shine as First-Rate Researchers
By Jennifer Nislow

Our hope is that 25 percent of undergraduates will engage in research at some time during their career.

From the origins of an essential blood-clotting protein to the well-being of immigrant mothers, from the horror of human trafficking to the characteristics of bank robbers, John Jay students displayed the breadth of their scholarship during a week-long conference that highlighted the year’s research at the undergraduate level.
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While teaching will always be a pillar of John Jay’s mission, the College has shown continued growth towards becoming a research-focused institution, particularly with regard to its undergraduate population, according to Anne Lopes, Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

“I’m trying to figure out how the cells that make the blood platelets signal to the other cells, ‘I’m making blood platelets, we need to get this protein into them soon,’” he said. “What I did was take the DNA sequence of CTGF. What happens is there are a group of enzymes that read this DNA sequence and produce the important protein. But there has to be something to kick start that because you can’t always be making proteins 24-7,” said Piszczatowski.

Students are selected for the program based on their desire to do research and the submission of a research proposal

Anne Lopes, Dean of Undergraduate Studies

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Blanche Wiesen Cook, Distinguished Professor of History

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sculpture in Riverside Park

BLANCHE
(AND HER PEERS
By Peter Dodenhoff
(L-R) Lauren Weidner, Professor Nathan Lents and Richard Piszczatowski

ELEANOR
BLANCHE)
Little could she have known at the time that the woman who urged her to “go South” — the revered

His preliminary results show a connection between CTGF and another protein, MZF-1 (Myeloid Zinc Finger 1), which is abundant in the cells that produce blood platelets. “If our research and results go well, this project will add to the information of where blood clots come from and how they are getting this protein that is really necessary for clotting,” he said. “Maybe someone could target this as an area in people who have very poor blood-platelet production or very poor blood-platelet adhesion. That’s the ultimate goal.” Piszczatowski’s mentor is Professor Nathan H. Lents, a member of the Department of Sciences faculty, who will head John Jay’s new Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR). The office will operate alongside of PRISM and the College’s Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program to give students in a broader range of majors the opportunity to conduct research. According to Lents, OUR is the result of roughly a year’s worth of planning by Lopes and a team of faculty. He will sit on a common advisory board with Professor Anthony Carpi, the acting Chairman of the Department of Sciences who heads PRISM, and Theresa Booker, the director of the McNair Program.

John Jay’s new Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR)... will operate alongside of PRISM and the College’s Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program to give students in a broader range of majors the opportunity to conduct research.

“There is undergraduate research that goes on at the College, quite a bit of it,” said Lents. “But it’s in little pockets of success….The idea was to bring all this together, share successful strategies, successful models, but also be aware that one size does not fit all,” he said. “There are a lot of discipline-specific differences that some of us don’t appreciate, so a central office will help navigate that.” In her presentation, Kristyn Fiorini, 21, a senior and Forensic Science major, examined the nightmarish world of international sex trafficking and prostitution. The third most profitable crime in the world after drugs and weapons, trafficking is a $7 billion a year business that is a “contemporary form of bondage,” she said. While victims can be of either gender, the majority are women.

“Go South for freedom.”
With these words, uttered in 1961, Blanche Wiesen Cook, then a young student activist and president of the student government at Hunter College, was moved to board a bus along with dozens of classmates and head for North Carolina to get involved in the civil rights movement. Little could she have known at the time that the woman who urged her to “go South” — the revered former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt — would become the focus of a biographical examination that would consume nearly three decades of Cook’s life, in the process helping to define and cap her career as a historian and earning her near-universal peer acclaim. It’s been a long road for a scholarly project that Cook originally envisioned taking about two years. Cook’s career itself has been a long, winding trail that has taken her from undergraduate study at Hunter College to Johns Hopkins University to more than 40 years as a faculty member at John Jay, where today she is University Distinguished Professor of History and Women’s Studies. “I always say my life is an accident,” Cook notes. In fact, it was an accident — literally — that helped chart her scholarly course, after a mishap during a gymnastics meet derailed her plans to major in physical education. “After that I majored in just about every course I took. I fell in love with anthropology, with history and government. The accident changed my life into becoming a historian and an anthropologist. “I’ve always had people call me up and say ‘Would you like to… have a column? …. have a radio program?’ I’ve done all those things. I did have a syndicated column, and I did have a wonderful 20-year career on Pacifica Radio. The bottom line is I am an activist and a journalist and a historian — not necessarily in that order, but they all connect.” They connect to form a scholar who has distinguished herself in more ways than just the capitalized title she bears. In January 2010, the American Historical Association’s annual conference included a “Roundtable in Celebration of Blanche Wiesen Cook” —

former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt —
would become the focus of a biographical examination that would consume nearly three decades of Cook’s life.

Kristyn Fiorini, 21, a senior and Forensic Science major

“The bottom line is I am an activist and a journalist and a historian — not necessarily in that order, but they all connect.”
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Blanche Cook relaxing in East Hampton, NY, 1993 Courtesy: Jonathan Silin/ New York Public Library

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Cook is a role model for creating a joyful, creative life that combines scholarship and activism.

a tribute described as “very, very unusual” by her longtime John Jay colleague, Distinguished Professor of History Gerald Markowitz. “To have a session dealing with the body of work of someone in the profession is extremely unusual, but it’s also very relevant in terms of Blanche, because she is rightly seen as doing absolutely cutting-edge, innovative work in a wide variety of areas.” In April, Cook reeled in yet another top-shelf honor when she was presented with the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Publishing Triangle, the association of gays and lesbians in publishing. What dazzles Cook’s colleagues — in academia, publishing or the front lines of activism — is not simply the breadth of her scholarship, which has already included groundbreaking explorations of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, early-20th century feminist and American Civil Liberties Union co-founder Crystal Eastman and, of course, Eleanor Roosevelt. It’s Cook’s passion that really sets her apart. “She really throws herself into her work, and is passionate about the world that she is exploring,” said Markowitz. “What is wonderful about her as a historian and a biographer is that she is interested in her subjects’ complexity — what made them

important, where did they fail, what made them human.” Debra L. Schultz, a historian and author of Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement, singles out Cook as an “activist historian.” She sees her former graduate school mentor as “a role model for creating a joyful, creative life that combines scholarship and activism.” Cook came to her award-winning, best-selling biography of Eleanor Roosevelt in, again, an accidental way. She was hunkered down in Abilene, KS, conducting research for what would become The Declassified Eisenhower: A Divided Legacy of Peace and Political Warfare. (That research, and the fight to declassify volumes of presidential documents, would in turn lead Cook to co-found, along with Markowitz and former John Jay history professor William Preston, the Fund for Open Information and Accountability.) While in Abilene, she was asked to review what she called “a really stupid book” about Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok, the journalist who became Roosevelt’s confidante. Joseph Lash, the esteemed biographer of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, suggested to Cook that she write about Eleanor and “Hick.” Cook demurred, saying, “I don’t do that; I do international relations.”

Lash persisted, and Cook was ultimately convinced that there was indeed a book waiting to be written about Eleanor. As Cook would discover, her subject was not the oft-depicted cardboard figure standing by her husband, the President, through some of the darkest times this nation has known. “She’s an amazing woman with an amazing vision that embraces the world,” Cook explains. “When you’re with her on her journeys, it’s never boring. The good news for historians, and why she is infinite and infinitely usable, is that she writes it all down — in her columns, in her press conferences, which were for women journalists only, in her letters to Hick and in her letters to Esther Lape” [a journalist who was another Roosevelt confidante]. Cook never imagined herself spending as long as she has with the Eleanor Roosevelt saga. “I signed the contract in 1982, the year after Eisenhower came out, and I thought I could finish this by the ER centennial in 1984,” she recalled. “I thought that would be the end of it. But there was no way it could be done quickly.” Volume One of the trilogy covers Eleanor from birth through 1933, including the deaths of both parents at a young age, her marriage to Franklin, his

infirmities and infidelities, Eleanor’s relationships with other women, including Hickok, and more. Volume Two shows Eleanor to be an invaluable asset to her husband and the nation through the Great Depression and the efforts of the New Deal programs to cope with it. “As a political wife she creates an incredibly usable role for herself,” Cook points out, in that she is the bridge to the visionary folks and to the activists. A lot of things are not yet on FDR’s agenda, he’s not even considering them, but as First Lady, Eleanor is really pushing the agenda forward in a progressive, human rights/civil rights direction.” Markowitz says emphatically of his colleague: “She has transformed our whole conception of the New Deal era through her examination of Eleanor Roosevelt as the conscience of the nation, as the person who was able to see the reality of people’s lives and bring it back to FDR, and someone who was able to push Roosevelt to do more for people than he might have done.” The third volume of the biography, covering the war years, the death of FDR and Eleanor’s forceful service as a delegate to

“What is wonderful about her as a historian and a biographer is that she is interested in her subjects’ complexity — what made them important, where did they fail, what made them human.”
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She has transformed our whole conception of the New Deal era through her examination of Eleanor Roosevelt as the conscience of the nation, as the person who was able to see the reality of people’s lives and bring it back to FDR, and someone who was able to push Roosevelt to do more for people than he might have done.
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Volume Two shows Eleanor to be an invaluable asset to her husband and the nation through the Great Depression and the efforts of the New Deal programs to cope with it.

She truly believes that what we are doing here is important for the city, important for students, important for the cause of justice and important for creating a new society.
never permit it. Since her earliest days in the Police Academy-based John Jay College of 1968, Cook has been no less committed to her classroom activities than she is to her biographical subjects. “I’d like to think that I introduced my students to some world views that were new,” says Cook. “I was always dazzled by how open they were and how thirsty they were for information and knowledge. For me, every class was a learning experience, and I always felt that I learned more than I taught.”
Markowitz adds: “It’s really quite extraordinary for someone who is as forceful and opinionated as Blanche to insist upon hearing from her students, and insist that if they disagree with her, they argue with her and state why they disagree. She truly believes that what we are doing here is important for the city, important for students, important for the cause of justice and important for creating a new society.” Her many transitions — from military historian to peace historian to feminist and political biographer, from civil rights activist to peace activist to women’s rights activist and icon, from radio and TV host to newspaper and magazine columnist — are all of a piece with Cook. She fears neither spreading herself too thin nor being pigeonholed.. “Labels don’t bother me,” she says. “I’m very proud to be who I am, and I work hard at trying to keep it up. You can label me anything you like, as long as you pronounce and spell my name right.”
Peter Dodenhoff is editor of @John Jay.

“Labels don’t bother me,” she says. “I’m very proud to be who I am, and I work hard at trying to keep it up. You can label me anything you like, as long as you pronounce and spell my name right.”
the United Nations General Assembly and chair of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, almost never came to pass. “There was a time when I decided that I couldn’t write this book, I just couldn’t go on with it,” Cook recalled. A pause for reflection and additional research convinced her to continue, as was also the case when she spotted an apparent shift in Eleanor’s style and public efforts vis-à-vis the civil rights movement after FDR’s death. The biography may soon be wrapped up but Cook is quick to note, “I don’t think I’ll ever be fully done with Eleanor Roosevelt. I’ll be done writing about her, but I’ll never be finished with her as a guide, as a mentor — you know, ‘What would Eleanor do?’” Eleanor Roosevelt is more relevant today than ever, Cook insists. “We’ve just been through 10 years of an administration that completely spit on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” one of Roosevelt’s crowning achievements during her service with the U.N.

Where the Truth Lies:
The Phenomenon of False Confessions
By Marie Rosen

People confess to crimes they did not commit. Counterintuitive? Yes, but it happens and it happens in every country and throughout time.
Although there are no specific statistics concerning the frequency of false confessions, Distinguished Professor of Psychology Saul Kassin believes they occur with some regularity and more often than you might think. He became interested in the phenomenon more than 25 years ago while studying juries and jury decision making. In every case he looked at, the jury always convicted when there was a confession. It made him aware of just how “powerful” a confession was and made him wonder, “whether confessions were as perfect, reliable and infallible as everybody thought.” Kassin categorizes those who falsely confess into three categories: voluntary confessions, internalized false confessions, and compliant false confessions. With voluntary confessions, people may confess to protect someone else, because they are delusional, or to attract attention in cases of high profile crimes — like the 200 people who confessed to the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby or like John Mark Karr who confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey. Kassin notes that police do a good job at weeding out these false confessors as serious suspects and that these cases don’t result in wrongful convictions.

Cook is no mere ivory tower scholar; her activism and passion would

Kassin categorizes those who falsely confess into three categories: voluntary confessions, internalized false confessions, and compliant false confessions.

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“The confessor knows he is innocent, breaks down and gives a confession anyway because he is under stress, he‘s been in police custody for a long time, he may feel threatened, he may have had promises made or implied to him if he confesses.”
What concerns him are the other two types of false confessors where interrogation plays a big role. Internalized false confessions can occur when the suspect is a juvenile, mentally handicapped, grieving the death of a loved one, or because he hasn’t slept in days. When police lie to such suspects about possessing evidence, a practice that is legally permissible, the vulnerable suspect gets confused, has the impression that people do things they don’t remember and tries to form a memory about the crime even though he did not commit it. But, the largest category of false confessions that Kassin says is of most concern to the criminal justice system is the one he calls compliant false confessions. “The confessor knows he is innocent, breaks down and gives a confession anyway because he is under stress, he‘s been in police custody for a long time, he may feel threatened, he may have had promises made or implied to him if he confesses. In other words, given the situation he is in, the suspect decides it is in his best interest to confess.” Kassin describes the situation as similar to when people change their public behavior, but privately do not change their mind. Kassin says the Central Park Jogger Case was just such a situation. “They always knew they didn’t do it. Every one of those boys said he thought he was going to go home after confessing.” Kassin thinks, “psychologically these are the simplest to understand. Everybody has a breaking point.” Kassin also points out there are many misconceptions when it comes to detecting when someone is lying. In fact, he says, a study to be published in Communication Research shows that people who watch the show “Lie to Me” become worse and more biased in detecting lies than people who don’t watch the show. He also believes there is no scientific evidence for tactics that look at fidgeting or eye contact. “It’s common in testimony from police who say, ‘I knew he was our guy because when I asked him about the crime he broke eye contact. He couldn’t look me in the eye.’ In fact in 60 countries, it is the one cue that everybody pays attention to.” Yet in a meta-analysis of dozens of studies involving thousands of subjects, Kassin says the correlation between eye contact or looking away and deception is zero. “Interrogators who use these cues are not going to be more accurate, they are only going to be more confident.”

Can Objects Speak?
COLLEGE HOPES SO, AS HI-TECH TEACHING TAKES HOLD
By Jennifer Nislow

Internalized false confessions can occur when the suspect is a juvenile, mentally handicapped, grieving the death of a loved one, or because he hasn’t slept in days.

Professor Gregory H. Umbach

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the actual object captured in that image is easily worth at least a few pages of text. That’s the belief held by a group of John Jay faculty deeply engaged in an initiative to create and perfect downloadable audio-tours of museum collections. These podcasts, they say, add a three-dimensional component to what students are learning in the classroom.
But, podcasts are only one of the ways that John Jay has begun using technology to reach a generation of students who are far more comfortable using MP3 players and iPhones for schoolwork. By bringing together audio, visual and interactive learning — tools that are usually separated in traditional teaching — faculty can provide their classes with a uniquely holistic learning experience. It is something called “rich media content,” said William Pangburn, director of John Jay’s Instructional Technology and Support Services (ITSS). “The idea is that if you sit through a lecture, you’ve seen about 10 percent of content — just pure auditory,” he said. “If you add visual aids, it bumps up to 20 or 30 percent. And if you put hands-on, your recall is about 40 percent of the content. Any time you can combine all of these things, you’re going to boost retention and comprehension considerably,” said Pangburn. “That’s something rich media content offers because it can have narration, it can have video, it can have hands-on activity. That’s something the digital world does very well.”

By bringing together audio, visual and interactive learning... faculty can provide their classes with a uniquely holistic learning experience.

(L-R) Brian Wallace, Professor Saul Kassin and Jennifer Perillo

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John Jay received approximately $192,400 in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a project called Professor Gregory H. Umbach, a member of the College’s History and Interdisciplinary Studies departments developed John Jay’s first podcast in 2006 for his History of World Civilizations course. Students had to download Umbach’s audio tour, “Afro-European Encounter in Africa,” to their iPod or MP3 player and find the objects he describes in the African Art Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Technology gives us a real solution” to the problem of getting students to connect with the images and texts used in traditional teaching, said Umbach. “Students are interested in flesh and blood people. Objects convey ideas; they serve as the mental furniture to assemble those ideas. Objects tell a history of Afro-European encounter better than any classroom lecture.” In 2008, John Jay received approximately $192,400 in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a project called “Making Objects Speak: Portable Audio Guides for Teaching with Visual Culture in the Humanities.” Bringing together faculty members from a variety of disciplines and CUNY colleges, its objective was to create 10 podcasts to support survey courses on history and literature through an examination of a given period’s religious and cultural artifacts, and with walking tours through historic New York City neighborhoods, including the Lower East Side and Harlem. All of the podcasts have been completed. Professor Patricia Licklider, a member of John Jay’s English department faculty, has created three podcasts for the project linked
Ellen Burstyn, Peter Neufeld, Leymah Gbowee, Kara Hartzler, Barry Scheck, Rossana Rosado & President Travis

“Making Objects Speak:
Portable Audio Guides for Teaching with Visual Culture in the Humanities.”

2010 John Jay Justice Awards
recognize extraordinary dedication to the cause of justice
Before an enthusiastic audience of elected officials, public leaders and other dignitaries, the John Jay Medals for Justice were presented on April 6, 2010 to Leymah Gbowee, Executive Director of Women, Peace & Security Africa; the Florence, AZ Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project; and the Innocence Project.
Leymah Gbowee received the global leader for justice award in recognition of her extraordinary commitment to mobilizing women to stop the war in Liberia. Ellen Burstyn, Golden Globe and Academy Award winner presented this award. The national leader for justice award was given to The Innocence Project in acknowledgement of the Project’s commitment to freeing wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. The award was accepted by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, co-founders/co-directors of the

Professor Patricia Licklider

to courses she teaches on ancient Greek and Roman literature.

“If you talk about the status of women in ancient Greece, you can see representations of that in the art,” she said. “The heroes of the Iliad wear elaborate, fancy armor, but when the students see how vulnerable it is, and how small it is, their notions of the hero in Homer change. They have to adjust their estimations.”
continued on page 23

Ellen Burstyn introduces Leymah Gbowee

Project. Mia Farrow, Golden Globe nominee, served as the presenter for this award. The community leader for justice award was presented to the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in recognition of their commitment to legally representing indigent individuals detained in Arizona for immigration removal proceedings. Kara Hartzler, Legal Director, accepted the award for the Florence Project. Rossana Rosado, publisher of El Diario/ La Prensa, presented this award.

the John Jay Medals for Justice were presented on April 6, 2010 to Leymah Gbowee, Executive Director of Women, Peace & Security Africa; the Florence, AZ Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project; and the Innocence Project.

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2010 John Jay Justice Awards
Clockwise from top (L-R) Mia Farrow, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld; Rosana Rosado; Joshua Bell; President Jeremy Travis and Kara Hartzler

Where the Truth Lies:
The Phenomenon of False Confessions
continued from page 10

Created in 2008, the John Jay Medal for Justice honors individuals and organizations that exemplify dedication to the cause of justice. The Hon. Judith Kaye was the first recipient. Last year’s recipients were Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland; BJ Bernstein, a prominent Atlanta attorney and the NYU Brennan Center.
In addition to the presenters and recipients, notables who participated in the ceremony included: Joshua Bell, acclaimed classical violinist, who was named the 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, and Sing for Hope, world-class artists who donate time and talent to the humanitarian causes that inspire them. The College offers special thanks to Richard J. Tarlow, a member of the John Jay College Foundation Board, for graciously underwriting the Justice Award Ceremony. A Committee of the John Jay College Foundation Board determined the selection of the John Jay Justice Award recipients.

His advice to interrogators is to keep an open mind. “Interrogation is, by definition, a guilt presumptive process.” The police use a two-step approach. First they interview a suspect and based on this interview they make a judgment “this guy is lying” and interrogate him or “he’s telling the truth” and send him home. “Because it is a guilt presumptive process, there is almost nothing an innocent person can do to stop it. It becomes relentless.” Kassin advises, “that the data that come in after you have formed a judgment are no less important than the data you used to form that judgment. Keeping an open mind is essential regardless of what tactics are used.” He also advises that interrogators should try to imagine that a suspect is innocent and then think in terms of how an innocent person might think.

already constructed something in their heads. And the truth tellers will not be that distinguishable. But if you challenge the suspect, say by asking him to tell his story in reverse chronological order — whoa! Everyone slows down a bit. But to the liars there is a whole reconstruction of the lie and it really impairs their ability to tell the story. The liars become immediately and perceptively different than the truth tellers.”
Kassin is a strong believer in videotaping interrogations to help prevent false confessions. “It is the single most important reform we can make to the system. Hundreds of jurisdictions now do it. Unanimously in jurisdictions where they do, police rave about it. They find it more to their benefit than to their detriment by a long shot.” Criminals who confessed can no longer make frivolous claims of mistreatment or coercion. Just as importantly, “when detectives go back and review the tapes, they often see that the suspect had inadvertently incriminated himself and they didn’t even realize it because they

Kassin is a strong believer in videotaping interrogations to help prevent false confessions. “It is the single most important reform we can make to the system.”

Since both the guilty and the innocent experience stress during interrogations, looking for signs of stress is misleading. The best way, he says, to distinguish liars from truth tellers is to concentrate on their story. “It is cognitively and intellectually more difficult to lie than to tell the truth. The liars have

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Shockingly, there are times when a confession even trumps irrefutable scientific physical evidence.

“In almost every single false confession case I’ve seen, the breaking point for the innocent person was the use of false evidence. We have your hair, your blood, your fingerprints.”
Innocent suspects feel trapped.
were so busy interrogating.” Based on new research data he has been collecting, Kassin thinks that judges and juries will be better adjudicators of a confession when they see the interrogation tapes, not just the final confession, as opposed to relying on second-hand accounts. “It gets at the truth and it gets it in a way that will sometimes favor the defense, but will more often favor the state. Either way it is more likely to serve justice.” One aspect of interrogation that Kassin has criticized for years is lying about evidence, a legally allowed practice in the U.S. “In almost every single false confession case I’ve seen, the breaking point for the innocent person was the use of false evidence. ‘ We have your hair, your blood, your fingerprints.’ Innocent suspects feel trapped.” For Kassin, lying about evidence should be limited or banned outright. “I don’t have a problem with confrontation using real evidence. But, once you confront a suspect with false evidence, you’re treating the innocent just like the guilty. Once you do that, even the innocent are going to get really anxious and start looking guilty. It’s a cycle that goes nowhere good.” Instead of lying, police often use bluffing. They don’t say, “we have your DNA.” Instead they say, “we picked up DNA and sent it to the lab.” Kassin used to think this was a good approach. But now he notes that although bluffing can prompt the guilty to confess in order to cut a better deal, it can backfire when it comes to someone who is innocent. In this instance, innocent people often believe that the evidence will exonerate them, which paradoxically makes it easier for them to confess. Kassin’s laboratory studies, soon to be published, show that using the bluff technique makes innocent people confess at a high rate. A believer in the scientific method, Kassin notes, “I could not have intuited that.” Psychologists who study false confessions share the same goals, he says, as anyone else in the criminal justice system. “We are not looking to prohibit interrogation — to prevent police from getting the confessions from criminals. The goal is to get it right.” Shockingly, there are times when a confession even trumps irrefutable scientific physical evidence. Kassin notes that there are 19 cases on record -— and perhaps many more — where there is a confession followed by DNA that contradicts that confession. One South Carolina case, where he was an expert witness, was featured on “Dateline” last July. Billy Wayne Cope was accused of murdering his 12-year-old daughter, Amanda. He had been isolated for three days and interrogated. Transcripts of the interrogation show that he denied killing his daughter 650 times. He was told he failed a lie detector test that he in fact had asked for. Ultimately, he confessed to committing the murder. The lab results, which came back several weeks later, showed that the girl was also sexually assaulted and the semen and saliva did not match Cope. Sometime after that, the DNA was run through CODIS, a computer software program that operates local, state and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence and missing persons. A match was made to a known sex offender, James Sanders, who was in the area. Yet Cope was prosecuted and convicted anyway, as a co-conspirator with Sanders, even though Sanders had no idea who Cope was. That was six years ago. Cope remains imprisoned.
Marie Rosen is a senior editor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

(L-R) Jennifer Perillo, Professor Saul Kassin and Brian Wallace

Kassin notes that there are 19 cases on record — and perhaps many more — where there is a confession followed by DNA that contradicts that confession.

The Forensic Psychology Lab at John Jay
In the forensic psychology lab, Distinguished Professor of Psychology Saul Kassin and his students in the doctoral program in forensic psychology are studying a number of aspects of the interrogation process, including why innocent people falsely confess, how videotaping police interrogations affects the criminal justice process, and how signs of “malintent” can be detected.
• Kassin recently received a grant to work with the Denver Police Department where he will be conducting a full random assignment field study using actual suspects, some who will know that they are being taped and some who will not, to see if it affects them.

Jennifer Perillo has been experimenting with the bluff tactic that is used in interrogations to see if the bluff would prompt false confessions.

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No one falsely confessed without the bluff, but when we added the bluff about secret videotaping, half of the innocent participants then ended up confessing.
• Jennifer Perillo, one of Kassin’s doctoral students, has been experimenting with the bluff tactic that is used in interrogations to see if the bluff would prompt false confessions. Research, consisting of a number of experiments, was constructed where participants thought they were taking a reaction time test. They are warned that the Alt key on the keyboard has a glitch, which will result in a computer crash and the loss of all data. The computer is rigged to go off repeatedly. Participants are informed that their keystrokes have been recorded, but it will be quite some time before a technician arrives who can decipher who made the problem keystroke. The experimenter tells the participants that they could leave if they sign a statement admitting to hitting the Alt key, acknowledging data was lost and that the session was terminated without credit. According to Perillo, “we found that bluffing significantly increased the rate of false confession. When asked why they signed a false statement, they told us that they expected that a check of the keystrokes would exonerate them.” In another experiment, a cheating paradigm was used where the stakes were even higher. Participants were told that there was a hidden camera, which would show who was cheating and who was not, but it would take a while before a technician arrived to retrieve the evidence. “There was a strong effect using the bluff on the innocent participants,” says Perillo. “No one falsely confessed without the bluff, but when we added the bluff about secret videotaping, half of the innocent participants then ended up confessing.”

Fyfe Fellowship & Malone Scholarship
Enduring Legacies for Future John Jay Students
By Jennifer Nislow

One of the profound satisfactions of being an educator is the ability to help students achieve their professional and academic goals. Two new endowed scholarships at John Jay — and the professors behind them — will do just that. For those who work in law enforcement, practice generally comes before theory. That is, many who continue their education past their undergraduate levels do so when they are already on the job. “When I was in that position, I realized that one understands theory so much better after having some practice,” said Professor Candace McCoy, a member of the doctoral program in criminal justice faculty. “You have to understand the general structure of what you’re dealing with before you can develop theory about it. The best PhD students really, in terms of ones who have a deep understanding of their subject, are the ones who have some real-world experience.”

“You have to understand the general structure of what you’re dealing with before you can develop theory about it.

Brian Wallace is interested in detecting “malintent” — as law enforcement agents seek to do in airports and other security settings.

In this study, hidden eye tracking software is used to identify what items people are looking at in a photograph and how long they look.
• Brian Wallace, another doctoral student, is interested in detecting “malintent” — as law enforcement agents seek to do in airports and other security settings. He’s looking into an approach that was inspired by crime scene photographs containing information that may have special importance to criminals or anyone who has knowledge of the crime. In this study, hidden eye tracking software is used to identify what items people are looking at in a photograph and how long they look. The premise is that someone who has committed a crime, or is planning a future crime, would focus his or her eyes on information in a photograph that relates to that future plan. Wallace says that cognitive measurers have a great deal of promise as far as identifying people’s intentions. In the aftermath of September 11, ascertaining information about future events for which a suspect might have knowledge is of growing importance. He believes that visual attention to stimuli has potential as an investigatory tool, as opposed to a screening tool, because it can help investigators who already have a suspect and information about a crime. “If an investigator has some knowledge about a future crime to be committed, they can generate stimuli that contain both photos that are relevant to the future crime and also objects or things that are not relevant to it.”

Distinguished Professor James Fyfe

The Fellowship awards a doctoral candidate $1,500 for one year. “When you start your dissertation, you have expenses that aren’t otherwise covered,” said McCoy. “Travel, supplies for all those surveys, computers, postage, phone, the whole bit…the incidentals add up.” For a scholarship to be endowed, a minimum amount must be raised. That principal is invested and the fellowship money comes from the interest. It took five years of friends, well-wishers and people who wanted to honor Fyfe’s legacy giving small donations of $25 and $50 until there was enough money, according to McCoy. “Every year we were having some Fyfe-related event,” she said. “We had conferences about policing, we helped sponsor a stop-and-frisk conference, we did a conference on police accountability,” said McCoy. “People would attend these things and remember and give a little.

The premise is that someone who has committed a crime, or is planning a future crime, would focus his or her eyes on information in a photograph that relates to that future plan.

That is why the Fyfe Fellowship was set up. It supports students who have served as sworn officers or law enforcement officials before beginning their doctoral work. The fellowship was created to honor the memory of McCoy’s late husband, Distinguished Professor James Fyfe, a criminologist and leading authority on police accountability and use of force. Fyfe, who died in 2005, also served as an NYPD lieutenant before entering academia.

The best PhD students really, in terms of ones who have a deep understanding of their subject, are the ones who have some real-world experience.”

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“We’re both people who realize that education is the way in which individuals can become successful, not only change their lives but change the lives of their families and their communities,” said James Malone.

At the 2009 meeting of the American Society of Criminology, McCoy and others presented what is called a “festschrift” in the academic world. A festschrift is a book that contains original contributions by an honored scholar’s close colleagues, often including his or her former doctoral students. In this case, the contributions were works influenced, inspired or prompted by Fyfe’s research. Called Holding Police Accountable, it was recently published by the Urban Institute Press.
During the conference, according to McCoy, President Jeremy Travis let it be known that the Fyfe Fellowship was only $1,000 short of its goal. “Well, a friend of my husband’s pulled out his checkbook on the spot, wrote out a check and gave it to Jeremy,” she said. So far, there have been four Fyfe Fellows. “We’ve been lucky enough that the people who have applied for it from the PhD program here are generally quite advanced and are getting ready to start their dissertations,” said McCoy. “It’s just really gratifying.”

Vice Presidents James and Rubie Malone

Denise Mieses, center, with McNair students

James Malone attended the University of Akron and went on to become director of John Jay’s SEEK Program, the dean of students and ultimately, vice president for administrative affairs. Rubie Malone, who went to Clark College — now Clark Atlanta University, then to the Hunter School of Social Work for a master’s degree and to Columbia University for a doctorate, retired in 2009 as assistant vice president for strategic planning. Their scholarship will provide support for a first-semester sophomore with a high GPA and some level of financial need. It will also ask that the student have a strong commitment to community service. At this point in time, James Malone said he could not be more specific about the requirements.

Asking the
continued from page 4

Right Questions
academically promising low-income and minority undergraduates for doctoral programs through intensive mentoring, tutoring and stipends. Mieses, 29, looked at the problems faced by Latina immigrants who leave their own children behind to work in the United States, often as nannies. These transnational mothers, she discovered, faced both physical and psychological consequences because of the separation. They are haunted by the traditional notions of what an “optimal” parent does: provides nurture. “Optimal parenting” means being the primary caregiver, the “one who gets up in the middle of the night” to tend to a sick child, noted Mieses. “Transnational mothers want to be optimal parents to their own children, but they settle for being good enough parents, where they are able to provide just the basic needs — food, shelter, clothing,” she said. “When they are here, they try to transition their love and affection for their own children to the ones they care for.” Mieses found that women who have a strong social network both here in New York and back home tended to cope with the separation from their children much better than do those who do not have their support. “They were a lot more resilient in everyday life,” she said.

Mieses found that women who have a strong social network both here in New York and back home tended to cope with the separation from their children much better than do those who do not have their support.

Undergraduates Shine As First-Rate Researchers
Children, homeless youths and orphans are considered the most vulnerable, according to Fiorini. These victims are moved from city to city to elude police and maintain “a fresh supply” for clients. Brooklyn, she noted, is one of the biggest ports for trafficked children in the nation. Fiorini’s research also looked at how the Victim Precipitation Theory applied to trafficking. The criminological theory posits that victims’ behavior can explain criminal acts. There is active and passive participation. On the active side, families may sell a child to traffickers, or the victim is a runaway. On the passive side, victims may fall into the hands of traffickers because they are living in desperate circumstances, in a war zone, for example. All types of people who may encounter a trafficker and victims should be educated in how to spot them, she contended. There should be training, said Fiorini, for pilots and airline attendants, among others, as well as information posted on billboards and on websites. “Imagine what could be done if there was follow up,” she said. Denise Mieses, a senior and Forensic Psychology major, presented her work on the coping skills of “transnational mothers” at the McNair Program’s symposium. McNair is a national scholarship that prepares

James and Rubie Malone Scholarship
Winning a basketball scholarship changed the course of James Malone’s life, just as winning an academic scholarship changed the life of his wife, Rubie. With the James and Rubie Malone Scholarship, the two former vice presidents of John Jay College would like to give other students the same opportunities they had to reach their potential. “We’re both people who realize that education is the way in which individuals can become successful, not only change their lives but change the lives of their families and their communities,” said James Malone.

“We want to provide support for a first-semester sophomore because those are the students who need it the most,” he said. “They got through their freshman year okay; they got a lot of counseling that first year. But they kind of get lost in that second year.”
While the funds they raise will provide a stipend for one student, Malone said they were hopeful that in the future, they would have enough funding to support a second or third sophomore.
Jennifer Nislow is a senior writer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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The research conference also featured the Honors Program Senior Thesis Presentations, six students whose work ranged from the characteristics of bank robbers to the use of the black blow fly to determine the time between the death of a victim and the discovery of the corpse.

Can Objects Speak?
COLLEGE HOPES SO, AS HI-TECH TEACHING TAKES HOLD
continued from page 12

Professor John Matteson

Megan Maiello, 22, a Criminal Justice major and BA/MA student, examined truths and falsities about bank robberies, a subject that intrigued her after serving an internship with the NYPD’s Major Case Squad. What the public does not realize, she noted, is the sheer number of bank robberies committed every year, most without the use of a gun. According to Maiello’s research, there were 6,849 bank robberies in the United States in 2008. “I wanted to see how much more successful people are if they do it ‘movie style’ as opposed to the ‘real style,’ used by the majority of bank robbers. It’s conclusive that bank robbers with guns are more successful, but most people still don’t use them. They don’t really use all those other gadgets and most of the time they are not successful. I learned that at the NYPD.” Among Maiello’s key findings were that over 70 percent of bank robberies are non-violent; the average bank robber is a 30-year-old male; and he is most likely to enter the bank on a Friday between 10 AM and 3 PM. In her research, Maiello said that she considered Routine Activity Theory, a criminological hypothesis that posits crime is a mundane, everyday occurrence that depends on the opportunities available to the would-be offender. “Looking at some of the details from the Routine Activities perspective, it would be logical for a bank robber to rob a bank on Friday,” she said. “That’s when they happen to get the most money, usually because banks end up transferring money on Fridays and many people cash checks from their jobs. Also bank robbers may need more money for the weekend,” Maiello quipped, “so Friday is a very prime day.” Professor John Matteson, a member of the English department faculty, has been named

For many years, Licklider noted, she had accompanied groups of students to the museum, or provided them with written directions on what to look at if they chose to go on their own. “What I wanted students to do was something we’re calling ‘slow looking.’ Students, when they go to museums," Licklider continued, "look quickly and then turn away, like they’re looking at pictures in a magazine. We think that by getting students to look slowly at objects we will increase their attention span and their willingness to read things slowly, as well.” Unlike the type of audio-tour that visitors to museums are familiar with, these podcasts are specifically aimed at college students in their sophomore and junior years. The topics are keyed to essential texts or themes taught during class and include references to texts, images and ideas. They also contain what Licklider refers to as “embedded learning activities” that ask students to sketch the object, write a paragraph describing the atmosphere of a particular room, or imagine the life of the person who owned such an object. “We’re professors and our tendency is to say everything we know, load it all on to the students,” said Licklider. “But we have to resist that and not lecture, rather ask directed questions, get students to do more of the work than us.” While the creation of the podcasts is being funded through John Jay’s grant, the audio tours will be made available to all CUNY students.
William Pangburn

“What I wanted students to do was something we’re calling ‘slow looking.’ Students, when they go to museums," Licklider continued, "look quickly and then turn away, like they’re looking at pictures in a magazine.
In addition to podcasting, the College has also been utilizing Apple’s iTunes U, a program designed to allow institutions to distribute their academic content online.
ITunes U has both a “private side” and a “public side,” explained Pangburn. The private side allows content providers to restrict access to their materials; the public side is just that — a way for the general public to have access through the iTunes Store to an institution’s lectures, courses and other information that it has made available. Professors can create a course for posting on the iTunes U site by using Blackboard software’s Building Blocks modules or by using a template provided by iTunes U. Students do not need to have an iPod, but they do need to have the free iTunes software installed on their computer.

Megan Maiello

The revamped Honors Program... will promote strongly the idea of outstanding students as servants of a larger community, both within John Jay and beyond John Jay.

faculty director of the revamped Honors Program that will promote strongly the idea of outstanding students as servants of a larger community, both within John Jay and beyond John Jay. The notion, he explained, is to “cultivate, encourage and nourish” the College’s most talented students. They, in turn, could share their abilities and attainments with the larger student body. “Although some of our ideas remain in process, we are also very interested in seeing what we can do to encourage John Jay students to take an active role in the New York community beyond John Jay,” said Matteson. Having personally instructed five of the Honors Program students presenting their work, Matteson said he considers the group protégés and among the students with whom he has worked that he is most proud.

“I was deeply impressed by the sophistication of their research, the poise with which they conducted themselves in front of a large group and I think those students would serve well as ambassadors for the College.”
Jennifer Nislow is a senior writer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

We think that by getting students to look slowly at objects we will increase their attention span and their willingness to read things slowly, as well.”

“For a student, they can download it, pop it on their device, and they can go on the subway,” said Pangburn. “If they live out in Queens, they have a 45-minute trip. They can go through the whole lecture. It’s really fantastic.”

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John Jay now has its own very rich public site on iTunes U with over 100 lectures and seminars on a variety of criminal justice issues. “The goal is to investigate how to use digital content for the purchased textbooks because the prices for textbooks have gone up so much.”
“For a student, they can download it, pop it on their device, and they can go on the subway,” said Pangburn. “If they live out in Queens, they have a 45-minute trip. They can go through the whole lecture. It’s really fantastic.” By using the public side, colleges and universities can give themselves a greater global presence. Both Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were among the first to use iTunes U, Pangburn noted. John Jay now has its own very rich public site on iTunes U with over 100 lectures and seminars on a variety of criminal justice issues.
Meghan Duffy

Alumni Worth Noting
Salvatore Cassano (BS ’76)
Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)
Last January one of John Jay’s first fire science graduates, Salvatore J. Cassano (BS ’76) became the 32nd Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), the largest fire and emergency services department in the world. In his 40 years with the department, Cassano, a Vietnam veteran who graduated summa cum laude, has held every rank in the department. At the time of his appointment, Mayor Michael Bloomberg noted, “He has a lifetime of unmatched experience. His record as a leader in the department speaks for itself — there have never been fewer fire deaths during any other eight-year period in recorded city history.” Cassano says that being a firefighter “is in your blood, in your heart. It’s a dangerous job and it’s not something you do because it pays a lot of money. That attitude will never get you into the front door of a burning building.” He knows from whence he speaks. During his career, he was cited five times for bravery, each time for rescuing New Yorkers from burning buildings. Although responding to fires and medical emergencies is the department’s “bread and butter,” since September 11 when the department lost 343 members in the terrorist attacks, Cassano says “we knew we had a new world of terrorism in which to operate. The delicate balance was how do we prepare for a low probability, high consequence event and still keep our basic skills intact. No one shied away from the challenge. We added additional hazmat and rescue training. We assigned decontamination duties to our engine companies. We learned that we had to train many units throughout the city so that we have resources in reserve in case there is a secondary event. Our Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have expanded their role.” Recently, the department completed training with the U.S. Marines Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, who are trained to work with locals in the event of a major event. According to Cassano, the marines train firefighters in decontamination and hazmat

Cassano is thankful for his John Jay education. “It made me a well-rounded person. The exchanges we had
and the firefighters train the marines in rescue operations. This year, the joint operation scenario included responding to two Improvised Explosive Devices. Nine years after September 11, Cassano says the department “is better prepared, better equipped than ever before” and is quick to emphasize that it was a herculean effort on the part of everyone in the department regardless of rank. These days, Cassano believes the big issue facing fire and emergency services around the country is declining budgets and increased threats. As he points out, “fires are dangerous no matter where you are. And the issue remains, how do you keep your skills up for fighting fires and responding to emergencies while at the same time being prepared to deal with a terrorist attack, a hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, avalanches or wildfires.” Equipment is always an issue. “You want to have the best equipment and protection for your firefighters.” The department is putting new gloves into the field. “Our gloves, while they protected you from the heat, were so thick that you couldn’t close your hands. So, we developed a more flexible glove, but it took a year to do so. Around the country, the issues are the same. How do you get the best gear and how do you pay for it?” Cassano is thankful for his John Jay education. “It made me a well-rounded person. The exchanges we had in the classroom were memorable. We learned from the professors and they learned from us. It was an experience I will treasure.”

in the classroom were memorable. We learned from the professors and they learned from us. It was an experience I will treasure.”

Given the high price of textbooks, particularly those that include reproductions of art for studio classes, John Jay has also been experimenting with e-readers as a device for disseminating course materials.
“The goal is to investigate how to use digital content for the purchased textbooks because the prices for textbooks have gone up so much,” said Pangburn. “There are two areas that are going to work in this vein: the Department of Public Management and the Art and Music Department….That means you have two different disciplines approaching the same problem. They will come together after a year, compare their notes and create a template that can be offered to the university as a whole,” he said. “The Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT) is also a part of this, so it’s a three-way venture.” Meghan Duffy, CAT’s director, was awarded a $250,000 Funding for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant in October 2009 from the Department of Education to compare customized Kindle e-readers with regular textbooks. The

experiment will involve four classes — two sections of the same two introductory classes. One section will have Kindles that have been uploaded with all of the books for the course and one will use traditional materials. “In addition to figuring out how to create an innovative way to rent college reading materials, we’re evaluating students’ reading,” said Duffy. “What’s happened so far is that the students say they are reading faster.” According to Pangburn, ITSS has also received a grant, albeit a much smaller one from CUNY of $7,000 to research which hardware device works best. The department will analyze the Kindle, the iPad, Nook and the SONY Reader.

Cassano is the 32nd Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), the largest fire and emergency services department in the world.

“People learn differently,” he said. “What we’re going to try to do is offer the most variety and hit all of these points to really boost success. This is all about helping students to succeed.”
Jennifer Nislow is a senior writer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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Alumni Class Notes
Natalie S. Alcee, BS ’97, has been on active duty in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Riley, KS with 101st Brigade Support Battalion since June 2009. She is on a five-year leave from Greenberg Traurig, LLP where she works as a paralegal/administrative assistant. Joseph A. Alejandro, BS ‘98, is the treasurer of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. Jamilah N. Alexander, MPA ’09, was promoted to deputy director of the Women’s Prison Association. William Anthony Allen, MPA ’06, is a PhD candidate in urban systems at Rutgers University. In addition to his John Jay MPA, he holds a MS in urban affairs from Hunter College. He recently served as President/CEO of Communities in Schools of New Jersey. An adjunct professor in public administration at John Jay College and in criminal justice at Monroe College, he also serves as the Democratic District Leader of the 70th Assembly District in Harlem. Manivanh Bounthisanh, BA ’06, is a correction officer at the Ross Correctional Institution in Ohio. Rodney C. Boyce, BS 98, is a police officer with the New York City Police Department. In June 2010, he completed 15 years of service. Bridget E. (Rivera) Bravo, BA ’00, received a MPA from NOVA Southeastern University. Alet A. Brown, BA ’09, who is attending St. John’s University School of Law, is the 2010 recipient of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Minority Fellowship from the New York Bar Association. Chase M. Buckman, MPA ’09, was hired as a staff analyst for the NYC Department of Transportation - Sidewalk Management Unit. Lymari Casta, MA ’00, recently started a law practice in New York City, which specializes in immigration law, particularly deportation matters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Larry Cunningham, BS ’97, vice president of the John Jay Alumni Association, was appointed assistant dean for students at St. John’s University School of Law. William A. Curtis, BS ’09, is employed with the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General. He was promoted from special agent to director of the Special Investigations Division. Owen O. Daniels, BA ’85, who majored in public administration, went on to receive a master’s degree from Webster University. Currently the owner of two start-up businesses, The Small Business Zone, Inc. and Yur Games, Inc., he recently authored The Entrepreneur Guide. Michael A. DiBrizzi, BS ’88, retired from the New York City Police Department as a detective in 2008 after 20 years of service. He obtained a law degree from Seton Hall Law School. Joseph O. DiGiambattista, BA ’97, is an investigator with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Auto Theft Unit in West Babylon, NY. Alicia Dunkley, MPA ’03, is a supervisory intelligence analyst with the FBI. Greg V. Esposito, BS ’06, is a 2010 graduate of Touro Law School and is now employed at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. Luis J. Estevez, BA ’04, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the New York City Police Department and recently completed a MPA at Marist College. Terryann K. Ferguson, BA ’08, is a police officer in the Charleston Police Department in South Carolina. PPO of the year for 2009, she notes that she is “enjoying the life of criminal justice. John Jay was my best choice when it came to higher education.” Christine Fonseca, BS ’06, is a community development specialist for the Alcoholism Council of New York. Deanna Gallavan, BA ’07, is currently pursuing a PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Oklahoma and conducting research on burnout and compassion fatigue among correctional psychologists and counselors. Juan C. Gonzalez, BA ’02, is a 2006 graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law and former law clerk at the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany, NY. He is currently practicing appellate law at Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin & Spratt, LLP in New York City. George F. Kurtyka, MA ’90, recently retired from the Derby, CT Police Department with over 30 years of service, the last 20 in the Detective Division. He was also the homeland security coordinator for the City of Derby, CT. Giovanni K. LaDuke, BA ’04, is a LMSW CASAC intake coordinator at the Realization Center. Donald J. LaSala, MA ’09, retired as a police officer in 2009. Since then he has taught as an adjunct at several colleges in northwest New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania. Recently, he obtained a full-time position as the chair of the School of Criminal Justice at ITT-Tech in Dunmore, PA. He is currently writing an introduction to forensic psychology textbook geared towards undergraduates. Julie Layschok, BS ‘05, who majored in forensic science, recently received a PhD in sciences from Oregon State University. Delana K Mendes, BS ’08, who is living in Atlanta, GA was recently promoted from target protection specialist to an assets protection leader. She is responsible for theft and fraud investigation as well as the improvement of operational shortage. “My criminal justice background at John Jay is admired and I am always proud to speak of it,” she says. Theodore Miraldi, BA ’08, is in the MPA program at John Jay and has been published nearly 50 times in the Opinion Section of the New York Post on socio-political issues facing the city, state and federal government. Joel W. Moss, MA ’75, recently retired after serving in various management positions with JM Family Enterprises, Inc. in Florida. Prior to 1984, he served as a U.S. probation and parole officer in several judicial districts. Irene O’Donnell, BA ’87, director of campus office services and records management at John Jay College, was named as one of the most influential women of 2010 by the Irish Voice. Richard P. O'Sullivan, BA ’07, is retired, but worked with the U.S. Census Bureau giving examinations to prospective clients. He says, “I now remember my algebra exams at the College and still wonder how I made it to the point of receiving my degree at 65 years of age. Go John Jay!" Michael D. Pal, BS ’94, was promoted to general superintendent at MTA New York City Transit. Edwin M. Quezada, BA ’08, says “my ardent dedication towards helping the community will continue to grow. I can truly say that my education at John Jay College has formed me into a great and strong individual.”

Alumni Class Notes
Jason Quinones, BS ‘10, who majored in forensic science with a concentration in toxicology, was recently accepted into the PhD program at SUNY Stony Brook. Irma Ramos, BA ’03, became the confidential secretary to the supervising judge of the Bronx County Family Court within one year of employment with the New York State Unified Court System. Noting that her John Jay education was a “key factor” in her selection, she says, “I am very proud to be an employee of our court system and an alumna of the College.” Katherine Reynoso, BS ‘10, who majored in forensic science with a concentration in molecular biology, was recently accepted into the PhD program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Heather C. Roberts, MA ’05, worked for more than three years as a substance abuse therapist for teens coming back from incarceration. She currently serves as a sworn officer for the United States Capitol Police. Dianne K Rosete, BA ’09, recently started working as a fraud investigator, her “dream job,” for the Human Resources Administration/Investigation, Revenue and Enforcement Administration. Janet Arons Schultze, BS ’78, has a new position as an employment specialist for Mental Health Systems, Inc. in San Diego, CA. Danielle Scimeca, BS ‘10, who majored in forensic science with a concentration in toxicology, was recently accepted into the MD/PhD program at the University of Miami. Ronald Spadafora, BS ’86, was recently promoted to assistant chief of the New York City Fire Department. Sukeena Stephens, MPA ’03, was promoted to assistant to the special-agent-in-charge with the Federal Air Marshal Service. She also serves as manager of the interagency Man Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) Working Group. She is currently pursing a doctorate degree in public policy and administration with a concentration in homeland security. Benjamin B. Tucker, BS ’77, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2010 to become the Deputy Director of State, Local and Tribal Affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Beatrice Wilkinson Welters, MA ’78, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. She was sworn in on April 27, 2010.

Notice of Special Meeting of the John Jay College Alumni Association on December 1, 2010.

The Alumni Board of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Association will convene a special meeting on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 6:00 PM, to vote on ratification of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Alumni Association.
All alumni who received graduate or undergraduate degrees from John Jay College on or before September 1, 2010 are invited to attend and vote at this meeting. The meeting will be held in at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 899 Tenth Avenue, 6th floor, New York, NY, 10019. At the time this notice is being prepared, the Alumni Board expects the agenda to include the following topic: Ratification of Constitution and Bylaws of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Association. The approved Constitution and Bylaws are available for review at http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/alumni/alumniassociationbylaws-prelimtofoundation.pdf To assist in planning, please confirm your attendance by Monday, November 29, 2010 by e-mail ([email protected] ) or by telephone ( 212.237.8547). Please include your name, degree, year, e-mail and a daytime phone, in your response. We appreciate your interest and look forward to seeing you on December 1, 2010. Respectfully, The John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Board

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Thank you for giving to the Annual Fund!
On behalf of John Jay College, we would like to thank and acknowledge those who have given to the John Jay College Annual Fund from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. Their generosity will go a long way to insuring the academic success of John Jay’s students. These monies will be used to support student scholarships, help defray the costs of textbooks and assist students with other college expenses.
Osaka Abamwa Heather Accardi Anthony Acosta Farrell Adams Edgar Adamson Harvey Adler Abdul Ahmed Eugene Albright Joseph Alejandro Alison Alexander Beverly Alexander William Allard Augustine Aloia, Jr. Hakimah al-Zahra Hector Alzate Ralph Ambrosio Frank Anderson Linda Anderson Joy Andrews Nicholas Aniello Paul Annetts Herbert Antomez, Jr. Daniel Antonius Jed Appelbaum Donna Arabia Jo-an Ashley Donald Atkinson Gerald Bagnall Tandia Bakary Halil Baltaci Evan Barbier Wilfred Barriere Wade Barton George Bayley Siobhan Beere Christopher Benintendo Ashley Benjamin Curtis Bennett Sylvia Bennett Cassandra Benoit Rodney Benson Siobhan Berry John Bishop Vishvanand Bissoondial Charles Blaich Jason Bloom Valerie Bohigian Nory Boiatchian Eugene Bonacchi Shelley Bonin Denver Boston John Bove James Boyle Philip Brangman Eileen Brennan Terence Brennan Yvette Brickhouse Marvelous Brooks Estelle Brown Raymond Brown Rhonda Brown Gloria Brown-Brooks Steven Buchalter Martha Buckner Robert Bunch Michael Bunyan Irving Burgess Francis Burke John Burns William Burrell Arielina Caba Myrtelle Cadet Marjorie Campbell Juan Canelo Edward Cappello Pierluca Caria Michael Carlino Luis Carrasquillo Janice Carrington Luis Carter Salvatore Cassano Renee Cassell Kevin Cassidy James Cerven Dante Cespedes William Chan Christopher Chany Phyllis Chavies Victoria Cheng Ida Cheung Suzanne Chiofolo Gail Chirichella Robert Chomiak James Christensen Joseph Christophe William Clancy Dennis Clark Kevin Clark Richard Clarke James Clayton David Cohen David Cohen Jerry Coleman, Jr. Rolando Colon Steven Conry Tanya Cooper Linda Coribello Louis Cosentino William Courtney Kimberly Cox Thomas Creelman Bruce Croce Francisca Cuello Larry Cunningham Peter Curcio Eleanor Curran George D'Amato William Daniel Leslie Dawkins Domenic De Candia Janet DeCastro Lydia DeCastro Brian Degnan Anna DeJesus Wilfredo DeJesus James Delancey Hencys De La Rosa Anthony Deluca Robert Demarr Chester Denis Eric De Ravin Martha Desaussure Clant Deshazo Alan Desmond Donato Di Yagris Diaz Miriam Digneo William Dipini, Jr. Daniel Diprenda Vincent Distefano Sherena Doldron Eleanor Donnley Edwin Donovan Shane Doolan Eugene Dorell Vincent Dougherty James Drumheller Elizabeth Dubois-Marshall Felix Dumay Daniel Dunlap Rufus Eason Patrick Egan Felicito Encarnacion Shawn Eng Eleanor English Louis Escobar John Eymer Suset Farro Sherley Febus-Galdamez Marietta Federici-LaFargue George Feeney Karen Felton-Handley Rosalynde Fenner Claudia Fidanque Daniel Finamore, Sr. John Flaherty Brendan Flynn Thomas Flynn Stephen Foley Laura Fontana Ivy Forde Cherie Foster Saul Fraguada, Jr. Joan Francis Paul Franzese Michael Gala, Jr. Joseph Gallagher Doris Garcia LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson Yesilin Gaviria Robert Genna Christopher Geraghty Erasmo Germano Eric Gerwan Alexander Gesty Denora Getachew Susan Giannetti James Gibbs Brian Gimlett Linda Gimlett Gary Giorgi Yelena Glazkova Christopher Gleason Edward Glospie Richard Goff Francisco Gonzalez, Jr. Jaime Gonzalez Jennifer Gonzalez Luis Gonzalez Maisonet Max Gorelik Damaris Goris Vincent Gravelli Michelle Green Beth Gregrich Anthony Griffith Carl Guadagno Joseph Gulinello Brian Gutierrez Jonathan Gutkin Roman Guzik Cynthia Hadley-Bailey Stephen Hagan Raymond Haimes James Haines Robert Hair David Hall Everett Hall James Hall John Hall Edward Harley Justin Harrigan, Sr. Jonas Harris Edmund Hartnett Sharon Hartnett Amelia Hazel Audrey Henderson Zelma Henriques Christine Henry Denise Henry Winston Henvill Donna Hess L. Frank Hickey Virgil Hickmon Wilibelle Hickson Calvin Hill Jeffery Hinnrichs Tania Hodgson Joseph Hoffman Peter Holub Robert Horvath Cindy Hughes Thomas Huller Obie Hunt Richard Iacono George Idiart Bella Ifraimova Adriane Jackson Peta-Gaye Jamieson Felder Jean-Baptiste Clarett Jefferson Thomas Jelcic Alexander Jenkins Charles Jennings Sasha Jimenez Kerwin John Anthony Johnson Barney Johnson Roy Johnson Deanna Johnston Shirley Jones Beverly Joseph Tamara Kalebic Leo Kallas Neil Kaplan John Kapp

Stacey Katz-Schiavone Marshall Kaufman Mitchell Kaufman Lisa Kawalec Robert Keating Brendan Keeney John Kendrick Shawn Kennon Ksenia Khaimova Dianna Khan Rajiv Khurana Joseph Kilmer Daniel Kimlicka Joseph King Frances Kingston Deborah Kinnebrew Jeffrey Klimas Kevin Koenderman David Kolbeck Michael Korabel Robert Koval David LaFleur Andy Lam Anthony Lamberti Mousslin Lamour Octavius Lamour Rudolph Landin Betty Lane William LaRaia Devin Larkin Katherine Latawiec Barry Latzer Milagros Laureano-Prokop Christopher Lavin Gustave Lawrence Raymond Lebowitz Sun Lee Ynes Leon John Leonard James Levine Annamarie Lewis Terry Lewis Benedett Liberatore Luis Liendo Lawrence Loesch Robert Lohnes Demosthenes Long Brian Longaro Ajibade Longe Anthony Lopez Sarah Lopez Robert Louttit Joseph Lovelock Sirena Lowe Rafael Luyando Thomas Lyons Joseph Magliaro Connie Magnus Robert Mahone David Maldonado Kevin Malone Bryan Maloney Peter Mancuso, Jr. Mark Mandel Michael Mandel Marvin Mandelbaum Marissa Mansueto Demos Marinakos

Carmine Marino Mary Marion Gerald Markowitz Evelyn Marrero Edward Martin Jules Martin Vertel Martin Caliph Mathis Lonene Maynard Gerard McAleer Jo Ann McCabe Annette McCall Michael McCann Kevin McCarthy Margaret McCarthy William McCarthy Roger McGary John McGill Kevin McGrath John McKee Ralston Mckoy Suzanne McMahon-Carroll Michael McManamon Chinee McMillan James McNicholas Litna McNickle Bolivar Medina Adelin Medina-Williams Godfrey Melhado Cristina Mellado Stephanie Melowsky Zenaida Mendez Karin Michonski Nancy Mikos Steven Miller Thomas Mitchelson Joann Montgomery Richard Mooney Charles Moran John Morgan Camille Morrison Henry Mulzac Farell Mungo Gary Muniz David Nadel George Near Larold Neil Susan Niblock Evelyn Nieves Mayra Nieves Judy Nole James Nunez Eugene O'Donnell Irene O'Donnell Lorraine O'Donnell Michael O'Dowd Olivia Ofori James Okeke Edward Okrah John Oleskowicz Eugene O'Neill Joseph Orlich Victor Orriola Carlos Ortiz Richard O'Sullivan Anthony Ottomano Sharon Owens-Duff Milagros Pabon

Miriam Padilla Marci Pagano Wallace Page Serge-Moses Pakhomou Sandra Palleja Arlene Pamittan Sherry Paredes Arthur Parrinello Anthony Pascocello Steven Pasichow Maria Paulsen John Pegram Stephen Pellicani Elio Peña Francisca Perez Juan Perez Lizabeth Perez Theresa Perillo Khamraj Persad Gerald Persico John Peterkin Ethel Petta Peter Pfadenhauer Alfred Phipps Robert Pignatello Carletta Pizzorno Tamara Podgorskaya Leopold Poje Judi Polanco Arlene Polye Frederick Pottger William Powell Shawnee Powell-Phillips Derek Powers Barbara Prempeh Alvin Preston Theresa Primus Casey Quinlan Donna Quinn Francis Rahill Robert Rahn George Raiser Charles Rall Anthony Ramos Katherine Ramsland Melba Rawles Stephanie Redman-Modeste Keramet Reiter Linda-Keisha Reynolds Frank Rhodes Gemma Ribeiro Myrilin Ricardo Joseph Richardson Thomas Richardson Paul Rickard William Riedy Gabriel Rigono James Riley Amarylis Rivera Mirna Rivera Roberto Rivera Wilfredo Rivera, Jr. Eugene Roach Hamilton Robinson Miguel Robles Edward Rochford Carlos Rodriguez Juan Rodriguez

Liana Rodriguez Maribel Rojas-Mirabal Edwin Roman Fernando Roman Victorio Roman Michael Rosas Ronald Rose Marie Rosen Anthony Rossi Bruce Rothenberg Ralitsa Ruski Allen Ryan Barbara Sabater-Kerr Khadijaha Saeed Horace Salmon Latanya Sanders Ilona Sansone George Santiago, Jr. Ricardo Santiago Alice Santimays Lisa Sasanuma Marvin Schechter Frederick Scheinin Harold Schryver Leon Schwartzman Arthur Semetis Robert Sermier Nanchi Serrano Dwayne Serrao James Seward Robert Shack Nicole Shalette Carolyn Shard Adam Shatzkamer Grace Shea Frederick Shepard Antoine Sherman Roger Shields Beverly Shlapak Eugene Short Richard Sica Margarett Silva Alex Silverman Camille Simmons-Sixto Barry Simon David Simon Keith Sluka Isabelle Smiley Christine Smith Henry Smith Jeff Smith Launcelott Smith Clinton Smoke, Jr. Kenneth Solosky Joanne Soricelli Cynthia Sow Matthew Spaier Albert Spano Janine Spencer Amy Spodek John Stahl Paul Sternblitz Veronica Stevens Dominique Steward Yvette Strong-Banks Linnea Stuart Alice Suriani Robert Sweeney Laura Szamatulski

Leo Szymborski Kenneth Tallon Matthew Tanon Brigida Tapang Brennon Taylor Robert Taylor José Texidor Gavin Timoney Beatrice Tomlinson Peter Torres Vilma Torres Richard Travers Robert Utsey Jesus Valdes Philip Valenti Lourdes Valentin Gary Van Loon Monica Varner Jennifer Vaz-Eligio Jack Vecchio Astrid Vela Johnny Velez Ramon Velez, Jr. Frank Vellucci Richard Vilain Sheila Voyard Cerissa Vultaggio Colette Wagner Rachael Wai Lee Theodore Walker Declan Walsh Richard Ward Elyse Warner-Lyons Stephanie Washington-Goeloe Sean Waters James Wegman Frank Weile Charles Wells Raymond Wempe Stacey Werkudara Karina West Bianca Wheeler Lois Whipple Floyd Williams Gail Williams Marie Williams Natasha Williams Thomas Williams Melanie Wilson Tyrone Wilson John Worth Gary Wright Marcia Wright Frank Wronski James Wulach Theresa Xavier Jennifer Yancey Jason Yee Edwin Young Devon Zanin Mark Zarbailov Jennifer Zawacki Morris Zedeck Jerry Zeoli Jane Zoltowski Jay Zwicker

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John Jay College
T h e C i T y U n i v e r s i T y o f n e w y o r k

of Criminal Justice
899 TenTh AvenUe new york, ny 10019 www.jjay.cuny.edu

Model Moot Court due to be completed in Fall 2011