Photo Spotlights

Stephanie Polowe, a professor in the Cultural & Creative Studies Department at NTID, received the 2013 Four Presidents Distinguished Public Service Award on Tuesday. Also recognized was Abubakar Ali, an RIT/NTID urban and community studies and international studies double major in the College of Liberal Arts, who received the Bruce R. James ’64 Distinguished Service Award for his service in the RIT community, in Rochester and in his native Somalia.

RIT Vice President Emeritus Alfred Davis started a $50,000 endowment to fund the awards program. Each recipient will have the privilege of designating the endowment income to a beneficiary of their choice.

From left, Associate Director of Student and Recent Alumni Programs James Macchiano, RIT President Bill Destler, Polowe, Ali and Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Mary-Beth Cooper gathered before the March 12 ceremony.

An exhibition “Totems and Other Tributes to the Earth” of two dozen recent ceramic works by Peter Gerbic, hosted at the Williams-Insalaco Gallery, Finger Lakes Community College, is on display through March 15. Gerbic earned his MFA in ceramics at RIT in 1968 and was one of Frans Wildenhain’s and Hobart Cowles’ students. Gerbic was instrumental in founding the ceramics program at both the Rochester Folk Art Guild and at FLCC.

RIT hosted “You Are Not Alone: Voices of Survivors of Violence,” a showcase featuring artwork, music and poetry created by survivors of violence, accompanied by their personal stories, as well as a memory table honoring those who have lost their lives to violence. Speakers and panel discussions were also part of the program, and a quiet spot was available for survivors to connect with each other. The showcase was sponsored by RIT’s College of Liberal Arts and the Center for Women and Gender. Here, a student views photographs of survivors by RIT student Lydia Billings.

RIT’s College of Health Sciences and Technology sponsored the conference, “Treating Family Violence as a Contagious Disease: Moving Beyond a One-Size-Fits-All Treatment Approach” on March 11. Keynote speaker Gail Gilchrist, head of the Centre for Applied Social Research at the University of Greenwich in London, presented “Treating Intimate Partner Violence Among Substance Users.” Gilchrist is implementing in London clinics a treatment alternative developed by conference organizer Caroline Easton, professor of forensic clinical psychology at RIT.

RIT celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 with a tulip giveaway in the Student Alumni Union. International Women’s Day began in 1975 and the growing international women’s movement has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in political and economic arenas. RIT’s commemoration is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts’ Women and Gender Studies Committee and International Education Committee. Co-sponsoring the event is RIT’s Center for Women and Gender. Here, Laura Shackelford, assistant professor in the College of Liberal Arts, handed out flowers.

Workers install plants to the green wall near the west entrance of the Sustainability Institute Hall on March 7. The wall contains 1,776 green plants, contributing to air quality as well as aesthetics. The space measures 8 feet wide and 38 feet tall.

Construction continues for the future Gene Polisseni Center. The arena will be the home of the men’s and women’s hockey teams and is expected to be open for play in Fall 2014. Currently, 651 pipe piles are being installed before concrete footings are poured. Live streaming video of construction of the arena is available online at www.rit.edu/powerplay.

Workers install plants to the green wall near the west entrance of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability March 7. The wall contains 1,776 green plants, contributing to air quality as well as aesthetics. The space measures 8 feet wide and 38 feet tall.

Ashley Carrington, a second-year accounting major in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business, is a founding “father” of Delta Sigma Pi-Epsilon Lambda Chapter. The professional business fraternity was resurrected after 60 years of extinction. She was instrumental in organizing the first Tiger Race fundraiser, a 5K race that raised $1,200 for the newly formed fraternity.

This season’s FIRST Robotics Competition featured robots flinging red, white and blue Frisbees into multi-tiered goals on the game field during two-minute matches. Students from 50 high school teams across the Northeast and Canada participated in Ultimate Ascent, the 2013 game in the annual FIRST Robotics competition held in RIT’s Gordon Field House March 1 and 2.

Students from 50 high school teams across the Northeast and Canada participated in Ultimate Ascent, the 2013 game in the annual FIRST Robotics competition held in RIT’s Gordon Field House March 1 and 2. Here, Victoria Dinoto, center, cheered for the East Rochester High School Robotics Team, #3157.

Forrest Shooster, a first-year game design and development honors student diagnosed within the autism spectrum, works to coordinate class schedules with his peer mentor, Amy Dasaro, from the Spectrum Support Program at RIT. To read more, go to www.rit.edu/news/athenaeum_story.php?id=49750.