In Brief

The Simon School has been ranked No. 2 in the nation for teaching by Business Week magazine in its 2000 rankings of the nation's best business schools, stating that "recruiters and students are pleased with [the school's] strong teachers." The magazine also ranked the Simon School No. 21 among the 30 top graduate business schools in the United States.

The magazine determines its biennial rankings of top business schools by surveying customers of the M.B.A. programs: graduates and corporate recruiters. In addition, for the first time, this year Business Week took into account the intellectual capital generated by business school faculties. The Simon School ranked No. 11 in this new area.

"We are, of course, pleased that recruiters and students have once again validated the Simon experience," stated Simon Dean Charles Plosser. "While survey rankings are not our primary objective, they play an important role in helping us to attract the best and brightest."

Upstate native wins Kafka Prize

Hubbard

An upstate New York native has been named the recipient of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction by an American Woman for her second book of short stories.

Susan Hubbard will be at Rochester on Sunday, October 29, to read from her work and accept the prize, which is awarded annually by the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies and the Department of English. Her reading starts at 5 p.m. in the Welles-Brown Room in Rush Rhees Library. A book signing will follow her reading and copies of the book will be available for purchase.

The writer will be honored for Blue Money, a collection of stories in which chance encounters and decisions have long-term effects. A student changes her reading for a class project, destroying her marriage but embarking on a new life. A bored housewife regretfully declines an offer to sell her house and start a new romance. Two girls plot to kill one of their stepfathers and the unexpected results alter their friendship. A stalked young woman, having an affair with a married man, seeks safety with a college mentor and loses her last refuge. Several of the stories are set in locales such as Auburn and Buffalo.

Hubbard, who earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at Syracuse University, is an associate professor of English at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. Her first book, Walking on Ice, won the Associated Writing Program's Prize for Short Fiction.

The Rite of Spring is performed

Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring will be the featured work in a concert by the Eastman Philharmonia, the premier student orchestra of the Eastman School. The concert, conducted by Brad Lubman, assistant professor of conducting and ensembles, begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, October 27, in the Eastman Theatre. It is free and open to the public.

Two other significant works by prominent 20th-century composers round out the evening's program: Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Varèse's Ionisation, a work for percussion to be performed by 13 members of the Eastman Percussion Ensemble.

"These are three classics that had a profound effect on the development of 20th-century music," said Lubman. "To see and hear them performed live is a thrilling experience, a real spectacle."

Written between 1911-1913, The Rite of Spring--which in concert will feature an orchestra of 100 players--is arguably Stravinsky's greatest and most important work. Originally written as a controversial ballet about pagan Russia, it caused quite a stir when it premiered in Paris in 1913, resulting in one of the most famous opening-night riots in the history of music. The highly original composition is said to have marked the start of the modernist movement in music and solidified Stravinsky's reputation as a composer.

Warner hosts diversity workshop

A national authority on urban education and a panel of local community leaders will explore ways for children and adults from diverse backgrounds to improve literacy and build a sense of community on Monday, November 6, at the University.

Keynote speaker Kris Gutierrez, associate professor in the Division of Urban Schooling at the University of California at Los Angeles, will discuss how to create effective learning communities and then take questions and comments from the audience and invited panelists. The program, which will be held 3:30-7:30 p.m. in the May Room of Wilson Commons, is presented by the Warner School with the support of more than a dozen community organizations.

Community leaders sitting on the panel are Barbara Cutrona, Industrial Management Council; Naomi Erdmann, Nazareth College of Rochester; Cecilia Griffin Golden, Rochester City School District; Margaret Keller-Cogan, Greece Central School District; and Julio Vasquez, Ibero-American Action League. Former City Council member Ruth Scott will moderate the discussion.

Registration is required and includes a box supper. The cost for full-time students is $30, $46 for members of sponsoring groups, and $49 for others. The deadline for registration is Tuesday, October 24. For more information call the Warner School's Office of Professional Development, x5-7833.

Sesqui papers focus on '60s

Political activism at Rochester during the 1960s provided inspiration to two students researching the University's history during this Sesquicentennial year.

Undergraduate research papers by Craig Linder and Brian Kowalski, both majors in history and political science, used different aspects of campus activism to craft award-winning research papers in a competition sponsored by the River Campus Libraries.

Linder, a 2000 graduate of the University, and Kowalski, now a junior, are the respective first- and second-place winners of the Sesquicentennial Contest for Research Papers. The first-place winner receives $1,000 and $500 goes for second place.

Linder is the former editor-in-chief of the Campus Times and member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He was inspired to write about faculty activism during the late 1960s when he was sifting through archives for a CT article. He was struck by the degree of faculty unrest at the University that was, in his mind, equal to or even more significant than student activism at the time. Linder now works as a journalist in Washington, D.C., covering the federal government for six newspapers and Web sites, including the Detroit Free Press and Philadelphia Daily News.

Kowalski, of Liverpool, N.Y., and current captain of the University's football team, was studying the period in a course and decided to look deeper into student activism at the University during the late 1950s and early 1960s, primarily focusing on nuclear weapons protests.

Therapy group initiated

Counseling & Mental Health Services is starting a therapy group that is available to members of the University community. Called "Survivors of Sexual Assault or Sexual Abuse," the group is open to those who have experienced either of these traumas. The group provides a safe and confidential place to share, learn, and grow. There is a nominal fee for those not covered by the Student Health Plan.

Those interested in participating should call x5-2361 to schedule an interview.

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