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LIU Hornstein Center Shows How Americans Are Split Over President Trump’s Pick for Supreme Court

The Steven S. Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling and Analysis at Long Island University has just released a new poll that found that a plurality of Americans believe Congress should wait until after the November general election before it votes on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the poll, 40 percent of the respondents prefer that the vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination should be held after the next Congress convenes in January, while 31 percent think it should be held sooner.

The LIU Hornstein poll revealed that 38 percent of Americans believe that Judge Kavanaugh is qualified for the High Court, while 29 percent don’t think he is. Nearly a third of the respondents were either unsure or had no opinion.

LIU Political Science Professor Stanley B. Klein, director of the LIU Hornstein Center, believes the poll’s findings of how many Americans are still undecided about Kavanaugh’s nomination is significant.

“A plurality is not a majority, and in a deeply polarized nation, the high number of undecideds demonstrates an opportunity for either side to shape this debate,” said Professor Klein. “In general, Americans support giving this process more time to learn about Judge Kavanaugh’s views and qualifications.”

Early in his law career, Judge Kavanaugh, 53, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, had served as Justice Kennedy’s clerk. Tellingly, 36 percent of the respondents to this Hornstein poll said they believed that the 82-year-old Justice Kennedy should have delayed his retirement until after the November election, while 28 percent said he shouldn’t have waited.

The latest findings are based on a poll conducted from July 15-18 of 1007 Americans, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

To find out more about the LIU Hornstein poll, click here.

Another Perfect Match for LIU Post’s Clinical Psychology Doctorate Students

Dr. Camilo Ortiz, co-director of clinical training at LIU Post's Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology

All of the doctoral students in the LIU Post Clinical Psychology PsyD program got their choices for their year-long clinical internships that start this July and in September.

“I am so pleased to say that 100 percent of our students matched,” said Dr. Camilo Ortiz, co-director of clinical training at LIU Post. “This compares very well against national averages.”

He added that the acceptance rate is particularly impressive given the competition for placements at these institutions which rank among the most prestigious teaching hospitals in the country.

“This area is challenging because even though there are many hospitals, there are so many students competing for these placements,” said Dr. Ortiz.

LIU Post’s approach sets its fully accredited Clinical Psychology doctoral program apart.

“We’re actually a dual-orientation program so all of our students get training in cognitive behavioral therapy and in psychodynamic therapy, which are the two major schools of psychotherapy,” Dr. Ortiz explained. “I don’t think there’s another program in the country like that.” It also offers areas of concentration, such as Serious Mental Illness and Interventions with High Risk Families, that offer PsyD students the chance to pursue special areas of expertise.

Congratulations to all the LIU Post PsyD students who matched at these internship sites:

Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Col.

Adult Psychology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Zucker-Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.

General Internship, Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Bay Pines, Fla.

General Internship, MercyFirst, Syosset, N.Y.

General Internship, North Bronx Healthcare Network, Bronx, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Malcolm Grow Medical Clinics and Surgery Center, USAF, Joint Base, Andrews, Md.

Psychology Internship, Rutgers Biomedical & Health Sciences, Newark, N.J.

Child and Adolescent Psychology Track, Mt. Sinai Services, Elmhurst Hospital, Elmhurst, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Rutgers Student Health, CAPS, New Brunswick, N.J.

Adult Psychology, Albert Einstein College, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center, Bronx, N.Y.

Severe Mental Illness, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz.

Psychology Internship, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Penn.

Adult Psychology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Zucker-Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.

PTSD/Mental Health, Phoenix VA Health Care System, Phoenix, Ariz.

Psychology Internship, SUNY Stony Brook Counseling Center, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth, N.J.

Psychology Internship, University of North Florida Counseling Center, Jacksonville, Fla.

LI Business News Highlights LIU’s Progress on Veterinary Technologist Program and College of Veterinary Medicine

Long Island University’s bold plans to expand its academic offering to include a four-year veterinary technologist program this fall, and the region’s first College of Veterinary Medicine, continues to attract attention.

The scale of these significant initiatives was the recent subject of a comprehensive article in Long Island Business News headlined: “Pet Projects.”

As the piece explained, in our region Suffolk County Community College on Long Island and LaGuardia Community College in Queens provide only two-year veterinary technician programs. LIU Post’s veterinary technologist program is the first four-year program in our area.

The closest veterinary medical schools are Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York, Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine near Boston, and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Philadelphia.

“There is a need both regionally and nationally for more trained vet techs and more doctors of veterinary medicine,” Jon Schneider, LIU’s director of public relations, told the magazine.

The article details what vet technologists currently earn in the region, and outlined job prospects in this growing field.

Once opened, LIU’s veterinary college would become the 31st veterinary medical school in the country.

“Last year, there were 7,000 applicants for just 4,100 seats at veterinary medical programs, which leads a lot of people to pursue their vet education overseas,” Schneider explained. “There is a real need for more domestic veterinary programs.”

In May, Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled plans to invest $12 million into the $40 million project as part of New York’s investment in economic development projects to turn Long Island into a research corridor for science and medicine.

To read the article in depth, click here.

Film Festival Gives ‘Best Story’ Prize to Film Based on LIU Post Professor Dennis Pahl’s Work and Made by LIU Post Alumni

Steve Platt has the lead role in "The Museum of Lost Things," a film based on a short story by LIU Professor Dennis Pahl.

For several days after its first screening at the recent Long Island International Film Expo in Bellmore, the buzz was building about “The Museum of Lost Things,” the 22-minute movie based on an original short story by LIU Professor of English Dennis Pahl and directed by Gregory Cioffi (Post ’13, M.A. Theatre; ’11, M.S. Adolescence Ed; ’09, B.S. Childhood Education).

Then at an awards ceremony held on July 13, it won the prize for Best Story, topping a field crowded with both feature-length and short movie entries. Now it’s on to the Madrid Film Festival, where the film is nominated for Best Short Comedy and Best Supporting Actor.

“Let us thank a great director, a terrific cast and crew, and a talented cinematographer and editor at The Majors Productions for bringing to life the original story on which the movie is based,” said Dr. Pahl, in a statement he posted on Kickstarter, where more than $7,000 had been raised to help fund the project. He also singled out for praise his wife Luda Pahl, who served as costume and set designer.

Dr. Dennis Pahl, professor of English at LIU Post, discussing the creative connections that helped turn his prose into film.

In Dr. Pahl’s original story, an aging New York writer stumbles across a museum he’s never noticed before. Once he enters, he discovers that everything on display contains connections to his past.

“I just imagined if all the things you’ve ever lost could be found,” Dr. Pahl told The Pioneer in 2015 when the project was just underway, “you begin to think of what if you imagined rooms that contain not only lost objects but lost circumstances, lost friendships, lost love, lost illusions.”

Other Post alumni who helped bring this story to life are Rob LaRosa (Post ’12, B.F.A. Film), who did the editing, and Sheere V. Campbell (Post ’14, M.A. Theatre; ’11, B.S. English), who plays The Jamaican Woman. Besides his other cinematic duties, Cioffi portrayed The Husband. Actor Steve Platt, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Pahl, stars as The Museum Visitor.

Several settings for the film, which is a production of Mishigas Film in association with G&E Productions and The Majors Productions, will be familiar to Post students and alumni since scenes were shot at Winnick House, the Great Hall, the Hunt Room, the Pratt Center and the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library, where a winding stairway that leads to wall instead of a door is more than a metaphor.

“The great thing about ‘The Museum of Lost Things’ is that it bridges a bunch of genres,” explained LaRosa. “It’s one part a fantasy of a man’s journey, but it’s also a comedy at times, and a love story in another vein.”

The genesis of the film goes back to the creative relationship Cioffi maintained with his professor, Dr. Pahl, after he graduated with his degrees.

“He would often send me his writings, especially the published ones,” said Cioffi. When he got this short story, he realized that he had “never read anything like it. It was very original, very creative. I saw cinematic potential in it.”

And so “The Museum of Lost Things” took off, and the result is now a film that is beginning to find a wider audience by the day.

LIU Post Alum Gets a Big Kick Out of Taking Broadway Hit “Kinky Boots” on International Tour

Standing still for a moment on stage is Ernest Terrell Williams, who's been touring with "Kinky Boots" since his 2017 graduation from LIU Post.

Ernest Terrelle Williams (LIU Post ’17, BFA), who booked the role of one of the Angels on “Kinky Boots”, is now stepping out on stage in Asia after touring nationally since his graduation last year.

His first tour wrapped up this past May. Starting in July, the cast will spend several months in China, performing “Kinky Boots” in Guangzhou, Beijing and Singapore.

Besides his extensive warm-up routine, Williams has had to prepare himself mentally for the trip, he admits.

“I’ve never left the country in my life!” he said. “It’s exciting but it will present challenges.”

Williams, a New York City native who was born and raised in the Bronx, has been acting since his sophomore year of high school. For college, he decided to follow two of his best friends to the LIU Post Theater Program. He originally began his studies in musical theater but he decided that he “wanted more” out of his college experiences, so he also got involved in the dance program. Ultimately he graduated with a BFA in dance.

“I was able to hone my craft,” Williams said of his time at LIU Post. While attending school, he performed with his peers in dances and shows that were choreographed by students. His favorite classes were in the genres of jazz, modern, hip-hop and African dance.

“It was an opportunity for growth,” he recalled. “I learned a lot from watching people in the program.”

In addition to his dance performances, Williams also performed in musical theater shows, giving him a diverse skill set that he later took on his Broadway tour.

Even after graduating, Williams has maintained his LIU connections. In order to keep in top physical shape after his first tour ended, he worked on a dance project with Nancy Brier, an Adjunct Professor of Dance at LIU Post. Williams was grateful for the opportunity to keep moving.

“It’s important to stay active when not on tour to keep the body conditioned,” he explained. “I sing so high—I sing as a female—so my voice and my body, I got to keep it moving, keep it going. I got to keep my body in shape.”

Performing “Kinky Boots” night after night can take a physical toll.

“We’re in heels the whole show!” he exclaimed.

But it’s worth it, Williams believes.

“[Performing] is definitely a rewarding experience,” he said. “I learned a lot, not just about my profession and what I do, but about myself.”

Lights, Camera, Action: LIU Post Stars in a Host of Top Films and TV Shows

HBO comedy star Pete Holmes takes a break from filming his series to pose with LIU Post students Mathew Betz and Sue Ye near the Great Hall.

Just past the halfway mark of the calendar year, 2018 has been eventful for LIU across the board, including: playing in NCAA Tournaments, hosting former Vice President Joe Biden, presenting the prestigious Polk awards in journalism, making breakthroughs in research, receiving many awards and accolades, and adding several new, internationally renowned faculty members.

But one ongoing undertaking may attract more attention to the University than any of the achievements above, albeit unbeknown to most viewers.

Three times in as many months, the LIU Post campus has set the scene for prominent actors making movie and television productions.

In May, Sean Hayes, best known for his starring role in Will and Grace, filmed portions of his new movie in Hillwood Commons and the Interprofessional Simulation Center. Just weeks later, popular Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring Ellie Kemper, shot key scenes on the Great Lawn and at Humanities Hall. Most recently, comedian Pete Holmes staged sequences for his hit HBO show Crashing in the campus gardens in June.

The cameras began rolling in 2013 when location scouts for The Rewrite, a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant, Marissa Tomei and J.K. Simmons, visited LIU Post campus. The plot focused on a former Hollywood screenwriter turned discontented adjunct college professor (Grant) who falls for a single mother going back to school, so the enchanting university grounds were ideal.

Since then, LIU Post’s production credits include: The Blacklist with James Spader; Madam Secretary with Tea Leoni, Tim Daily and Bebe Neuwirth; Blindspot with Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton; The Following, featuring Kevin Bacon; Instinct with Allan Cumming; and Royal Pains with Henry Winkler, Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Hal Linden and Gary Cole.

With its unique combination of historic Gold Coast buildings from Long Island’s fabled past, modern classrooms, lushly landscaped gardens, the equestrian center and riding trails, a state-of-the-art recreational center, open fields and wooded areas, LIU Post offers directors and producers an abundance of options for shooting. The 329-acre, self-contained campus less than an hour from Manhattan provides plenty of staging opportunities – not to mention an ample supply of available extras.

“Most of our buildings are adaptable for filming,” said Dr. Rita Langdon, Executive Director of Campus Operations, Strategic Partnerships and Admissions at LIU Post. “We work with producers and directors to transform the facades and interiors of LIU Post’s iconic buildings and landscapes into compelling scenes for TV shows, movies and social media outlets.” Dr. Langdon, who also serves as an adjunct professor in the Communications and Film Department, added that many of the film sets are creatively constructed. For example, Pell Hall was converted to a hospital, Hillwood Commons was transformed into a bus terminal, and the Alumni and Employer Engagement building served as the exterior of the White House.

LIU Post senior Rob Banish gets some hands-on experience helping Sean Hayes film his new movie on campus.

Since 2013, the LIU Post Film and Entertainment Division has been working with location scouts to bring movies and television shows to the Brookville campus. In many cases, LIU Post students become actively involved: acting and musical theater majors serve as extras, film majors work as production assistants, and journalism and photography students produce stories and visuals for social media and news outlets.

Still active in the Film and Entertainment Division, Langdon founded the program along with LIU Post’s Conference Services director Theresa Duggan and associate director Jennifer Silvero-Lopez.

As anyone can plainly see, visits from big name movie and television stars are par for the course at LIU. But no matter who appears on screen, for us LIU Post always steals the show. So stay tuned because another season is about to begin.

New Sorority Joins Greek Life at LIU Post as Fall 2018 Registration Begins on July 20

At LIU Post, Greek Life often represents the heart of the campus. Nine of the nation’s largest fraternities and sororities call LIU Post home. Almost 300 students are active members.

Registration for Fall 2018 Greek Recruitment opens Friday, July 20, at LIU Post.

Starting this year, Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) will become the fifth sorority at Post, joining Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Zelta and Sigma Delta Tau. The fraternities here are Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Chi, Phi Sigma Kappa and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

The fraternities and sororities don’t have their own houses at LIU Post. Students can apply to live in the South Residence Complex, where most of the Greek organizations’ members commonly reside.

As LIU’s Associate Director of Campus Life Joseph Vernace has stated, hazing is not permitted. “We take a lot of preventative measures when it comes to reducing the risk of hazing environments,” he said recently.

Like the other Greek chapters at LIU Post, applicants to KKG must have a 2.5 cumulative grade average at least. They must be enrolled full time, taking at least 12 credits every semester.

All LIU Post Greek organizations fall under the jurisdiction of the Greek Advisory Board, which is part of the LIU Promise office in Hillwood Commons, Room 270. For questions, contact LIU Promise at LIUPromise@liu.edu or call 516-299-3737.

For more information about recruitment registration, go to www.liu.edu/post/greek

LIU Post Clinical Psychology Graduate Shares Insight in Article About Khloe Kardashian Getting Couples Therapy

Dr. Bukky Kolawole, who practices in Manhattan, got her doctorate in psychology from LIU Post.

Dr. Bukky Kolawole, a groundbreaking clinical psychologist who got her doctorate from LIU Post, is quoted extensively in an article about an unmarried celebrity couple, Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson, apparently getting much-needed couples therapy.

Formally known as Dr. Olubukunola Kolawole, Dr. Bukky (pronounced “Boo-key”) is a bicultural, licensed clinical psychologist with an office in mid-town Manhattan. She specializes in providing couple’s therapy, pre-marital counseling and discernment counseling for couples, including those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community.

Thompson, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA basketball team, reportedly cheated on Khloe Kardashian while she was pregnant, but now that they’re parents of a daughter named True, they’re trying to work it out in couples therapy in order to restore their mutual trust.

“There’s a misconception that couples therapy is reserved for marriage or when things really get bad in a relationship,” said Dr. Bukky in a recent piece published by INSIDER, a popular life-style and entertainment web site (thisinsider.com) run by Insider, Inc., based in New York.

“A lot of people think, ‘If we go into couples therapy at the beginning of our relationship, it really means that we’re not meant for each other,’ ” she continued. “The question people should always ask instead is, ‘Is this relationship worth the extra worth and the investment?’ ”

In 2008, Dr. Bukky, who founded Relationship HQ in New York City, received her doctoral degree (PsyD) in clinical psychology from LIU Post after defending her dissertation on subtypes of perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Dr. Bukky has provided care in numerous inpatient and outpatient settings for adolescents and adults, including LIU Psychological Services Center, Bellevue Hospital, NYU Child Study Center, LIJ Schneider’s Children Hospital, and Long Island Center for Cognitive Therapy.

To read the article, click here.

LIU Brooklyn Student Recognized for Opioid Research Project

Alpha Chi National Honors Society has highlighted the compelling work of Jung Kim, an LIU Brooklyn biology major with a minor in English who graduated in 2018.

“All around the country, Alpha Chi members are producing extraordinary scholarship across disciplines,” said the honors society in its announcement. “We’ll be spotlighting some of their most compelling research projects in the coming months.”

Kim was singled out for his project, “Opioid Epidemic: Should We Care?” It grew out of his summer internship at Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) Health, an advertising agency specializing in healthcare.

“Our end goal was to create a paradigm shift in the way society views opioid abuse through our advertising campaign,” Kim explained.

You can read the entire item by clicking here.

 

 

 

Summer Honors Institute’s First Student-Run Fashion Show Makes a Big Splash

More than 200 people filled the fishbowl at the Hillwood Commons on Thursday night to enjoy the Summer Honors Institute’s “A Passion for Fashion” 2018 program that featured students wearing 35 looks drawn from the garments and accessories of the Student Body Boutique, the student-run business at LIU Post. All told, more than 50 students were involved, from doing makeup and hair-styling to promoting the show on campus and modeling.

The theme of the fashion show was “Flowers in the Fall: A Celebration of Diversity.” As the program put it, “In a society where models are expected to have a  certain look of perfection, SHI seeks to change the stigma by bringing bright flowers into a season of falling leaves, a sign of the changing seasons.”

Kelly Ahern, left, and Danielle Arnouse, the Summer Honors Institute’s “A Passion for Fashion” student directors

“We wanted to make sure that we pulled clothes in every size and make sure that we included men and women,” explained Kelly Ahern, a marketing major and fashion merchandising minor who plans to graduate next spring. She and Danielle Arnouse, a senior fashion merchandising major, worked closely with Assistant Professor Cherie Serota, Director of Fashion Merchandising at LIU Post, to oversee the class of 15 students enrolled in the summer program.

Brentwood High School senior Keanu Waters gets in the swing of things at the fashion show.

“We wanted these high school students to experience the fashion world,” Serota said. “Every element that you would need to do in a fashion show we’ve taught them how to do. This is really introducing them to fashion merchandising.”

“I learned a lot,” said Marc Vazquez, a senior from Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens. Not only was he in Professor Serota’s “Passion for Fashion” class, he was also a model in the show. He’d heard about LIU’s summer institute from his high school classmate and girlfriend, Melissa Palencia. She was participating in SHI’s Future Health Care Professionals program but knew he’d find the fashion institute appealing. Then he convinced her to model.

“Honestly, this was about me stepping out of my comfort zone,” Palencia explained. “When he told me there was going to be a fashion show, I was like, ‘Oh, I never would do that!’” After he told her he had an outfit for her, she started to soften up. “Then he texted me again: ‘You’re opening up the show!’ So, I said, ‘I guess I’m doing this!’”

“She invited me to the program and I invited her to fashion!” Vazquez said with a smile.

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