SUNY Potsdam

(02/27/12) A new film called "The Amish" premieres tomorrow night on the PBS program American Experience. There's an advance showing tonight at SUNY Potsdam.

For many people watching the program, the Amish will seem very mysterious and far-removed from their everyday lives.

But in big parts of the North Country, the Amish are part of everyday life, we shop alongside them, do business with them, and share the roads with their horse-drawn buggies. more

(02/10/12) Crane School of Music tenor Donald George tells Todd Moe why he chose to record a second volume of music by Boston composer Margaret Lang, who was the first woman to have had her music performed by a major American orchestra. She wrote more than 130 songs during the early 20th century. Though much of her music was popular during her lifetime, Lang was her own toughest critic, sometimes destroying pieces she didn't like.

Donald George and pianist Lucy Mauro have spent the last few years researching Lang's life. They produced a first volume of Lang's music last winter. With this second recording, New Love Must Rise, released this month, the two musicians continue to revive an interest in her nearly forgotten music.

(02/02/12) SUNY Potsdam is hosting an indoor/outdoor art exhibit this month that combines elements of winter, nature and video projections. Matt Burnett, who lives in the Adirondacks, and his collaborator Scott Fuller, from Maine, used large snow sculptures as a canvas for video images in a large scale outdoor exhibit at St. Lawrence University last year. They've worked on similar outdoor art projects in Saranac Lake and Long Lake.

The duo is back again this winter and despite a lack of deep snow, are working this week on another outdoor show at SUNY-Potsdam. We'll have more about their "E-Fraction" outdoor illuminated exhibit tomorrow morning during The Eight O'clock Hour.

The two artists are known for creating several large scale outdoor installations in recent years. Todd Moe stopped by campus earlier this week as they unveiled a massive indoor piece of art that dominates a two-story wall in the Gibson gallery. It's so large that they had to create it on Pendragon Theater's stage. Fuller and Burnett used paint, recycled wall paper and wooden panels to create what they call, The Last Painting.

(01/18/12) A new book tells the history of SUNY Potsdam through photographs. Potsdam is the oldest campus in the state university system and the new Arcadia Publishing book includes more than 200 vintage images. The book traces the school's history from its founding in 1816; its teacher training traditions, the Crane School of Music, School of Arts and Sciences, athletics and other activities. Todd Moe talks with the two local authors, Jane Subramanian and Virginia Rose Cayey, about their memories as students at SUNY Potsdam and some of the joys and challenges of sifting through hundreds of historic photos and documents.

(12/13/11) "Anachronism" literally means out of time or out of historical context--like a bunch of people dressed in medieval garb gathering in a modern cafeteria. That's the scene at SUNY Potsdam's Knowles Hall Tuesday nights as the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism turns out for the weekly gathering of the Shire of the Northern Outpost.

A group of history students at UC Berkeley founded the society in the 1960s. Forty years later, 35,000 anachronists populate 10 kingdoms worldwide from New Zealand to New York City. Roger Miller found the past alive and well in the Northern Outpost. more

(11/23/11) The State University of New York is apparently softening on the idea of a shared president for the Canton and Potsdam campuses.

More than a hundred Canton College supporters attended a meeting of SUNY Trustees in New York City yesterday.

Afterwards, Chancellor Nancy Zimpher sent a press release saying that SUNY still wants the schools to reduce administrative costs and redirect the money to support students. But she says SUNY understands "that support falls short at the concept of one president serving two campuses."

SUNY trustees have asked for a joint report by the presidents of the Potsdam and Canton colleges on how they will reduce costs by sharing services by July 2012.

Similar reports are due from other campuses around the state targeted for partial mergers.

(11/22/11) A busload of Canton college is heading to New York City this morning - to defend their local SUNY campus at the meeting of the state university's Trustees.

SUNY Central has proposed merging some college presidencies around the state, to save money on administrative costs, and funnel more to academics. SUNY canton and SUNY Potsdam were on the list. Canton Town Supervisor David Button says the two schools are too different, and Canton should be able to hire a president that represents its own interests. more

(11/10/11) Some of the best brass players in the New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the U.S., will take part in "Brass Day" at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam on Sunday. The Principal Brass Quintet's visit will culminate with a concert Sunday night (7:30) in Hosmer Hall.

The Quintet featuring Principal Trumpet Philip Smith, trumpet player Ethan Bensdorf, Principal Horn Philip Myers, Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi, and Principal Tuba Alan Baer, has hosted annual holiday concerts at Lincoln Center since 1995. They're also a regular encore feature on Philharmonic tours. Todd Moe spoke with principal trumpet, Philip Smith.

(11/07/11) Music, socializing and food will be part of Gardenshare's Harvest Social this Thursday night (7pm) at SUNY Potsdam. The event is free and open to everyone. GardenShare is a nonprofit organization seeking to end hunger and strengthen food security in northern New York. The group will also present its nine annual Growing Community Award. Todd Moe spoke with Phil Harnden, Executive Director of GardenShare, about Thursday's event.

(09/27/11) This summer, the St. Lawrence County legislature considered a measure to create a climate action plan. The plan would find ways to save money while reducing the county government's carbon footprint. That could include anything from energy audits in county buildings to anti-idling policies in county parking lots. The legislature tabled the matter because it wanted a better cost-benefit analysis of the plan.

Clarkson University professor Stephen Bird hopes to provide that analysis. Bird studies energy and environmental policy. He's working with faculty and students at all four universities in Canton and Potsdam. Bird told David Sommerstein that climate change models project significant changes for the North Country in the future.