Public Health Magazine: Winter 1995, Vol.5, No.1
Student Affairs

CDC chief to give commencement address

David Satcher, M.D., director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), will deliver the commencement address to the Class of 1995 on Wednesday, May 17, in Alumni Auditorium. Dr. Satcher was president of Meharry Medical College before accepting the CDC appointment.

The traditional awards will be presented. The recipients of last year's awards were:

The John and Kathleen Gorman Public Health Humanitarian Award, Mary Jane Kocian, Debra Jan Pelto;

The Student Government Award for Service, Stephanie Christen, Anthony Norris Barlow, Corby Dale, Sharon Hammer;

The Environmental Sciences Award for Academic Excellence, Immaculata DeVivo, Andrew Graham Rundle;

The Anna C. Gelman Award for Excellence in Epidemiology, Patricia Aikins Murphy, Mary Evelyn Northridge;

The Marisa De Castro Benton Dissertation Award in Sociomedical Sciences, Sally S. Cohen, Ilan Meyer;

The Barbara Snell Dohrenwend Award, Ilan Meyer.

Student government expands activities

The Student Government Association (SGA) has organized student representatives from each of CSPH's six divisions in an effort to increase communication between divisions and increase the sense of community among the student body. With funds generated by the student activities fee, the SGA and Office of Student Services have been able to expand student activities. These include a brown bag lecture series, a reception for new students at orientation, social events during the year, a student government electronic bulletin board ($notes_sphsga-news on Cunix), and a clothing drive to benefit the homeless.

"It's been very hard to have a campus feeling here," said Associate Dean for Student Affairs William Van Wie, who has worked at the school for 16 years. "Lately, with the renovation of school offices, new publications, and additional social activities, we've been changing that."

However, the new president of the SGA, Steven Ross, ultimately thinks that what CSPH really needs is its own building. "A lot of students feel displaced in the middle of Washington Heights," Ross said. "A building would help provide an atmosphere for congregation and facilitate the exchange of ideas among students and faculty. As the student body has changed and grown, the classes and the facilities should parallel that growth."

School and students struggle with class size The increasing number of students and increasing course credits per student has taxed the school's resources in terms of registration, course offerings, class size and the ability of students to take classes outside their divisions. "With divisions admitting a full cohort," explained Van Wie, "some classes fill up with students who need to take their core divisional courses. The divisions have a hard time accepting students from other divisions, so there are students not able to take all the classes they would like."

The SGA's Ross voiced similar frustrations, but there may be relief in sight. The dean's office is working with divisions to add more sections or second offerings, said Van Wie, and the university is examining classroom shortages as a Health Sciences campus-wide issue. And CSPH will follow other Columbia schools and initiate phone registration within the next two years.

Fellowship helps develop student's executive skills Tanya Alford, M.P.H. candidate in the Health Policy and Management Division, received a fellowship from the Greater New York Hospital Association and the National Association of Health for one year. The fellowship was developed recently to promote hospital administration experience among minority students. Alford is working with Frank J. Maddalena and Cosmo LaCosta, the chief operations officers at Brookdale Hospital and Cornell Medical Center, respectively, concentrating on budgets, crisis control, and working with community organizations.

Grant and internship for SMS doctoral candidate Beverly Watkins, Ph.D. candidate, received a grant this fall to study the prevalence of cervical disease and cervical cancer mortality in New York City. The $20,000 grant was awarded by the CDC and the Association of the Schools of Public Health. The grant funds Watkins' current work with Dr. Mary Ann Chiasson of the New York City Department of Health on a 20-year retrospective study of cervical cancer mortality. Cross-sectional studies show a strong association between HIV and rates of cervical disease. Watkins' study will identify neighborhoods where women at highest risk for HIV infection and cervical disease reside and where expansion of gynecological services is greatly needed.

In addition, Watkins also has a student intern award of $2,000 from the Pediatric AIDS Foundation to develop patient education materials that are culturally sensitive and demonstrated to provide optimal information to HIV-positive women about the benefits and risks of AZT therapy during pregnancy. For the internship, Watkins works with Associate Dean Cheryl Healton, Dr.P.H., in all five hospitals of northern Manhattan.