IC professor crowdfunds new television show

The Indiegogo project of Peter Johanns, associate professor and television-radio program director, has raised 170 percent of its goal in 20 days.

The campaign, which has raised $13,000, would pay Ithaca College students to work on a TV pilot of a game show called “Assemble THIS.”  It is a half-hour television program that will pit two couples against each other as they compete to assemble something a typical family would find frustrating.

Johanns is using 25 current students to produce three pilot episodes of “Assemble THIS.”

The campaign is currently among Indiegogo’s top trending projects and is among the top 2 percent of projects on the site. The show will be produced May 9 and the crowdfunding campaign ends May 11.

College to host regional leadership conference

Ithaca College will host the New York Leadership Educators Conference June 1 in the Park
Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise.

The conference provides college professionals a chance to share effective practices, improve their personal and organizational plans, discover opportunities and resources and exchange stories.

The attendees of the conference will mainly be individuals who work in  student affairs, but it is open to anyone who offers leadership development to students. The conference is open to all college professionals in the mid-Atlantic.  Registration is $40 for all Ithaca College community members and closes May 1.

For more information, contact Michele Lenhart, the conference chair, at [email protected] or [email protected].

Aspire Dance Company to perform at the college

Presented by the Disability Awareness Committee, the Aspire Dance Company will perform at the college at 7:30 p.m. May 8 in the Clarke Theatre.

The dance company works to change the perception of dance and disability, as well as break down preconceived notions of what dance is. The group is made up of mixed-ability dancers who are committed to challenging their physical limitations.

After the performance, there will be a discussion with the audience about the boundaries of   physical ability, artistic expression and diversity awareness.

SGA senators elected for 2015–16 positions

All positions were filled in the Student Government Association senate, after polls closed April 24.

All of the senators campaigning for open seats ran uncontested.

Freshmen Angela Pradhan and Carter Jackson were elected to serve as Class of 2018 senators.

Junior Jonathan Gould and freshman Jonathan Couce will serve as the senators-at-large.

Freshman Joseph Fenning will serve as the  School of Business senator and sophomore Kaitlin Logsdon will serve as the Roy H. Park School of Communications senator in 2015-–16.

Only 19 votes were cast for international student senator, which will be filled by Attila Mendli. The  transfer senator position also only received 19 votes, but they were all cast for Tate Dremstedt. He is the only candidate to receive all of the votes cast in his race, with other candidates losing votes to “no-confidence.”

Music dean serves as  international scholar

Karl Paulnack, dean of the School of Music, is in residence this week as an international scholar at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan.

Paulnack will work with students, staff and faculty at NTNU’s College of Music across several days of lessons, lectures and discussions. His first day in residence will focus on master classes and individual lessons for singer and pianist duos. While day two will focus on instrumental sonatas with piano, and day three will feature master classes in piano chamber music.

“I’m really looking forward to my first-ever trip to Taipei,” Paulnack said. “I’m excited to spend time with and learn from students and faculty who come from a different set of musical traditions.”

Paulnack said he is looking forward to the opportunity to teach the French “Melodies” repertoire.

He also said teaching the material through a translator, in a non-Western culture may be very challenging for him. He said he will return enriched by the experience.

Student recognized as Newman Civic Fellow

Senior Crystal Kayiza, the outgoing Ithaca College Student Government Association president and a documentary studies and production major, has been recognized as a Newman Civic Fellow.

The Newman Civic Fellows Award honors student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities.

Kayiza is one of 200 students nationwide being honored by Campus Compact, a coalition of college and university presidents committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of  higher education by improving
community life and educating students for civic responsibility.

“Crystal is a highly motivated scholar, whose passion for social justice has inspired her to work on behalf of marginalized and oppressed people across the United States,” wrote Ithaca College President Tom Rochon in nominating Kayiza for the award.