SBU Quick takes

March 11, 2021

3.97k

Pet #1 - Ted

The Pack

Our pets have been a tremendous source of support and comfort during the past year.

How has your pet helped you during the pandemic?

We want to see the members of your SBU Pack!
Email us a pic of your fur or feathered friends and let us know how they made you smile.

Here are a few of the SBU furkids from the Office of Marketing and Communications and what they mean to us:

Pet #5 - Teddy

Teddy

Nickname: Teddy "Rex"
(domestic shorthair, 19)

“Teddy is excellent at making me realize that there's more to life than work! I could be deeply engrossed in a story I'm editing and he will walk on my keyboard, blocking my view of the screen, and DEMAND that I pet him. And if I should stop petting him, he bumps my hand continually until I resume. Such a sweet boy.”

— Susan Tito, Senior Editor

Pet #6 - Tootsie

Tootsie

AKA Tootsie Woofsie or Toots
(Pembroke Welsh Corgi, 8)

“Tootsie greets us every morning by flopping onto her back for a belly rub. She then stands at the top of the bedroom stairs and on cue takes the first step down in unison with me. She makes me laugh when I eat. Where there is food she is never more than a few feet away. Toots loves her frisbee and could fetch for hours. Love that mushball!”

— John Griffin, Senior Photographer/Photography Manager

Pet #9 - William & Lucy

William and Lucy

AKA Galoot, Luce, and 'the Big Cats'
(tabby-and-white felines, brother and sister, age 16)

"The very best part of working partly at home this past year has been spending more quality time with my cats. William often works on his naps in the back, dark, cozy depths of my bedroom closet, which is right off my bedroom 'home office.’ Toward the end of my work day, he comes out meowing vociferously and continuously for food. Lucy is sometimes an 'assistant' on my lap or keyboard but more often downstairs waiting for me to take a snack break in the kitchen so she can do the same. Both appreciate the periodic cuddles and pets, and purr up a storm whenever they see me."

— Ellen Cooke, Associate Director of Internal Communication

Pet #10 - Linguine

Linguine

AKA Squeaky, Kamikaze Kitty, Zoomer, Silly Berry
(Tuxedo Domestic Shorthair, 8 months)

“Linguine is overflowing with personality! We've had him for 6 weeks. He's gone from extremely shy to rambunctious and affectionate during that time. Linguine is good at getting me to take breaks and get out of my chair. He causes a lot of running up and down the stairs, which is a good thing. He chats all day in a chirpy, squeaky voice that's absolutely adorable! He has a lot to say. He is well on his way to running the household! I can see he's going to be my new boss.”

— Loren Moss Meyer, Web Designer

Pet #1 - Ted

Ted

AKA Teddy, lamby, wiggly boy, monster
(hound/retriever rescue mix, age 4)

“Ted embraced his job of making sure I took regular breaks from my work day with the zeal he usually reserved for chasing squirrels. He made sure I never sat too long, sometimes nudging me multiple times an hour when he noticed I was working too hard. He has been a great assistant, even commenting on Zoom calls when he felt the meetings were getting off track.”

— Shelley Catalano, Senior Project Manager and Managing Editor, SBU Magazine

Slide 1

School of Nursing Caps a Year of Accomplishments

Even with the hardships of the past year, the School of Nursing (SON) forged ahead, marking several major milestones and accomplishments while its students and staff stepped up to help with COVID care at Stony Brook Medicine.

SON has been celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout this academic year with several special Zoom lectures and discussions. The school first opened in Fall 1970 with 30 registered nurses admitted to its inaugural baccalaureate degree program. Now SON has more than 1,300 students enrolled in programs leading to baccalaureate, master’s, doctoral and postgraduate certificates. This spring, 585 SON students are preparing to graduate. Many of SON’s programs were often the first of their kind in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and continue to be among the highest-ranked programs in the country.

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Slide 2

Other recent accomplishments:

The online master’s program was ranked ninth by U.S. News and World Report — its second year in the top 10.

SON’s PhD program (launched in 2018) welcomes six new students this summer, with its first three students working on their dissertations in preparation to graduate next year. The PhD program is the first of its kind in SUNY.

The midwifery program celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020. The most recent graduates celebrated with a 100 percent pass rate on the midwifery boards this past October.

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This year’s graduating class of undergraduate nursing students – seen here when they first arrived on campus in 2017 – will be joining the ranks of more than 10,000 dedicated nursing alumni.

Slide 3

More recent accomplishments:

The NCLEX pass rate for SBU nursing students is 98.1 percent, exceeding the average pass rate of every state in the nation (the national average is 86.58 percent). The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) has one purpose: to determine if a student can begin practice as an entry-level nurse. SBU students also exceeded the pass rate of students at Columbia and New York University.

In February, one of SON’s senior nursing students, Leisha Cason, administered the University’s 25,000th COVID vaccine shot. Nursing students have been instrumental in stepping up and helping with COVID care throughout the pandemic and have been assisting with vaccine distribution on campus since the Stony Brook pod opened on January 18.

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Dylan White, a junior nursing student, gives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Student nurses have helped give thousands of shots over the past several months.

Slide 4

“Stony Brook University’s School of Nursing is among the earliest innovators nationwide that developed groundbreaking online programs,” said SON Dean Annette Wysocki. “Combined with our national reputation for educating nurses who exemplify the highest caliber of clinical excellence, we will continue to propel the reputation of Stony Brook Nursing forward, pushing the leading edges of ingenuity in practice, education and research. Our students, staff and faculty have led an uncompromising effort during the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping their focus on education while providing care on non-COVID units and vaccinating thousands of frontline essential healthcare providers and New Yorkers from across Long Island. They are an inspiration to me every day.”

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Accelerated postbaccalaureate program nursing students Denise Barrera-Trejo (front) and Olivia Todaro take a moment to discuss their role in vaccine distribution with (from left to right) Stony Brook Medicine Vice President for Health System Clinical Programs and Strategy Margaret McGovern, Wolfie and President Maurie McInnis.

Slide

The Mother of All Dragons

Paper dragons, that is.
This past August, Shrikant Iyer ’01 and his friend Paul Frasco built the world’s largest origami dragon, coming in at 12 feet, 8.75 inches long; 6 feet, 6.5 inches high; and 3 feet, 11.5 inches wide. Over the course of two days, the team folded a Dragon Whelp, an original origami design created by Frasco and first published in 2011.
Iyer, who earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from SBU, has worked at Stony Brook since 2002 and is currently a system engineer in network services at Stony Brook Medicine. He has practiced origami since he was 9. He also ran Origami Heaven, an origami festival, held annually at the Charles B. Wang Center from 2005 to 2019.

Shrikant Iyer as the folding of the 24-foot long square paper begins.

Slide

“Origami has been such a lifeline for me during the pandemic and for a lot of my origami friends. Ironically, the Long Island origami group is called LIFE (Long Island Folding Enthusiasts), and in rebranding our online meetings we have over Zoom, I came up with LIFE-line. Everyone immediately responded,” Iyer said. “We get together regularly through Zoom and fold together. We also record some of these meetings to share online, helping our community grow all around the world. We still miss all the random folding, which would happen in person, but we will continue to evolve.”

Measuring the dragon for the record books.

Slide

“The planning and organizing logistics for making the dragon happened all through video calls. Paul [Frasco] and I planned what the dragon would look like in a large paper scenario and concentrated on figuring out the tricky areas,” Iyer explained. “At the end, the tricky spots were not so bad. What surprised us was how difficult it was to do a step we often take for granted in origami, which is to turn the paper over. It was so big (24 feet), so to do it without ripping it was quite a challenge.”

Shrikant Iyer and Paul Frasco with their completed dragon, which set a world record.

Slide

Look for a mini-Origami Heaven online this spring as part of the Wang Center’s 2021 offerings. Iyer is creating two videos that participants can watch to learn how to fold a “Wang Wallet,” an original design Iyer created to honor the Wang Center, and an ox to celebrate the lunar year. To watch these videos, visit the Wang Center’s event website. The “Wang Wallet” is available April 1 and the more complicated ox origami is available
May 1.

The official plaque from Guinness World Records.
“The most enjoyable thing about this project was simply doing it in spite of all the logistical, creative and artistic hurdles,” said Iyer.

A Tale of Perseverance

How a Stony Brook mentor and his dad’s love of sci-fi inspired Associate Professor Joel Hurowitz to reach for the stars.

Slide 2

Celebrating Their First Big Dance

Congratulations to the Women’s Basketball team on their amazing season and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

The journey to the Big Dance began when the second-seeded Seawolves beat top-seeded Maine 64-60 in the America East tournament championship game on Friday, March 12.

This historic win came on the one-year anniversary of the conference tournament being halted on the eve of a Stony Brook-Maine title showdown due to the pandemic.

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The Seawolves Women’s Basketball team celebrates becoming the America East champions.

Slide 3

The team showed their Seawolves pride during a tough game at the Alamodome on Monday, March 22. They gave it their all against Arizona, only to fall to them 79-44.

The entire University community is incredibly proud of everything the Women’s Basketball team has accomplished on and off the court. We know this is only the beginning of more great accomplishments to come.

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The Seawolves in action during their game versus Arizona.

A View from the Shore

While plans are still being discussed regarding this year’s 32nd annual Roth Pond Regatta, we are looking back at the legendary boat race through the eyes of staff from the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. Staff members have been documenting the event since its inception through their own “unofficial” Roth Pond Regatta website. The site includes photos from Curt Epstein (1989 to 1993 pics), one of the originators of the regatta, and hundreds more by department member Jim Quinn.

Here are a few of their photos to make you smile while we wait for the next regatta:

Slide 1

First Roth Pond Regatta Boat 1989

SBU Quick takes

The Pack

Daisy and Holly

Ringo

Charlotte and Hank

Teddy

Tootsie

Austin and Lily

Porsche & Darla Mae

William and Lucy

Linguine

Ted