The Verrazano School at CSI

The Core Program and the Verrazano School at CSI have collaborated to record an evening with the Innocence Project staff and Alan Newton. The Innocence Project works to assist inmates wrongly convicted by testing DNA. Through the work of the Project Innocence staff, Mr. Newton was exonerated rape and assault charges after serving 21 years in prison. The attached audio feed contains a brief introduction with from Professor Donna Scimeca, Core Program Coordinator and a welcome from the staff at Project Innocence, but the bulk of the recording is Mr. Newton recounting the ordeal of his wrongful conviction and newly found freedom.

Click here to listen to the lecture.
More information about Project Innocence is available at: http://www.innocenceproject.org/. This link includes biographical information about Mr. Newton’s story.

To continue to receive updated lectures and announcements from the Verrazano School, you can subscribe to our feed through Apple Itunes by searching for Verrazano School in the podcast directory.

The attached .mp3 file is a recording of a panel discussion of Tom Wolfe’s novel “I Am Charlotte Simmons” hosted in Dr. Phil Sigler’s Verrazano School freshmen class. The portion of the class discussion recorded features a special guest, Dr. John Gianinni, the coach of the men’s basketball program at La Salle University discussing his experiences of as a coach and how the relate to the novel.

Click here to listen to the lecture.

This panel discussion is Dr. Phil Sigler’s last lecture at the College of Staten Island as Dr. Sigler is retiring from the Sociology Department at the end of the Fall 2007 term and will be greatly missed by all in the campus community.

Over 200 Verrazano School first semester freshmen attended new student orientation on August 24, 2007. While orientation is always a special occasion for incoming students and the campus community, this year incoming freshmen were greeted by another new arrival, CSI’s new President. President Morales was joined by several campus administrators including Dr. David Podell, Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Dr. Carol Jackson, Vice-President for Student Affairs, Dr. Deborah De Simone, The Director of the Verrazano School and Professor Brian De Long, Director of New Student Orientation/CLUE.

All of their welcomes and the advice they shared with incoming freshmen were captured in the attached audio feed.

Orientation

The last Core 100 lecture of the Spring 2007 calendar was set aside for College of Staten Island students to voice their concerns and ask questions about the Iraq and the war effort. Core Program Coordinator Professor Donna Scimeca moderated a panel of CSI faculty and Iraq war veterans that fielded questions from students in an open mic format. Professor Scimeca’s opening remarks were lost from the recording, so attached audio feed will join the discussion already in progress.

Core Title