“We Are City” - Sophie Davis Biograph

Biograph
The voice of Sophie Davis students since 1973
Volume XLVIII
Issue 7
The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
November 2010
“We Are City”
Sophie Davis Welcomes
President Lisa Staiano-Coico
Pumpkin Picking for Prizes
in the Biograph
Halloween
Issue!!!
This Year, Biograph
has decided to have a
raffle each issue for a $10
Gift Card to one of the
neighboring food establishments. Be one of the
first 10 people to find all
7 Pumpkins in this issue
and go to SophieBiograph.com and contact
us through the site!!!!
A
s the summer came
to an end and students began
the search for textbooks and
old school supplies, most of
the City College administration
was already hard at work, and
new President Lisa Staiano-Coico was no exception. Her term
began in late August when she
superseded interim President
Dr. Robert Paaswell, and accepted the challenge and responsibility of serving over twelve
thousand City College students.
President Lisa Staiano-Coico began her career by studying biology in Brooklyn College
and is the first CUNY alumna to
become President of the City
College. She also directed the
Tri-Institutional Research Pro-
Controversies over the plans for Ground Zero
spark much debate and emotion (See page 7)
gram, in which Cornell University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center and Rockefeller
University joined together to improve healthcare through further
understanding of the human genome. President Lisa also held a
number of positions at Cornell’s
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College in New York City, such
as Vice Provost for Medical and
External Affairs, Division Chief
of Surgical Research, and Professorships in public health, microbiology in dermatology, and
microbiology in surgery. Most
recently, Dr. Staiano-Coico served
as Provost, Professor of Surgery, and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Editor’s Note
Hello! Welcome to the Biograph’s first issue of the 2010-2011 academic year. We hope this semester has
been going well for everyone. In this issue we discussed some some of the changes that Sophie Davis and City College are going through as well as some fun fall articles. The goal of Biograph is to notify students of the happenings of Sophie Davis and provide a means for us to communicate with one another and let our voices be heard.
Special thanks to Moiuri Siddique and Linda Alvarez, former editors, as well as our photographer, Hector Florimon, for
their advice and support as we worked on the issue. Thank you to Dean Mcbeth, as well, for his continual support as we
worked on the new issue. Thank you to Mr. McDonald, as well, for his networking help. And of course, thank you to all those
who contributed to this issue of the Biograph. If you would like to contribute to future issues of the Biograph, or write an
Op/Ed piece, please send your submissions to [email protected] or check out our website at SophieBiograph.com.
Enjoy the issue!
The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
The City College of New York
138th Street and Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031
Dr. Dani McBeth
Dean of Student Affairs
Executive Board
Alicia Alvarez, Editor in Chief
Joseph Nelson, Associate Editor
Chandrika Sridharamurthy, Copy Editor
Maisa Siddique, Managing Editor
Hector Florimon, Photography Editor
Biograph Contributors
Scott Abrahamson, Oark Ahmed, John Denesopolis, Annette Lukose, Rammiya Nallainathan, Vanessa Ogueri, Anthony Okolo, Patrice
Pryce, Chastidy Roldan, Justin Salih, Daribel Taveras, Kenneth Teitjen, Jaya Thiyagarajan, Shari Wallace
A Word from SDSG
Hello everyone,
President: Maninder Singh
We hope that this school
year started off well for you
all. To remind you all, the Sophie Davis Student Government is a student run organization that exists primarily
to keep the student body up
to date with recent happenings in Sophie. We additionally
try to hold events and activi-
ties that promote inter-class
unity such as, holding schoolwide outings or in-school
activities. We started off this
year with a refreshing ice cream
mixer that allowed students,
faculty, and staff to mingle. Additionally, after having administered a survey to the student
body, we have better gauged
what types of activities/services students want from their
student government representatives. We have an array
of events planned out for this
year, including, but not limited
to: a sports game outing, various forums (i.e. match forum),
and of course the annual health
fair. We sincerely thank everyone for the support and feedback and we hope to be able to
-SDSG
Vice President: Ibrahim Ali
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Secretary: Moiuri Siddique
SD Biograph
November 2010
The Second Annual Honor
Code Ceremony took place on September 13, 2010 in Shepard Hall and
was a special day for many Sophie
Davis students, particularly for the
Class of 2015. For many, it was a day
to reinstate values and commit to
becoming physicians with the highest standards of integrity and honor.
Students present at the ceremony
were reminded why they chose the
unique path of Sophie Davis: to walk
together into a medical career with
inestimable respect and devotion.
The ceremony began with an
address from Dean Friedman, who,
after an inspirational address, reminded everyone that “actions speak
louder than words, but not nearly as
often.” Soon after, Maninder Singh, in
his first official address this semester
as Student Government President,
passionately spoke about the path
to success here at Sophie Davis. He
described the Honor Code Ceremony as the first of many checkpoints
throughout the five year journey, and
as the mark of the end of the transition from high school to Sophie Davis.
THE ANNUAL
HONOR CODE
CEREMONY
Next on the agenda was
the reading of the Honor code,
which was led by Ethics Committee members Nancy Hernandez,
Arth Patel, Navendra Singh, and Vikas Goswamy. Students were then
led to sign the Sophie Davis Code
of Honor Book while pianist Elena Louie played a beautiful piece.
Several students were asked
about their reactions to the Ceremony. First year Oladapo Adar-
amola described that he felt like
he was “inheriting something of
great prestige, requiring a sense
of responsibility.” Other first years
shared similar views. Jaya Thiyagarajan, commented, “I felt really special. [The ceremony] signified how
important and honorable it is to be
a part of the Sophie Davis family.”
A short reception was held afterward, giving the students time to
socialize with classmates, upper year
students, and faculty about their Sophie Davis their experiences so far.
Overall the event was a success - as it was last year, the first year
of this annual tradition - and it was
clear that students left the hall with
a stronger sense of commitment and
dedication to the mission of Sophie
Davis. In the words of Sophie Davis Student Government, President
Maninder Singh, “we are not just
signing another document, we are
signing on a philosophy that we and
future graduates of Sophie Davis will
abide by for the rest of [our] careers.”
By: Anthony Okolo
Trajedy struck on July 22, 2010
when over two hundred million people in Pakistan were severely affected by torrential rain and flooding.
Beginning in a province called Baluchistan, the powerful waters continued on their southerly track destroying villages, farmland, roads, bridges,
schools, and anything else in its path.
The main fear that spread
among aid workers and civilians was
the potential for the monsoon to
cause severe crop damage. These
fears were not unfounded. As a predominantly agricultural country,
the flooding caused by monsoons
is said to have destroyed this year’s
November 2010
planted crops as well as next season’s reserves. According to the
New York Times, “the summer of
2010 produced Pakistan’s worst
flooding in 80 years.” Anti-government sentiments grew due to the
lack of relief efforts both nationally
and internationally, causing civilian rage in the streets of Pakistan.
Several Sophie Davis students
have contributed to the relief efforts.
The Pakistan Flood Relief Fund run
by Mariam Javed, Sidra Javed, and
Zeba Farouqi collected monetary
donations and held a supply drive
for victims of this disastrous flood.
When asked about their first reactions to the flood, they responded,
“Initially, it didn’t seem like it could
be so damaging. Only when the reports started coming in that onefifth of the country was submerged
under water did the magnitude of
this disaster become apparent. We
learned that access to health care,
including routine services, was severely limited, since raging flood
waters damaged or destroyed more
than two hundred hospitals and
clinics. Most troubling was the fact
that water-borne diseases, such as
diarrhea, skin infections, acute respiratory illnesses and malaria, were
running rampant.”Although these
students do not have any family or
personally know anyone impacted
by the flooding, these three young
women “wanted to organize a relief
effort at [Sophie Davis] simply because of the astounding destruction
wreaked by the flood.” The Pakistan International Airline filled their
planes with non-perishable goods
donated by people from all over
the world. Ms. Sidra Javed agreed
with this idea and stated that “this
campaign made it easier to set up a
supply drive, knowing that shipping
costs would be covered. One major advantage of this kind of supply
drive is that there isn’t a lag period
between cash donations and actual
aid, which is why we wanted to organize a supply drive here at Sophie.”
After raising nearly $500 and
extending gratitude to all those who
contributed, Ms. Javed parted with
these few words: “When something
of this magnitude happens, you
can’t just live in blissful ignorance.
Like we have for the 2010 Haiti
Earthquake and the 2004 Indian
Ocean Tsunami, we wanted to reach
out and do whatever we could.”
And indeed, a series of small efforts
eventually show up in the bigger picture. B y : Va n e s s a O g u e r i
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A Summer to Remember for The Next 5 Years
Truthfully, when first deciding to
participate in the Pre-matriculation program, many first years were hesitant
to spend most of the summer commuting to Harlem to get a taste of the challenging courses to come in September.
The summer program consisted of physics lectures with either Professor Akkerman or Dr. Califano, tutoring sessions
led by upperclassmen, Mastery Learning organized by Ms. Richards, biology
classes with Professor Lisben, and chemistry lectures with Dr. Kashfi. As the five
weeks progressed, it was easy to see that
the program had more to offer than lectures and tests. There was lots of room
for fun, too, like playing foosball, going to Dorney Park, visiting Riverside
Park, and exploring the campus and city.
There were many great experiences in the pre-matriculation program.
One of these experiences was the opportunity to shadow physicians in either
St. Luke’s or Roosevelt Hospital. Some
students were even able to meet Sophie Davis graduates that worked there.
While academics were a major focus of
the summer program, many students
relaxed by playing basketball and soccer
at Riverside and St. Nicholas Parks. Additionally, some upperclassmen invited
the first years to go kayaking on the Hudson River in the evenings after classes.
What’s more, the Sophie Davis Student
Lounge served as the primary location for
socializing through ping-pong, foosball,
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card games and just simple conversation.
At the end of the program, the LRC
conducted a trip to Dorney Park, which
was an experience of a life-time. Seeing
everyone’s groggy faces in the early
morning was something to smile about.
Many terrified Sophies were able to overcome their fear of heights and roller
coasters, while others, not so brave,
claimed the role of loyal bag holders.
Nevertheless, the excursion was a huge
amount of fun and provided a way to
learn to trust each other. The trust to believe friends when they say that everything is going to be okay, that it was just a
ride. The
trust to fall asleep, drooling,
all over each other on the way back home.
The trust that is intrinsic to getting
through the challenging years ahead.
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Overall, the summer program was
a way to test the waters of Sophie Davis
and relieve some college freshman anxieties. First year, Ali Mahmud, said that
“[the summer program] was an advantage because we became friendly with
each other and in a much better position to support each other as soon as
classes began.” Another first year, Diana
Massa, agreed by saying that getting
to know the students was the “most
valuable part of the program.” Needless to say, the next five years represent
a challenge on our path to becoming
physicians, but it is comforting to really know that there are unlimited resources like classmates, now friends,
upperclassmen, professors, and faculty,
all willing to help along the journey.
By: Annette Lukose & Daribel Tavera
November 2010
Dean Kollisch the Ballerino ?!?!?
Many students see Dean Kollisch
as the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs.
However, there is a lot more to him than
students think. Unbeknownst to many Sophies, Dean Kollisch recently performed
in a ballet titled Diagnosis of a Faun.
Diagnosis of a Faun is about a creature
that is half goat and half human, played
by Gregg Mozgala, who lives in the forest
alone. Magically, he encounters the most
beautiful nymph, played by Lucie Baker,
and stares at her in awe as she prances
around the forest. Unfortunately, she injures her Achilles tendon, which means that
she loses what makes her so unique, what
completely defines her life: her dancing.
The next scene arrives where Dr.
A, played by Dr. Donald Kollisch, and Dr.
B, played by Emily Pope Blackman, give a
lecture. Dr. A then operates on the nymph
while Dr. B operates on the Faun, who
was discovered after following the nymph
to the hospital. There is the sound of a
heartbeat as we watch Dr. A perform the
surgery, which is displayed by a hand ballet, to show the beauty of science. Dr. Kollisch then performs a graceful pas de deux,
a dancing duet, from Sleeping Beauty.
Throughout the ballet, there
are many contrasting themes that reveal an inner truth. The scenes blur the
lines between fantasy and reality, science and art, disability and ability and
the relationship between a patient and
a doctor. In the performance, the doctors create connections with the patients
to such an extent that they are literally
in the patients’ world, feeling sympathy
and, in the words of Dean Kollisch, “actually
looking past their disability and experiencing
an awakening to the beauty of art and life.”
Here at Sophie Davis, as future physicians, our duty is to serve the community.
Americans need people to serve them not
just physically, but emotionally, too. “Art,”
says Dean Kollisch, “is a way of connecting
with experience, giving us the opportunity to
reach out to patients in ways that not all doctors can.” Therefore, it is essential to keep hobbies to remind us that physicians cannot just
fix an illness the way mechanics fix a car. Second year Brett Berliner, jokes that he “likes to
play his guitar because it is both relieving and
satisfying to create [music], much like
writing the conclusion to that final paper
that has been looming for weeks.” On a
more serious note, Brett says “I feel that
hobbies are a good compliment to work
and studies, and I prefer hobbies that
are productive, like music and exercise.”
It is important to maintain a balance between the schoolwork necessary for a
career and activities and hobbies that
feed the soul. It is essential to both the
doctor and patient that students strive
for more than a degree because great
doctors treat their patients holistically.
-Chastidy Roldan
Athlete’s Spotlight
Even though Sophie Davis students
host events such as Game Night and Sports
Night,
athletics within the school can seem
pretty rare. There are, however, a handful
of Sophie students who commit themselves
to both academia at Sophie Davis and sports
at CCNY. One such student is Victoria Juste.
Victoria currently runs cross-country, indoor, and outdoor track at CCNY, but
has been participating in track for over
five years. Even in high school, Victoria displayed a special aptitude at the sport and
was the track team captain at the Mary
Louis Academy since her sophomore year.
Thankfully, her love of track carried
on in the transition from high school to Sophie
Davis. When asked why she wanted to continue running in college, she says that the track
team at CCNY provides “a strong support
system as well as great team [work] skills.”
As one can imagine, being a part of the
team is challenging and time consuming.
Practices run through the entire workweek,
and even the occasional Saturday, as well.
In addition to all of the training, Victoria
weight trains in the gym on alternate days.
November 2010
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With all the work involved with
the track team, how does she have the
energy and time to commit to other areas? She says time management is a
must in order to both adequately train
and sufficiently study. However, she
does not see this as a negative. Victoria explains that “having the energy to
study, for me personally, is all due to
running.” She can do what she loves,
and still have it in her to hit the books.
Victoria adds, “I would recommend that other Sophies take on sports,
but only if [they are] willing to commit
time to both training and studying. …
Trust me, it is not easy.” Nonetheless,
she does not want that to deter Sophies. She says that “if they have a passion for
that sport, like I have a passion for track,
then they should by, all means, pursue
what they love while managing to devote
time to studying, as well. For me, it’s all
about passion. If I’m passionate about
something, I’ll commit to it. So if you really love to run, shoot baskets, or spike a
ball, then I would definitely say go for it!”
-Oark Ahmed
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
This distinguished microbiology researcher never
expected to become President
of CCNY. Dr. Staiano-Coico
professed,“I wanted to be a
scientist…literally from like second grade” and “envisioned my
career as a very typical scientist
career: being in the lab, working
with students, mentoring students, [and] publishing.” She
never expected things would
turn out this way but says that
“[it has] been a great turn.”
Looking back, President Lisa
was able to pinpoint where that
turn started. During her time as
the President of the Office of
Women in Medicine at Cornell,
there were a number of sexual
assaults on students. The Office
of Women in Medicine soon
realized that students were
not prepared to handle such a
situation or understand it. The
associated hospital, now New
York Presbyterian, did not even
have a rape crisis center. Even
though this is a tragic situation,
President Lisa’s involvement
in handling it changed her life.
She remarks, “I found out that
I was really good at mobilizing
people, writing the proposals
and getting those things in, and
little by little I started to realize that I liked it.” She soon began to do more administrative
work, but she kept her lab open
until three years ago when she
became Provost at Temple.
Nonetheless, she continues
to publish papers to this day.
President Lisa has authored over ninety papers, including one with Sophie Davis’s
very own Dr. Kashfi on the proliferation of colon cancer cells.
Nevertheless, that is just the tip
of the iceberg when it comes to
President Lisa’s relationship to
the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. Her husband, Dr. Richard Coico was
the Professor and Chairman of
the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Sophie
Davis, directing the microbiology and immunology courses
several years ago. When asked
about Sophie, the President
said, “the mission of Sophie is
fantastic.” She sincerely wants
the mission of Sophie Davis to
continue on and has already
looked at ways to try and “expand upon the excellence of
Sophie.” She discussed the pos-
6
sibility of incorporating masters
degrees into Sophie Davis, such
as Masters of Public Health
(MPH) and Masters of Business
Administration (MBA). Sophie
graduates are often move on to
acheiving an MPH. Many decide
to complete the extra classes
some time after the completion of their B.S. at CCNY. Other
plans for Sophie Davis include
the upcoming Dean’s search,
which will play an integral part
in the leadership at Sophie.
Also, the recent medical school
curriculum changes have created an interesting obstacle for
Sophie students. While currently some may have to do six
months or so of research, President Lisa recommends reviewing the Sophie Davis curriculum. Hopefully, reexamining
the curriculum might help Sophie adjust to the the change in
medical schools, but, needless
to say, this will take some creativity and time to accomplish.
President Lisa also has a
number of great plans for CCNY
as a whole. At her inauguration, she discussed her theme
of “We are City.” When asked
to elaborate more on this she
explained, “We truly are more
than just our individual, and at
CCNY including the community
around us, we have to really
make that effort to recognize
that we really are one, you may
be a single mother with two
kids working two jobs, or you
may be a faculty member in
engineering, you may be a high
school principal right on our
campus, or an alumnus from
the 1950’s or 30’s. We really are
City, it is not the buildings and
it is not the degrees we hold,
its our individual collective energies about who we are and
what we do that are City.” This
is a great theme that encourages students to become a stronger community of friends rather than just classmates while
simultaneously fortifying ties
to the surrounding community.
There are a number of
ways that the College is trying
to reach this goal. CCNY Cares
is a new initiative to strengthen
the ties between CCNY students
and the neighboring community through donation of books,
food and toys to local shelters
and charities. There are also a
number of ways that CCNY is
creating stronger relationships
among students. The small
class sizes of the general education courses invite students to
get to know each other. New
renovations will eventually give
clubs their own offices. Every
second Tuesday of the month
will be a CCNY town hall meeting in which students will be
able to discuss any administrative issues they are having.
President Lisa proved herself
to be a great listener, when
only a few weeks after the new
printing limit was set and students adamantly complained,
she doubled the limit and
counted double sided printing per sheet of paper used.
Overall, Dr. Staiano-Coico seems to be enjoying her
time as CCNY President. Originally from New York, she is happy to back home with her two
kids in the city. She says, “it’s
been wonderful, everyday is so
much fun.” Since CCNY is significantly smaller than Temple
University, she finds the College to be more personal and is
happy to see that New York grit
in students again. Most importantly, it seems that Dr. StaianoCoico is sincere in her efforts to
help students and truly wants
them to succeed. In her office
she has a picture the graduating Temple University seniors
from two years ago that were
on the football team. She still
keeps in touch with them and
even watches their Monday
Night Football games. Although
she is a self proclaimed football fanatic, she seems to take a
special pride in watching them
play. Although only one of them
is playing for the NFL, she considers all of them to be successful. She continued by saying,
“if you learn from something
you’re not a failure, you’re just
taking another journey.” And
that is something that all students should take to heart. Life
is full of surprises, and there
are lots of things to explore.
Experienced in the twists and
turns of life, President Lisa
advises, “if you follow your
passion and you don’t worry,
you’ll find what works for you.”
Even so, she understands that an accelerated program like Sophie Davis can be
difficult. When asked how she
manages her balancing act of
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CCNY President, researcher,
mother, wife and probably a
number of other roles, she says
that she does yoga and meditation. Carving out just fifteen
minutes a day to do something
fun and solely for oneself is incredibly important in maintaining a healthy outlook on life.
President Lisa explains, “you
have to spend time on yourself
because if you don’t...nobody
else is going to do it for you.”
Little things like playing an instrument, drawing or engaging in sports can really make a
difference by alleviating stress
and centering one’s energies.
Needless to say, carving
out that time can be difficult,
especially when things become
hectic during the semester. It
can be easy to lose sight of the
light at the end of the tunnel
when things get tough. She encourages students to try their
best, saying that the “most
important thing to do is find
a group of friends that support each other, [make] study
groups, [and] work with advisors, … so that when you’re really starting to drag, you have
someone there to pull you
along over the hump.” Thankfully, that is something Sophie
Davis firmly believes in and is
able to provide a supportive
community for most students.
President Lisa went on to say,
“we are so proud of all the Sophies…and we know that that
no matter what you choose to
do in your careers you’re going to be successful, and you’re
going to make a difference because that’s who you are, and
that’s why you go to Sophie.” It
was truly an honor to talk with
President Lisa, and on behalf of
the Sophie Davis Biograph and
the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, welcome to
CCNY, we are happy to have you.
-Alicia Alvarez
November 2010
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Park 51 Mosque:
Ground Zero inherits Muslim Religion
O
n September 11,
2001 four commercial airplanes were hijacked by
nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists.
Originally destined for cities
such as San Francisco and Los
Angeles, the hijacked planes
were detoured to New York
City and Washington, D.C.
In New York City, 8:46 a.m.
and 9:03 a.m. marked the
times, respectively, when
the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center (WTC) were struck by
two Boeing 767’s. The third
flight crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., while the
fourth flight, intended to fly
into the Capitol, made a fatal crash landing in southern Pennsylvania. On that
one day in American history,
there were 2,996 deaths.
This included the hijackers,
those on the four flights,
military personnel, rescue
workers, and WTC staff.
Following 9/11, many
United States citizens have
a 13-story Islam community
center and mosque, including a 9/11 memorial, fitness
and recreational spaces, an
auditorium, a restaurant and
culinary school, childcare services, a library, reading room
and art studios. Controversy
TRANSPORTATION HUB FOR THE NEW WORLD TRADE CENTER
developed a negative sentiment towards Muslims
since the al-Qaeda terrorists
were of the Islam religion.
This anti-Islam attitude still
prevails in America, primarily in New York City. In December 2009, Feisal Abdul
Rauf, an Imam of a Masjid
al-Farah mosque, revealed
his plans to build Park51. Under his plans, Park51 will be
November 2010
between pro-Islam and antiIslam organizations has erupted as Park51 is set to be built
only 200 yards from Ground
Zero, the WTC site. This year,
on the 9th anniversary of the
attacks, many protesters and
advocates rallied the streets
of Lower Manhattan. Nationwide news coverage illuminated the situation for the world
to see. Proponents argued
that Muslims should have the
right to practice their religion,
as do worshippers of any other religion including Christianity and Judaism. Many alluded
to the fact that the Pentagon,
a government facility that
also fell victim to the 9/11 attacks, is home to a mosque
that serves over 300 workers. On the other hand, opponents believed that building Park51 honors the 9/11
attacks while simultaneously
disrespecting those who lost
their lives. Florida Pastor Terry Jones even went as far as
to christen September 11 as
“National Burn a Koran Day.”
All around the country
and world, people are voicing their opinions about the
building of the “mosque at
Ground Zero.” In the Sophie
Davis community, the overall attitude was in support of
religious tolerance. Yet, some
still held differing views on the
situation. Due to the sensitivity of this issue, all interviews
reported will be kept anonymous. One student called the
debate “pointless” as one of
the premises this country was
built on is religious tolerance.
The discussion ensued as the
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student stated, “We do not
limit Christians from building
churches or sites of worship.
Therefore, I do not feel it is fair
to stop someone from practicing their religion near Ground
Zero simply because of the
situation’s irony.” Another student agreed with the sentiment previously expressed as
he added, “A religion and its
adherents shouldn’t be punished because of the acts of a
few of its members.” Almost
ten Sophie Davis students
and faculty members were
interviewed until a slightly divergent view was discovered.
The student interviewed explained that religious tolerance is established under the
first amendment of the United
States constitution, in the Bill
of Rights. This grants all persons the right to practice their
religion freely. The respondent
also defined tolerance as a sort
of permissiveness. To that extent, the student thought that
it would be of sound judgment
for the leaders behind Park51
to move its location as “true
tolerance would be demonstrated through this action.”
As of today, Park51 is
scheduled to be opened to all
New York City residents as early as next year. Despite whether the location changes or not,
the controversy surrounding
this issue illuminates one of
the many injustices American
citizens still face. The Bill of
Rights is renowned as the core
values under which this country was developed. In a country of such contrasting viewpoints as the ones presented,
it is hard to believe that those
rights stand as a testament
to the free will of American
citizens. After September 11,
2001, the nation adopted the
motto “united we stand, dived
we fall.” In that spirit, now is
the time to set aside our differences and welcome change.
-Patrice Pryce
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“Fashions Fade,
Style is Eternal”
YSL
Throughout the years of Sophie Davis there is a lot of talk about classes, professors, hanging out, and then more about classes.
Needless to say, there usually is not much talk about the latest fashions or newest trends, but the following group of students definitely makes it their priority to know what to wear and how to look fabulous wearing it. All these people do not stand out for just
looking nice, they stand out because they form a new and different style that is unique to each of them. -Chari Wallace
Anna Chang (1st Year)
Anna can be categorized as
a sweet and simple dresser. She
will stick out from a crowd easily
because of her tendency to stay
away from the common trends.
What makes Anna so trendy is
her ability to make an outfit that
may be considered “out of style”
work for her. She knows how to
properly manipulate fashion in a
way that gives her a unique style
that she can really call her own.
Anna will be spotted wearing an
array of scarves this fall. She says
that “they are a nice way to bring
color to an outfit, while also keeping you warm”. This season will
be an extension of her modern,
romantic fashion personality.
Kenia Edwards (3rd Year)
Zach Berliner (2nd Year)
Zach’s trendy style is a result of
a mixture of intuition, esquire magazine, and even a little from his twin
brother. He has been known to wear
cutting-edge designs with a fun and
youthful twist. His fashion-forward
collection of clothing will always
keep him two steps ahead of everyone else. Yet, it is important for him
to feel comfortable in everything that
he wears. This fall will be a time for
Zach to bring back accessories like
his chocolate suede boots, and his
favorite, plaid. He will be looking
forward to see even bigger boots,
chunkier sweaters, and more layering. His simple formula for style is
“layers = warm + wonderful”. His
skilled eye for upcoming styles will
be duly noted in all his outfits this fall.
When spotted around campus, Kenia will undoubtedly be
wearing long, flowing skirts with
a lot of natural and earthy hues.
Her tendency to wear brown,
green, orange, red, and gold
tones is a direct result of her pride
of her Trinidadian flag and Rasta
culture. She will not be following the fashions of the day. She
admits that the only trends she
cares about are the ones that she
creates. Kenia’s natural style gives
her a fresh look that will never
be outdated. She could not survive the fall without a good pair
of cowboy boots, though. Their
versatility makes them a fashionable necessity for this season. Any
tips this Boho princess would
give for the fall? Kenia exclaimed,
“stop wearing leggings for jeans!”
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November 2010
Danny Nekola (5th Year)
Danny can be found wearing an
array urban chic attire. His style derives
from a Brooklyn background with a
Lower East Side twist. However, a great
deal of his style comes from himself. He
explains, “my style really is me”. According to Danny, the fall essential for anyone
is a new coat. He would even go as far as
to say that “fall is not complete without a
new coat”. He also wants to see a new fall
line of men’s boots that would give more
of a variety than the traditional boot. The
ideal boot would be something professional with a causal feel to it. Due to the
importance of a good shoe, the chances of
Danny wearing a pair of Crocs are both
fat and slim. Their tacky and ridiculous
look instantly nauseates him. Fall fashion
is the time when a man can really show his
style, and it can be sure that Danny will
flaunt his chic sense of fashion this season.
Kadeem Richardson (4th Year)
The only way to classify Kadeem is as the man with a sophisticated style.
He considers his style to be “simple and effective, with a touch of class”. His style resembles the vibrant jazz music of Kenny G’s saxophone and the conservative, classic looks of people such as Sidney Porter. There probably will not be a fall season
that he is not wearing his share of V-neck sweaters; it gives him that casual yet stylish look. Kadeem’s tip to all men this season is to be aware of the importance of
the proper socks; the perfect outfit and shoes can all go wrong without the proper socks. It is his eye for detail that really makes Kadeem stand out over the rest.
ARE YOU
READY?
This past year, the school administration agreed to rearrange the order
of courses taught in the third and fourth
year of the program. Originally, students
were required to take Neuroscience during the summer of their third year, and
then Physiology and Pharmacology, respectively, during the fall and spring semesters of their fourth year. However, under this curriculum change students take
Physiology within their third and fourth
years, followed by Pharmacology in the
middle of the Fall semester of the fourth
year, and Neuroscience in the Spring.
Initially, students had divided opinions on this change. On one hand, some
students felt that having Neuroscience
earlier made Physiology easier to grasp.
Many were also opposed to the change
because it meant that they would need to
look over past material from the previous
semester to study for the Miniboard Exam.
However, a number of students
felt that the switch was necessary. Physiology seems to provide a foundation
of the basic concepts needed to understand Neuroscience. One fifth year
pointed out that “it’s difficult to understand how neurons produce movement,
unless you understand how the neurons interact with each other using hor-
November 2010
mones, neurotransmitters, receptor function, and how muscle spindles sense and
produce a signal.” Students also feel that
knowing Physiology beforehand makes
Pharmacology easier to understand as well.
The change will hopefully prove to
better prepare the students for the Neuroscience Mini-Board Exam. By having Pharmacology before Neuroscience, students
will be able to answer more questions dealing with both subjects in clinical cases, such
as pharmacological treatment for neuronal
defects. Olivia Nicola, a fourth year student,
commented by saying, “personally, I like the
change because I was very drained out after Histology and Anatomy. I am grateful for
the fact that [our class] did not have to deal
with Neuroscience or its Miniboard.” Finally,
because the Neuroscience course is placed
closer to the Behavioral Science and NeuroPsychiatry classes, students will not only get
more out of the classes, but they will be able
to recall the material in a better manner.
Of course, with the change in the
placement of classes, the structure of the
academic school year was also changed.
Under this new curriculum, third year students are given a few extra weeks of vacation. Students feel this is necessary
for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, to rest up for another school year.
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Arth Patel, a fifth year student on the
curriculum committee mentioned, “Change
for the sake of change is never good. I think
the sequence of the classes is well placed
and the time off is needed and well earned
[…] The faculty wanted to restructure the
curriculum to give the students the best opportunity to excel in all 3 classes. The added
vacation time was just the sugar on top.”
With the change in the curriculum,
there was recent talk about when students
would take the Neuroscience Miniboard.
This past year, the administration and the
Curriculum Committee talked about having
the Miniboard taken after the Neuro-Psychiatry class because almost twenty percent of
the material on the exam is covered in the
Neuro-Psychiatry class. Recently, Dean Kollisch made the student body aware of the
ongoing debate. Although it seems that
the Neuroscience Miniboard will be given
after the Neuroscience class, the administration is still discussing other possibilities.
-Rammiya Nallainathan
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Only Time Can Tell the
Future of Sophie
As some Sophie Davis students
already know, many United States medical schools have begun to modify their
long-standing curriculum, which was
based on a century old study called the
Flexner Report. This change may make
the transition from City College to medical school more complicated than ever.
One of Sophie Davis’s cooperating medical schools, New York University School
of Medicine, has introduced a new curriculum that reflects the current trends
in medical education. One of the many
factors driving this curriculum change,
is the profound sentiment that graduates of the current system lose some of
their idealism, empathy, and morality ,
and a number of medical schools have
determined that this is unacceptable.
Medical schools are not the only
ones saying that doctors graduate from
medical school without receiving an education in the morals and ethics which are
deeply involved in the profession. Over
the past couple of decades, the results
of numerous studies have supported
this idea, and promoted the case for
medical school curriculum reform. , The
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the same foundation
that commissioned the original Flexner
Report that formalized medical education last century, recently published a
report entitled “Educating Physicians –
A Call for Reform of Medical School and
Residency.” If this report is adopted with
the same enthusiasm as its predecessor,
then gradually more and more medical schools will amend their curricula.
Even more important than the opinion
of the schools themselves is the opinion of the Liaison Committee on Medical
Education (LCME) – the sole accreditation agency for MD granting institutions
in the United States, which appears to
support many of the reform efforts.
Currently, medical school students
spend their first two years studying medical sciences in a classroom followed by
two years of clinical study in a hospital.
The new model essentially combines
the four years in a way that introduces
student-patient interactions from the
beginning, when the bulk of studying is
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from science textbooks. The amount
of clinical work gradually increases until all class room studying is completed
and students work only with patients.
The irony in this situation is
that by conforming to the more patient
centered model of medical education
that Sophie Davis advocates, medical schools are becoming increasingly
more difficult to transition into, making it more difficult for the Sophie Davis
program to adapt. Since the school’s
inception, the transition to medical
school has been extremely smooth
thanks to the standard medical school
format of two years of textbook sciences and then two years of clinical experience. For the past thirty-seven years
Sophie students have completed the
first two years of their medical training at The City College of New York and
the second half at a cooperating medical school, however, now that the line
between classroom work and hospital
training are becoming blurred, the Sophie Davis administration may have
to rework the system for the future.
Many Sophie Davis students are
both concerned and confused about
the situation and how it may affect
the match process. “There have been
a lot of rumors swirling around,” said
Mohammad Sadat, a second-year student. “Some people have said that
the program itself will become longer
to accommodate the changes,” while
others have said, “that the [associated] medical schools want Sophies
to take Step 1 [the first part of the
U.S. Medical Licensing Examination]
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earlier.” However, with the current
Sophie Davis curriculum, Sophies
would not be prepared to take the
exam. This idea has led to the rumor
that Mohammad mentioned, that
the Sophie program will increase in
length. And in fact, the entering first
year students were informed that
their education at City College might
be increased to five and a half years.
The school’s faculty is examining the situation and the possible
solutions. As the medical delivery
and education systems go through
an “evolution,” adapting the Sophie
Davis match process to the new
medical education model “could be
difficult,” predicts Dr. Dani McBeth,
Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
He continued on to say that cooperating medical school New York University School of Medicine has already
implemented its new curriculum
and Downstate College of Medicine
has plans to do so. As of now, other
Sophie Davis cooperating medical
schools do not appear to have plans
to revise their curricula, but who
knows what the future has in store.
With many variables involved, the future is unclear. The
Sophie Davis faculty and students
have gotten through the past thirty-seven years while holding strong
to the school’s values, and will
continue to do so in the years to
come - adapting to future changes, while improving on the past.
-Scott Abrahamson
November 2010
CLUBS, CLUBS, CLUBS GALORE!!!!!!!
It’s that time of year
again. The Fall term has
begun and the clubs and
organizations of Sophie
Davis are recruiting new
members and planning
a variety of interesting
events and activities for
the 2010-2011 school
year. Here is a review of
what clubs, new and old,
are up to this semester.
- Keisha Barry
The American Medical Student
Association has been in existence for
over half-century and is the oldest and
largest student run independent association. AMSA is dedicated to addressing
the concerns of physicians in training in
the United States. At Sophie’s chapter,
the executive board and unique committee chair representatives work with
medical students at city, regional, and
national levels. Some of the exciting
events AMSA has in store for this year
include National Primary Care Week,
a Medical Ethics Symposium, Medical
Spanish, Midnight Run, Health Literacy
Initiative At Street Squash, and attendance at the 61st annual AMSA National Convention in Washington D.C.
this upcoming March. AMSA’s executive
board is looking forward to engaging
students throughout the year in a variety of events that show that it takes
more than medical school to make a
physician. For more information contact AMSA at [email protected].
November 2010
Interested in human rights?
Well, Physicians for Human Rights may
just be the club to join. As Sophie’s
newest club addition, PHR promotes
the advancement of human rights, especially in the medical field. The club
was co-founded by second years Navid
Ahmed and Himali Gandhi, and is deeply involved in one of Sophie Davis’s own
missions to encourage equal treatment
for all patients in the field of health
care. Some of their tentative events
for this school year include viewings of
films such as Taken and Hotel Rwanda,
attendance at a National Convention
at Boston University and working with
other human rights education groups
to reach out and inform the community. For more information contact
PHR at [email protected].
Global Medical Brigades is a
club dedicated to aiding in international medical relief. GMB has been
a part of Sophie for two years now
and has already started planning their
summer trip to under served regions
in Honduras. They intend to bring
twenty to thirty Sophie Davis students
who will set up a clinic to provide basic medical care to those living in the
region. Their trip to Panama two years
ago was very successful and they look
forward to a repeat in Honduras this
year. For more information contact
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Student National Medical Association’s mission is to ensure culturally sensitive medical education and
services, as well as increasing the number of African-American and Latino students entering and completing medical
school. Sophie’s SNMA chapter is looking forward to more involvement in the
community with activities such as tutoring students at A. Phillip Randolph High
School, volunteering at local soup kitchens, conducting a food drive for Thanksgiving, and participating in the Breast
Cancer Walk. SNMA is also looking forward to hosting a variety of fun-filled,
cultural and social events this semester,
including another faculty vs. student
Family Feud night. SNMA seeks collaborative support from, members, Sophie
Davis students and the CCNY community at large. For more information, contact SNMA at [email protected].
American Medical Women’s Association is a national organization that
has been the vision and voice of women in medicine since 1915. At Sophie’s
chapter, young women interested in
medicine unite through volunteer opportunities and workshops to benefit
their future careers. AMWA opens its
doors to young women and men from
all majors in CCNY who are concerned
with women’s rights and health issues. A
four-year national AMWA membership
is offered for the cost of $25. Membership benefits include access to various
scholarships and network opportunities. This year, AMWA sold T-shirts dedicated to the Breast Cancer Walk and
they have successfully conducted their
annual slumber party and Breast Cancer Walk!!!! For more information contact AMWA at [email protected].
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Time Management! A Message
from the Sophie Davis Guru
A Meage from he So
Time management, a term
well-known by Sophie Davis students and dreaded for its seemingly complex nature, is a vital
life skill. The very meaning of this
term can be the most difficult
to grasp for entering students.
Even some returning Sophie’s
may have forgotten the essential skills of time calculation and
prioritizing. The Sophie Guru is
here to get you back into shape.
Every year means having to
adjust to new classes, new professors, and a fresh new list of
priorities, and as the year goes
on it may seem that time is not
always your friend. Or is it? The
late John F. Kennedy once said,
“We must use time as a tool, not
as a crutch.” It is easy to think
of time as a component of life
that simply slips away, but if one
were to organize their priorities,
primarily schoolwork, time can
be more of what John F. Kennedy envisioned it to be - an asset.
In the hustle and bustle of
the Sophie Davis studying world,
many can forget to enjoy the oth-
er side of college. Even so, it is also
possible to take advantage of that
other side and neglect school work.
The epicenter of time management
encompasses these two sides. College is not a location solely meant
for studying, it also meant to experiencing new things. There are clubs to
take part of, teams to play for, people
to meet, and time to actually enjoy.
All this, and more, can be achieved
by implementing several organizational skills. Students differ in their
organizational preferences, which
is why experimentation is the best
way to find a suitable method that
works best for an individual Sophie.
The Sophie Guru shall provide
you with one final piece of advice:
BALANCE. The proponent most vital
to time management is balancing
priorities. This includes but is not
limited to: studying, extracurricular
activities, and social expansion. You
must learn to balance schoolwork
and fun! Get organized, sequence
your most important priorities, and
most of all, remember that time is
not a crutch, but a powerful tool.
-Sophie Guru
FEATURE OF THE MONTH
New York Cares Day (AMSA)
Stay on the Look out for more Community Oriented Events or
contact Sophie Biograph to feature your event in the next Issue!!
Sophiebiograph.com
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