Campus News

2004 News and Events

Posted 11/04/04
College Announces Student Housing and Electronic Patient Record Projects

Posted 10/22/04
2003 Campus Personal Safety Report (Download PDF)

Posted 8/10/04
ALEPH 500 GOES "LIVE" IN THE LIBRARY

Posted 6/29/04
SUNY State College of Optometry Graduation 2004

Posted 5/12/04
The Minnie Flaura Turner Memorial Fund for Impaired Vison Research Awards

Posted 2/24/04
ARVO is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2004 ARVO Travel Grants

SUNY TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY FOR STUDENT HOUSING

The SUNY College of Optometry's foundation, the Optometric Center of New York (OCNY) recently signed a contract for the purchase of property at 33 West 37th Street in Manhattan to allow for a long-needed student residence apartment building. It is anticipated that the project will be financed by tax-exempt bonds of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. The new facility will be within easy walking distance from the College.

"Following the resolution of zoning issues, architectural planning and other construction details, we hope to break ground in the Fall of 2005. This is an exciting development for our College and State University of New York as well, " said Dr. Alden N Haffner, President.

By the end of 2004, Allscripts, an electronic patient record system, will be fully implemented within the University Optometric Center, the College's patient care facility, according to Dr. Richard C. Weber, Vice President for Clinical Administration.The electronic record will give the patient a smoother, more efficient mode of vision care. Patient information will be electronically entered into various templates which will allow the doctor to send appropriate reports to referral sources and primary care physicians.Student interns will have the advantage of using this newest technology in patient management, thereby giving them a distinct advantage when they begin their practices.It is estimated that more than 62% of medical organizations and groups will invest in some facet of electronic record by the end of 2004.

The University Optometric Center is the largest outpatient vision care facility in the country.

ALEPH 500 GOES "LIVE" IN THE LIBRARY

The staff of the Harold Kohn Vision Science Library is pleased to announce the arrival of our new library management system, Aleph 500.The introduction of this new system, with an online catalog appropriately named Eyebrowze, is an important step in the overall implementation of SUNYConnect, a joint initiative of the SUNY Office of Library & Information Services and the 64 SUNY campuses to create a virtual library for the State University of New York.

The new web-based catalog is easy to navigate and has a variety of search and display features. It tells you instantly the location (reserve, reference, main collection) of the resource you need, and whether it is available for loan. In the future, Aleph will allow us to search every SUNY catalog, thus bringing us one important step closer to the goal of a statewide virtual library.

The introduction of our new library management system is the result of months of behind the scenes work by library staff. The process started in December 2003 and involved extensive training, policy decisions, and data input. Thanks to our new system, as well as faster computers and state-of-the-art scanners, you will be able to locate, check in, and check out resources more quickly and easily than ever.

Please get to know Eyebrowze by connecting through the Library home page, or by stopping by the Library. If you'd like a demonstration, just ask a Library staff member.

SUNY STATE COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY GRADUATION 2004

On Sunday, June 6, 63 graduates received Doctor of Optometry degrees; 27 received Certificates of Advanced Competence in Clinical Residency Programs; four received Doctor of Philosophy in Vision Science; and three received Master of Science in Vision Science from the State University of New York, State College of Optometry at its 30th Commencement. College President Alden N. Haffner said during the ceremony, ?Not only is Commencement a proud day for the College, but it is a special day for its stellar graduates and notably for their family members and friends. They have given so much in commitment, support and in sacrifice such that this day, in so many ways, is uniquely theirs. I pay my earnest respect to them for their critically important support.? Lieutenant General James B. Peake, M.D., Surgeon General, Department of the Army, and Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command, was the Commencement speaker. Lieutenant Peake is the recipient of numerous decorations and awards including the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit and Purple Heart, among others. He has written extensively on public and military medicine and is a respected speaker at medical meetings in the United States and abroad. Honorary Degree recipients included W. Neil Charman, Ph.D., Professor of visual optics at the Department of Optometry and Neuroscience, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in Manchester England; Thomas F. Freddo, O.D., Ph.D., Professor of Ophthalmology, Pathology and Anatomy at Boston University School of Medicine, Associate in Ophthalmology at Boston Medical Center Hospital, Adjunct Professor of Optometry, New England College of Optometry, Senior Consultant, Ophthalmic Pathology, Boston Medical Center; and David H. Hubel, M.D., John Franklin Enders University Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard University. In 1981, Dr. Hubel and Dr. Torsten Wiesel were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology.

THE MINNIE FLAURA TURNER MEMORIAL FUND FOR IMPAIRED VISON RESEARCH AWARDS

Congratulations to the following graduate students for receiving $1000 prizes and Certificates of Merit from The Minnie Flaura Turner Memorial Fund for Impaired Vison Research. These prizes are awarded to outstanding graduate students enrolled in member institutions of the Association for Schools and Colleges of Optometry.

Name: Bin Wang
Title of research: Blur Sensitivity in Keratoconus
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ken Ciuffreda

Name: Yanjun Chen
Title of research: Investigation of a rapid test for assessing glaucomatous optic neuropath
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Harry Wyatt

Name: Fan Zhang
Title of research: Does Inhibition of Capacitative Calcium Entry Prevent Glutamate Induced Excitotoxic Cell Death?"
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Peter S. Reinach

Name: Rocco Robillito
Title of research: Perceived transparency and suprathreshold contrast in optic nerve disease
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Qasim Zaidi

ARVO is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2004 ARVO Travel Grants to investigators who will be presenting at the 2004 ARVO Annual Meeting (April 24-29 in Ft. Lauderdale). The awards were made to two of our own graduate students. Bin Wang received funding through the Retina Research Foundation/Joseph M. and Eula C. Lawrence. Joshua Kunken received funding through the National Eye Institute. Congratulations to them and their graduate faculty advisors.

Bin Wang, K. J. Ciuffreda.   Blur discrimination of the human eye in the near retinal periphery

J.M. Kunken, H.Sun, B.B. Lee.   A novel method for deriving a tritan stimulus