President Travis & Trustees Ring NASDAQ Bell on Veterans Day

As part of John Jay’s commemoration of Veterans Day, President Jeremy Travis rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ OMX stock market in Times Square. Joining him for the November 11 event were John Jay student veterans, members of the John Jay College Foundation Board of Trustees and representatives from companies participating in John Jay’s Veterans Corporate Roundtable.

NASDAQ Senior Vice President Robert McCooey Jr. formally welcomed the John Jay delegation and recognized a number of for-profit corporations, including 1-800-Flowers, Jos. A. Bank, Avis Budget Group, K2 Intelligence, Viacom’s Spike TV, Sears Holdings, MedAssets, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Marsh & McLennan, Verizon, Drexel Hamilton, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, L’Oreal, LSI Industries and Paychex, for their veterans hiring and philanthropic initiatives. Several nonprofit groups that provide direct services to veterans, including Hire Heroes USA, Four Block Foundation and Cost of Freedom, were also acknowledged.

Veterans Day also brought news that John Jay has moved up in the latest national “Best for Vets” rankings of 600 universities by Military Times EDGE magazine. John Jay was ranked 16th nationally, up from 37th a year ago, putting the College ahead of all New York City colleges and universities. John Jay was also the only City University school to make the list.

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Boston Marathon Bombing Is the Top Criminal Justice News Story of 2013

The terrorist bombing that rocked the Boston Marathon in April, killing three people and injuring 183 others, was the top criminal justice news story of 2013, according to the annual survey conducted by The Crime Report.

The Crime Report, a daily online news service published by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Criminal Justice Journalists, surveyed its readers to determine the top 10 criminal justice news stories of the year. The results were published December 16 on the TCR Web site.

By an overwhelming margin, TCR readers also selected former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who led the police department’s response to and investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing, as the criminal justice Person of the Year.

Stephen Handelman, Director of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice, noted that 2013 “was a year with dramatic developments across the world of criminal justice. Next year promises to be just as eventful.” He added that many of those who responded to the TCR survey “emphasized the importance of looking beyond the headlines to developments that promised a longer range impact on the way our justice system operates.”

In addition to the Boston Marathon bombing, the list of top 10 stories includes such topics as stop-and-frisk practices, marijuana reform and government surveillance. To read The Crime Report and the complete top 10 list, click here.

Click here for the Person of the Year story.

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November Means Excitement for Bloodhounds & Fans

The John Jay Athletics program had a few additional reasons to be thankful this past Thanksgiving, starting with a wildly successful Homecoming event on November 26 that included the dedication of a new Alumni Skybox in the main gymnasium, twin victories by the men’s and women’s basketball teams and a career scoring milestone by the leading women’s player.

Senior forward Jamecia Forsythe, an English major from Brooklyn, became one of a select few players to reach 1,000 points for her career when she scored 12 in the women’s team’s 86-77 win over City College. Later that evening, the men’s team beat City College in overtime, 100-95.

On December 4, Forsythe added to her entry in the basketball record books when she passed the 1,000-rebound threshold, grabbing 12 in a 61-55 win over NYU-Poly. She is the Bloodhounds’ career leader in rebounds and only the fifth women’s player to score 1,000 or more points.

"I am really proud of this milestone," Forsythe said. "I would like to thank my coaching staff, teammates, friends and family who constantly push me. I could not have done this without them."

Homecoming also featured a salute to graduating seniors, and a ribbon-cutting to open the new Alumni Skybox overlooking the gym floor. Among the dignitaries on hand for the Homecoming ceremonies were New York State Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry and CUNY Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Frank Sanchez.

Megan McCarthy, a first-year member of the women's cross-country team, brought some additional Thanksgiving season joy when she was named CUNY Athletic Conference/Hospital for Special Surgery Scholar-Athlete of the Month for November. An Honors Program student, McCarthy boasts a 3.973 GPA while pursuing a BS in International Criminal Justice.

The sophomore from Levittown, NY, was an integral part of the Bloodhounds' third-place finish at the CUNYAC Cross Country Championship, finishing 15th overall with a time of 28:56. Three weeks later, at the NCAA Division-III Regionals, McCarthy ran her best time of the season, finishing the six-kilometer course in 27:51.

"Megan is the epitome of what it is to be a student-athlete," said head coach Tony Phillips. "She works very hard in the classroom and on the field of play."

McCarthy sees important similarities between time spent in the classroom and time spent running, and she credits this for her all-round success. "Both require focus, determination and work. Neither can be done half-heartedly if you want to be successful. When you find success in one area, you want it in all the others."

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Professor Kobilinsky Ranked Among Nation’s Best in DNA Analysis

Professor Lawrence Kobilinsky, chair of the John Jay Department of Sciences, has been cited as one of the nation’s top 15 DNA analysis professors by the Web site www.forensicscolleges.com.

Kobilinsky, a forensic serologist who is familiar to viewers of TruTV and other crime-oriented programming, specializes in using the latest technologies to link bodily fluids and tissues to potential crime suspects. He has served as an advisor to crime laboratories and related facilities in such places as Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and China, with his efforts having earned him numerous awards and other recognitions.

The Web site’s top 15 ranking of “authoritative experts in the field” was based on criteria that include interesting research to promulgate new technologies or strategies in DNA analysis, practical experience outside the academic setting, and a track record of publication on the subject.

In all, John Jay College is represented three times on the list, which also includes two alumni. Lawrence Quarino, who received his master’s degree from John Jay and his PhD from the John Jay/CUNY Graduate Center doctoral program in criminal justice (forensic science specialization), is currently director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest  College in Pennsylvania. Katherine Roberts, who also earned her doctorate from the John Jay/CUNY Graduate Center, is a professor and director of the master’s program in criminalistics at California State University-Los Angeles.

Click here to read the online article and rankings.

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Distinguished Professor Jock Young, 1942-2013

Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology Jock Young, one of the giants in the field of critical criminology, died suddenly on November 16. He was 71.

Young came to John Jay in 2002, having already distinguished himself as a scholar at Middlesex University in England, where he taught for 16 years and was head of the Centre on Criminology. He first came to international attention in 1973 with his book The New Criminology, and he continued to research, write and publish groundbreaking work until just before his death. In 2012 he published The Criminological Imagination, the concluding volume of a trilogy that also includes The Exclusive Society (1999) and the Vertigo of Late Modernity (2007). 

He has been recognized in 2003 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Critical Criminology Division, and in 2012 with the Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Society of Criminology.

“It is impossible to overstate the influence of Jock Young,” said John Jay College President Jeremy Travis. “He has been a fearless intellectual, always willing to challenge conventional wisdom and to push the boundaries of the discipline known as criminology.” 

Young’s longtime colleague, Professor David Brotherton, Chair of the Department of Sociology, said Young was particularly proud of the lifetime achievement honors. “For him it was a form of vindication for having swum against the tide on behalf of the dominated for so many years,” Brotherton said. “He never tired of criticizing received wisdom but he also never contented himself with having reached the ‘true’ position.

“In the last few years his writing reached new heights of clarity, insight and style that will retain their relevance when the hacks, apparatchiks and technocrats of so much social science are long forgotten,” Brotherton added.

Travis observed that countless John Jay professors and graduate students “can trace their own intellectual growth to the moments when Jock would challenge their thinking, point them in the direction of new scholarship, and gently encourage them to think bigger and harder.  He was a gentle presence on our campus, with a twinkle in his eye and a genuine appreciation of the vitality of this community of scholars.”

Young is survived by his wife, John Jay Associate Professor of Sociology Jayne Mooney, along with three sons and a stepdaughter. The College has created the Jock Young Memorial Fund to assist his family with medical and other expenses. Contributions should be submitted to the Bursar’s Office in Room L70.00 NB. Checks should be made payable to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with “Jock Young” indicated in the memo portion of the check.

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Orange Is the New Justice Trailblazer

Piper Kerman, whose 2010 best-selling memoir was the inspiration for the critically acclaimed Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” will receive the 2014 Justice Trailblazer Award presented by John Jay College’s Center on Media, Crime and Justice.

The award will be presented on February 10 as part of the center’s 9th annual Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America. The two-day symposium, titled “Justice and Prosperity,” will focus on efforts to restore the economic potential of the lives and communities damaged by “tough on crime” policies.

"The center has nominated Kerman for this unique recognition because of her boundary-pushing work in creating ‘Orange Is the New Black,’” said President Jeremy Travis. “By opening our eyes to so many aspects of the system, particularly as it affects women, she has indeed been a trailblazer in the effort to raise public consciousness about the contradictions of that system, and to bolster the fight to ensure our country lives up to its promise of ‘equal justice for all.’”

The Justice Trailblazer Award honors individuals from the media and related fields who have expanded public awareness about the challenges and complexities of criminal justice. David Simon, former reporter and creator of the HBO series “The Wire,” was honored in 2013.

Kerman’s memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, was based on her experiences in the federal prison in Danbury, CT, where she served a 15-month sentence for money laundering and drug trafficking.

"We're especially proud to honor Piper as our 2014 Justice Trailblazer, not just for her contribution to changing the way we think about our justice system, but also in recognition of her own hard-won personal transformation," said Stephen Handelman, Director of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice. "She's an inspiration to thousands of currently incarcerated individuals who are working toward a second chance in society, and to journalists who write about them."

Kerman is a sought-after speaker for audiences of students, federal probation officers, public defenders, justice reform advocates, book clubs, and formerly and currently incarcerated people.

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FACULTY & STAFF NOTES

The Printed Page

Peter Moskos (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) had his newest book, Greek Americans: Struggle and Success (3rd ed.), published on November 30 by Transaction Publishers. The book includes an introduction by former Massachusetts Governor and Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis.

Abby Stein (Interdisciplinary Studies) has a new book in print, Cupid’s Knife: Women’s Anger and Agency in Violent Relationships. Published in November by Routledge, the book is part of the Psychoanalysis in a New Key series.

Presenting...

Itai Sneh (History) presented his paper “Post 9/11 Constitutional Perspectives on Torture: Did the Prohibited Become the Norm?” at the Fourth Annual Constitutional Law Colloquium held at Loyola University Chicago School of Law on November 1.

Charles Nemeth (Security, Fire and Emergency Management) delivered two invited lectures at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey, this past summer. One lecture featured John Jay’s response to mass shooting last December at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. The second presentation assessed the use of force against recent protests in Turkey and the distinction between private police and public police legal liability in America.

Peter Moskos (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) in early November spoke about "Getting Soft on Crime" and discussed his book In Defense of Flogging at the "Festival of Dangerous Ideas" held in Sydney, Australia.

Adam Berlin (English) read from his new boxing novel Both Members of The Club, and Alexander Long (English) read from his boxing poetry at the KGB Bar in Manhattan on December 3.

Klaus von Lampe (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) gave a presentation on “The Illegal Cigarette Trade: Patterns and Trends from a Criminological Perspective” at the inaugural meeting in November of a committee on the illicit tobacco trade convened by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. Von Lampe was recently appointed to serve on the committee.

Recognition

Jon Shane (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) has been named winner of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ 2014 Outstanding Mentor Award. The award will be presented on February 21, 2014, during the annual ACJS conference in Philadelphia.

Jane Katz (Health and Physical Education) has been chosen for induction into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in the Administrator category for 2014. She joins such notable past honorees as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin and former Olympic champion and Tarzan portrayer Johnny Weissmuller. Katz also received the “2013 Amazing People Award” from the Aquatic Council of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance on November, 21, where she delivered a presentation on the future of aquatics in the 21st century.

Delores Jones-Brown (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) on November 21 received the Julius Debro Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division on People of Color and Crime. The award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions in service to professional organizations, academic institutions or the advancement of criminal justice.

Lisandro Perez (Latin American and Latina/o Studies) was one of the recipients of the 2013 “Premio El,” an annual recognition presented by El Diario La Prensa on November 14to the most outstanding men in the Latino community.  Perez was also featured in a special supplement of the newspaper highlighting the accomplishments of the award recipients and their contributions to the Latin American community.