‘Ivory Tower Half Hour’ to spotlight CNY faculty

‘Ivory Tower Half Hour’ to spotlight CNY facultySeptember 03, 2002Nicci Brownnicbrown@syr.edu

Central New Yorkers can get a glimpse into some of the sharpest minds on the SU Hill during “The Ivory Tower Half Hour,” which premiers at 11 p.m. Sept. 6 on PBS-affiliate WCNY-TV.

The weekly program is a round-table talk show meant to explore the “hottest issues of the day” from a Central New York perspective. Hosted by Dean David Rubin of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the program will also include Kristi Anderson, political science professor at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; and panelists from SUNY Cortland, Cornell University and Cazenovia College. Newhouse broadcast journalism professor Barbara Fought will host the program when Dean Rubin is not available.

“The program will showcase some of the outstanding faculty members available to students at colleges and universities in Central New York, arguably the richest and deepest area of public and private higher education in the nation,” Rubin says. “We will discuss three or four issues each week, give some ‘A’s’ and ‘F’s’ to players in the news, and read e-mails from our audience when they think we’re nuts.”

Rubin says the team hopes to be informative, to have fun, and to entertain. He says the program will also provide local programming and local commentators, who may have different views than national network celebrities, who often exhibit a Washington, D.C. or New York City perspective.

Other panelists on “The Ivory Tower Half Hour” include: Robert J. Spitzer, professor of political science at SUNY Cortland; Glenn Altschuler, professor of American studies at Cornell University; John Robert Greene, professor of history and humanities at Cazenovia College; and Tara Ross, associate professor of social sciences at Onondaga Community College.