Focusing on the Future: Focarino Makes History as First Female Commissioner of Patents

When Margaret “Peggy” La Tulip Focarino ’77 was a fifth grader in the ’60s, most girls her age wanted Barbie dolls or Easy-Bake ovens. She asked herparents for a telescope.
The little girl who so loved science and discovery became the only woman majoring in physics during her time at SUNY Oswego. And she’s still breaking new ground.

Preserving Personal Pasts — One Story at a Time

The stories are out there: in Brooklyn, in Atlanta, in San Francisco, in Mesilla, N.M., and in tiny Upstate New York towns like Rensselaer Falls.

Each quarter, former WRVO staffer Jasmyn Belcher ’06 produces a month’s worth of weekly segments for broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition.” The job requires hours of listening to StoryCorps archives and traveling to find new stories in communities across America.
Jasmyn Belcher ’06 believes that everyone anywhere has a story to tell. It’s just a matter of finding them.

The Big Picture: Alumna Sets the Scenes that Make the Movies

On the seventh floor of an aging West 52nd Street building, on folding tables, corkboards and floors, they are creating.

Above, Debra Schutt ’77 poses with her Emmy award for “Outstanding Art Direction” that she won in 2011.
On Craigslist and eBay, with items from prop shops and pickers, they are setting the scene.

On a laptop, at the fabric store, in discussions that float around this corner of the cavernous floor, they are building a character.

From Patrolling Boroughs to Protecting Borders

Rafael G. “Jova” Rodriguez ’98 insists he’s no hero.
When 7 World Trade Center collapsed near him Sept. 11, 2001, the then-patrolman admits he was running for his life with everyone else.

Chemistry: a winning formula for Pagano

Todd Pagano ’96 isn’t trying to win awards.
The Oswego chemistry graduate is focused on doing high-level research in florescence spectroscopy that can help predict the formation of dangerous carcinogens in drinking water and map cancer-causing chemicals in cigarette smoke as a member of the Rochester Institute of Technology faculty.