Luckily Tom Niziol ’77 made it down off that roof safely. Now he draws on his Oswego snow schooling and a 30-year career with the National Weather Service in Buffalo in his role with the country’s premier source for consumer weather information.

Niziol

Niziol joined The Weather Channel in January 2012, and immediately took to the air to explain extreme weather conditions around the country.

He is featured regularly during winter weather coverage on The Weather Channel, which reaches more than 100 million American homes. Niziol also contributes his expertise with content on The Weather Channel’s digital platforms including weather.com and social media outlets.

Niziol enjoyed being a student in Oswego’s meteorology department, he said, not only because of the school’s excellent reputation in the field but because the program was small enough to get individualized attention and the opportunity for hands-on research with faculty members. The late Professors Emeriti Eugene Chermack and Robert Sykes were his mentors and heroes, he recalls.

“Professor Sykes used to take us onto the roof of the meteorology building to begin class each day and he spent time to train us how to connect and ‘feel’ the weather. I particularly remember one day when the winds were very light, they did not even rustle the flag and he asked us to tell him the wind direction,” Niziol recalls. “We all looked for signs to help us but could not find any. Then he asked us to smell the air. It smelled sweet like chocolate and we all immediately knew that was the aroma from the Nestle chocolate factory in Fulton. Now that’s meteorology at its finest.”

Niziol’s interest in weather started young. He remembers watching the sky and following the weather as a kid, but it was his high school earth science teacher who triggered his interest in meteorology as a profession. “However, once I arrived at Oswego, it kicked my interest into high gear and meteorology became a passion,” Niziol says.

MORE: Students at SUNY Oswego Pinpoint Storms for Schools

Oswego was a logical choice for the budding meteorologist. “I picked Oswego mainly because it was one of only a couple of state schools that offered a reasonably priced college education and had a meteorology department. I also picked it because of its idyllic location on the shores of Lake Ontario — what other college campus can offer the type of sunsets and connection with storms that Oswego can?” he says.

That connection spawned a host of memories for the weather expert, like pulling a couple of co-eds off the fence at the tennis court next to Seneca Hall when they could not navigate the icy sidewalks in 60-mph winds.

“The friends, the dorms, the meteorology lab, the wrestling team workouts, the sunsets, the winter storms, the lightning over the lake — it was all wonderful and it is so nice to revisit those memories from time to time,” Niziol says. “If I had to go back and relive those days, there is very little I would change.”

After Oswego, he went to work for the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories in Buffalo, now CALSPAN Corp., and from there joined the National Weather Service. He worked his way up the career ladder, eventually becoming the officer in charge of the Buffalo office.

After three decades at the government’s weather service, Niziol expected to finish out his career there, until a call came “out of the blue” from The Weather Channel, asking him to audition to ex­plain winter’s extreme weather to a national audience. He made the trip to Atlanta, auditioned and was invited to become part of a Weather Channel team that includes Oswego grads Thomas Moore ’74, who serves as coordinator of the weather forecasting program and now works hand in hand with Niziol, and Al Roker ’76, who hosts the channel’s popular “Wake Up with Al” morning program.

And how cool is it to be The Weather Channel’s winter storm expert? “I’m the luckiest man alive,” says Niziol, who cherishes his “very understanding family” and loved his dream job with the NWS in Buffalo. Now he has another dream job telling the whole nation about the weather phenomena he came to love and understand at SUNY Oswego.

Lou Borrelli Jr. ’77

Borrelli has been involved with the media technology company since last year, serving as an advisor and investor. He’ll now oversee all aspects of NimbleTV’s marketing, including communications, strategy and business development.

NimbleTV offers a kind of boxless Slingbox and DVR service, allowing cable, satellite and telecommunications TV subscribers the ability to stream their video content on numerous digital devices.

Borrelli previously served as president and CEO of NEP Broadcasting, an international provider of outsourced teleproduction services critical to the delivery of live sports and entertainment events.

Prior to joining NEP, he was senior VP of broadband for America Online, responsible for developing AOL’s High Speed Broadband business plan, managing the commercial launch of AOL High Speed Cable to Time Warner Cable customers, and developing distribution partnerships for AOL across the cable television and telecommunications industries.

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.

Meet the award-winning set decorator Debra Schutt ’77 and her team. This is the behind-the-scenes cast of the aspiring HBO series “The Corrections.” It’s a cast that won’t be talked about in the Hollywood rags or blogs, but their work is just as important to the success of the show.

Panning a rectangle of folding tables with laptops and coffee cups: Val is on the phone haggling over test tubes, Sammy is researching science projects as if they are on display in 1968 and Fanny is scouring the Internet for samples of erotic art.

Tina is managing the cash for the operation, Karen is mulling over set specs; and the production designer, David, is voting finds, samples and ideas up or down between conversations and emails with the show’s directors and producers.

And then there’s Debra, whose desk is nearly eclipsed by stacks of carpet, fabric, wallpaper and linoleum samples.

A poster board full of old family photos rests on the edge of her wobbly Ikea table. It’s a collection provided by Jonathan Franzen, the author of the book that inspired the show.

A rectangle of black foam core board on the wall behind Debra is labeled “Chip’s apartment” and has a sketch of a bright red chaise belonging to one of the main characters.

That bright red chaise is currently orange and sitting in a nearby room with a collection of other furnishings found on the Web or from middleman “pickers” who comb estate sales, storage lockers and the like for various objects.

“Lipstick red,” Debra says to herself while thumbing through some samples of upholstery fabric. She calls over to David for a second opinion.

Debra Schutt ’77 won an Emmy in 2011 for her work on the “Boardwalk Empire” pilot episode. Here, she recalls what went into the set decoration for these three scenes. “The first and last photos are scenes from the Lolly’s Casino. When I took the job I was very worried about where I was going to find the period tables. Luckily, I walked into an antiques shop in southern New Jersey called the Red Barn and there was the roulette table and it was from Atlantic City. “The middle photo is of Chalky White is on a set built at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn. The floor is painted marble and the fireplace, etc. is scenery.”

Later, Schutt will visit the fabric store in search of the specific color as well as a pattern that would fit with a couch in a suburban living room in the late 1990s, when the book takes place.

To create “The Corrections,” the set will need the right red, the most accurate fabric, the top props. Every conceivable detail down to how shiny the basement floor will be is mulled at this stage.

But, wait. Even in the age of high definition, who’s looking at this stuff?

“If you don’t notice, it means we did our job,” chimes Fanny.

Schutt slaps down a slab of 1960s basement-looking linoleum to gauge its authenticity.

“You don’t want people to notice,” she says in agreement without looking up. “You just want it to be right.”

For more than 30 years, Schutt has been doing it right as a set decorator, with a résumé that includes an Oscar nomination for “Revolutionary Road,” an Emmy win for the pilot of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and memorable sets from films like “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “A Bronx Tale.”

MORE: See Debra’s resume

Schutt sees herself in the role of building a character.

All the furniture, flooring, drapery, wall coverings and appliances you see on the screen come from the minds, phone calls and clicks of the set decorator and her team. It takes months of long days to make a movie — or in this case, a pilot episode for a television show.

This pilot will determine whether HBO adds “The Corrections” to its stable of award-winning cinematic series.

At the heart of the plot for “The Corrections,” three 30-something siblings gather with their parents for one last Christmas in their childhood home. Reminiscing ensues.

That’s why Sammy needs to perfect a set of 1960s science projects and Schutt is inspecting a piece of wood to determine whether it will match the grain and thickness of the folding table a project like that would sit on in 1968.

Val needs those test tubes to finish off an amateur laboratory in the basement of the “Corrections” house and Fanny needs the racy artwork to cover the main character’s wall for a scene.

Debra Schutt ’77 was nominated for an Oscar in 2009 for her work on “Revolutionary Road” starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Here, she recalls what went into the set decoration in these scenes. “The director, Sam Mendes, wanted a pair of matching 5-foot sofas for the living room. We finally had them made new but when they arrived they were over-stuffed, so we had to have an upholsterer unstuff the pair the day before we shot the scene. “In the kitchen scene, there were five chairs in the set. At one point in the film, Leonardo breaks a chair and we had only one extra. The construction department made several extras out of balsa wood but luckily Leonardo did it in one take using the one extra real chair.”

“I love the picture that develops,” Debra says. “I love that I get the opportunity to create these visuals.

“There’s never a ‘no.’ You can do anything,” she says.

Her career in set curating has firm roots in Oswego, where she was a member of Pi Delta Chi and earned a degree in education. As an upperclassman, she was drawn to the technical side of theatre and found mentors in department staff like Ken Stone ’68 and Jon Vermilye ’66.

“Debra was one of our exceptional students,” Vermilye remembers. “A very dependable and resourceful prop master, if she was doing the show, you were assured that the job would get done and the quality would be excellent.”

Her experience in Waterman Theatre, and her friend Alice Maguire ’76, helped Schutt get her first professional gigs in theater. She made the transition to film in the mid-1980s as a set decorator, a title she’s maintained her entire career.

Like many jobs in the film industry, it’s a tough gig. There are the long hours and logistical challenges that come with each project — Debra routinely works 12-hour days and once had to scramble for office desk tchotchkes at 7 a.m. … 30 minutes before shooting.

Job security is determined by skill. The work comes project to project, typically through networking.

Even if “The Corrections” is picked up and becomes a series, Debra may not be its set decorator for the duration. The “Boardwalk Empire” pilot was a one-off job as well.

She continues to do movies — the much-buzzed-about Sacha Baron Cohen film “The Dictator” is one recent project.

Perhaps the greatest influence on her career, though, is her apple farm upbringing outside of Rochester. The long days at her family-owned and -operated Schutt’s Apple Mill gave her the frame of mind to make it on a film crew.

“I am a worker,” she says. “I will just sink my teeth in and work until I drop … I’m obsessed.”

Most of that work goes unnoticed, but that’s the point. If the fixtures, fabrics and furnishings are spot on, you’re watching the movie.

Boardwalk Empire (2010) *

Revolutionary Road (2008) **

I Ghost Town (2008)

Margot at the Wedding (2006)

Rent (2005)

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2004)

Elf (2003)

The Human Stain (2003)

Anger Management (2003)

Spider-Man (2002)

The Stepford Wives (2002)

Changing Lanes (2001)

What’s the Worst That
Could Happen? (2000)

28 Days (1999)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Cradle Will Rock (1998)

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

A Perfect Murder (1997)

Lolita (1997)

Picture Perfect (1996)

Bed of Roses (1995)

Boys on the Side (1995)

Clockers (1994)

The Paper (1993)

A Bronx Tale (1993)

Last Action Hero (1993)

The Saint of Fort Washington (1991)

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Pacific Heights (1990)

The Boyfriend School (1990)

Navy Seals (1988)

Seven Minutes in Heaven (1985)

* Won Emmy for “Outstanding Art Direction”

** Nominated for “Best Art Direction” Academy Award

SOURCE: imdb.com

BACK TO “The Big Picture“

Peter McCarthy ’82 is an attorney and partner at Cullen and Dykman, LLP. He is a member of The New York County Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Brooklyn Bar Association and Bay Ridge Lawyers Association.

As a student at Oswego, he was involved with the Student Association and as a resident assistant. At Oswego, he double-majored in history, where he won the Goodwin prize, and political science. He earned a juris doctorate degree at Brooklyn Law School. Peter was one of the Class of 1982 Reunion Giving Committee chairs and in 1997 established the Daniel McCarthy Scholarship at Oswego, in memory of his brother Daniel, a victim of the 1988 Pan-Am Flight 103 Lockerbie air disaster. The scholarship gives Oswego students opportunities for studying abroad.
Peter and wife, Taryne McCarthy, have three children and reside in Bridgewater, N.J.

Colleen Murphy ’77 is president and CEO of Community Foundation of Collier County, a tax-exempt, public charitable fund, established in 1985 to increase and focus private philanthropy in the area. The foundation manages a pool of permanent endowed funds established by charitable individuals, and makes grants from the investment earnings to address community needs and issues. In addition, she is a certified public accountant.

Colleen graduated from Oswego with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She served on the Reunion Committee in 2002 and is an active participant at Oswego alumni events in Florida. As a student she was involved in synchronized swimming and the women’s swimming and diving team, an activity she continues to pursue today.

Colleen and her husband, Paul Skapura, reside in Naples, Fla.

Irwin, president and CEO of Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, Fla., has made a living out of researching and teaching the public about dolphins. Featuring 20 bottlenose dolphins as well as California sea lions, the center hosts narrated behavior sessions, educational presentations and interactive programs for the public.

Rita Irwin ’77 is president and CEO of the Dolphin Research Center in Florida.

It is also the southernmost manatee rescue operation in the country. As president, Irwin is responsible for taking care of the marine mammals, as well as maintaining the direction and mission of the entire center and its 83 employees.

Despite the stark differences, Irwin still finds a way to see parallels between the paradise-like city she resides in now and the notoriously chilly Port City, especially when looking out into the water.

“We used to look out onto the lake and see the snowstorms coming,” Irwin said. “Now I’m in the Florida Keys looking at the Gulf of Mexico. It’s very similar to being on campus and looking at the lake, but instead of snowstorms, it’s rain storms.”

Born and raised in New York City, Irwin’s first taste of small-town living came when she arrived at Oswego for college. It was an experience she says she still cherishes, and one that helped her make the decision to move to Florida, where she met her husband, Dan Gallagher.

“When I came to the Keys, I was so attracted to the research center and Oswego helped me realize I could move out of a big city. I like the small town experience and Oswego was the only small town I lived in before I came to the Keys.”

Outside of the job, Irwin has also found time to be active in the community, especially in the theatre scene. She recently co-wrote a musical and it is set to debut in March. Titled “Act Now,” the production is about an audition at a community theatre and the lives and decisions of the people at the theatre. A theatre major while at Oswego, she credits her time working on productions at college for her latest accomplishment.

“[Writing and directing a musical was] a lifelong dream of mine. All of the hours I spent in the Oswego theatre have paid off.”

— Kyle C. Gargan ’11