Undergraduate commencement ceremonies remaining outdoors

Today’s 10 a.m. undergraduate commencement ceremony for the School of Business and College of Arts and Sciences will be held outdoors on the academic quadrangle on the Mount Carmel Campus.

At this time, the 3 p.m. commencement ceremony for the School of Communications, School of Health Sciences and School of Nursing also will be held outdoors on the Mount Carmel Campus. The university will continue to monitor the weather conditions and will notify the university community by 12 noon of any changes in the schedule for the 3 p.m. commencement ceremony.

Please click here to read more information on undergraduate commencement.

Also please follow the university’s social media platforms for the latest information on today’s commencement ceremonies.

Interstate 95 roadwork completed ahead of schedule

Roadwork on Interstate 95 northbound, which was expected to cause traffic delays and lane closures, has been completed early and ahead of the May 19 Commencement. The closures were expected to significantly impact travel time to Quinnipiac.

Please do keep in mind, several area universities are holding their commencement ceremonies this weekend. For this reason, please allow additional travel time when planning your arrival for Commencement.

• Please click here to read more about the lane closures.
• Please click here to find more information about the Commencement.
• Be sure to join the conversation on social media. Tag #QU2013 in your related tweets and Instagram posts.

Interstate 95 lane closures will impact traffic from May 17-19

Lane closures on Interstate 95 northbound between Exit 46 and Exit 48, which leads to Interstate 91 northbound, are expected to cause major traffic backups, beginning Friday, May 17, and continuing through Commencement on Sunday, May 19.

These closures are expected to significantly impact travel time to Quinnipiac. In addition to the lane closures, several area universities are holding their commencement ceremonies this weekend. Please allow additional travel time when planning your arrival for Commencement.

• Please click here to read more about the lane closures.
• Please click here to find more information about the Commencement.
• Be sure to join the conversation on social media. Tag #QU2013 in your related tweets and Instagram posts.

Communications professor and Polling Institute staff member nominated for Emmy for their documentary ‘Aeromedical’

“Aeromedical,” a documentary by Quinnipiac University School of Communications Professor Rebecca Abbott and Tim Malloy, a former television journalist who is now an assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, has been nominated for an Emmy award by the Boston/New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Abbott, of Hamden, and Malloy, of Fairfield, co-produced and co-directed the 28-minute documentary about the life-and-death struggle that takes place every week in the skies above Europe on Aeromedical evacuation missions, and about the storied history of these life-saving flights. Bradley O’Connor, a veteran cameraman and Quinnipiac alumnus, served as associate producer and camera person for the film and is included on the Emmy nomination.

“It’s a medical story and it’s a story of courage. It’s not a political story,” said Malloy, who also served as writer for the project. “The military does an amazing job of taking care of you when you’re hurt.”

In the 30 years Malloy spent working as a journalist, he traveled to Afghanistan nine times. His work has earned five Emmy awards and more than 25 nominations, but Malloy says this one is different. “This is really important. It’s a nomination that means a lot.”

Abbott says she welcomed the opportunity to shed light on a little-known aspect of the war. “[The crews] were really glad that we were telling this story,” she said. “They thanked us for being so positive in our approach.”

The United States Air Force regularly runs aeromedical evacuation missions carrying wounded soldiers from battlegrounds in America’s current conflicts to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, often within hours of their injury on the battlefield. From there, the most seriously wounded–many are amputee victims of IED explosions–are transported to major military hospitals in the US, where they can arrive in as few as three days of their initial injury. The survival rate is an astounding 98 percent.

This was not always the case, however. It has taken nearly 100 years of effort, starting in 1918 with the first aeromedical rescue in a Curtis JN-4H Jenny bi-plane, to perfect this combination of medicine and aviation. Missions now take place on C-17, C130 and KC135 military transport aircraft that have been converted into flying trauma wards.

The documentary is a story both of the heroism of soldiers who have risked their lives on the battlefield, and of the doctors, nurses, technicians, and aviation crews, many of them women and 88 percent of them members of the National Guard and Reserves.

“For me, the greatest part is that these people are serving their country by saving lives,” Abbott said.

“Aeromedical” was filmed between June and December of 2011 and released in April 2012. Location shoots took place in June and November of 2011 at Bagram Air Force Base and Gazni in Afghanistan; at Ramstein AFB and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany; and Andrews AFB in Virginia. The crew spent 36 hours shooting footage aboard military transport aircraft. The documentary also includes archival film of the history of aeromedical evacuation, made available by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 1 in Boston.

Professor Rich Hanley to discuss changing television industry on China Radio International

Rich Hanley, associate professor and director of the graduate journalism program in Quinnipiac University’s School of Communications, is scheduled to discuss changes in broadcast journalism on China Radio International’s “Today.”

Hanley will discuss the changing broadcasting model.

Listen to the conversation live at 10 p.m. EDT here.

University to host symposium on the Great Hunger May 17

Quinnipiac University will host the symposium, “Exploring the Legacies of the Great Hunger: The Cultural, Spiritual, Psychological and Political Consequences for Today’s Ireland from Centuries of Colonization,” from 1-4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17, in the Grand Courtroom of the School of Law Center on the Mount Carmel Campus. This event is free and open to the public.

Christine Kinealy, a visiting professor in residence at Quinnipiac who is known internationally for her ground-breaking research on the Great Hunger, and Dr. Garrett O’Connor, an internationally recognized psychiatrist who specializes in addiction and healing, will present at the symposium, which is being sponsored by Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University, 3011 Whitney Ave., Hamden.

Kinealy’s presentation, “The Famine Killed Everything: Cultural and Political Legacies of Colonial Rule,” will run from 1:15-2 p.m. Kinealy’s talk will explore the Great Hunger in relation to Ireland’s colonial relationship with Britain.

O’Connor’s address, “Ireland Sober is Ireland Free!: A Laughable, Desirable or Feasible Proposition,”  will take place from 2:15-3:15 p.m. O’Connor will discuss his 1997 work, “Recognizing and Healing Malignant Shame: A Statement About the Urgent Need for Psychological and Spiritual Recovery from the Effects of Colonialism in Ireland.” He will revisit this topic, placing it in the context of both recent developments in Ireland and the longer-term impact of colonization on the Irish spirit.

The symposium will conclude with Kinealy and O’Connor facilitating the session, “Sharing Stories,” from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Please click here to read more.

Relay for Life raises more than $76,000

From left, Quinnipiac University students Caitlin Ziegler, Christine Porzio, Katie Winkle, Becky Kleiman and Keith Yatauro, were all co-chairs of this year’s Relay for Life at Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac University raised more than $76,000 during its Relay for Life, an organized community fundraising walk to raise money for the American Cancer Society, on April 19-20 at the TD Bank Sports Center.

The top three fundraising teams from Quinnipiac each raised more than $1,000 each; the first place team, Kate’s Krew, raised $3,233. More than 120 teams and 936 participants attended the event. Kate’s Krew was formed in support of Orange resident and Quinnipiac student Katie Winkle, a leukemia survivor. Winkle, a sophomore in the School of Nursing, was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and was treated with six rounds of chemotherapy. Now in remission, Winkle served as event co-chair and has participated in multiple relay events.

Please click here to read more.