Survival Guide 2005: A

ACADEMIC ADVISING – These are the folks that can help you with such matters as advice on choosing majors, applying for graduate, law or medical school, choosing, dropping or withdrawing from classes, checking on your academic progress to make sure you haven’t missed a required class or two, as well as petitions for such things as adding/dropping classes late. They are generally very helpful, but our advice is, if it’s important, consult with more than one counselor to make absolutely sure that you’re getting correct, consistent information. You can make an appointment, or stop in during walk-in hours. Their office is on the third floor of the Melville Library, at the top of the very large staircase. Open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10:30-5 on Mondays. Tel. 632-7082, http://www.stonybrook.edu/aadvising.

AREA ATTRACTIONS OFF CAMPUS – Stony Brook University has one of the most richly diverse and consistently busy campus’ in the SUNY collegiate system. But sometimes one feels the need to get off campus and see what fun and entertainment lies in the surrounding areas. Luckily, Stony Brook and its neighboring towns hold a wealth of opportunities for activity and the necessary break from studying. The following are some of the better things to do and places to visit while spending some time off campus…

• Avalon, Old Stony Brook     Avalon is a park and nature preserve complete with footpaths located centrally in rural Stony Brook. To get there, you go to Harbor Road and Main Street (at the duck pond) on your way to the old village. You can enter through the main gate, which is located across the duck pond with a gate on Harbor Road, or you can explore the northern end of the park by driving up Harbor Road and then turning onto Shep Jones lane, where you will find parking and a small information kiosk with maps and stuff. Avalon is just what you'd expect from a nature preserve but not something you often see in suburban Long Island. It's a place you've been missing out on if you've been around here for a while and a place you should check out if you're new.

• The Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry, Port Jefferson     With numerous trips between Port Jefferson and Bridgeport, CT each day on one of three ferry boats, it’s a great option for a weekend getaway of sorts. The Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry Company also organizes tours throughout New England, which are worth checking out. Tel. (631) 473-0286, http://www.bpjferry.com.

• Martha Jefferson Cruises, Port Jefferson     Sailing out of Port Jefferson Harbor is the beautiful Martha Jefferson, whose deck is home to a variety of events that are both fun and reasonably priced. The most attractive of said events to students of Stony Brook University will most likely be the monthly Singles Cruise, which sets sail at 7PM on the first Thursday. What could be a better opportunity for romance to bloom than a boat filled to the brim with dancing and partying, with the beautiful sunset on the Long Island Sound providing the backdrop. The Martha Jefferson offers singles of all ages a unique and perfect setting to meet new people and have a great time. The Martha Jefferson runs this and all of its events beginning in June through October. For more information, visit: www.marthajefferson.com. Call (631) 331-3333.

• Mill Pond, Old Stony Brook     A right turn by the famous Stony Brook Museums will take you to a wonderful nature trip at Mill Pond. On a beautiful sunny day, ducks and geese alike flock to Mill Pond, where visitors feed and admire them as they soak up the sun. Mill Pond also features a recently-added series of nature walkways, which provide hours of outdoor adventure. And if that spirit of adventure captures you with particular distinction, a short walk up Main Street will take you to a small stretch of beach that proves very secluded and, thus, very relaxing. A great day outdoors!

• Port Jefferson Village, Port Jefferson     The home of the Bridgeport/Port Jefferson Ferry, Port Jefferson Village offers a multitude of activities and attractions within its borders. Along Main Street (and its offshoot, East Main Street), visitors are treated to numerous bars, restaurants and shops that provide hours of fun. Plus, the docks adjacent to Danford’s Inn are always a great place for a romantic walk for two. Places to look for: Tommy’s Place (an excellent bar and restaurant offering live music and a late night menu), Billie’s 1890 (a long-standing bar and restaurant which completes your visit to Port Jefferson Village), Tigerlily Café (a vegetarian-friendly eatery featuring acoustic-based live music frequently) and Toast (a café whose experience is so unique is defies description). Also worth noting are the free concerts the town puts on each Wednesday night on the lawn across from the Town Hall, which provide a cheap way to enjoy some music under the stars.

• The Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, Old Stony Brook    Talk museums to the average college student and more often than not they will tune right out. But this is one museum trip that simply cannot be missed. Only a short distance from campus on Rt. 25A, The Long Island Museum provides an abundance of rich, absorbing exhibitions. The Margaret Melville Blackwell History Museum presents changing exhibitions on American historical and social themes, with a gallery of fifteen miniature rooms and one of the top three hand-carved antique duck decoy collections in the United States. The Dorothy and Ward Melville Carriage House features nine galleries housing over 250 horse-drawn vehicles. Over 100 carriages, often regarded as the finest in the United States, are regularly on display, along with other rare artifacts from the carriage era. Additionally, art exhibitions are frequently held at The Long Island Museum, featuring some of the country’s finest works and most intriguing artistic statements. For a full calendar of events or for more information, visit: www.longislandmuseum.org. Call (631) 751-0066.

• Theatre Three, Port Jefferson     Tucked away at the far end of Main Street in Port Jefferson, Theatre Three is the home of some of the areas best and most critically acclaimed amateur productions. Each year, Theatre Three presents a Mainstage season of seven productions (four musicals, two plays, and A Christmas Carol); a Second Stage season featuring an on-going series of events including small plays, original one-acts, staged readings, and cabaret performances; an in-house children's theatre presenting nine original topical musicals; and a touring children's theatre offering four original programs dealing with child-at-risk or educational issues. Additionally, Theatre Three's Dramatic Academy offers three semesters each year (Fall, Winter-Spring, and Summer), an excellent opportunity to try out your talent for acting or (for Theater majors) to supplement your on-campus theater experience. For a calendar listing or more information, visit: www.theatrethree.com. Call (631) 928-9100.

AREA BUSINESSES AND SHOPPING – Stony Brook and its surrounding towns have a great deal of unique shops and big-name stores to keep even the most selective shopper satisfied. The Survival Guide has compiled a list of the most noteworthy places to get your shopping need fulfilled, sorted by category and listed along with a brief description of what they have to offer. It is located here.

ARTS ON CAMPUS – Stony Brook University is regarded by many as strictly a medical and scientific scholastic atmosphere. While the university does excel in those aforementioned areas, it is also a hot spot for the arts. There is a wealth of artistic statements being made daily on the Stony Brook University campus, although many are unknown to the student body in general. Here are a few of the locations and areas where the Stony Brook artistic community really shines…

• The Charles B. Wang Center - The Charles B. Wang Center, a celebration of both Asian and American cultures, is one of the most beautiful and inventive buildings given to any university. Here you'll experience spaces of surprising traditional beauty juxtaposed with the latest in communications technology. Filled with light and air, graced by gardens inside and out, the Center offers spaces suitable for conferences, performances, exhibitions, and celebrations. The Charles B. Wang Center initiates and collaborates with academic departments, student groups, community organizations, and individuals in presenting the public with a multifaceted, intellectually sound, and humane understanding of Asian and Asian American cultures, and their relationship to other cultures. The Wang Center is also a presenting venue for events of cultural, professional and intellectual calibre that are initiated by and involve the various components of Stony Brook University, Long Island communities and organizations as well as other regional, national, and international constituencies. The Wang Center is non-partisan and non-sectarian, and upholds the values of pluralism, democracy, and equality. It includes exhibit spaces, an interdenominational chapel, an Asian food court, a theater, two lecture halls, a series of interior and exterior pools and terraces, and more than 35,000 square feet of sprawling gardens. A fiber optic network will enable students and professors at Stony Brook to exchange ideas across the world in real time, regardless of their physical location.  The Wang Center is open to the public Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  with special events often held in the evenings and on weekends. Visit the Wang Center on the web: http://www.stonybrook.edu/wang/. Also, check out Jasmine Dining, for the best Asian cuisine on campus (more in the food reviews).

• The Staller Center for Performing Arts - The Staller Center offers a wide variety of performances from September through May and presents the Stony Brook Film Festival every July. Over 50 professional performances by entertainers such as Michael Feinstein, Judy Collins, Paul Taylor Dance Company and Opera Verdi Europa, as well as approximately 450 events generated by the departments of Art, Theater Arts, and Music, are part of the Staller Center season and are supplemented by those outside presenters such as the Long Island Philharmonic and the Seiskaya Ballet, which presents The Nutcracker. Since opening in 1978, The Staller Center for the Arts has presented an ever-expanding schedule of live music, dance, theatre, and fine art exhibitions in its five theaters and 5,000 square foot University Art Gallery.   In 1994, the center introduced 35mm film presentations in the Main Stage Theater, complete with Long Island’s largest screen and a Dolby sound system. The Fall and Spring Semester Film Series brings campus and community the best in art, foreign and popular films. The Main Stage theater seats approximately 1,050, the Recital Hall seats 380, and the three "black box" theaters have a seating capacity from 75 to 225. For more information, visit the Staller Center on the web: http://www.stallercenter.com.
  

• University Art Gallery, 1st Floor of Staller Center - Each year the gallery has several curated professional exhibitions, a graduating MFA show, and an undergraduate senior show. Faculty exhibitions occur on a two-year rotation. Over the past 25 years the gallery has exhibited the work of such notable artists as Carl Andre, Leon Golub, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Roy Lichtenstein, and Cindy Sherman. Recent group exhibitions have included Asian-American Artists: Cross-Cultural Voices; Distinguished Identities: Contemporary African Portraiture; Queer Visualities; and Intersecting Identities: Jewishness at the Crossroads. Upcoming exhibits:
  

              Recent Visions, Sept. 14 - Oct. 16
              Lucio Pozzi: Photoworks, Nov. 6 - Dec. 11
              MFA Thesis Exhibition 2005 , March 5 - Apr. 9
              Senior Show 2005 , Apr. 30 - May 18

• Graduate Art Gallery, 1st Floor of Melville Library - Run by M.F.A. students and faculty oversight by Grady Gerbracht. Second- and third-year students mount solo exhibitions in the space, including their individual thesis exhibition. Upcoming exhibits:
  

              Gabi Moisan, Make It Your Own, Sept. 13 - Oct. 15
              Lawrence Mesich, D.B.I. Temporary Office, Oct. 16 - Nov. 16
              Nilufer Ovaliglu, Mirrorland performance, Dec. 14, 16
              David Grozinsky, Jan. 24 - Feb. 16
              Max Liboiron, Feb. 17 - Mar. 9
              Amy Bagshaw, Mar. 10 - April 10
              Fumito Hiraoka, April 11 - May 2
              First Year Group Exhibition, May 3 – 18

• Undergraduate Art Gallery, Tabler Center for Arts, Culture and Humanities - Run by the student Fine Art Organization with faculty oversight from Christa Erickson.  Upcoming exhibits:
  

              300dpi, Oct. 17 - Nov. 24
              Digression(s), Dec. 1 - 9

• SAC Art Gallery, 1st Floor of Student Activities Center - Run by Curator/Interim Director Keith Miller.  Gallery Hours: 11am - 5 pm, Tuesday - Friday.  Upcoming exhibits:
  

              Cinco, Sept. 23 - Oct. 22
              Marriage, Nov. 4 - Dec. 9
              URECA Exhibition, April 5-28

• Pocket Theater- Completely student-run and student-managed, Pocket Theater puts on a number of entertaining performances throughout the year. Recent performances include “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [abridged],” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Check out their website at http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Clubs/pocket/.
  

• Prevention Through the Arts: “Swallow This” - An award winning program that puts dramaturgy in action. Swallow This is a touring production, written and performed by students, that utilizes drama, comedy and music in creative and powerful ways, cutting to the chase, and raise student awareness about Alcohol & Other Drugs (AOD). The program directly addresses the emotions behind substance use. The script is developed from actual annonymous stories collected from college student and staff relating their own experience with AOD.  For information, visit: http://ws.cc.sunysb.edu/theatrearts/pages/swallowthis.htm
  

Film On Campus

Aside from the annual Stony Brook Film Festival held in late July, Stony Brook University presents numerous opportunities for students to see films on campus throughout the semester. Here are a few of the upcoming highlights:

            “Mad Hot Ballroom” September 9 at 7PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Walk on Water” September 9 at 9:15PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Up and Down” September 16 at 7PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Crash” September 16 at 9:15PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Sin City” September 20 at 8PM, SAC Ballroom A
            “Ladies and Lavender” September 23 at 7PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Nobody Knows” September 23 at 7PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “War of the Worlds” October 7 at 9:15PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Broken Flowers” November 4 at 7PM, Staller Center Main Stage
            “Hustle and Flow” November 4 at 9:15PM, Staller Center Main Stage

Also worth noting are the COCA Movie Nights, which are held each Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, 7 – 11 p.m., in the Union Auditorium. These events feature more mainstream, hit films for students to view and enjoy.