fordham storiesFALL/WINTER 2012 | VOL. 1 | NO. 2

Humor, Joy, and the Spiritual Life

The two recent Fordham College at Lincoln Center grad-uates have earned admission to prestigious postgraduate programs: for Duran, a Fulbright Fellowship to Spain and admission to Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Medical College, and for Cusumano, a Rector and Santander Mas-ter’s Scholarship and a spot at Imperial College London to pursue a Master of Public Health.

One of Fordham’s eight Fulbright winners in 2012, Duran will spend the next year at the Cajal Institute in Madrid, one of the oldest and most esteemed neurobio-logical research centers in Spain. There, he will work in Cajal’s department of neuroactive steroids and have the opportunity to launch his own research. His project, “Traumatic Brain Injury in Astrocytes,” could provide key insights for scientists developing treatment for devastat-ing brain injuries.

“Traumatic brain injuries affect 1.6 million people in the United States every year,” Duran said. “It’s a major problem, and it’s going to be around forever, since there’s no way to completely avoid injury.”

Duran’s research focuses on selective estrogen recep-tor modulators, or SERMs, which are compounds that, among their other roles, can reduce inflammation in the brain. Understanding how SERMs accomplish this could help scientists in developing drugs that do likewise.

“The big picture of all of this is that we can someday improve the critical care that patients who suffer from traumatic brain injuries receive.”

A thousand miles north of Madrid, Cusumano is beginning classes at Imperial College London, where he will focus his coursework on epidemiology, the study of the distribution and causes of disease. He is working with Sir Roy Anderson, a leading expert in the field. Anderson established the Department of Infectious Disease Epi-demiology at Imperial in 2000, focusing on the biology, evolution, and control of viral infections and infectious diseases like influenza, AIDS, SARS, and bird flu.

Under Anderson, Cusumano will research national preparedness plans for influenza pandemics. “He’s so well

known,” Cusumano said. “Working with a mentor like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Cusumano’s path to medicine is motivated by his par-ents’ past struggles with illness, he said. During his fresh-man year, his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It wasn’t the first time a serious disease affected his fam-ily. When Cusumano was just six years old, his mother battled breast cancer, ultimately winning the fight. His father’s diagnosis, coupled with the memories of his mother’s illness, led Cusumano to the pivotal decision to study medicine. “The roots in medicine had been there for a very long time, but that instance brought it out of me,” Cusumano said. “I knew it was it my path.”

After graduating from Fordham in May 2011, both Cusumano and Duran wasted little time. Duran interned with Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitar-ian Affairs, exploring the development of international health, human rights, and other humanitarian issues,

SCIENCE | continued page 3

The highly anticipated event had Fordham students pull-ing an all-nighter. Hundreds of students began setting up camp outside the McGinley Center in the late evening hours for a spot in line to get one of the limited-number event wristbands. By noon the next day, 2,300 student wristbands were distributed.

The discussion—moderated by James Martin, S.J., author of the book Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life (HarperOne, 2011)—drew a rousing crowd of more than 3,000 spectators, mostly students, prompting The New York Times to call it perhaps “the most successful Roman Catholic youth evangelization event since Pope John Paul II last appeared at World Youth Day.”

The conversation had more than its fair share of zing-ers—Dolan: “Do you feel pressure to be funny all the time?” Colbert: “Do you feel pressure to be holy all the time?”—but it also was quite thoughtful.

“Lord knows there are plenty of Good Fridays in our lives,” Cardinal Dolan said, “but they will not prevail. Eas-ter will. As we Irish claim, ‘Life is all about loving, living, and laughing, not about hating, dying, and moaning.’”

Natalie DeVaughn, a sophomore international stud-ies major at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, said it was both an earnest and entertaining conversation about faith. “I think it’s important that people know that reli-gion isn’t all about reprimanding and guilt, that it’s sup-posed to give you happiness,” she said. “I think this was definitely about happiness.”

It was equal parts pep rally, comedy show, and religious revival in the Rose Hill Gymnasium

on Friday evening, Sept. 14, when Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, joined

Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, for “The Cardinal and Colbert:

Humor, Joy, and the Spiritual Life.”

The Serious Business of Being Funny

Masters of Wit and Witness: Stephen Colbert (left), James Martin, S.J., and Timothy Cardinal Dolan kept the students cheering and chanting throughout the event.Colbert received a big ovation from the crowd when he swapped his purple tie for a Fordham maroon tie after receiving it as a gift from Father McShane.

Serious Science: Recent Fordham graduates Lucas Cusumano (left) and Juan Duran, who share a commitment to serving others through medicine, earned scholarships to study at prestigious research centers in Europe.T he past several years have been busy ones for

Juan Duran and Lucas Cusumano—and the next

decade or so isn’t looking any calmer.

Science Ambassadors

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fordhamstories

For more than two weeks in August, Hillary Fisk, FCLC ’12, was at the

center of the political world: the Republican National Convention in

Tampa, Fla. As a production coordinator, she helped secure multimedia

elements for the speakers and worked in liaison with the campaign staff.

“It was an amazing experience to see it and understand it from the inside,” she said. “Everything I had learned in my political science courses at Fordham, I got to see at [the convention] live and not just from CSPAN on my TV.”

Politics wasn’t always on Fisk’s career path. She was a junior communication major at Fordham when, after hearing students rave about Christina Greer, Ph.D., assistant pro-fessor of political science, Fisk sat in on a class. She loved the professor and loved the subject matter. “I got over my fear of politics and changed my major at the last possible moment,” she said.

With a newly discovered passion, Fisk secured several internships in New York City and Washington, D.C., including positions at the congressional office of U.S. Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

“It’s the advantage of going to a school with a great reputation and in New York City. Companies look for people they can trust to fill their internships,” she said. “Not only are you doing an internship with a news station, you’re doing it with NBC.”

Originally from Springfield, Mo., Fisk headed back to her hometown after graduation to be director of campaign operations for former Missouri state treasurer Sarah Steel-man, who was seeking election to the U.S. Senate. Steelman lost the primary election, but Fisk gained valuable experience working at the ground level of the campaign.

“I saw a lot of what I had learned [at Fordham] carried out and come into play. Because I had that education, had that background, I could understand the process,” she said. “I love Fordham. I love politics.”

Anne Mielke, a junior in the Gabelli School of Business, wrote that blog post on June 11, just after learning she landed an internship at the 2012 Summer Olympics. And even two months later, when Fordham Stories met with Mielke just days before the start of the fall semester, her enthusiasm had not waned one bit.

“It was amazing to be part of the biggest sporting event for the world,” she said, “and feeling that energy and excitement is something I want to be a part of for a very long time.”

Mielke, a high school athlete and die-hard fan of the San Francisco Giants, began her Olympic journey in August 2011, when her mom suggested she intern at the upcoming Games. She got to work reaching out to contacts in the sports marketing industry and then spent several months in back-and-forth e-mail exchanges with them. By April 2012, Mielke received confirmation of an internship with Iluka, a U.K.-based agency specializing in global events. And one month before the Olympics open-ing ceremony, she cleared an FBI background check and earned a visa to travel to London.

“I worked for a year to get this job, but I’m so glad. The biggest thing I learned from this is to be persistent. I would ask [the agencies], ‘Can I contact someone for you? Can I do this for you?’—anything to keep things moving,” said Mielke, who is majoring in business administration

Anne Mielke: LIVE FROM LONDON

with a concentration in marketing and pursuing a certifi-cate in sports business.

As an intern with Iluka, Mielke was a host at “The Olympic Journey: A Story of the Olympic Games,” a joint exhibition with the Royal Opera House in London’s Cov-ent Garden and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Swit-zerland. She took thousands of visitors from all over the world through the exhibition at the Opera House, which told the story of the Olympics—from ancient times to the modern-day version—and included artifacts, med-als, and torches from the Games.

“I normally hate public speaking but I had to speak in front of large crowds for six hours a day,” said the San Francisco native. “It helped me take steps to overcome one of my biggest fears.”

Members of British royalty and former Olympic athletes toured the exhibit. One of Mielke’s favorite moments was giving a private tour to Olympian Balbir Singh, three-time gold medalist field hockey player from India, whose Olympic story was part of the exhibit. “It was the most amazing thing ever to spend time with a very inspirational Olympian,” she said.

At the Gabelli School, Mielke is working with Greer Jason, Ph.D., assistant dean and adviser to freshmen, on the Freshman Advising Mentoring Program. She’s help-ing a group of 13 freshmen make the transition to college

“�AS�OF�2�MINUTES�AGO,�IT�IS�100%�OFFICIAL…�I�AM�GOING�TO�LONDON!!!�I�CAN’T�BELIEVE�THIS�IS�REALLY�HAPPENING!!!”

Olympic Intern: Anne Mielke with an official 2012 London Olympics torch at a special exhibition at the Royal Opera House, where she interned for the summer.

and sharing her knowledge and experience in the busi-ness world.

“I can’t stress how important it is to have drive and ambition for what you do because you can land amazing opportunities like I did,” she said. “I’m not a science per-son; I’m not an art person; I’m a business person.

“I definitely picked the right field to be in.”

Politics are also a passion for Ryan O’Toole, FCLC ’12, a field organizer

with Organizing for America, a grassroots project established by the

Democratic National Committee.

Based in the middle peninsula region of Virginia, he’s knocking on doors, calling and registering voters, and helping to build a team of volunteers to generate support for Presi-dent Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

“It’s a lot of fun and a lot of long hours, but I like getting to see politics on a very local level and hearing what people have to say. Knowing how important Virginia is as a swing state and having my family there,” said the Washington, D.C., native, “it’s perfect for me.”

An honors student and political science major with an urban studies minor at Ford-ham, O’Toole credits the influence of his Fordham professors with lighting his profes-sional career path.

“I love that [the professors] emphasize applying our classes to real life. Just coming out of college, I can see how things connect to classes I took,” he said. “Voter registration laws, advertising strategies—it’s interesting to see [it happen] on the ground.”

O’Toole realized his passion for politics when he joined the United Student Govern-ment, the student-run governing organization of the student body at Fordham. As execu-tive president, he worked with University administrators to reform policy and improve the quality of student life, such as extending library hours to 24 a day during finals week.

He deepened his diplomatic experiences with internships in the office of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts; the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in the Department of State; and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York City office.

“All these experiences helped me learn about the political system and be better pre-pared for a job,” he said. “Fordham really works to get students internships. They encour-age you. It’s one of the things for which I’m proud of Fordham.”

Two Graduates

Two Parties

FALL/WINTER 2012 | VOL. 1 | NO. 2

He’s capturing campus life, New York moments, and

European landmarks through methods old—pencil

and paper—and new—iPad and Cintiq drawing tablet.

while Cusumano spent a volunteer year as a wellness coordinator with AmeriCorps in Weslaco, Texas, encouraging others to take control of the well-being of their community through clubs, programs, and events.

Now, as they embark on their respective journeys, both Duran and Cusumano are grateful for the unwavering support they received from Fordham programs. Duran worked closely with the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), which helps minority and economi-cally disadvantaged students prepare for careers in science, technology, and the health professions—the same program that exposed Duran to research abroad programs.

“If I were to emphasize anything, I would emphasize my gratitude for the CSTEP program,” he said. “They weren’t just helpful in getting the scholar-ship, they were helpful with applying to medical school—and surviving the last four years.”

Cusumano credits the Campion Institute for the Advancement of Academic Excellence with encouraging him to pursue the prestigious scholarships and research opportunities that led him to Imperial.

“I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity without this department,” he said. “It took me places that I never could have imagined.”

SCIENCE | continued from page 1

Tim Luecke is on an artistic adventure. Animated Artist

This past summer, Luecke, a visual arts major and a senior honors

student at Fordham College at Rose Hill, participated in the Center for

International Study’s Grand Tour: Art in Europe. The 10-week program

took him to Rome, Florence, Paris, London, Liverpool, and Glasgow with

30 other students from across the country.

Supported by two Fordham-sponsored grants—the Leahey Renaissance Student Award and the Susan Lipani Award—Luecke enrolled in painting, drawing, and art his-tory classes at universities as part of the program. He drew the people, street life, and architectural wonders of each European city he visited, and shared those often-humor-ous scenes on his blog: Eat, Sketch, Love.

“It was invaluable to my growth as an artist, and I have certainly returned [from Europe] feeling fuller and more inspired,” he said. “I feel I have returned with new eyes.”

His latest blog, NY Illustrated, features drawings of small, everyday moments in the city. A location or person grabs his attention and he draws the scene quickly using his iPad. One illustration—aptly captioned “Never enough space in the city”—depicts a hefty shorts-clad tourist eating a sandwich and awkwardly sharing a bench in Rockefeller Center with a svelte, and slightly peeved, businessman.

“I have come to realize how much life there is to find in any given moment, and I am doing my best to capture and share those observations with others,” Luecke said. “As with all my work, I am happiest when it has the opportunity to inspire others.”

David Storey, associate director of the visual arts program at Rose Hill, is advising Luecke on his NY Illustrated project.

“He manages to get a sparkly sense of the city, of New York. It’s very intense and vibrant but always from his point of view, which is very positive. He is intent on doing one [illustration] a day, which is extremely ambitious and extremely Tim,” said Storey. “I’m always impressed and not surprised.”

Last year, as a junior, Luecke interned in the creative services department at Marvel Entertain-ment, where he worked on style guides for a number of Marvel’s top brands, including Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Iron Man. It was a lifelong dream come true for Luecke.

“I had wanted to work there since I was five years old,” he said. “To give something back to those characters I loved so much, and knowing that I was contribut-ing to others’ experiences of the characters that had impacted me so much as a child—it was a sur-real experience.”

At Marvel he started to learn 3-D animation, a field that he is highly interested in pursuing after Fordham. “I love storytelling and narrative art,” he said. “Every aspect of art gets funneled into animation; it’s a creative mecca.”

Luecke, who went to DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, praises the diversity of his liberal arts education at Fordham, where taking core courses in literature and phi-losophy are part of the “creative ecosystem,” he said. “Being able to talk through my illus-trations with, say, a theology major or history major brings a distinct perspective that I would not have found at a strict art institution.”

Examples of his work decorate the campus. As publicity director on the executive board of the Residence Hall Association, he designs posters and other promotional items for the association’s social and service-oriented events. He also creates posters for produc-tions by the Fordham Experimental Theatre.

Luecke’s work isn’t just for students; he likes to get other members of the Fordham family involved too. On freshman move-in day in 2011, after seeing Dean of Students Christopher Rodgers “looking something like a secret agent,” Luecke began contributing a playful comic strip to the student journal the paper, chronicling the imagined adven-tures of Superhero Dean Rodgers. “He’s fairly well known for his sense of humor on cam-pus, so I thought it would be fun to invent some absurd disciplinary adventures for him to tackle.

“It’s part of contributing to the Fordham community,” Luecke said. “I am happy to do it.”

See more of Luecke’s artwork at timlueckeart.blogspot.com.

University Lights: An iridescent sketch of Keating Hall, Fordham’s signature building on the Rose Hill campus.

Comic Cover: Luecke’s thank-you card to his mentors at Marvel.

Two Parties

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