Date: Jan 23, 2008

Hofstra to Hold Climate Change Symposium

Government, LIPA leaders to address green strategies

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Hofstra students and local government leaders will participate in a four-day campus initiative on Climate Change next week as part of a nationwide "teach-in" designed to raise awareness of global warming solutions.

Hofstra’s events, detailed below, will take place January 28-31, 2008 in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Joan and Donald A. Axinn Library, south campus. All events are free and open to the public. The seminar concludes with a panel featuring Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, LIPA President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Law, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray and Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall. Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz will deliver opening remarks at that panel.

"We are at a critical point in our history where we have identified beyond any doubt that climate change is taking place, and that we have contributed to that change," said Christa Farmer, assistant professor of geology at Hofstra and one of the event coordinators. "The question now is what we as a society are willing to do to change the way we live in order to reduce our impact on the climate system. The first steps towards a solution to global warming are educating ourselves about the necessary choices, and exploring the possible alternatives."

Neil H. Donahue, associate dean of Hofstra Honors College and Climate Change organizer, said "Hofstra students, faculty and administrators have worked together to organize Hofstra's Climate Day events and demonstrate the cooperation and dialogue that will be necessary throughout society to confront and solve the problems of climate change that affect us all world-wide."

The Hofstra program is part of a nationwide educational initiative by Focus the Nation to promote environmental awareness and civic engagement. “No other generation has ever had to face this kind of civilizational challenge. And we as educators would be failing if we did not prepare them with the tools to meet this challenge,” said Lewis & Clark professor of economics Dr. Eban Goodstein, author and project director for Focus the Nation.

More information on the national teach-in is at www.focusthenation.org.

The Hofstra program, organized by the University's Environmental Priorities Committee, the
Center for Suburban Studies and Students for a Greener Hofstra, includes the following events:

Monday January 28, 7 to 10 p.m.: Film screening of Leonardo DeCaprio’s The 11th Hour by Students for a Greener Hofstra. This film has not yet been released for general distribution.

Tuesday, January 29, 7 to 10pm: Film screening of The Great Warming, narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, by Students for a Greener Hofstra (SGH).

Wednesday, January 30, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Gavin Schmidt, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences climatologist, will give a talk titled "Climate Models, Climate Forcings and
Climate Change," addressing the science of climate change.

Wednesday, January 30, 8 to 9 p.m.: Web cast of a national "Focus the Nation" event, featuring Stephen Schneider of Stanford University.  For more details, go to   www.focusthenation.org/2percentsolution.php .

Thursday, January 31: Panels are scheduled throughout the day:

10-11 a.m.:      Climate Change: The Physical Basis.
                         Bruce Avery, Hofstra School of Communication, General Manager, WRHU,
                           News 12 Long Island meteorologist, moderator
                        Steve Lawrence, Hofstra Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
                        Bill Korbel, Chief Meteorologist, News12 Long Island

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Climate Change: The Biological Impacts.
                                    Russell Burke, Associate Professor of Biology, Hofstra University
                                    Robert Seagull, Professor of Biology and Chairperson, Department of Biology

1-2 p.m.:     Climate Change: The International Implications.
                  Julian Ku, Associate Professor of Law, Hofstra University School of Law
                  David Flynn, Professor of Management, Entrepreneurshp & General Business,
                          Zarb School of Business

2:30-3:30 p.m.: Climate Change: The National Implications.
                         Susan Yohn, Professor and Chairperson, Hofstra Department of History
                         Meena Bose, Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies, Department of 
                          Political Science, Hofstra University

3:45-4:45 p.m.: Climate Change: Students Speak! Public Forum for Hofstra Students,
                          sponsored by the Students for a Greener Hofstra (SGH).

5-6 p.m.:           The Political Climate on Long Island
                          Welcome by Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz
                          Lawrence Levy, Executive Director, National Center for Suburban Studies
                              at Hofstra University, moderator
                          The Hon. Thomas Suozzi, Nassau County Executive
                          The Hon. Kate Murray, Town of Hempstead Supervisor
                          The Hon. Wayne Hall, Hempstead Village Mayor
                          Kevin Law, President and Chief Executive Officer, Long Island Power
                          Authority (LIPA)

For more information on the event go to www.hofstra.edu/Faculty/senate/senepc/index.html .

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 145 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law.