A little off: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, as we wrap up a surprisingly springlike week of socioeconomic innovation and look forward to a well-earned three-day weekend – at least, about a third of us do.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 58 percent of state and local government employees enjoy a paid holiday on President’s Day (Feb. 21 this year), along with a paltry 19 percent of private-industry employees (on par with Good Friday, well behind Martin Luther King Jr. Day).
In the clink: Drink up, oenophiles.
Fish and sips: Either way, the weekend is upon us – and so is the terrific menu combination of National Crab-Stuffed Flounder Day and National Drink Wine Day, both celebrated annually on Feb. 18.
Today is also Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day, which is real and fairly self-explanatory.
Harbor patrol: Also milking it was French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who was awarded a U.S. patent for his Statue of Liberty design on this date in 1879. (Bonus points for knowing Bartholdi’s original name for his famous copper queen … no Googling, answer below.)
The Twain shall meet: Another shining beacon of Americana, Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” was first published on this date in 1885.
Still a controversial masterwork of U.S. literature, “Huck” was trashed by critics of the day, who found it immoral, vulgar and kinda trashy.
Iso-elated: Much less contentious are isotopes, which became a thing on Feb. 18, 1913, when British chemist Frederick Soddy first used the term to define elements with the same atomic number but different atomic mass.
It is very cold … in spaaaaace: Frigid Pluto. (And you know you read that in Ricardo Montalban’s voice.)
It prefers “little planet”: Speaking of tiny things, Pluto – officially a dwarf planet – was discovered 92 years ago today by Illinois astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
Need a lift? And it was Feb. 18, 1977, when NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise made its first “inert captive mode” flight, strapped to the back of a specially modified Boeing 747.
The two-hour test was meant to demonstrate the prototype orbiter’s capacity for atmospheric flight and would be followed that August by the ship’s first free-flight test.
That girl: American author, publisher and businesswoman Helen Gurley Brown (1922-2010) – an outspoken advocate of women’s sexual freedom who authored the bestseller “Sex and the Single Girl” and was Cosmopolitan’s chief editor for 32 years – would be 100 years old today.
Need for speed: Ferrari, racing to the top.
Also born on Feb. 18 were Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), who invented the electric battery; French poet, essayist, critic and editor André Breton (1896-1966), credited as the founder of surrealism; Italian automobile manufacturer and designer Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988), who idled high; American novelist Chloe Anthony Wofford “Toni” Morrison (1931-2019), a Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winner and otherwise towering giant; and American filmmaker John Hughes Jr. (1950-2009), who established the “modern American teen” film genre.
Imagine that: And take a bow, Yoko Ono! The Japanese singer, songwriter, performance artist and peace activist – still imagining a better world – turns 89 today.
Give the Grammy Award-winning artist (it’s true) your best at editor@innovateli.com, where you may say we are dreamers, but we’re not the only ones, and we hope someday-ay-ay-ay you’ll join us with news tips and calendar events.
Give me Liberty: We know it as the Statue of Liberty, but sculptor Bartholdi originally named his masterpiece “Liberty Enlightening the World.”
About our sponsor: Farmingdale State College delivers exceptional academic and applied-learning outcomes through scholarship, research and student engagement for Long Island and beyond. Farmingdale State’s commitment to student-centered learning and inclusiveness prepares graduates to be exemplary citizens, equipped to excel in a competitive, diverse and technically dynamic society. The college solves the regional “brain drain” with 96 percent of FSC graduates working in New York State and 75 percent working on Long Island. Farmingdale State students rise to the challenge and are the emerging leaders of tomorrow. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Spiritual bond: Kellenberg Memorial High School will get a new fine arts/athletics center with an assist from the Nassau County Local Economic Assistance Corp.
The LEAC has approved a $10 million bond-financing application by the Province of Meribah Society of Mary, which operates as the Hempstead-based high school. The bond will be used to construct a two-story, roughly 60,000-square-foot building on the school’s Glenn Curtis Boulevard campus, giving the Catholic school – opened in 1987 for grades six through12 by the Society of Mary, known also as Marianists – an expansive fine arts center and athletics facility.
Nassau County LEAC Chairman Richard Kessel said the corporation was pleased to approve the bond application. “Our educational institutions are extremely important to Nassau County’s economy,” Kessel said in a statement. “This bond approval … will broaden and improve the educational offerings of an institution that has been a mainstay in our county for more than 30 years.”
GREAT expectations: The State University of New York’s Graduate Research Empowering and Accelerating Talent program has announced its slate of 2022 award-winners, with half of the two-dozen-plus awards going to Stony Brook University students.
Reserved for graduate students who earn honorable mentions from the National Science Foundation, the GREAT program targets a wide range of disciplines across the SUNY system, with $5,000 awards meant to “incentivize” students to apply for highly competitive fellowships and other graduate programs. Fourteen of this year’s 28 awardees are from SBU – including eight postgrads representing Stony Brook’s Medical Scientist Training Program, each focused on neuroscience, genetics, pharmacology or other heavy sciences.
Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis said she was “incredibly proud” of the entire slate of SUNY awardees and beamed at her university’s GREAT performance. “We are passionate about supporting the spirit of inquiry and innovation that animates our early-career faculty and graduate students,” McInnis added. “It is clear that the passion for knowledge thrives in all disciplines amongst our brilliant graduate students.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Recipe for success: The new head honcho at Stony Brook University’s Food Business Incubator at Calverton knows a thing or two about energetic commercialization efforts.
Slow and steady: An ambitious Long Island biotech and a cutting-edge Italian biopharma are one big step closer to producing a pan-cancer vaccine.
Law degrees: Our fun and informative podcast series measures the long arm of Kevin Law, a true Long Island socioeconomic champion (and pending Empire State Development honcho).
ICYMI
Offshore wind lands in East Hampton, popular acid-blocker lands one on COVID’s chin.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Florida: Tampa-based artificial-intelligence advancer Lumina Analytics steps up machine learning with Random Contrast Learning.
From Wisconsin: Milwaukee-based mindful muncher Good Source Foods expands innovative line of superfood-rich snacks.
From Utah: Provo-based home-monitoring pioneer Care.Life revolutionizes the detection of mild, moderate and severe falls by elderly loved ones.
ON THE MOVE
Carol Carter
+ Carol Carter has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. She is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and an adjunct professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics.
+ Michael Guerriero has joined Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz as a partner in the Tax Certiorari Department. He was an attorney at Mineola-based Koeppel Martone & Leistman.
+ Nandini Chowdhury has been hired as an associate in the banking group at East Meadow-based Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman. She was an associate at Ingram Yuzek Gainen Carroll & Bertolotti in Manhattan.
+ Justine DiGiglio has been hired as vice president of communications and partner relations at Hauppauge-based Discover Long Island. She previously served as senior communications adviser for former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
+ Charles McLeod has been elected to the Manhattan-based Keen Company’s Board of Directors. He is the CEO of Smithtown-based SMM Advertising.
+ Andrea Cotter has been appointed to the Mondays at Racine Cancer Care Foundation in Sayville. She is the founder and president of Brightwaters-based Virgilio and Cotter.
+ George Xipoleas has been appointed director of plastic surgery at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital. The board-certified plastic surgeon is a partner in the Long Island Plastic Surgical Group.
+ Thomas Grech has been elected vice chairman of the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency and the Town of Hempstead Local Development Corp. He is president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Farmingdale State College). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia Edition)
Get your kicks: Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has a very bad day in “Studio 666.”
Fear not: So you’re afraid of the number 666 … well, you’re not alone.
Great Caesar’s ghost! The Book of Revelation wasn’t merely referencing the “number of the beast” – 666 is also a secret Greek code.
Dead “Studio” performance: Yes, “Studio 666” really is a rock/horror/comedy starring the Foo Fighters.
Any number of reasons: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Farmingdale State College, where countless academic and citizenship engagements create fantastic futures. Check them out.
