Staff: Writing Assistants Brian Hartwig ----------------------------------- Brian Hartwig is an undergraduate pursuing a B.S. in Adolescence English Education with a minor in Spanish. An avid reader, Brian will rarely go anywhere without something to read. His literary interests range from Victorian Literature to contemporary American drama. Brian's personal interests include theater, baseball, basketball, and foreign languages. He also enjoys long walks on the beach (preferably with a good book!). Christine McEvilly ----------------------------------- Christine is a first-year Library and Information Science M.S. student. She graduated with an S.B. in History from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and continued her study of early modern Europe at Yale, where she earned an M.A. She is really not as stuffy as her extensive amount of schooling might imply. She likes science fiction, sewing, eating, talking, reading, cooking, and swing dancing. Cristian Marcu ----------------------------------- Cristian hails from the wooded depths of Transylvania. He moved to America about nine years ago to become a lumberjack, but he ended up going to high school instead. He has since acquired a B.A. in English (Literature) and is now pursuing an M.A. in the same field. His foreign background allows him to sympathize with language problems ESL students may be facing. He is now on his way to the blood bank, but when he’s not busy making a withdrawal you can probably find him lurking on the couch in the Writing Center. Edmond Niemczura III ----------------------------------- Edmond is a former Pharmacy student who found his calling in English. He enjoys breaking down complex ideas into easier-to-manage parts, and then explaining the parts in a way anyone can understand. The fall 2009 semester marks Edmond’s fourth year at the Writing Center; he recently received his B.A. in English (Literature) and he is now a graduate student in the English Department. Edmond loves the C.W. Post Campus and its faculty, and as a result hopes to be at the C.W. Post campus for a long time. When not at the Writing Center or in class, Edmond enjoys spending time with his wife in their home arcade playing pinball and old-school videogames. Kyle Kjellgren ----------------------------------- Kyle is an undergraduate majoring in English (Writing), and is interested in a range of media outlets to show off his writing talents. He plans to share his creativity through film, as well as to post his thoughts and opinions on various subjects online. In the meantime, Kyle is busy with work and school, but still has enough time to enjoy listening to music and observing the finer things in life. Lauren Sassenoff ----------------------------------- Lauren is a graduate student pursuing an M.A. in English. In her spare time, she reads literature, ranging from Charles Dickens to Philippa Gregory. She is especially interested in historical fiction about the time of the Tudor dynasty. Besides reading, Lauren loves classic movies, such as Wuthering Heights and The Country Girl. She is also a big fan of The Office and 30 Rock. She excels at organizing papers, and once an idea strikes her, a natural fluidity seems to connect mind and paper. She has been known to keep Post-Its on her nightstand in case a good idea hits her at 1 o'clock in the morning, and she wants to add it into her paper! Nelson Salamanca ----------------------------------- Nelson is a graduate student pursuing his M.A. in Psychology. Having graduated from C.W. Post with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in English, he is very excited to be working at the Writing Center. He enjoys science-fiction literature, and watching really cool movies. He is a certified scuba-diver, and engages in all sorts of outdoor sports. Nelson is well-versed in APA format because of his background in psychology and other sciences, but is also proficient in other style formats (MLA, Chicago, etc.). He is an all-around really nice guy. Shivone Persaud ----------------------------------- Shivone is in her junior year, pursuing an English Education degree. Teaching has always been her first passion. She enjoys a wide range of activities, such as traveling, photography, sports, body art, and jet skiing. Shivone has previous experience in supporting students in an academic environment; she worked as a principal’s secretary at a high school in Floral Park, and enjoyed witnessing how a high school operates behind the scenes. She is very big on family; her family members are her number one priority. Shivone is very excited to give her assistance at the Writing Center and hopes to make a difference. Stephanie Giancola ----------------------------------- During a pensive stroll in the park, you might meet the curious stare of a young psychology major. Don’t be frightened; her intentions are no more than to understand your way of thinking. Stephanie’s fascination with the human mind has driven her to pursue a degree in psychology, as well as inspired her passion for writing. Curious about lives unknown to her, she creates characters based on her observational analyses of strangers’ lives. On a more adventurous note, some of her hobbies include playing sports, practicing the piano, watching black and white foreign films, and dancing. On gloomy days, nothing suits Stephanie better than a hot chamomile tea, saturated with honey, and some quality time under the chandelier — dimmed, of course — with Frank Sinatra and Beethoven. Stephanie Main ----------------------------------- Steph is a Digital Art and Design major and an English minor. Before settling on these fields, she was interested in careers ranging from neurosurgery to zoology. She enjoys playing basketball and softball with friends, as well as engaging in the occasional Rock Band session with her younger brother. Steph has always had a passion for art and writing. In particular, she enjoys creative prose and poetry as alternative means to express her ideas and thoughts. She likes watching Comedy Central and is trying to develop her own stand-up routine. Staff: Director Belinda Kremer ----------------------------------- Belinda Kremer directs The Writing Center, coordinates First-Year Writing, teaches courses in writing and literature in the English Department, and is the poetry editor for Confrontation magazine. She holds an A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University, and an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has hand-produced a number of limited-edition collections, including Blue: Poems for New York (Southside, 2003) and the graphic poem All Begin Guy Walks into a Bar (SugarCity, 2005). Individual poems have appear in literary journals such as FENCE, Calyx, and Washington Square Journal; poems appear most recently in the anthology Long Island Sounds (10/2009). Her chapbooks include “Field(0),” “Chaos & Other Love Songs,” and “Lake Diary,” which is briefly excerpted in a 2007's Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes (Swan, Alison, ed. MSU Press). Among the awards and fellowships she has received are the Rackham Fellowship, the Hopwood Award for Poetry, the Meijer Fellowship in Creative Writing, and a NYSCA Community Arts Regrant. Her current interests in the teaching of writing cluster around rhetorics of “common knowledge" and open-source effects on "common knowledge." "So It Was This Beautiful Night: Infecting the Hybrid," an essay on teaching creative writing, appears in ALT DIS: Alternative Discourse and the Academy, and she is co-editor, with Richard McNabb, and a contributor to, Collide: Styles, Structures and Ideas in Disciplinary Writing (Pearson: 2007). CONTACT: belinda.kremer@liu.edu or (516) 299-2732