March 12, 2001 - During the Spring 2001 semester, lawyer, business consultant and professor Jim Larocca will teach a seminar titled "Long Island Politics and Policy in the Twenty-first Century" for Honors Students at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville.

Larocca, formerly an attorney with the Cullen and Dykman law firm, brings extensive political and government experience to Long Island University. In 1998 he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. Prior to that, he served as State Commissioner of Transportation, Commissioner of Energy, and was Deputy Secretary for Federal Affairs to Governor Hugh Carey. He was president of the Long Island Association for eight years, through which he led the effort to unite private businesses and non-profits in an initiative to address regional environmental, education and economic issues.

Larocca successfully mediated the complex dispute over the Long Island Pine Barrens that produced the landmark Pine Barrens Preservation Act of 1993 and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Long Island Nature Conservancy. Over the past 15 years he has served on the New York State commission on coastal issues and the state commission on shoreline erosion.

Professor Larocca, KeySpan Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Long Island University since April 2000, teaches courses in the environment, coastal resource management, government and associated fiscal issues and public policy at the Southamptom College Campus of Long Island University.

Larocca's seminar at C.W. Post is a part of the campus' Honors Program. The program attracts academically gifted students and provides them with an enriched program that encourages critical thinking and independent research. Faculty and advisors focus on each individual honors student as a distinct intellectual personality and the program includes both academic and social activities. Honors classes are small and are run as discussion-style seminars. They encourage writing and oral presentations and the students' education culminates in the presentation of an individual research thesis.

The Honors Program consists of a diverse student population; they come from all academic disciplines and from many countries. Most graduates of the C.W. Post Honors Program go on to graduate school or to earn advanced professional degrees.

For additional information about the "Long Island Politics and Policy in the Twenty-first Century" seminar or the Post Honors Program, or to request an interview with Professor Larocca or his students, please call the C.W. Post Department of Public Relations at (516) 299-2333.