Improving Crime Reporting
To support high-quality journalism that helps deepen the public’s understanding of crime and justice, the College recently established the Center on the Media, Crime and Justice. President Jeremy Travis noted that, “This center will enable John Jay to play an important role in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of news coverage on criminal justice matters.” The Center will provide an array of resources for journalists bringing them together with scholars and practitioners in this highly complex and interdisciplinary field. The new Center is a partnership among John Jay, the Institute for Justice and Journalism (IJJ) at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication; Criminal Justice Journalists (CJJ), a national organization of reporters covering crime and justice; and CUNY’s new Graduate School of Journalism. To fund the Center, the College received $200,000 from the Open Society Institute and $58,000 from the Harry F. Guggenheim Foundation. The USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism received $75,000 from The Ford Foundation for the Center’s activities. The Center’s initiatives will include a Criminal Justice Fellowships program, an awards program for excellence in reporting on crime and justice, and an annual symposium on crime trends scheduled for later this year. Ted Gest, a Senior Fellow of the newly created Center and President of CJJ, will direct annual studies of the strengths and weaknesses of criminal justice journalism. The Center will also produce curricula and teaching materials for use in schools of journalism. For more information, click here

Widen Your Horizons
The Office of Continuing and Professional Studies is once again offering a unique and rich array of courses for personal enjoyment and professional growth. With 50 courses from which to choose, you can brush up on your criminalistics, find out the latest on art theft investigation, violent behavior, terrorism, eyewitness testimony and jury selection. Learn how to speed read, speak Arabic, swim, sing or prepare for the LSAT. One of the exciting new offerings is the paralegal certificate program, a five month rigorous course of study taught by practicing attorneys and professional paralegals. The course includes legal fundamentals and core paralegal skills and will cover such topics as tort law, New York Procedures, legal analysis, real property, and criminal law. John Jay alumni receive a 10 percent discount on all programs. For further information contact the Continuing Education Office at cep@jjay.cuny.edu or 212-237-8663 or visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/CE

Hirofumi Takeuchi (photo from athletics press release dated 7/12/06)
John Jay men’s soccer standout Hirofumi Takeuchi spent part of his summer playing soccer, performing community service, and immersing himself in a different culture. Takeuchi represented the College in South Africa as part of the third annual City University of New York Athletic Conference’s (CUNYAC) Goodwill Tour. He was selected based on his skill, academic performance, and sportsmanship. In addition to soccer clinics, the athletes participate in community services, and learn the history and lifestyle of South Africa. Takeuchi is currently a graduate student majoring in forensic psychology. He received his BA in fall 2005 with a 3.9 grade point average. Transferring to John Jay from Alfred State, Takeuchi was a two-year letter winner for the Bloodhounds and was one of only two members of the soccer team to start in all 20 games during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He recorded two goals and four points while playing midfield last season. “I’m glad that my two years at John Jay led to such an opportunity,” he said before departing. “I like the fact that we are not going to South Africa just to play soccer, but we are also going to explore and experience a place many of us have never been where we will have an opportunity to interact with local people. I am really excited about the ‘goodwill’ portion of this.” For more information about John Jay’s Bloodhounds, go to http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/athletics/

G. N. Miller (BA ’82)
Everyone remembers where they were the morning of September 11, 2001. The visions of that infamous day have been etched in our consciousness. For G.N. Miller, detective turned photojournalists, the images of September 11 are more than memories. His photographs are testimony to the devastation, heroism and perseverance of those days. He shot 300 black-and-white digital images at Ground Zero that day and the days immediately following. His photos have appeared in The New Yorker and on the cover of How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War by James Hoge and Gideon Rose. They have also been used in numerous documentaries, at the Library of Congress, McMaster University in Ontario, the Philadelphia Art Gallery, and currently in the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Miller, a staff photojournalist for the New York Post since 1994, began his photographic career after the newspaper bought his photo of police trying to save a K-9 drowning in the Bronx River. Miller is no stranger to the criminal justice profession. Upon graduation, he became a correctional officer at Rikers Island. Later, he joined the NYPD where he remained until an injury sidelined his police career as a detective in the Organized Crime Control Bureau. His experience on the job in many ways helps him when it comes to dealing with crime scenes. “Although my objective is to capture the image, I won’t interfere with a crime scene or investigation.”

Miller’s interest in photography goes back to his teenage years. At Jay he tapped that interest by working on the 1980 and 1982 yearbooks. In reflecting on those days, he recalled that “the courses I took in African American Studies really were engaging and left a lasting impression.”

In his current position with the Post, he has photographed the likes of Gianni Versace, Julia Roberts, John Gotti, Jr. and Tupac Shakur. In 1999 and 2000 he was an award winner of the New York Press Photographers Association. “My assignments can take me to Brooklyn one day and to Haiti the next. The types of photos I take can range from a horrific crime to daylight snowflakes of a winter storm and everything in between. But the photos I cherish the most are the ones taken on September 11.”

Miller’s potent and iconic images will be displayed at John Jay’s Moving Walls Gallery on the sixth floor of Haaren Hall. Alumni who wish to view these poignant images and meet Miller are invited to the opening of the exhibit on September 12 at 5:30 PM.