Jessica Bloustein Marshall

University at Albany sophomore Jamie Zeno isn’t sure his absentee ballot was counted in last year’s presidential election. He’s from the Upstate New York County of Chenango, between Binghamton and Utica.

For women today, the opportunities to achieve success is a career in science, technology, engineering and math—or STEM—are undoubtedly greater than they were decades ago. But recent studies and events show American women still face more hurdles and challenges than their male counterparts today. And recently, a Brown University Professor called attention to an alarming lack of Wikipedia entries for influential female scientists. WAMC’s Jessica Bloustein Marshall spoke to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson about women in STEM careers.

  I don’t know much about video games. I’m not much for playing them. But I nodded my head as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sophomore Jon Ota described to me the video game he and his fellow classmates created.

I’m seriously impressed by Ota’s game, called Hangeki. It was designed and developed from scratch as part of his studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Games and Simulations Arts and Sciences program, and Ota’s team was showing it off to me before RPI’s annual Entrepreneur of the Year awards ceremony.

Ahh, Albany, New York. The seat of state government. A center of burgeoning nanotechnology research.  And an icon of the fashion world.

Wait...what? 

Albany? One of the best-dressed small cities in America? That’s the word according to a new survey by the nationwide real estate company Movoto, which ranked Albany No. 7, alongside the couture-conscious small cities of Santa Monica, California, Boca Raton, Florida, and Evanston, Illinois.

  Corey Ellis’s Central Avenue headquarters were relatively quiet Tuesday night as election returns came in. Volunteers worked diligently, despite polls predicting an inevitable loss. They called polls all over the city, practically whispering, as President Obama’s address played on a television in the background.

There was a palpable disappointment in the air when Ellis’s opponent, City Treasurer Kathy Sheehan, declared victory from across town. But as soon as Ellis arrived at his HQ after calling Sheehan to concede, the mood lightened.

Babies are game-changers. When you have one, your home is no longer a crash pad. It’s a nest. When I delivered my first child seven months ago, I was living in a smallish two-bedroom apartment in Queens. In the months leading up to my daughter’s birth, we spent days meticulously acquiring and setting up baby gear. We decorated, baby-proofed and organized. I spent hours researching new parent groups, parent-baby classes, the best neighborhood parks and baby-friendly restaurants in our neighborhood.

There’s a mournful tune playing this week in the Capital Region’s musical community. David Griggs-Janower, who died Sunday from complications of a stroke, was the face of choral music in the region for decades.