Are your students scheduled to make presentations in the last weeks of the semester? Will they be using the presentation technology in the classroom? Classroom Support offers classroom technology training or refresher courses for instructors to help make things run more smoothly. We can also answer questions ahead of time about your classroom’s capabilities or the best way to accomplish your presentation goals. Please visit our website or call Todd Benzin, classroom technology supervisor; Tim Sager, instructional support associate; or Chris Weber, instructional media technician, at 878-6670, for more information. Advance notice is appreciated.

The Women in Computing (WIC) club will host a free event, "Hour of Code for Girls," for students in grades 9–12 on Friday, December 4, and Friday, December 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the Computer Information Systems Department (Technology Building). As a way to serve the neighboring community, the members of WIC hope to encourage girls who are attending area high schools to develop an interest in computer science. Please spread the word and encourage 9–12 teachers, administrators, or PTA organizations to urge students from their schools to attend the event. For more information, please visit the event website or contact Tammy Anna, department secretary, 878-5528.

The campus community is cordially invited to attend the annual End-of-the-Year International Reception, sponsored by the International Student Affairs Office and the International Student Advisory Council, on Thursday, December 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210. Special food and refreshments will be served.

This year's guest of honor will be Raul Neira, associate professor of modern and classical languages, who has been selected for his ongoing and selfless dedication to the spirit of internationalism at Buffalo State.

For more information, please contact Jean F. Gounard, director of international student affairs, 878-5331.

The Visual Arts Board and the communication design program will sponsor a lecture by Kay Youn, assistant professor of graphic design at Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, on Friday, December 4, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in Upton Hall 211. A related workshop will run from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Upton Hall 306.??Youn is an interactive designer who has worked for many corporations in Korea, as well as small businesses and organizations in the United States. His workshop will explore the basics of pop-up fold construction techniques for artists' books, children's books, and cards.

Please bring an X-Acto knife, #11 blades, a metal ruler, Elmer's glue (clear preferred), Magic Tape, a bone folder, and a cutting board. The workshop is limited to 15 participants.

Receive $25 in Dining Dollars when you participate in a focus group for Dining Services on Wednesday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m. The session will last one hour. To participate, please contact Louisa Grizard, 878-5657, by 3:00 p.m. today. Thank you.

The following Blackboard training sessions and workshops will be held in December. All workshops are suitable for instructors teaching face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses. All workshop presentations are one hour long and are limited to 10 participants. The instructor will be available for 30 minutes after the workshop for additional questions and discussion. All sessions will be held in Bulger Communication Center 104. Please register online.

Blackboard Learn 9.1: Introduction
This workshop is designed for instructors new to Blackboard Learn 9.1 or anyone who would like a refresher course. We will address the basics of navigation, course tools, and procedures necessary to create new course content. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to navigate the LMS, upload files, create course content, add text, add multimedia, and organize content in meaningful ways.

Blackboard Learn 9.1: Assessments
This workshop focuses on the available assessment tools in the latest version of Blackboard Learn. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to create, configure, and deploy individual and group assignments to collect student submissions to manage grades and feedback. The use of assignments, auto-graded tests, and Turnitin Plagiarism Checker will be covered.

Blackboard Learn 9.1: Grade Center
The Grade Center in Blackboard Learn is more than just a way to record students' grades. It is a dynamic and interactive tool, allowing users to collect student submissions, record data, calculate grades automatically, and monitor student progress. Instructors can also drop the lowest grade, display percentages or letter grades, use a weighted grading system, and much more.  

By the end of this workshop, participants will have the skills necessary to use the Grade Center to manage students' grades for assignments, tests, discussion posts, and more. Participants will also learn to create manual grade columns for any campus-based activities or requirements they want to grade, such as special projects, participation, or attendance. The Grade Center can be individualized to fit users' needs and make grading more efficient.

The 25th annual SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT 2016), sponsored by the SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²), will take place May 31–June 3 on the campus of SUNY Potsdam. All SUNY campuses, state-operated, statutory, and community colleges are invited to submit abstracts to present at the conference. Proposals from outside the SUNY system are welcome as well. Proposals are due by Thursday, December 31.

CIT is SUNY's largest and most prominent event on instructional technology, providing a forum for faculty, instructional support professionals, and policymakers to present, discuss, and explore innovative avenues for integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment.

Guidelines for Presentation Submission
This year’s conference theme, "Students at the Center: Creating and Sharing Learning Experiences," is supported by the following tracks: 

• Open Educational Resources: Strategies, Advantages, and Savings for Students and Faculty in Practice
• Engaging Students: Tools and Strategies
• Inquiry: Scholarship, Discovery, and Innovation
• Student and Faculty Support: Access and Accessibility
• Going Mobile

Abstract submissions are being accepted at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels and in the following formats: presentation, panel, birds of a feather, hands-on demo, ignite, workshop, special interest group, and poster. Please visit the CIT website to view detailed descriptions and to submit a proposal.

To submit a proposal, click "Submit Your Proposal" and follow these steps:

1. New users, click on "Create New Account."
2. Enter the required information and click "Next Step."
3. Create a password and click "Finish."
4. Click on the link "CIT Abstract Submission."
5. Complete the submission form.
6. Remember to "save draft" frequently,
7. Click "Submit Application" when complete.

Anjuli Bhandari, a graduate student in forensic science at Buffalo State, will present the literature seminar "Medicinal Applications of Copper Complexes" at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, December 3, in Classroom Building B119. Light refreshments will be served before the seminar. This seminar is supported by the Faculty-Student Association. The abstract of her talk appears as below.

Abstract
Copper is an element vital to human development and daily life. Its vital role was not discovered until 1928, when an experiment performed in mice revealed that mice deficient in copper had a difficult time producing red blood cells. Medicine is an ever-changing field, and copper has now once again made revelations. Copper has been studied in antimicrobial, antiviral, antitumor, antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory settings and has shown significance. A plethora of instrumentation is used to confirm or deny copper’s ability to act as one or more of these agents. Some of the techniques explored in copper’s use are nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, MTT assay, and carrageenan paw-induced edema assay.

Two papers will be reviewed in which copper is used in different medical applications. The first will review copper as an anti-inflammatory agent. Fenoprofen, a member of the ibuprofen family, will be used as a control. A copper complex synthesized from the fenoprofen salt will be examined against parent fenoprofen as well as against the control, which was the vehicle of carboxymethylcellulose. A carrageenan-induced paw assay will examine the inhibition of inflammation between the three constituents and describe any significant differences. The second paper will review copper as an anti-tumor agent. Four distinct ligands are synthesized, and four copper complexes are then stemmed from these ligands. All four ligands, four complexes, and three known chemotherapeutic drugs (docetaxel, doxorubicin, and monastrol) are compared for their disruption of cancer cell division in two specific breast cancer cell lines: HCC1806 and MCF7.

Please join us for a screening of the holiday classic Holiday Inn, with an introduction by Buffalo State professor of music Chuck Mancuso, author of Popular Music in the Underground: Foundations of Jazz, Blues, Country & Rock 1900–1950, on Friday, December 4, at 7:00 p.m. at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Bing Crosby was the most dominant entertainer in America between 1930 and pre-rock and roll in the 1950s. After leaving Spokane, Washington, for Los Angeles, Crosby and fellow singer Al Rinke hit the vaudeville circuit and were eventually picked up by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. While working in Chicago, Whiteman added singer-songwriter Barry Harris to the act, and the trio became known as the Rhythm Boys. Crosby was fired by Whitman in 1930, which eventually led to his solo career. He quickly rose to stardom to become the No. 1 vocalist as well as the most listened-to radio star of his time and the biggest box-office star for Paramount Pictures.

In Holiday Inn, Crosby teamed with Fred Astaire, filmdom’s leading dancer, to portray dancing and singing partners who tussle over the same woman. "Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby), Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire), and Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) have a musical act popular in the New York City nightlife scene. On Christmas Eve, Jim prepares to give his last performance as part of the act before marrying Lila and retiring with her to a farm in Connecticut. At the last minute, Lila decides she is not ready to stop performing, and that she has fallen in love with Ted. She tells Jim that she will stay on as Ted's dancing partner. While heartbroken, Jim follows through with his plan and bids the act goodbye" (Wikipedia). A year later Jim decides to win Lila back, and Jim and Ted sing and dance as they vie for the affection of the beautiful and talented Lila.

Crosby made more studio recordings than any singer in America—400 more than Frank Sinatra. He made one of the most popular records ever, "White Christmas," the only single to make the American pop chart 20 times. Between 1927 and 1962, Crosby scored 368 charted records under his own name, plus 28 as a vocalist with other band leaders, for a total of 396. Thirty-eight of those were No. 1 on the charts. By comparison, the Beatles and Elvis Presley had 24 and 18 No. 1 records respectively.

Directed by Mark Sandrich, Holiday Inn features the music of Irving Berlin. The composer wrote 12 songs specifically for the film, including "White Christmas," which received an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943. It was also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Score and Best Original Story by Irving Berlin.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center is once again taking part in this year's Artists in Buffalo Inc. Holiday Open Studios and Galleries December 4–6. Forty-nine artists will be featured at the center from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Friday, December 4, and from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6. Twenty percent of all sales will be donated to the Burchfield Penney Art Center. RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends.

In addition to the Museum Store at the Burchfield Penney, featured artists will be Kissed by the Sun Spices (Rick Fickhesen), At 88 Textiles (Diane Clark and Ann Marie Niclo), Raveloe Fibers (Linda Collignon), Zanie Crafts (Suzanne O'Brien), Red Poppy Purses (Faith Durden), AVALON (Paul Morgan), Different by Design (Constance Krueger), Antinomy Designs (Julia Skop), Buffalo Roots (Eta Rottenberg), Amaalgam (Komal Prasad), Buffalo Etchings, Gina Herron, Art FX Glass (Catherine O'Connor), roadkiln (Shaun Silverwood), Missy Crowell, biggurlstuff, Christine Hammoudeh, Joyfulenergy, Jewelry by Jayne Hughes, dna jewelry designs (Donna Angelo), Dayna (Dayna Banka Slone), Gretchen Cole, Sarah Blackman Jewelry, Just Beachy (Sandy Amoia), Evolve Designs (Kenia Cirualo), h2m Jewelry (Heather Mordaunt), Studio Hart Little Wood People (Barbara Hart), Illusions 3rd Eye Designs (Chary Robbins), Lewiston Jellies, Rosanna's Art Clay (Rosanna Cappelino), ZENJOY (Jackie Lovullo), Aremel Soaps (Robin Lenhard), Evette Slaughter , Michelle Marcotte, Killeleart (Mike Killelea), Buffalo History Buff (Lauren & Eric Woods), Dr. Mark Donnelly, Mundo Images (Ann Peterson), BAM Pottery (Bruce McCausland), Everyday Earthware (Sarah Cozzemera), Junko McGee, Jodi Waller, Christine's Wild Imagination (Christine Kelemen), Melissa Campbell (UltraHoops), Caroline's Creations (Caroline Duax), Buffalo Gal Organics (Kasia Cummings), Blessings by Nature (Paula D'Amico), Tom Burns Photography (Tom Burns), Ed Jakubowski, Theresa Barnack, and Baun Galleries (John Baun).