The 2014–2015 "Conversations in and out of the Disciplines" series begins Friday, October 24, when Carlos Jones, associate professor of theater, presents "Whitewashed: The Unconcerned Erosion of the African Moving Body" at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320. A short, informal wine-and-cheese reception will be held after the talk. Everyone is welcome.

Please also mark your calendars for the other talks this fall: M. Scott Goodman, chair and associate professor of chemistry, will present "Two-Step Spin Crossover Behavior in the Iron(II) Complex of Tris(3-methylpyrazolyl)methane: What Could This Title Possibly Mean?" on Friday, November 21; and Jennifer Hunt, associate professor of psychology, will present "Princesses, (Super)power, and Patriarchy: How 'Princess Culture' Influences Gender Ideologies, Relationship Beliefs, and Career Choices" on Friday, December 5. Both talks will be held at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320.

WERQ is a fiercely fun dance-fitness class based on pop, rock, and hip-hop music. Classes are held Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 6:15 p.m. All fitness classes are one hour long. You must have a membership to the Buffalo State Fitness Center to participate.

Please contact Christopher Hillman, assistant recreation and intramurals manager, ext. 3408, with questions.

Visiting artist Helen Hawley will present a lecture on her diverse career in painting, sculpture, and printmaking on Tuesday, October 21, at 12:15 p.m. in Upton Hall 230. This event is sponsored by Dr. Margaret E. Bacon.

Schedule Planner is now available in Banner Self-Service. Schedule Planner is a new online planning tool to make registration easier. Students can select courses, block off time they do not want to take classes (e.g., work, lunch, soccer practice), view their schedule choices, and submit their schedule to Banner. A Schedule Planner web page and handout (PDF) have been added to the Registrar's Office website.

Please join us for the first presentation in our annual Philosophy and Humanities Fall 2014 Faculty Colloquia, "The Quarter on Thoreau's Gravestone," presented by James Grunebaum, professor emeritus of philosophy, on Monday, October 20, at 2:00 p.m. in Bishop Hall 242. The commentator will be Jessica Simpson, '16, philosophy and French dual major.

Abstract
While visiting Concord, Massachusetts, we stopped at a cemetery with the graves of Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. Visitors to the cemetery place remembrances such as pencils, pens, stones, ribbons, buttons, bits of paper, and pinecones on and around their tombstones. On Thoreau's stone, someone left a bright, shiny U.S. quarter. The question occurred to me whether it would be wrong to take it. My paper explores a variety of philosophical answers to this question.

The 15th annual Faculty and Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum is planned for Thursday, October 30, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Houston Gym. Provost Ponton will offer welcoming remarks at 12:30 p.m. A buffet lunch will be provided for all participants and attendees. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome and encouraged to attend this excellent opportunity to network with Buffalo State faculty and staff members and to identify common scholarly and creative interests.

The 2014–2015 academic year has been declared the Year of the Innovator, hosted by the School of the Professions, recognizing the collaborative spirit and creative mindset that is valued at Buffalo State. As in past years, the goal of this forum is to develop, encourage, and support Buffalo State College faculty and staff research and creativity, and to make collaborative research endeavors and grantsmanship more accessible.

A collection of submissions, messages,  and other detailed presentation information is available online.

Note to participants: setup time is 9:00 to 10:45 a.m.

Librarian Al Riess is retiring after 34 years of service to Buffalo State. Please join the staff of Butler Library for a reception in his honor on Monday, October 20, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210. Help us celebrate Al's career and all he has contributed to the Buffalo State community.

Join fellow faculty members for a roundtable discussion on the role of engagement in higher education on Friday, October 31, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 181B. Engagement has become a prominent theme in interactions between faculty and students, yet the question of what constitutes engagement lingers. This discussion will explore the meaning of engagement in higher education with specific attention given to (1) the National Survey of Student Engagement's (NSSE) benchmarks and indicators of high-impact practices and (2) the role of engagement in student success. A light lunch will be served. Facilitated by Bill White.

Register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

The Buffalo State Teacher Education Council will hold a faculty workshop titled "Exploring Advocacy in Education and Community Engagement" on Friday, November 14, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Bacon Hall 117. The workshop will feature David Hursh, professor of teaching and curriculum in the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education, who will discuss his research on the educational reform climate in New York State along with his extensive advocacy work with schools and communities. A light lunch will be provided.

RSVP to Allison Winkowski, secretary in the School of Education, ext. 4214.

Please join the Biology Department for the seminar "Blood Cell Production, Immunity, and Inflammation: A Unique Glycoscience Perspective," presented by Joseph Lau, distinguished research professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, on Monday, October 20, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Technology Building 160.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Glycans occupy the critical junction between the inside and outside of cells, through which all signals communicating cell behavior must be conveyed. All blood cells are generated from precursor blood stem cells under strict instructions to properly resupply all blood cell lineages, including red cells for oxygen transport, platelets to stop bleeding, and white cells to endow immunity and inflammation to combat infections and injury. Glycoscience is the study of the glycans. We are driven by the hypothesis that manipulation of the glycans can dramatically alter the way cells receive and interpret external signals. Therefore, this property can be leveraged to bring about novel paradigms in treatment and diagnosis of clinically relevant maladies, including cancer and inflammatory conditions.  Recent findings relating to manipulating glycans and blood cells will be discussed.