Want to run in the 2014 Buffalo State student elections? Go to the United Students Government website to fill out an application. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, February 28.

The following positions are available:

USG President (one position, one-year term)
USG Executive Vice President (one position, one-year term)
USG Treasurer (one position, one-year term)
USG Vice President for Academic Affairs (one position, one-year term)
USG Vice President for Campus Affairs and Government Relations (one position, one-year term)
USG Vice President for Public Relations (one position, one-year term)
USG Vice President for Student Life (one position, one-year term)
USG Senator (40 positions, one-year term)
Faculty Student Association Board Member (two positions, two-year term)
College Senator (10 positions, one-year term)
College Council (one position, one-year term)
Student Assembly Delegate (two positions, one-year term)
Intercollegiate Athletics Board (non-competitor and at-large position available, one-year term)
Auxiliary Services Advisory Committee (one position, one-year term)
Grant Allocation Committee (three undergraduate positions, one graduate position, two-year term)

Descriptions and requirements of the positions are available online. Students will vote in the student elections between Monday, March 31, and Thursday, April 3, in the Campbell Student Union lobby.

Project Flight, in partnership with the Governor’s Office, the Office of Children and Family Services, and the New York State Office of General Services, founded the Martin Luther King Literacy Initiative “Leaders Are Readers” program in New York. The literacy drive was started in 2004 and was held in New York City, Albany, and Buffalo, representing three areas of the state. This year is the 10th year that Project Flight has led the charge for the Martin Luther King Jr. New York State Literacy Initiative.

Project Flight is a not-for-profit literacy organization that has worked to promote literacy locally and globally. Now in its 10th year, Project Flight provided books and learning materials to eight schools that were selected in the Western New York area.

The three winners were the Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy (School 76), Lafayette High School (School 204), and the Charter School for Applied Technologies. These schools are the leading recipients of this year’s Martin Luther King Literacy Initiative, receiving 2,000 or more books and materials. The Early Childhood Center (School 17), Lovejoy Discovery School (School 43), Discovery School (School 67), PFC. William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence (School 79) and Al-Rasheed Academy in Lackawanna are the five schools receiving an honorable mention, with each receiving a donation of over 600 books and materials.  Along with the promise to promote literacy in school and at home, each of the eight schools must develop a relationship between themselves and their local libraries to continue Dr. King’s vision of equality through literacy.

This year’s selection committee was made up of the co-directors of Project Flight  (Elizabeth Cappella, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of higher education administration; and Geraldine Bard, professor emerita of English ); committee chair Mary Jean Jakubowski, director of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library system; Wendy Paterson, Dean of the School of Education; and John Siskar, director of the Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education and senior adviser for Buffalo State educational pipeline initiatives. The press conference, held at Herman Badillo, was attended by the superintendent of the Buffalo Public Schools, the deputy mayor, and the assistant commissioner of New York, representing the governor, as well as others.

Please review your department websites for any references or links to ANGEL. If any are found, please amend the language to reference Blackboard and provide the following link: https://buffalostate.sln.suny.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

Thank you.

Utopian Euphoria is proud to announce the celebration of its fourth annual Women Making History Gala on Saturday, March 29, at 6:00 p.m at Classics V Banquets, 2425 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Amherst,14228. This year’s theme will be "Women Who Walk in Footsteps of Greatness."

This gala promises to be an exciting signature event, complete with live entertainment by Lydia Maria and Kenny Sutton. Black Pearle will recite spoken words of Women Who Walk In Footsteps of Greatness. Live dance performance by Matthew Clark Academy School of Dance. the keynote speaker for the evening will be Brenda McDuffie. Susan McCartney and Clifford Bell, from the Center for Development of Human Services, will be our emcees for the evening.

This year's honorees are as follows:

• Pamela Brown
• Tracy Cardwell
• Ada Clemons
• Ina Ferguson
• Karen Freeland
• Bernadine Harvey
• Tina Hazen
• Sharese Hooker
• Dorothea Baxter Hughes
• Yanick Jenkins
• Sharon Johnson
• Talia Johnson
• Tracey Mullen
• Sue O’Neil
• Alisha Taggert Powell
• Jennifer G. Pratt
• Shandra Spicer
• Vivian Thomas
• Ayoka Tucker, Esquire

Partial proceeds from this event will benefit the start-up cost for the Virginia D. Moore-Rainey Fighting Lung Cancer Foundation. This foundation will help fund children in need of school supplies, enrollment registration, and families of children who are diagnosed with cancer, who may need financial assistance during hospital stays.

Virginia D. Moore Rainey passed away December 2, 2012, after a long battle with lung cancer. She was a nonsmoker. She believed in children receiving their education, and she gave to organizations to help many children. She passed away five days before her 10-year-old son’s birthday.

Please help support this cause by sponsoring a table of 10 at $500 or by purchasing individual tickets at $50 each. Tickets are available online. There is limited vendor space available, which includes one 6-foot white-cloth- dressed table and two chairs.

Should you require additional information, please contact Jude Jayatilleke via e-mail at info@utopiann.com or by phone at (716) 507-8696.

The Year of the Teacher "Nominate a Teacher" contest has begun!

This initiative—sponsored by the School of Education, the Student Life Office, and the Career Development Center—seeks to involve our Buffalo State students in celebrating teaching by recognizing educators who have made a positive impact on their lives.

All full-time undergraduate and graduate students are invited to nominate a K–12 teacher or college instructor via the online nomination form. A committee will review the entries and choose finalists whose nominations will be open for voting by the entire campus. The student whose essay receives the most votes will win an iPad mini, and the nominated teacher will be honored during an on-campus ceremony.

Nominations are open through February 24. Voting will be held March 10–17. Please share this information with your students.

For additional information, e-mail Stephanie Zuckerman-Aviles, director of the Career Development Center.

In honor of Valentine's Day, Buffalo State Dining will feature a chocolate fondue bar today for lunch in the Resident Dining Hall, located in the Campbell Student Union, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Enjoy all your favorite goodies dipped in warm milk and white chocolate.

For more information on Buffalo State Dining, please visit our website.

Please note the following changes in Buffalo State Dining's hours of operation due to the President's Day holiday:

Hours of operation are for Monday, February 17, and Tuesday, February 18. 

Resident Dining
Brunch: 10:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
Dinner: 4:30–8:30 p.m.

Food Court
Train Grill: 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Chop’d: Closed
Subway: Noon–11:00 p.m.
2.mato: 11:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.
Salsarita’s: 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Bluw: Closed
Roots: Closed
Spot Coffee: 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Jamba Juice: Noon–7:00 p.m.

Outtakes
Closed

Café Oh-Le
Closed

Choc-o-late
Closed

Argo Tea
Closed

Lloyd
Closed

For more information on Buffalo State Dining, please visit our website.

The Robert J. Elmes Jr. Memorial Scholarship Committee and the CSEA Local 640 would like to congratulate the winners of the spring 2014 Robert J. Elmes Jr. Memorial Scholarship: Jennifer Young, a repeat member recipient who majors in health and wellness and works in the Continuing Professional Studies Office, and Carolyne Szpaicher, a repeat dependent recipient majoring in early childhood education. CSEA Local 640 members are reminded that the scholarship will once again be offered for fall 2014. Watch for applications in late August. Remember, new applicants and those who have already won are eligible and welcome to apply.

A reminder to academic departments and student programs: Monday, March 3, is the deadline to submit your listings of student awards for print in the Commencement program booklet. The booklet will be distributed at each of the the three ceremonies on Saturday, May 17. Please forward undergraduate listings to Patricia Alessandra in the Academic Affairs Office and graduate listings to Marnie Letzelter in the Graduate School. Criteria and formatting guidelines are posted on the Faculty and Staff section of the Commencement website.

Thank you for recognizing the achievements of the Class of 2014.

Please join us to learn about the outcomes of a unique collaboration to expand opportunities for students in service-learning courses and increase skills, understanding, and respect for individual differences in an increasingly diverse world, represented throughout Buffalo neighborhoods, during this presentation on Tuesday, March 11, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Bacon Hall 117.

The Buffalo State NCBI team and Volunteer and Service-Learning Center (VSLC) have partnered over the past few semesters to offer the NCBI (National Coalition Building Institute) workshop "Welcoming Diversity and Inclusion" to students in preparation for their service-learning experiences.

Gina Pannozzo, project director in the Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education, and Kevin Railey, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, will present interesting results of student pre- and post-survey data conducted through this collaboration.

RSVP to Rose Coates, ext. 5811.