Poetry, the music of words, eludes efforts to define and describe it. That is especially true of English professor Charles Bachman’s most recently published book of poetry, The Strange Lives of Mr. Shakovo.

Each of its 81 poems is discrete, yet Bachman envisions them as a narrative moving from beginning to end. Mr. Shakovo—“Shakovo” is a name Bachman invented more than 40 years ago—begins his story wondering whether his own personal metamorphosis will come to pass.

Although Bachman began writing poetry at age 12, he never expected to write a poetic narrative. However, his career has been marked by a willingness to go through the doors opened by chance. After coming to Buffalo State in 1965 with a specialization in comparative literature, he developed an interest in American drama. That, in turn, led him to an interest in American literature.

“I was using a huge anthology that included poems by Native Americans,” he said, “and I thought, ‘What could be more American than that?’” So he pursued Native American literature and taught the first course in that subject at Buffalo State.

At the same time, he pursued a career as an operatic baritone, performing with many Western New York groups including Opera Rochester, Artpark Opera, and many choral groups that performed classical works, oratorios, and works by composers such as Gershwin. He also performed with two now-defunct Buffalo opera companies.

Several years ago, when opportunities to perform in opera diminished, Bachman was asked to teach a course in contemporary poetry. Having written poetry in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he thought teaching the class might be an opportunity to revisit poetry. “I seldom had the urge to write a poem while I was singing,” he said. “It’s as if the singing expressed whatever it is that poetry expresses now.” These days, he sings professionally only a few times a year.

As he immersed himself in contemporary poetry, he found himself writing poetry again. The result in 2006 was If Ariel Danced on the Moon, a collection of funny poems, serious poems, poems about nature, and poems incorporating Native American beliefs. His poetry has also been published in the Kansas Quarterly, the Carolina Quarterly, House Organ, and the Hazmat Review.

Bachman said that his colleague Jennifer Ryan, assistant professor of English, first suggested a collection of the Mr. Shakovo poems. Bachman began to sketch out a sort of plot, and decided early on that Mr. Shakovo would come out of his peculiar metamorphosis with a larger interest than merely himself. Nanabozho, the trickster figure in Ojibwa culture, emerged as an essential character with whom Mr. Shakovo identifies. “Many Native American cultures have the character of the trickster,” said Bachman. “All of them are also culture heroes.”

As Mr. Shakovo journeys along, he encounters lions on the lawn, unmentionables in the laundromat, and the Burger Dog. The Strange Lives of Mr. Shakovo is available at the Barnes and Noble at Buffalo State Bookstore.

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Read previous Faculty Author stories from the Bulletin:
Lisa Marie Anselmi
Lisa Forrest
Joëlle Leclaire
Gerald Nosich 
Peter Ramos
Allen Shelton

Read previous Faculty Author stories from the Insider:
Felix L. Armfield
Kimberly A. Blessing
William Engelbrecht
Gerard J. Puccio, Mary C. Murdock, and Marie Mance
Thomas C. Renzi
Jean E. Richardson

The African and African American Studies Interdisciplinary Unit, Aimable Twagilimana, coordinator, is proud to present Africa Week, October 26–30.

Monday, October 26
3:00–5:00 p.m.
E. H. Butler Library 210
Screening and discussion: The Front Line, directed by David Gleeson (2006)
Aimable Twagilimana, Professor, English

Tuesday, October 27
FOCUS ON AFRICANA SCHOLARSHIP

1:40–2:55 p.m.
Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall
“Prashad, Aimé Césaire, and Colonial Discourse”
Barish Ali, Visiting Assistant Professor, English

“L. S. Senghor and the Harlem Renaissance”
Aimable Twagilimana, Professor, English

3:15–5:30 p.m.
E. H. Butler Library 210
“Development and Friendship in South Africa’s Limpopo Province”
Marcus Watson, Lecturer, Anthropology

“Islamic Reform, Darfur, and the Upcoming Elections in Sudan: True Unity or Disintegration?”
Haydar Badawi Sadig, Associate Professor, Communication, Medaille College

Book presentation: Religious Conflict and the Evolution of Language Policy in German and French Cameroon, 1885–1939 (Peter Lang, 2008), winner of the 2009 Alf Heggoy Prize
Kenneth Orosz, Assistant Professor, History and Social Studies Education

“Post-Election Violence in Kenya, 2007–2008”
Simeon Chilungu, Associate Professor, Anthropology 

“ICTR’s Akayesu Case: Gender Jurisprudence in International Law”
Aimable Twagilimana, Professor, English

Wednesday, October 28
ENGLISH ALUMNI AND AFRICAN CONNECTIONS

3:00–5:00 p.m.
Campbell Student Union Social Hall (venue subject to change)
Screening and discussion: The Battle of Algiers
Barish Ali, Visiting Assistant Professor, English

5:00–7:00 p.m.
Campbell Student Union Social Hall (venue subject to change)
“Beyond the ‘Post’-Colonial within Modern Arabic Literature,” a reading of Naguib Mahfouz’s Arabian Nightsand Days (Egypt) and Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North (Sudan)
Natalie Di Biase

“Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black: The Legacy of Apartheid and the Heritage of Guilt in Nadine Gordimer’s Fiction”
Deborah Martin

“Buffalo for Africa, Global Education, Genocide Education, and Visit to Rwanda (Summer ’09)”
Drew Beiter and Matthew Meader

Thursday, October 29
12:15–1:30 p.m.
Bulger Communication Center North
“Rawanda 1994 and Beyond”
Carl Wilkens

Friday, October 30
3:00–5:00 p.m.
Ketchum Hall 111
Screening and discussion: Cry, the Beloved Country,directed by Darrell James Roodt (1995)
Aimable Twagilimana, Professor, English
In collaboration with Sigma Tau Delta, Honor Society, English Department

This program was made possible by the Buffalo State Auxiliary Grants Allocation Committee, University College, the School of Natural and Social Sciences, and the English Department.

The campus community is invited to a special ceremony celebrating the official dedication of the Czurles-Nelson Gallery, the main art gallery in Upton Hall, on Wednesday, October 28, at 5:00 p.m.

The gallery honors Stanley A. Czurles, the late SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of art education, who founded Buffalo State’s art education program when he began his career at the college in 1931. The program has since become one of the largest and most respected in the country; alumni teach in all 50 states and around the world. The program has also evolved into the college’s five visual arts programs: art conservation, art education, design, fine arts, and interior design.

Through a combination of current and planned gifts, Czurles’s daughter, Barbara L. Czurles Nelson, and her husband, Donald J. Nelson, have established a gift commensurate with Dr. Czurles’s legacy. Since 1980, the couple has contributed annually to the Stanley A. Czurles Award for Excellence in Art Education. Now they will award six scholarships every year: five will go to one student in each of the five visual arts programs; the sixth will go a student in the Music Department. An endowment will allow the scholarships to be given in perpetuity. An additional annual sum will support the gallery itself.

The dedication ceremony will include remarks by Interim President Dennis K. Ponton; Benjamin C. Christy, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities; Susanne P. Bair, vice president for institutional advancement and executive director of the Buffalo State College Foundation; and Barbara Czurles Nelson.

The Czurles-Nelson Gallery is currently exhibiting works by Buffalo State’s Fine Arts faculty. An opening reception will follow the dedication. The exhibition is on view through November 5.

In honor of the upcoming 100th birthday of Milton Rogovin, famed social documentary photographer, the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College will present a two-day symposium on his pictures and poetry October 24 and 25. Rogovin will be present at all events, which are free and open to the public.

Melanie Anne Herzog, professor of art history at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, will discuss Rogovin’s life and photography on Saturday, October 24, at 1:00 p.m. Herzog is the author of Milton Rogovin: The Making of a Social Documentary Photographer.

A new documentary titled Picture Man: The Poetry of Photographer Milton Rogovin will immediately follow the discussion. The 20-minute film features Rogovin reading poetry he wrote to complement his photographs. A birthday celebration takes place afterward. Rogovin will also sign copies of his new book, Milton Rogovin: The Lens & The Pen: Photographs & Poetry.

On Sunday, October 25, at 2:00 p.m., Eric Gansworth, a member of the Onondaga Nation and professor of English and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College, will read selections of From the Western Door to the Lower West Side, a new book that pairs original poetry with Rogovin’s photographs. A celebration will follow the reading. Gansworth and Rogovin will also sign copies of the book.

Rogovin, who will turn 100 in December, has lived in Buffalo most of his adult life. Many of his works are on display in the Burchfield Penney Art Center and feature images of the poor and working class of Buffalo’s East Side and Lower West Side, Appalachia, Mexico, Chile, and other countries. Rogovin’s photographs also hang in the Library of Congress, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography, and other institutions around the world.

Buffalo State honored his wife of 61 years, Anne Rogovin, ’40, ’62, with the Distinguished Alumnus Award shortly before her death in 2003. A collection of her teaching materials and papers is available in the E. H. Butler Library.

Africa, the world’s second-largest continent, has a population of more than 1 billion people. Add to that number the millions of people around the world who are part of the African diaspora, and the result is a glimpse of the scope and ambition of contemporary African and African American studies.

“In many colleges and universities, the name of such programs is now Africana studies,” said Aimable Twagilimana, professor of English and coordinator of Buffalo State’s African and African American Studies (AAAS) Interdisciplinary Unit. “The change in name reflects a change in focus from the programs established following the 1960s civil rights movement in the United States. People of African descent live not only in the United States, but also in Canada, the Caribbean islands, Europe, South America, and other places in the world. In fact, more people of African descent live in Brazil than in America. The discourse of African studies has shifted to a diasporic discourse. Africana studies encompass the study and production of knowledge concerning African, African American, and Caribbean people in a broad range of disciplines including but not limited to anthropology, history, culture, language and literature, political science, sociology, and women’s studies.”

Twagilimana himself was born in Rwanda, where he went to an exclusive boarding school at the age of 12. “I was lucky to get into that high school,” he said. “In Rwanda, attending high school was—and still is in many ways—like having your life handed to you on a gold platter. Just 2 percent of the people who finished elementary school in the mid-1970s went on to high school. The number has jumped to about 18 percent in recent years.” He said it saddens him when he sees students’ lack of appreciation for the opportunity to obtain an education.

He came to the United States in 1992 as a student on a Fulbright scholarship and earned his doctorate in English at the University at Buffalo, focusing on African American literature, nineteenth-century American literature, and critical theory. In 2008–2009, he went back to Africa as a Senior Fulbright scholar and taught American literature at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. He also furthered his research on Senegalese poet Léopold Sédar Senghor, who, with Aimé Césaire and Léon Damas, founded the Négritude Movement in Paris in the 1930s. Later, Senghor became president of Senegal (1960–1980) and was inducted into the prestigious Académie Française (French Academy) in 1983, the first African to be elected to that illustrious body.

Twagilimana’s studies and his chairmanship of theAssociation of African Studies Programs inform the way he seeks to shape the African and African American Studies Interdisciplinary Unit, which he sees as valuable to all students for many reasons. “Being a student is about acquiring knowledge,” said Twagilimana. “The study of Africa and its people is important to students interested in today’s global village.”

Because Africa is rich in natural resources, it is of critical importance to the developed nations as well as the emerging and developing countries. Therefore, studying the culture and politics of Africa is relevant to students of many disciplines, including political science and economics. “In today’s world,” Twagilimana said, “we need to be exposed to the complex and intertwined realities of our times.”

Students in his English courses who studied African American literature and world literature (which include African and Caribbean authors) have told him that the experience helped them function more effectively as tutors and teachers in Buffalo schools attended by children whose families emigrated from Africa and other places around the world. These courses and the many others offered in the African and African American studies minor, as well as the events organized by the unit, contribute a great deal to the infusion of diversity and global issues in the curriculum.

On October 29, Carl Wilkens will speak on campus at 12:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center North. Wilkens, the only American who stayed in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide started, helped to prevent the deaths of hundreds of people. His story has been told onFrontline, by Human Rights Watch, and in the New York Times. The campus community is invited.

The number of women who earn a bachelor’s degree continues to exceed the number of men. However, the number of women in the science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines continues to lag behind the number of men.

The Women in Science and Mathematics (WISM) Speaker Series presents scientists who work in these disciplines to “support the role of women in science and math at Buffalo State,” said Karen O’Quin, associate dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences and a longtime member of the WISM committee. The invited speakers also serve as role models to female students, helping them to envision themselves in a similar role.

This year’s speakers promise a series of compelling presentations. The first speaker of the 2009–2010 series is Debbie Yen Dao, a graduate student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Rochester, where she is pursuing both an M.D. and a Ph.D.

“I’ve heard her speak, and she has a great story,” said Kelly Boos, assistant to the dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences and adviser to students in the pre-health program. “I’ve told students interested in a career in medicine to attend the presentation.”

Dao will be on campus on Thursday, October 22, at 12:15 p.m. in Classroom Building C122 to present “Paradigm Shifts: My Journey to and through M.D./Ph.D. Training.” Dao, a member of the American Physician Scientists Association, has completed the first two years of medical education and is in the fourth year of ongoing research. Upon completion of her dissertation, she will transition to the third- and fourth-year medical clinical phases of training.

Three more speakers have agreed to come to Buffalo State this year:

Libby Jewett, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is among the scientists who are leading efforts to understand, predict, and mitigate harmful algal blooms that are threatening ecosystems and coastal communities. She earned her Ph.D. in marine ecology from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Carolyn Hurley, a professor in the Department of Oncology and Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University, is also the research director of the C. W. Bill Young Marrow Donor Recruitment and Research Program. She earned her Ph.D. in genetics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Martha Muñoz, a doctoral student in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, is an entomologist.

More information on these speakers will be announced at a later date.

More than 200 first-year students are receiving at least one of four merit-based recruitment scholarships offered by the college: the All College Honors (ACH) Scholarship, the Presidential Scholarship, the Provost Scholarship, and the Dean’s Scholarship.

“The number of individual scholarships is close to 300,” said Mark Petrie, vice president for enrollment management, “but students who receive the All College Honors Scholarship also receive either the Presidential or the Provost scholarship.” This practice puts the ACH Scholarship total of either $4,000 or $3,500 closer to the college’s annual tuition of $4,970 for undergraduate state residents.

“Many colleges offer their honors students a scholarship that covers tuition,” said Petrie. The scholarship is awarded for four years as long the recipient continues to meet the requirements.

The purpose of giving these scholarships is to improve Buffalo State’s student academic profile—the average SAT score and high school GPA of incoming students. “We know there is a direct correlation between this information and retention and graduation rates,” said Petrie. Colleges report these rates, along with other data, to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Many people determine student success based on retention and graduation rates.

For all four scholarships, the minimum high school average is 90; the SAT (or corresponding ACT score) varies. The Presidential, Provost, and Dean’s scholarships are awarded automatically based on information entered into Banner when students apply. These three scholarships are funded out of the college’s operating budget.

“Everything is easier since Banner,” said Dean Reinhart, the associate director for admissions. “Every Friday, the system gives us a running total of how many Presidential, Provost, and Dean’s scholarships have been offered. We just verify that the information in Banner is correct before sending out an award letter.” Among students offered scholarships, the yield—or percentage of accepted students who submit a deposit to attend Buffalo State—is up this year, to about 20 percent, compared with 17 percent last year.

“We keep going until we run out of money,” said Reinhart. “Last year, Dr. Howard told us to offer Presidential Scholarships to anyone who met the criteria, and the college supplemented the scholarships with money from the College Foundation’s general scholarship fund.” So far this year, the number of students choosing to attend Buffalo State after being offered one of these scholarships exceeds the college’s goals. The total goal was 217 scholarships for first-year students; the actual number of scholarships being paid is 292.

The All College Honors Scholarship is funded entirely by private dollars donated to the Buffalo State College Foundation. Most are supported by fundraisers and individual donations, but in addition, many people have established endowment funds to provide ACH Scholarships. According to Reinhart, the criteria for ACH Scholarships is more complex, involving consideration of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses in high school, co-curricular activities, and community involvement.

“The goals for Buffalo State come out of our MOU [memo of understanding] with SUNY,” said Petrie. The MOU calls for increasing the percentage of students from more-selective categories and decreasing the percentage from less-selective categories, with selectivity meaning test scores and high school averages.

It’s important to note that awarding scholarships based on academic achievement does not mean that recipients don’t need the money. Many of Buffalo State’s ACH students choose Buffalo State because it’s the best scholarship offer they receive, and financial aid is the main factor in their choice of colleges. Another important impact is that the scholarships enable the students to work less, making it possible for them to focus on their education and the broad college experience available at Buffalo State.

Buffalo State’s advisement policy will be strictly enforced through a pilot program this semester that will require more than 2,000 undergraduate students in select programs to meet with an adviser before registering for spring classes.

Students will receive a special PIN to access course registration in Banner upon completion of their advisement session. Campuswide enforcement of the policy will begin sometime next year.

Approved in 2004 by the College Senate and the president, the advisement policy requires the following students to receive advisement: new students (first-year and transfers), undeclared students, newly declared students, premajors, students on academic probation, and students who will have earned 90 credit hours by the end of the current term. Students in the select programs who meet any of these criteria must meet with their advisers before registration begins in November.

“Good academic advising is important to a student’s overall academic success here at Buffalo State,” said Kevin Railey, interim provost. “This pilot program targets specific groups of students whom we want to reach in order to ensure that they are on the best path to success and graduation.”

Planning and execution of the pilot program intensified this spring when associate deans determined that Banner was ready to implement an “Alternate PIN” system. The six-digit PIN, which is needed only for registration, will disappear once the student uses it.

“Many other colleges with Banner use this method, and it’s simply a part of their cultures now,” said Don Erwin, senior associate vice president for information services and systems. “I’m excited that we now have the technology to implement our academic initiative. The change will ultimately have a positive effect on students’ experiences at Buffalo State.”

Karen O’Quin, associate dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences, believes communication to faculty and students will be the keys to success. She understands that the new requirement will increase faculty workload but also knows it will help departments better track their majors.

“It’s important that advisers see this as an opportunity to inform students that advisement involves much morethan choosing courses,” O’Quin said. “The meeting is a time to discuss career choices, build a relationship for letters of recommendation, and identify any problems with the major early on so that the student doesn’t fall behind later.”

The Biology Department is one of several participating in the pilot program. Gregory Wadsworth, associate professor and department chair, said biology students were recently required to meet with advisers each semester. He has noticed a significant improvement in advisement and overall retention and thinks the pilot program will help even more.

“Advising can be time-consuming, but we see students who make mistakes [in course selections and career choices] that could have been easily prevented simply by seeing an adviser,” Wadsworth said. “That’s more frustrating to us than having to go through a few busy weeks of advisement.”

Departments are beginning to contact students who meet the advisement criteria. Department chairs will maintain lists of students and corresponding advisers, and faculty members are encouraged to communicate details about the new pilot program to students early and often. Erwin said messages will also be broadcast through the Daily, the Record, Banner, and ANGEL.

Upon conclusion of the drop/add period in January, Erwin and the associate deans will gauge the effectiveness of the pilot by surveying faculty and students. The program is expected to expand to all departments sometime next year once any issues are resolved. An advisement planning committee will assess the efficacy of the campuswide policy after a few semesters.

“The pilot program will help students get connected to the advisers,” Erwin said, “but the most important thing is that advisers spend quality time with students.”

The following grants were awarded through the Research Foundation at Buffalo State College in September. For more information, contact the principal investigator or the Research Foundation at Buffalo State College.

September 2009

Dewayne Beery, Associate Professor Emeritus, Physics
$267,438 (Continuation)
U.S. Department of Education
Title III: Enhancing Student Performance in Programs Requiring Significant Use of Quantitative/Mathematics Skills (Year Five of Five)

Michael De Marco, Chair and Professor, Physics
Dermott Coffey, Associate Professor, Physics
$390,000
U.S. Department of Energy
Magnetic and Superconducting Properties of Materials Studied by the ⁹⁹Ru, ¹⁸⁹Os, ¹¹⁹Sn, ⁵⁷Fe and ¹⁹¹Ir Mössbauer Effects in External Magnetic Fields

Jill Gradwell, Assistant Professor, History and Social Studies Education
$61,879
Albion Central School
Setting Our Sites on History: Using Historical Museums and Landmarks to Teach Traditional American History

Florence Johnson, Director, Student Support Services Program
$305,713 (Continuation)
U.S. Department of Education
Student Support Services (Year Four of Four)

Charles Kenyon, Dean of Students
$300,000
U.S. Department of Justice
A Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent Violence Against Women at Buffalo State College

Kelly Marczynski, Assistant Director and Senior Research Scientist, Center for Health and Social Research
$19,800 (Continuation)
Preventionfocus Inc.
Evaluation Work Plan 2009

Sandra Washington, Director, McNair Scholars Program
$233,722 (Continuation)
U.S. Department of Education
Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program

William Wieczorek, Director, Center for Health and Social Research
$39,600
Native American Community Services
Data Utilization for Program Planning

The Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College is pleased to present its annual Gala and Art Auction on Friday, October 16, in the Hyatt Regency in downtown Buffalo. The gala will feature an evening of elegant dining, entertainment, and live and silent auctions. This year’s event marks the one-year anniversary of the new museum, and the traditional first-year anniversary gift of paper has inspired the décor and artwork.

Support helps fund the new Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State, a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and to the distinguished artists of Western New York. Works by more than 75 Western New York artists will be part of the silent auction.

The live auction, also featuring Western New York art, will take place throughout the evening, led by Cash Cunningham and Burchfield Penney director Ted Pietrzak. Artist and friend of the museum Rita Argen Auerbach will guide this year’s “celebrity artist,” Cindy Abbott Letro, in the creation of a watercolor especially for the live auction. Letro is past chair and current member of the Burchfield Penney Board of Trustees.

Music will be provided by the Jim Tudini Band, featuring Bobby Militello. For more information, visitwww.bpgala.org or call 878-3227.