Dr. John Grant of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum will present "Driving and Orbiting the Red Planet: New Insights from the Exploration of Mars" on Wednesday, April 1, at 8:00 p.m. in SCI 213. Dr. Grant is on the science teams for the Mars Exploration Rovers and for the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. He will be presenting results and amazing images from those missions. This lecture is the second in the Jack Mack Lecture Series in Astronomy and Planetary Science and is sponsored by the Buffalo State College Faculty Student Association.

Write Right: Ten Quick Style Tips is the next session in the Workshops to Success series sponsored by University College’s Academic Skills Center and offered free to Buffalo State students. Dr. Roswell Park will share several quick-fix approaches to writing that will instantly improve your essay and--we certainly hope--your grade.

The Special Colloquium Series in Applied Mathematics hosts five one-hour lectures throughout the spring 2009 semester. The third lecture of this series is today, Tuesday, March 31, during Bengal Pause (12:15 to 1:30 p.m.) in Bulger Communications N2D. The main purpose of the lecture series is to introduce students to some general aspects of credit risk, to take a closer look at consumer risk management and to generate interest in potentially pursuing a career in the field of Financial Risk Management.

The President's Council on Equity and Campus Diversity is pleased to announce the following recipients of the 2009 Phillip Santa Maria Awards for Student Leadership in Equity and Campus Diversity: Huewayne Watson, History; Sarah Lasher, Social Work; and Elizabeth Adams, Communication.

Buffalo State design faculty members, Jozef Bajus, Sunhwa Kim, Tara Nahabetian, Stephen Saracino, Carol Townsend, and Robert Wood have been invited to show at Indigo Gallery (74 Allen Street) in an exhibition titled Clay - Fiber - Metal - Wood. The reception will be held on Friday, April 3, 6:00–9:00 p.m. This show will be up through April 26. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 3:00 p.m.; or by appointment.

The deadline for the Alumni Association's 2009-2010 Scholarship application is this Friday, April 3. All eligible students are encouraged to apply. There are currently 22 Scholarships available for current graduate and undergraduate students. An essay and two references are required with the application. Winning recipients will be notified in early May. For complete details, and to print an online application, please visit www.buffalostate.edu/alumni. Applications are also available in the Alumni Affairs Office, GC 305. Any questions, please call Alumni Affairs at ext. 6001.

The deadline for submission for the Minigrants being offered by The Office of College and Community Partnerships for all tenured and tenure-track Buffalo State faculty members is April 6th. The awards are anticipated to be in the range of $1500 - $2000. The grants will be awarded in May of 2009. The 2008 awards covered a wide range of interests and included community partnerships with faculty in Earth Science Education, Exceptional Education, Social Work, and Biology.

Professor Dominic H. Ryan of McGill University will give a talk "Why Can't You Use Thermal Neutrons to Study Gadolinium-Based Materials?" on Thursday, April 2 at 12:30 PM in SC 272. He will show how Mossbauer spectroscopy and neutron diffraction provide complementary information about magnetic ordering and how they can also lead to a better understanding of the impact of the magnetic environment on the observed hyperfine interactions.

The Governor signed legislation that eliminates the required 3% employee contribution, for employees with ten or more years of SUNY ORP (TIAA-CREF, ING, MetLife and/or AIG) membership. The state, or sponsoring organization, will pick up the cost of the three percent contribution by increasing the employer contribution, as the employee contribution is correspondingly reduced. This bill will ONLY affect active employees who joined the SUNY ORP on or after July 27, 1976.

Faculty and department secretaries: Please be sure to denote instructional method for online learning sections for both Summer 2009 (term 200920) and Fall 2009 (term 200930). This must be done PRIOR to registration. Registration for summer/fall 2009 begins on Wednesday, April 8. Valid instructional methods for online learning are: HY, WB, or WE.