May is blood pressure education month! Know your numbers! About 74.5 million people in the United States have high blood pressure, or hypertension, and 90 percent of adults 45-64 years old will develop hypertension. Nearly one in five people have high blood pressure and are unaware of it. Hypertension increases the risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke, the third-leading cause of death. Take an active role in your health and get your blood pressure checked regularly.

During the month of May, Weigel Health Center will be offering their two ambulatory blood pressure monitors to interested staff of Buffalo State. However, we are only able to accommodate the first 20 people that contact us for an appointment.

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a technique used to estimate true blood pressure by wearing a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours. The monitor can be worn on a belt or in a pouch but you will have a blood pressure cuff on your non-dominant arm for 24 hours. It is programmed to take readings every 20 minutes when awake and every 60 minutes when asleep. At the end of testing, the results are downloaded into a computer and the results will be printed for you. We will not be responsible for treatment or follow-through on your results; we ask that you follow up with your personal doctor accordingly. In addition, we are not using the results of any tests performed for any  purpose. The readings are very reliable, accurate within 5 mmHg of readings taken with a manual blood pressure cuff.

When wearing the cuff, it is important to know that your arm must remain relatively still while the cuff is inflating. You are unable to shower with the monitor. Wear loose-fitting clothing on the day of your appointment. The cuff will be placed on your non-dominant arm.

Anyone interested in ambulatory  blood pressure monitoring during May should call the Weigel Health Center at (716) 878-6711 and ask to speak to Julie Nichols, one of the nurse practitioners.We look forward to seeing you and answering any questions you may have!

Please join us for a celebration of Native heritage and culture featuring music, dancers, and artists:

Michelle Bancroft: Jay Treaty (Border Crossing)
Michael Martin from Native American Community Services
YaVaun Ground: Beadwork
Newtown Singers
Native Dancers

Wednesday, April 27
5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Perry Quad (behind Barnes & Noble at Buffalo State Bookstore in Campbell Student Union)

Sponsored by Native American SUNY: Western Consortium; Buffalo State Native American Student Organization; Anthropology Department; and the Seneca Language Group
 

Barbara D. Jones, administrative assistant in Accounts Payable and Travel Services, has worked at Buffalo State since 1998. “I care so much about all the students,” she said. “I love seeing them on campus, getting an education, trying to make their dreams come true.”

In the 1970s, she and her mother were involved in the efforts to desegregate the Buffalo Public Schools. “Working at Buffalo State, I feel like it’s come full circle,” she said. “For a lot of students, their college opportunities started back then.”

It’s no surprise, then, that one of the funds Barb supports is the Dr. Anna P. Burrell Diversity Scholarship, which supports academically talented students from underrepresented minorities. “I like so many funds,” said Barb. “I wish I could give to more.”

Barb also contributes to the Horace Mann Campus Employee Acknowledgment Citation Fund, which recognizes classified employees who provide valuable behind-the-scenes services to the campus community. “It was so wonderful for Hank Mann to acknowledge their work,” she said. “And I miss him so much; he was such a great human being. I’m so happy to be supporting his work.”

Join Barb. Support our students and choose a fund for your gift. For additional information about giving to the Faculty and Staff Appeal, please contact Louis Noce.

The Pedagogical Institute is a series of professional development workshops for faculty and staff to be held May 16-26. The showcase event will feature D. Lynn Sorenson, who has more than two decades of experience in instructional and faculty development. Her workshop, “Designing Courses for Significant Learning,” will use the key components of integrated course design to engage participants in enhancing their own effectiveness in teaching and their students’ effectiveness in learning. To register and see a full schedule, please visit  Professional Development. The Pedagogical Institute is a collaboration between the assistant dean for Intellectual Foundations and the Professional Development Office.

The Speech-Language Pathology Department hosts the sixth annual Thielman Speaker Series, "Stuttering Therapy: Coloring Outside the Lines," presented by Gary J. Rentschler, Ph.D., a nationally recognized stuttering expert, author, and clinic director from Duquesne University, Saturday, April 30, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. in Upton Hall 230. For more information or to register for the conference, please call ext. 3527 or e-mail heximecm@buffalostate.edu.  

Annual report forms are posted on the web at www.buffalostate.edu/offices/hr/ under Featured Links. The timetable for submission of annual reports for 2010-2011 follows:

June 10, 2011: Individual reports from faculty, librarians, and professional staff submitted to director or department chair.

July 6, 2011: Department reports to dean, associate vice president, or to vice president.

July 20, 2011: All reports (deans, associate vice presidents, vice presidents) to provost can be submitted electronically to Carolyn Martino.

Buffalo State is considering revising its policy regarding smoking to include a ban on tobacco throughout campus, indoors and out. Before any decision is made, we want campus members' input. The following link will take you to a list of questions that will help us learn your thoughts as a campus member regarding such a change.

http://studentvoice.com/bstate/smokingpolicysp11

If you have questions about the survey, please send an e-mail to weigel@buffalostate.edu or call Kim Jablonski at ext. 5218.

Thank you in advance for your time.

EVERGREEN will be collecting eyeglasses and sunglasses during the month of April. There are drop boxes located at the Campbell Student Union and E. H. Butler Library information desks. Glasses can also be sent through the campus mail to: EVERGREEN, Moore Hall 124. By donating your glasses you are helping people with eyesight difficulties worldwide. With the price of glasses exceeding three months' average salary in some African countries, donated eyeglasses are the only feasible way to bring sight to many visually impaired. 
Thank you for your help!
 

The 12th annual Faculty/Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum will be held on Thursday, October 27, in the Houston Gym. The goal of this forum is to develop, encourage, and support Buffalo State faculty and staff research and creativity, and to make collaborative research endeavors and grantsmanship more accessible. This is an excellent opportunity to network with other Buffalo State faculty and staff and to identify common scholarly and creative interests that you may have.

All faculty and staff are invited to organize an exhibit to present current research, creative activity, or other scholarship. Individual, departmental, or group exhibits are welcome.

To participate, please complete the online form. Titles and abstracts/descriptions are to be submitted electronically by Friday, September 30, 2011.

Please visit the Fall Forum web page on the Research Foundation’s Web site for more information.

You are invited to Bulger Communication Center West 2, today, Thursday, April 21, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. to meet the Bantu Youth Council and hear their presentation about the struggles and successes of the refugee peoples of Kenya. Shaban Muktar, of the college-based transition program, has invited his friends on the council to bring you their story. Meet upstairs in Bulger for the presentation and a light lunch.