On behalf of the Buffalo State Campus Intercultural Communications Committee, the International Student Affairs Office wishes to invite all faculty, professionals, staff, and students to drop in at the social hour for all international students/scholars, every Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 208. Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday, February 9.

A decade ago in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez passed a radical new agrarian reform law that ignited a wave of violence that led to the widespread assassination of landless farmers.

With little means to defend themselves against wealthy landowners, impoverished agricultural workers were forced to seek justice in the nation's corrupt courtrooms and its bureaucracy-laden government agencies.

Tierras Libres is directed by Buffalo State alumnus Edward Ellis, who will be present at the screening to discuss the film, Thursday, March 17, during Bengal Pause, in Upton Hall 230.

Valentine's Day is only one week away! Get your special someone something special at the Burchfield Penney Museum Store. Cards, gifts, jewelry, accessories, and more are available. Gift wrapping is always free (and, you can do your shopping without losing your parking space)! Mention the Daily, and get 15 percent off of one item through Sunday, February 13.

All purchases support the Burchfield Penney and the artists of Western New York.

Students and the public are invited to participate in figure drawing, Thursday, March 17, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Burchfield Penney Art Center's reception area. Artists are responsible for bringing their own supplies, and instructors will be available at each session. All skill levels are welcome. 
$5 general, $3 for Buffalo State College students

The Campus Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) will present the work of two recent CASTL Fellows, Tuesday, March 15, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 208. Dr. Hsiang-Ann Liao will present "Speech Efficacy and Collaborative Learning." And Dr. Victoria Furby will discuss "Individualized Feedback: The Effect on Student Behaviors and Musical Performance." All are welcome.

For more about the CASTL fellowship program, visit http://www.buffalostate.edu/orgs/castl/.

This workshop will prepare you to start training your voice and use the Dragon Naturally Speaking software to write what you dictate! Optimal computer hardware needed to support the software and a basic list of commands that keeps the program working effectively will be discussed and demonstrated. Students who have difficulty using the keyboard, or are unable to organize and type their thoughts can benefit from using this software. Professors and instructors will understand how this software is used by students and how it can be an effective tool for them to use too! Voice features available in Windows 7 will also be shared. Presented by Sumana Silverheels, Tuesday, March 22, from 12:15 to 1:30 in E. H. Butler Library 316.

Register online.

Mr. Mark Messura will present an overview of his new position as executive vice president of the Global Product Supply Chain division of Cotton INC. The presentation will be held Thursday, March 17, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Caudell Hall 212.

The Global Product Supply Chain is a new division created by Cotton INC. in order to better achieve its mission of increasing the demand for and profitability of cotton. This new division will integrate the company’s Textile Research, Global Product Marketing, Fashion Marketing and Strategic Planning divisions, and will leverage the expertise of each to respond to global industry needs. 

Cotton INC, funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton.

The focus of this workshop is to provide faculty with information on how their Word and PDF documents, PowerPoint presentations, textbooks, exams, and quizzes can have some universal design features that makes these instructional materials easily accessible to struggling readers and writers. The Kurzweil programs allow the use of existing electronic features within the software to provide students with the speech feedback they need to learn and understand the information. The various features of Kurzweil and its ability to work with foreign languages will be demonstrated. The session will also address any concerns instructors may have in regards to the use of this software with teacher created materials. Presented by Sumana Silverheels. Lunch will be provided. Join us, Thursday, February 17, 12:15–1:30 p.m. in the Professional Development Center, E. H. Butler Library 181B.

Register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2391.

E. H. Butler Library 316 and 318 are available for faculty and staff training and for individual class sessions for which computer lab space is required but no other department lab space is available. Faculty may schedule up to five individual class sessions per section each semester. To reserve one of these rooms, or to request technology instruction in CyberQuad during one of your class sessions, contact Paul Reynolds at ext. 3361. To arrange for library instruction for a class or a group, see http://library.buffalostate.edu/services/instruction.php.

A CERT refresher training will be held on Thursday, March 31, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210. The first hour of instruction will present an overview of current terrorism trends and tactics, highlighting the potential concerns for the United States homeland and for universities in particular. 

We will review historical acts of terrorism, as well as some more recent incidents from Dallas, Springfield, New York City, and Detroit. We will learn targeting and methodologies from actor(s) to prepare for what might be coming next. 

After a short break, the second hour will focus on the tools of terrorists. We will look at the specific components of improvised explosive devices–how they are constructed and deployed. The potential for use of chemical, biological, and radiological components, along with how vehicle borne improvised explosives devices have seemingly become the weapon of choice for homegrown radicals, will also be explored. 

Finally as a summation, we will look at just what we as individuals and team members can do to detect, deter, respond and mitigate future attacks. 

Facilitator: Gregg Blosat, patrol captain with the Buffalo Police Department in his 25th year.