Sue McMillen, professor of mathematics, presented a hands-on session, “Unpacking the Standards for Mathematical Practice for the Elementary Grades,” at the 46th annual conference of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 7–9. The presentation focused on training math coaches and other professional development providers to help K–6 teachers understand the instructional implications of the Common Core's Standards for Mathematical Practice.

“The Meat Place,” a short story by Kim Chinquee, associate professor of English, appears in the spring 2014 issue of Ploughshares. Chinquee is the author of several collections of short fiction and poetry, including Pistol (Ravenna Press, 2012), Pretty (White Pine Press, 2010), and Oh Baby (Ravenna Press, 2008). A recipient of both a Pushcart and a Henfield prize, she is a frequent contributor to NOON, the Denver Quarterly, and Conjunctions, and her work has appeared in the Nation, the Huffington Post, Mississippi Review, Fiction, and BOMB. She is an associate editor of New World Writing and chief editor of Buffalo State’s ELJ (Elm Leaves Journal). She was mentioned in the bbc.com article "The World Wide Web at 25: Changing Literature Forever" in March.

Ploughshares is an award-winning literary magazine based at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1971, the magazine publishes three issues a year, two of which are guest-edited by prominent writers.

Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of Buffalo State's Center for China Studies, received the Louis I. Dublin Award for Distinguished Contribution in the Area of Suicidology from the American Association of Suicidology. The award was presented during the 47th annual conference of the AAS, held in Los Angeles, California, April 9–12. This lifetime achievement award for outstanding services and contributions to the field of suicide prevention is the highest achievement award for scholars in this area. Zhang also directs the Center for Suicide Prevention Research at Shandong University in China. During the conference plenary session, he presented the talk "Psychological Strains and Suicide: Evidence from Rural China."

Tim Walsh, associate vice president for college relations, has been elected to the board of directors of the SUNY Council for University Advancement. SUNYCUAD's 19- to 25-member board represents the diverse interests of the advancement and communication professions within SUNY's 64 campuses. His three-year term begins this month.

Jo Yudess, lecturer in the Educational Technology and Creative Studies departments, received a first-place award for the most pedagogically intriguing use of a TOEP tool in the SUNY Tools of Engagement Phase 2 Project for 2014. The other 24 first-place winners were from other SUNY colleges and universities. Her prize includes a $300 Professional Development Award. TOEP highlights tools and resources to help users become familiar with photo sharing, audio, video, blogs, wikis, online applications, social bookmarking, citation management, and many other freely available online tools to support student learning.

Selcuk Acar, assistant professor of creative studies, presented a research paper (coauthored with Mark A. Runco) at the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2014 annual meeting, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 3–7. The paper, "Identifying Remote and Close Associations in Divergent Thinking," focuses on practical methods that can be used to score responses to divergent thinking tasks.

Alexander Means, assistant professor of social and psychological foundations of education, received the Society of Professors of Education Book Award at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference on April 7. The award was given for his book Schooling in the Age of Austerity: Urban Education and the Struggle for Democratic Life (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Means also participated in an invited keynote panel discussion on his recent book, Toward a New Common School Movement (Paradigm, 2014), coauthored with Kenneth J. Saltman and Noah De Lissovoy, at the AERA conference on April 5.

Bridget María Chesterton, associate professor in the History and Social Studies Education Department, has had an invited and peer-reviewed annotated bibliography titled "The Chaco War" accepted for publication with Oxford Bibliographies in Latin American Studies.

Gerhard Falk, professor of sociology, has published his 23rd book: The German Jews in America: A Minority Within a Minority. This study is based on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis to the effect that language determines the real world as perceived by all of us. This means that German Jews who did not speak Jewish, as was true of 95 percent of Jewish immigrants to the United States, became alienated from the American Jewish community. Likewise, Sicilians are a minority within the Italian community, as are Swiss German speakers within the German community, etc. The principal conclusion of this book supports the view that all ethnics are not the same. The book shows that rates of assimilation and enculturation also differ between language subcultures, as do practices associated with the social institutions.

Jill Gradwell, associate professor of history and social studies education, and Kathryn Leacock, curator of collections at the Buffalo Museum of Science, presented their workshop "Full STEAM Ahead! Service Learning, Collaboration and Partnerships Will Keep You on Track" at the Museums in Action Conference, the annual meeting of the Museum Association of New York, held in Albany, New York, March 30–April 1.