Jane R. Cushman, assistant professor, Mathematics, presented the session “Using a Manipulative to Find the Area of a Sector” at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Conference and Exposition in Boston, Massachusetts, October 21–23. Cushman also assisted associate professors Jodelle Magner andSusan McMillen in the session “P3: Property-Opoly and Other Powerful Preservice Field Experiences.”

Buffalo State’s Art Conservation Department received the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society’s Daniel B. Niederlander Award for Outstanding Programming at a Western New York historical organization. Department faculty and students lend their time and expertise to conserving the collections of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo Museum of Science, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Students in the master of arts degree and the certificate of advanced study programs work with nationally and internationally recognized conservators and specialists. Alumni hold significant positions in major museums and institutions around the world, including the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Zhang Jie, professor, Sociology, and director, Center for China Studies, published his article “Sociology as a Science” in the Hebei Academic Journal 29 (3): 113–116 (in Chinese).

Aimable Twagilimana, professor, English, and coordinator, African and African American Studies Interdisciplinary Unit, published three chapters in three volumes of the series Bloom's Literary Themes (Harold Bloom, series ed. and intro.; Blake Hobby, vol. ed.; New York: Bloom’s Literary Criticism, 2009): “Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter's Night a Traveler and the Labyrinth,” inBloom’s Literary Themes: The Labyrinth; “Alienation as Narrative Strategy in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man,” inBloom’s Literary Themes: Alienation; and “Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and the American Dream” inBloom’s Literary Themes: The American Dream.

In June, Steve Street, lecturer, College Writing Program, scored AP placement essays for Educational Testing Service in Daytona Beach, Florida; in July, he wrote an Adjunct Track column for the Chronicle of Higher Education; and in August, his short fiction “Balloon Theater” appeared in print and online editions of theCimarron Review.

Lisa A. Rafferty, assistant professor, and Sharon Raimondi, professor, Exceptional Education, published an article, “Understanding and Preventing Runaway Behavior: Indicators and Strategies for Teachers,” in the peer-reviewed journal Beyond Behavior 18 (3): 19–25.

Michael I. Niman, associate professor, Communication, was a featured guest on Peace Talks Radio, distributed nationally on NPR stations. Niman talked about his sabbatical research studying an ostensibly nonviolent utopian group’s responses to violence.

Carlos Jones, assistant professor, Theater, returns to Buffalo State after completing a six-city creative/teaching tour. Jones was commissioned to create three artistic works: a dance suite inspired by the music of blues legend B. B. King for Dance Spectrum Alaska; a cross-cultural work composed of Indian, West African, and funk dance forms for Rise Dance in Austin; and a theatrical work titled “Tea Madness” for the Northern California Dance Conservatory. Jones was also a faculty member for the summer intensive programs of BHumn Dance in Tampa, TDC dance in Palo Alto, and DAC PAC in San José. He conducted workshops in tap, musical theater, world, and groove and led sessions on how to select undergraduate arts programs.

Karen Bailey Jones, director, Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, was elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Food Bank of Western New York. Founded in 1979, the Food Bank obtains food and support from public and private sources and efficiently redistributes these resources to affiliated charitable providers such as soup kitchens, pantries, and shelters. It distributes more than 1 million pounds of food each month to nearly 96,000 people (39 percent of whom are children and 15 percent of whom are seniors) through more than 360 member agencies in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, and Niagara counties.

In June, Robert Delprino, associate professor, Psychology, served as a mentor for the Undergraduate Student Research Fellowship as well for the McNair Scholars Program. In July, he volunteered and completed an eight-day, 400-mile bike tour along the historic Erie Canal across New York State from Buffalo to Albany. The tour was organized by Parks & Trails New York, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand, protect, and promote a network of parks, trails, and open spaces throughout New York. In August, Delprino served as chair and participant in two presentations at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Toronto, Ontario.

The first was the symposium “Mentoring Undergraduate Research in Psychology.” Presenters included Jennifer Hunt, associate professor, Psychology; Cheryl Albers,associate professor, Sociology; psychology student Rhudwan Nihlawi; and recent graduate of the psychology program Abigail Pardue. The second presentation was the conversation hour “Psychological Considerations for Strategic Planning in Higher Education.” Among the participants was Stephen Chris, senior psychologist, Counseling Center.

Also in August, on behalf of the Society for College and University Planning Institute, Delprino presented the two-day workshop “Integrated Planning: Working with Relationship Realities” to the president, vice presidents, and administrators of the Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.