Bruce G. Bryski, associate professor, Communication, appeared as a political analyst and media expert on both WECK-AM 1230 and WBEN-AM 930 on January 28 to critique President Obama’s historical first State of the Union address and analyze media coverage of the earthquake in Haiti.

Zhang Jie, professor, Sociology, and director, Center for China Studies, published his article “Economic Growth and Suicide Rate Changes: A Case in China from 1982 to 2005,” coauthored with Jixiang Ma, Chongqi Jia, Jiandong Sun, Xiaolei Guo, A. Xu, and Weika Li, in European Psychiatry (in press: Epub, November 17, 2009).

Jagat J. Mukherjee, research scientist, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Lab, Great Lakes Center, published a paper titled “Inhibition of Benzopyrene-Diol-Epoxide (BPDE)–Induced Bax and Caspase-9 by Cadmium: Role of Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase” in the journal Mutation Research 661 (1, 2): 41–46, with coauthors Suresh Gupta and Subodh Kumar, interim director, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Lab, Great Lakes Center.

Mukherjee was invited as a guest speaker to the Second International Symposium on Recent Advances in Basic, Clinical, and Social Medicine (jointly organized by the University of Manitoba, Canada, and Shantou University, China), held at Shantou University, China, November 24–26. The title of the talk was “Interference of Tumor Potentiating Environmental Pollutants with p53 Signaling.”

Joy Guarino, assistant professor, Theater, conducted a workshop, “Teaching the Teacher: Creating Comfort with a Kinesthetic Classroom,” at the eighth annual Hawaii International Conference on Education, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, January 7–10.

Sue Baldwin, assistant professor, Health and Wellness, is a needs-assessment tool trainer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention School Health Index. She conducted a full-day training on October 19 for the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Dan Shanahan, lecturer, Theater, wrote and directed an original work for the stage titled AREA, which premiered in 2009. AREA utilizes voice recordings, sound manipulation, and video documentation along with traditional theater to form the basis of the production. Of the show, the Buffalo News said, “It points the theater in a new direction.... a momentous achievement at a time when everyone believes that originality has keeled over and died.” Artvoice called AREA “hypnotizing in its intensity.”

Zhang Jie, professor, Sociology, and director, Center for China Studies, published his article “Marriage and Suicide among Chinese Rural Young Women” in Social Forces (in press: accepted for publication November 25, 2009).

John T. Thompson, associate professor, Computer Information Systems, presented a concurrent session, “Using Desktop Web Conferencing for Teaching and Meetings,” at the Association for the Advancement of International Education’s 44th annual conference, held in Boston, Massachusetts, February 11–14.

Catherine Lange, assistant professor, Earth Sciences and Science Education, and Kenneth L. Huff, ’92, ’97, 2006 winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, published an article in the January 2010 issue of Science Scope, the journal of the National Science Teachers Association, titled “SSSNOW Project: Helping Make Science Cool for Students.”

Kimberly Kline, associate professor, Student Personnel Administration, has been elected to serve on the Directorate for the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Commission for Assessment and Evaluation. This commission promotes assessment skills and knowledge to facilitate and support student learning, development, and effective student affairs practice in higher education. It is also known for designing forward-thinking student affairs research and evaluation at the national level.