Reva Fish, assistant professor of social and psychological foundations of education, and Laura Klenk, assistant professor of elementary education and reading, presented their research, "Effective Instruction in Head Start Classrooms: The Conflict over Play in Preschool," at the 43rd annual conference of the Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA), held in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, October 17–19.

Klenk also served as the discussant in the conference session "Teacher Preparation and Professional Development."

For the first time in our history, the Buffalo State Ethics Bowl Team made it to the final round of the Northeast Regional Ethics Bowl. The intercollegiate competition took place Saturday, December 1, at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Julian Cole, assistant professor of philosophy and humanities, tirelessly coached two teams of competitors as part of his course PHI 351 Ethics Bowl. Team 1 came in second place overall, which means they have qualified for the national competition, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, at the end of February or the beginning of March. This is Buffalo State’s fourth year in the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition.

Buffalo State was the only state college or university in the competition that included the following participating institutions: Manhattan College, Dartmouth College, Marist College, Moravian College, United States Merchant Marine Academy, United States Military Academy (West Point), Notre Dame of Maryland University, Union College, and Colgate University. Our first team beat teams from Franklin Pierce University, St. John's University, and Villanova University to qualify for the nationals. Our second team also performed exceptionally well.

Team 1 consists of Casey Brescia (senior, philosophy, and president of the Buffalo State Freethinkers); Sarah Caputi (senior, philosophy and urban and regional analysis and planning, and George T. Hole Scholar in Philosophy); Joshua Demont (senior, philosophy); Cassidy Karpovage (junior, English); and Jenna Tomasello (senior, philosophy, and McNair scholar). Our second team consists of Troy Allen Caruana (senior, philosophy and French); Daniel Stewart (junior, philosophy); Eric Szymborski (junior, philosophy); William Watkins (junior, philosophy); and Samantha Wezowicz (junior, philosophy and fine arts). Thanks to Barbara Olsafsky, Ph.D., and James Grunebaum, Buffalo State professor emeritus of philosophy, for volunteering to help coach and judge practice competitions. Kudos to the Buffalo State Ethics Bowl teams!

Michael Johnson, associate professor of modern and classical languages, read his paper "Another Humorous Look at Star Trek" in the Reading Science Fiction and Fantasy section of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association's 23rd annual conference, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 1–3.

Joëlle Leclaire, associate professor of economics and finance, published a paper titled "Households after the Financial Crisis" in the Post Keynesian Economics Forum, November 4.

Current research by Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies, is featured in the latest issue of Science magazine 338 (6110): 1025–1027. The News Focus report, “Making Sense of a Senseless Act,” by Mara Hvistendahl, spotlights Zhang and his research findings on suicide in Asia and China, especially his strain theory of suicide.

Tamara L. McMillan, associate director for leadership in the Student Life Office, will be one of 11 speakers featured at the TEDx BuffaloWomen event on Saturday, December 1. This event is a local production of the international TED events that offer “ideas worth sharing.” A live stream of the event will be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. McMillan will be the final speaker; her presentation will begin at about 2:40 p.m.

The annual TED conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks can be viewed at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende, and Gordon Brown.

Jill Gradwell, associate professor of history and social studies education, along with Lorrei DiCamillo, associate professor at Canisius College, and Andrew Beiter and Joe Karb, teachers at Springville Middle School, recently presented their paper, "Why Do Social Studies Simulations Get a Bad Rap?" at the annual meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly, held in Seattle, Washington, November 14–16.

Bruce Bryski, associate professor of communication, recently presented "The Role of the Media in the 2012 Presidential Campaign" at the University at Buffalo's Emeritus Center. In addition, Bryski made over two dozen media appearances (radio and television), including a panel discussion with Carl Paladino, Buffalo developer and former Republican gubernatorial candidate, and G. Steven Pigeon, political adviser and former chair of the Erie County Democratic Party, on WBBZ-TV. Bryski also appeared on WGRZ-TV and WIVB-TV.

He made over 20 appearances on WBEN-AM 930, including five in-studio appearances during October and November discussing the 2012 congressional and presidential elections. He also brought in Len Lenihan, recently retired chair of the Erie County Democratic Party, as a guest speaker in his politics and media course.

Kevin Williams, associate professor of earth sciences and science education, presented "Peering Into the Subsurface: Using Ground Penetrating Radar to Study Ice Wedge Geometry" at the Geological Society of America's annual meeting and exposition, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, November 4–7. This research was presented at a session in memory of Williams's Ph.D. adviser, Ronald Greeley, who passed away last fall.

Sue McMillen, professor of mathematics and director of faculty development, was installed as the 62nd president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State at its recent conference in Rye, New York.