November 14, 2007                                                     Vol 9. No. 6

Grants Boost Literacy Center Initiatives   
The Canisius College Graduate Literacy Center received two grants to promote literacy efforts for local school-aged children through several new programs. The first, a $2,000 grant from Target, will be used for “Bookworm Weekends.” The six-week-long program, which runs on Saturdays, encourages children in grades K-4 to develop a love of reading and strengthen their literacy skills with fun and engaging exercises. Target has supported this initiative since 2003.

WGRZ Grant

(left to right) Margaret C. McCarthy, PhD, dean of the School of Education and Human Services; Rosemary K. Murray, PhD, chair of graduate education and director of the Literacy Center; Mary Beth Roberts, Literacy Center graduate assistant; Colleen Nossavage, community relations assistant, WGRZ-TV and Mary E. Shea, PhD, professor of graduate education and leadership and director of the Literacy Program. 

The center also received a $2,000 Gannett Foundation grant for “What is Buffalo 2 You?” The program will enable middle school students from the Hamlin Park neighborhood to travel to notable Western New York destinations, then photograph and write about their experiences.  “What is Buffalo 2 You?” will provide students with the opportunity to think critically about media messages, express themselves through creative language and media arts, enhance their awareness of local cultural assets, and develop self-confidence as successful learners.  

Gonzales Receives Osborne Award  

(left to right) Burl Osborne, former director and retired director of the Associated Press, Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, college president, Tracey K. Gonzales `10 and Peter T. Ivanovich, MD, professor of medicine for the Division of Nephrology/Hypertension at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and chief of the Hemodialysis Unit at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, IL.

Tracey K. Gonzales ’10, a Canisius College early childhood education major, received the 2007 Burl Osborne Pioneer Organ Replacement Hero Award on October 26 in the college’s Grupp Fireside Lounge. The Osborne Award is given by the International Federation for Artificial Organs (IFAO) to a non-professional person who has contributed significantly to organ replacement in a heroic fashion. Gonzales accepted the award from Burl Osborne, former director and retired chairman of the board of the Associated Press, and the person for whom the award is named.

Taylor Publishes in Multiple Journals
Poetry and fiction authored by Ed Taylor, adjunct professor of English, recently appeared in the journals Swink (July 2007), Vestal Review (Issue 30), Slipstream (Issue 27), and the fall issue of XCP: Cross Cultural Poetics (Issue 17). In addition, his essay entitled “Snatch” was published in the spring 2007 edition (Number 137) of the San-Francisco based periodical series Mirage.

Canisius Employee Stars in Locally Produced Movie
Bob Grabowski, instructional support specialist for ITS, stars in the locally produced film, Release the Funny, which will premiere at the Riveria Theater in North Tonawanda on Saturday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m.  Release the Funny, a collection of ten short comedies filmed in the Buffalo area, is produced by LittleFlick Pictures.  For more information, click here.