February 20, 2008                                                     Vol 9. No. 10

Four Professors Honored at First Arts and Sciences Awards Ceremony

Martha Malkiewicz, adjunct professor of fine arts, recipient of the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award, at the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Awards Celebration.

Four faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences were honored for outstanding service at the school’s first annual Faculty Awards Celebration on Saturday, February 2.  More than 50 people were on hand for the event.

Martha Malkiewicz, adjunct professor of fine arts, received the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award; Frank J. Dinan, PhD, professor of chemistry/biochemistry, received the Full-time Faculty Teaching Award; Melissa B. Wanzer, EdD, received the Faculty Scholarship Award and Mariusz M. Kozik, PhD, chair and professor of chemistry/biochemistry; received the Faculty Service Award.  The event was held in the college’s Montante Cultural Center.

"It is wonderful to have another venue to recognize all of the great things the faculty at Canisius do," said Paula McNutt, PhD, dean of arts and sciences. "The members of the faculty committee who organized the event did a great job to make the event festive."

Three Faculty Awarded Summer Grants
Three Canisius faculty members have been awarded Summer Proposal Development Grants. The grants, worth $5,000 each, are intended to support faculty who work over the summer to prepare proposals for external funding from government or private sources. This year’s awardees include:
Eileen M.
Angelini, PhD		 Helen M.
Hull Sanders, PhD		 Mary C.
O’ Sullivan, PhD
  • Eileen M. Angelini, PhD, chair and associate professor of modern languages, “Exploring the Impact of the Silent Revolution on Quebecois Literature and Culture”
  • Helen M. Hull Sanders, PhD, assistant professor of biology, “Researching the Effects of Genetically Modified Corn on Non-Targeted Leaf Feeding Beetles” 
  • Mary C. O’ Sullivan, PhD, professor of chemistry/biochemistry, “The Development of Novel Anti-Trypanosomal Agents”
This is the third year that Canisius has awarded Summer Proposal Development Grants.

Two Canisius-Produced Documentaries Selected for Buffalo Niagara Film Festival
 
“Central Terminal: Saving a Buffalo Landmark,” a 30-minute video documentary produced by the Canisius College Video Institute, and “Elephas Maximus: The Biology and Conservation of the Asian Elephant,” directed by Michael Noonan, PhD, professor of animal behavior, have both been nominated for Best Film, Western New York category for the 2nd Annual Buffalo Niagara Film Festival (BNFF).

Produced by Digital Media Arts majors Kirsten Jahn ’07 and Scott Richardson ’09, the Central Terminal documentary traces the history of the building, its architectural and social significance, and the efforts of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation to bring the building back to life.

The Canisius College Video Institute is funded in part by the John R. Oishei Foundation and directed by Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, chair of the Communication Studies Department. To read more about it, click here.

Elephas Maximus was written, directed and produced by Dr. Noonan, with assistance from his Canisius Ambassadors in Conservation (CAC) students, and was shot on-location in Sri Lanka (summer 2004). The documentary was videotaped by Erik T. Michaelsen, instructional media technician, and edited by Nathan A. Johnson, both from the Canisius College Media Center.  Elephas Maximus takes viewers into the animal’s natural habitat and tells the story of its dependence on plants and the land that supports them, and concludes with highlights of the various positive steps humanity is beginning to take to preserve the Asian elephant, its habitat and ultimately its future.

The BNFF is a week-long international film festival and market at various venues around the Buffalo-Niagara area from March 24-29.  For more information, click here to visit their Web site.

Public Safety Lieutenants Commended for Efforts

(l-r) Ellen O. Conley, PhD, vice president for student affairs; James A. Murphy, lieutenant for public safety; and Gary Everett, director of public safety.  Not pictured: John F. Hach, lieutenant for public safety. 

Canisius College Public Safety Lieutenants James A. Murphy and John F. Hach were recently honored for their assistance to the Buffalo Police Department (BPD) in the arrest of suspects in two cases.  Hach reported a car wanted in a series of burglaries in the Parkside area to the Buffalo Police, which resulted in the suspects’ arrest. Murphy arrested three suspects who were wanted by the BPD for painting graffiti on several buildings, including Forest Lawn Mausoleums and Demerly Hall. The ceremony took place in the office of Ellen O.Conley, PhD, vice president for student affairs on January 23.

Dierenfield Book Lauded by Historical Literature Project
History Professor Bruce J. Dierenfield, PhD, is the recipient of the 2007 Langum Prize in American Legal History.  Presented by The Langum Project for Historical Literature, the award recognizes authors, whose books contain themes that touch upon matters of general concern to the American public, are rooted in sound scholarship and accessible to the general public.  Dierenfield was honored for his new book The Battle Over School Prayer: How Engel v. Vitale Changed America.  The book chronicles the 1962 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that determined it was unconstitutional for the New York State Board of Regents to compose a non-denominational prayer and mandate that it be recited each day in public schools.   

Dierenfield will receive the award in March during a ceremony at the Birmingham Public Library.  The Langum Project for Historical Literature is a small, private operating foundation that annually makes book awards in various categories.

McConnell Publishes Second Edition
Jeffrey J. McConnell, PhD, chair of computer science, recently published a second edition of his widely-used textbook Analysis of Algorithms.  Updated to meet new recommendations put forth by the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (ACM/SIGCSE), the new edition examines the effects that algorithms (the instructions used to write a computer program) have on the efficiency of a computer program, and helps students develop the skills necessary to analyze general algorithms used in programs.  
          
Volonino Named Senior Editor of IS Journal
Linda A. Volonino, PhD, CISSP, chair of information systems, is the new senior editor of Information Systems Management (ISM). A quarterly journal, ISM focuses on the on-going exchange of academic research, best practices, and insights based on managerial experience.

The journal’s goal is to advance the practice of information systems management through this exchange. Each issue features themed papers examining a particular topic. In addition to themed papers, the journal regularly publishes on the following topics in IS management.

In addition, a review of a textbook Volonino co-authored, entitled Computer Forensics: Principles and Practices (Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007), recently appeared in the Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law. Click here to read the review.