Daily Brief

The Admissions Office is hosting a group of ninth grade students from Exeter High School in partnership with the Berks Business Education Coalition. These students will tour the KU campus, learn about higher education and the admissions process, and they will be eating in the Galleria.

The Community Outreach Center is joining the Friends, Inc. Annual Christmas Cheer Campaign. Through Dec. 15, we will hold our holiday food box collection for Friends, Inc. We would like your office to join us in providing food donations to help families in need. Our goal for KU is to complete 75 boxes of 150 total.

All boxes may be wrapped with Christmas wrapping around the outside of box – please do not wrap the top. (Simply fold down the flaps or use a “copy paper” box with removable lid). Please label it with “Kutztown University and the name of your office.”

All boxes may be dropped off at the Community Outreach center in room 281 McFarland Student Union. Arrangements can be made for them to be picked up if needed. Please call the office at ext. 6-4127 if you have any questions.

Working with the Blackboard Discussion Board Workshop today from 11 a.m. - noon in RL30. Faculty, are you interested in using the discussion board tool in Blackboard? Attend this workshop to learn how to configure and manage asynchronous, online discussions in Blackboard. Looking for a streamlined alternative to the blackboard discussion tool? Consider using a blog. In addition to the discussion board, we'll also demo Blackboard's blogging features at this workshop.

To register, please contact Will Jefferson, Learning Technologies Center coordinator at ext. 3-4757 or wjeffers@kutztown.edu.

KU Holiday Marketplace: Stop by the Holiday Marketplace, Thursday, Dec. 3, and enjoy a sampling of music provided by KU students and Kutztown residents while you shop. Times and performances are as follows:

The Holiday Marketplace will be held in the Multipurpose Room from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. There are many great holiday treasures at your fingertips!

Please note the updated schedule: The search committee for the Director of Annual Giving position invites faculty and staff to attend the following open forum sessions to meet the candidates. The 45-minute sessions will be held in South Dining Hall, Conference Room A.

Open female casting calls for the student production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" will be held Dec. 1 and 2 from 6-8 p.m. in Women's Center Oasis Old Main room 3. Audition applications can be picked up in the Women's Center 126 Old Main or on the Women's Center Web site. Applications must be picked up, completed and turned in before audition. Any questions, please e-mail fmla@kutztown.edu.

Coming up at KU Presents! Cherish the Ladies: A Celtic Christmas on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Schaeffer Auditorium. Get into the holiday mood with an Irish twist on holiday favorites!

Celebrated as best musical group of the year by the BBC, Entertainment group of the year by the Irish Voice Newspaper and voted the top North American Celtic act by NPR Radio’s “Thistle and Shamrock,” Cherish the Ladies will feature selections from “On Christmas Night,” which was chosen as one of the top Christmas albums of the year by the New York Times, Washington Post and the Village Voice.

Traditional Irish melodies and carols like "The Holly and the Berry" and "The Wexford Carol" are seamlessly woven together with well-known Christmas carols including "Ding Dong Merrily," "We Three Kings," "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Silent Night." All of the arrangements in this holiday show use of the group's unique Celtic instrumentation of penny whistles, fiddles, accordion, concertina, piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo, flutes, with world-class Irish step-dancing.

KU Presents! will also feature pre-concert activities including an interactive panel discussion of Celtic traditions, arts, and culture led by KU English professor Donald McNamara. Joining him will be local artisan Tess Doran and communication design professor Kevin McCloskey. The discussion will start at 6:15 p.m. in Schaeffer Auditorium. Other pre and post concert activities include caroling and free homemade Irish and holiday treats in the lobby.

For tickets and more information, please visit www.Kutztownpresents.org or call the box office at 610-683-4092.

Perhaps you’ve wanted to advance in your career, but you’re not sure what it takes.

If your response to any of these questions is yes, then you may be interested in Toastmasters!

People with good communication skills are more likely to be promoted to leadership positions, and good leaders need communication skills to be effective, especially in a competitive job market.

In other words, if you want to be a leader, you have to learn to speak like a leader. And Toastmasters is here to help.

Join up with friends and colleagues at the next Kutztown Area Toastmasters meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. in 322 McFarland Student Union.

Please excuse the following students from classes on Dec. 2 and Dec. 4. They will be touring "A Hairy Tale" to area elementary schools as part of the Sunshine Players student organization.

CJ Mellon, Angela Cutrone, Brianna Starmer, Jon Cain, Eric Feurer, Jake Zimmers, Lacey Kurz, Steph Wright, Sara Phillips, Scott Ashford, Sam Dennis, , Sabrina Patchoski, Steph Shober, Tim Gulla, Rebecca Malkames, Danielle Nixon, Emily Ray, Nicholas McCartney, Stephen Sury, Timmy Schumacher, Soren Ersbak, Adrienne Wrona, Danielle Nixon, Hannah Morgan

The University Curriculum Committee (UCC) will meet on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m., in McFarland Student Union 322 to consider curricular proposals on its monthly agenda, which can be found online at: http:// www.kutztown.edu/committees/ucc/agenda.html. As always, individuals and/or departments with proposals on the agenda are invited and encouraged to attend to answer any questions that may arise.

R.S. Schaeffer, chair, University Curriculum Committee

Southwestern Turkey Cutlet with Pico de Gallo Vegetable Lasagna Grilled Vegetables Mashed Potatoes

To submit items for the Daily Brief, please e-mail dbrief@kutztown.edu (no attachments) to the University Relations Office by 2 p.m. on the day prior to publication.

Persons with a disability and who require accommodation should notify the KU Disability Services Office two weeks prior to the event at 610-683-4108 (TDD: 610-683-4499) or e-mail accommodation@kutztown.edu in order to discuss accommodations. Every effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations.