Daily Brief

Paint the Town Gold Food Drive. From October 1-4, Kutztown will turn gold as part of a community engagement initiative involving the Borough of Kutztown, Maxatawny Township and Kutztown University. Paint the Town Gold is designed to spread excitement and create positive experiences within our community. One of the ways we are looking to do this is by helping one of our neighbors in the community, Friend, Inc.

From Sept. 10 through Oct. 17, we will be collecting non-perishable food items for individuals and families in need that live in our neighboring communities. Donations can be dropped off at the following locations: Kelchners Cleaners, National Penn Bank, Maxatawny Township Office, Kutztown Community Development Office, First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union, Kutztown Borough Hall, KU Community Volunteer Center, Dixon Marketplace, Goldies, KU Health Center. For a complete list of locations on campus and in the community, please visit www.PaintTheTownGold.com. Donations will also be accepted at the home football games (September 19, October 3 and 17) and at the Family Day Tent on the DMZ. Help us help our friends at Friend Inc.

Commencement Speakers Sought. We are seeking outstanding senior students to offer commencement addresses at the fall undergraduate ceremony. In order to be considered for this distinction, a student needs to have: have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 entering the fall 2009 semester; demonstrate service to the university community and demonstrate a record of good university citizenship and cooperation; demonstrate evidence of meaningful co-curricular involvement, and be in good disciplinary standing. In addition, each candidate needs to complete the Senior Class Commencement Speaker application. This application, along with an interview process, will be used to determine the candidates of choice. The chosen candidates will be expected to provide a brief address (approximately three to five minutes) at their respective fall commencement ceremony scheduled for Saturday, December 19. If you know students who you think are excellent representatives of our student body, please encourage them to apply for this honor. The application is available at http://www.kutztown.edu/divisions/studentservices/pdfs/commencement.application.fall.2009.pdf. The application deadline is Friday, October 9.

French Heritage Week: The Multicultural Center invites faculty, staff, and students to a roundtable discussion “"France and the Challenges of Multiculturalism: Immigration, Post-Colonialism, Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century" by Dr. Pascale S. Dewey, Modern Languages Studies, Dr. Amadou Guisse, Mathematics, Dr. Mathias Le Bosse, Geography, and Joao Manuel De Sousa Rodrigues, graduate student, today from 3 - 5 p.m. in McFarland Student Union 223 Formal Dining Room.

Petritsa Chatzitziva, assistant director, Multicultural Services

Join us today at 4:30 p.m. in Alumni Auditorium for the second lecture in the Women & Leadership Series as we meet Rachel Simon, author of the newly released "Building a Home with My Husband: A Journey through the Renovation of Love." Her topic will be “Women & Family Relationships.”

Simon’s previous memoir, "Riding the Bus with My Sister,"received widespread recognition after Rosie O’Donnell and Andie McDowell starred in its screen adaptation, directed by Angelica Houston for Hallmark. Following that, Simon received one of six national leadership awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson for Contributions to the Field of Disability.

Join us as we prepare for Oct. which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This lecture is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Department of Special Education, the Office of Human Resources, the Office of Disability Services, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Grace M. Hill, associate director, Women's Center & Women's Studies

Happy New Year! Please join the Hillel Group for their monthly bagel meeting Thursday, Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. in room 113 Beekey. This is an important time to start planning to participate during the upcoming events. Hope to see you there! For more information, please e-mail Dr. Lisa C. Schonberger schonber@kutztown.edu

The KU Philosophy Club will meet on Friday, Oct. 2, at 4:30 p.m. in 250 McFarland Student Union. Graham Priest, Boyce Gibson Professor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne and Arche Visiting Professor, University of St Andrews, will speak on "Dialethism and the Limits of Language." Additional support was provided by the Dean’s Office, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the KU Foundation. All are welcome.

Up up and away- It's Family Day! Family Day 2009 is Saturday, Oct. 3. There is a full day of activities scheduled for you and your family to participate in! Faculty and staff and their families are welcome to join us for the day and meet the families of our students to make this a true community event. Various activities are scheduled throughout the day – there is sure to be something you will enjoy! A complete schedule can be found at http://familyday.kutztown.edu. So come fly with us at Family Day 2009!

October is GLBT History Month. Please join the KU GLBTQ Resource Center for "Important Moments in GLBT History" with Liz Bradbury, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 6 p.m. in 250 McFarland Student Union. Ms. Bradbury's presentation highlights important moments in GLBT history, from ancient times to the present. The presentation will also include pictures from the award-winning "Photo Project - 300 Same-sex Couples: Facing Inequality." This event is free and open to the KU community. We hope you will join us.

College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty First Thursday: Dr. Martin Rayala, assistant professor, Department of Art Education and Crafts, will present a Pecha Kucha style case for the inclusion of visual communication as a core skill in general education on Thursday, October 1 at 11 a.m. in 120 Sharadin Art Building. Pecha Kucha (Japanese for chit-chat) is a presentation with 20 slides x 20 seconds totaling 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

French Heritage Week: The Multicultural Center invites faculty, staff, and students to "French-Canadian Rhythm and Songs" by Franco-American Singer Josée Vachon on Thursday, Oct. 1, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in 218 Multipurpose room McFarland Student Union. Josée Vachon was born in Québec and raised in Maine, Josée Vachon has been sharing her Franco-American upbringing for over 25 years through traditional and contemporary folksongs from Québec and Acadia and through her own compositions. In 1999 she received the National Culture through the Arts Award from the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and was recently inducted into the French-Canadian Hall of Fame Class of 2007 for the American-French Genealogical Society. She serves as a Franco-American ambassadrice, presenting in plethora halls in Europe, Canada, and United States. She appears in International television and she has 12 solo recordings. Ms. Vachon continues to perform and record the music that best represents her love of Franco-American culture.

Students and faculty are invited to attend a lecture by Irish American Silversmith Kevin O'Dwyer on Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. in 120 Sharadin. The title of Mr. O'Dwyer's talk is "The Story So Far" which is a retrospective of his work as a silversmith and site-specific sculptor. He has lived and worked in Ireland since 1987 and currently resides on the Silver River in Durrow, County Offaly. For more than 25 years, his work has explored the subtleties of ritual and imagination. Irish prehistoric art, bronze age artifacts, early monastic metalwork, 20th century design and architecture have all been sources of influence. His work is included in collections the world over including- The Victoria and Albert Museum (UK), The High Museum (USA), and the Ulster Museum. Additional information on Mr. O'Dwyer can be found at: www.millennium2000silver.com.

Make tracks for a good cause - registration form now on-line! On Saturday, October 3, the Fifth Annual Bear Tracks for Life 5K will kick off a full slate of Family Day & Paint the Town Gold festivities. The event, which benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, will start at 9 a.m. at the Student Recreation Center. Participants can select to participate in the 5k or a 1 mile fun walk/run at the university stadium.

In response to student requests to lower the registration fee, we have done so for students only- $15. Registration fee for non-students is $25 per person and all participants will receive a Bear Tracks t-shirt. Registrations and payments should be made at the McFarland Student Union Room 267, payable to KUSSI.

Entry forms are currently available at the Student Recreation Center info desk, McFarland Student Union information desk, Housing & Residential Services office, and on-line at http://familyday.kutztown.edu. Questions can be addressed by calling or e-mailing Christine Price at 610-683-4029 or price@kutztown.edu.

Please urge your students to attend! Meet Nathalie Handal poet and playwright for a reading and book signing Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 4:30 p.m. in 218 McFarland Student Union. Refreshments served at 4 p.m. Books and CDs available for sale.

Workshop 3-4 p.m., 250 McFarland Student Union (registration is needed, please contact hthomas@kutztown.edu)

Nathalie Handal is a Palestinian poet, writer, playwright, director, and producer. She has lived in Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Arab world. She is the author of two poetry CDs, Traveling Rooms, and two poetry books, The NeverField and The Lives of Rain (shortlisted for The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize/The Pitt Poetry Series) and received the Menada Literary Award. Handal edited The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology (an Academy of American Poets bestseller and winner of the Pen Oakland/Josephine Miles Award), and co-edited Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond (Norton, 2008).

Sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the English Department

The University Curriculum Committee (UCC) will meet on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 11 a.m., in 312 McFarland Student Union to consider the remaining curricular proposals on its September agenda, which can be found online at: http:// 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.

The following students will be off campus visiting the Wharton Esherick Museum in Paoli, PA on Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tessa Chandler, Patrick Conboy, Christopher Patrick, Joseph Vasquez, Michael Angelisanti, Rachel Rogers, Andrew Curtin, Jeff Hartman and Greg McIlvaine. If you have any questions, please e-mail David Rogers Department of Art Education and Crafts at rogers@kutztown.edu.

Wimba Podcaster, Audacity, Learning Objects Podcaster Workshop: Tuesday Oct. 6, from 11 - noon in room 30 Rohrbach Library: This workshop is designed for faculty members who are interested in adding podcasts to their blackboard courses. You will learn how to use blackboard and freeware tools to record & edit audio files suitable for podcasting, how to save your work in MP3 format, how to upload your podcast and how to enable tools that allow your students to create podcasts in your course.

Using Blackboard Blogs and Wikis Workshop: Friday Oct. 9, from 10 to 11 a.m. in room 30 Rohrbach Library: This workshop is designed for faculty members who are considering using Blogs and/or Wikis in their Blackboard course. Blogs can be used as a substitute or complement to discussion boards, or for “journal clubs.” Wikis are useful for creating online workspaces for group projects. Come learn about these and other uses for Blogs and Wikis, as well as how to create them in your course.

To register for either workshop, please contact Anne Manmiller, Department of Learning Technologies secretary at ext. 3-4900 or at manmille@kutztown.edu. If you are unable to attend this workshop, one-on-one training can be arranged by contacting Will Jefferson, Learning Technologies Center Coordinator, at ext. 3-4757 or via e-mail at wjeffers@kutztown.edu.

The Copy Center management team is changing this week. Karen DeJarnet has been promoted to Institutional Account Manager at Kutztown Publishing. In her new role she will be overseeing the company’s various college copy centers as well as management of the company’s other institutional clients. Should you need to contact her for other print services her e-mail is kdejarnett@kutztownpbl.com.

Please welcome Barb Miller to the campus as the new Copy Center Manager. She can be reached at ext. 3-4116 and her e-mail address is bmiller@kutztown.edu. Drop by and introduce yourself to Barb at the Copy Center at 107 Academic Forum.

Camille Bartlett, Director of Administrative Services

Please join the Registrar’s Office in welcoming Ms. Veronique Vlaun as the newest member of our staff. Vern was transferred to our office effective Monday, Sept. 28. She will continue to be your main point of contact for assigning student advisors and also for changes to majors and minors. Her new phone number is ext. 3-1550, or you can e-mail her at Vlaun@kutztown.edu.

Michelle Hughes, Registrar

Sushi is here: We are now serving sushi in The Cub Cafe, The Academic Grounds & Bistro in the Academic Forum. It will be served Monday through Thursday. Come and check it out.

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.