University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 10, 2005

Video series to focus on communication and leadership

The Professional Staff Senate and the Leadership Development Center will present a Brown-Bag Video Series on Communication and Leadership this spring.

All sessions, to be held from noon to 12:24 p.m., will include the screening of a 20-30 minute video, followed by a brief discussion. Each video will be screened on the North Campus in 330 Student Union and on the South Campus in 100 Allen Hall.

The schedule:

• "How to Listen and Double Your Influence with Others," Feb. 16, North Campus; Feb. 18, South Campus. In this video, author and organizational trainer Brian Tracy talks about the keys to effective listening and why listening is so important to improving our relationships.

• "How to Talk: Secrets of the Great Communicators," March 16, North Campus; March 17, South Campus. Tracy talks about how to improve the quality of your communication and influence others simply by asking questions.

• "Be Prepared to Lead," April 13, North Campus; April 15, South Campus. This video examines qualities of effective leaders and illustrates four different leadership styles, showing examples of each style in action.

Although the series is free and open to the public, those wishing to attend should RSVP to the Professional Staff Senate Office at 645-2003 or pssenate@buffalo.edu.

For more information, contact Ed Brodka at 645-6469 or brodka@buffalo.edu.

MFSA names award winner

The UB Minority Faculty and Staff Association (MFSA) has named junior Kathleen Richardson as the winner of its 2004 Academic Achievement Award

The MFSA Academic Achievement Award recognizes an underrepresented student of color currently in the sophomore or junior year who meets high academic standards and demonstrates community and/or university service. The $500 award is presented each fall and supported by donations given largely, but not exclusively, by minority faculty and staff.

Pursuing a double degree in business administration and sociology, Richardson holds an overall grade-point average of 3.758. She serves as a mentor to young people in her community as a summer camp counselor and teacher's aide at her church. A member of the Daniel Acker and Advanced Honors Scholar programs, she hopes to attend law school.

Play by UB faculty member to premiere at UB

"Reunion," a two-act comedy by Linda Chalmer Zemel, an adjunct instructor in the Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences, will premiere at 8 p.m. March 12 in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The play stars Mary Moebius and Phil Knoerzer. Moebius is a frequent player in O'Connell and Company productions and is the current vice president of Ujima Theatre Company. She received an Artie Award for Best Ensemble of a Musical for "Once on this Island," and an Artie Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Knoerzer, who directed the Artie Award-winning "Blues for an Alabama Sky," will be directing "Matter of Intent," a new play by Gary Earl Ross, a professor in the UB Educational Opportunity Center.

Knoerzer is a charter member of Theatre for Change.

The play tells the story of Margot, 55, a widowed magazine writer volunteering for her high school reunion committee in New York, who telephones her old classmate and sometime date J.J., a twice-divorced litigating attorney for west coast stars now living in Seattle. In telephone conversations that range from the hilarious to the heartrending, Margot and J.J. take audience members back to their high school days in the early '60's and then fast-forward them to the present.

Tickets for "Reunion" are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and are available at the CFA box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.

For more information, call 645-ARTS

Feedback sought on Wellness Awareness Day

The Wellness Awareness Day Committee of the Professional Staff Senate is seeking input from UB faculty and staff as it plans UB's annual Wellness Awareness Day, to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 6 in Alumni Arena, North Campus.

Faculty and staff are asked to fill out an online survey soliciting input regarding presentations and demonstrations for the sixth annual Wellness Awareness Day.

The survey, which is confidential, can be found at http://www.pss.buffalo.edu.