Type Away Cait

Airing today at 5 p.m. on 91.3 WBNY-FM and with all the discussion with Roe v. Wade , you won’t want to miss this episode about  “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,”  a 2014 documentary film  produced and directed by Mary Dore, which showcases the leaders behind the women’s liberation movement from 1966 to 1971. This episode features Jennifer Ryan-Bryant, an English professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalo and former director of the women gender and sexuality studies interdisciplinary unit, who discusses further about the ways the women’s movement used language to promote equality for women in the workplace and their personal lives. This ranges from slogans they developed, speeches they delivered and an outpouring of creative works including poetry, comics and pamphlets. Ryan-Bryant, who is also the graduate coordinator for the Master of Arts program, teaches courses in American Poetry, the American novel, women and gender studies, Gender and ...

photo credit: Cait Malilay English department Chair Lisa Berglund launched a semiweekly book sale initiative this spring where all proceeds will benefit student and non-tenure faculty research and travel. The idea to start this fundraiser goes as far back as 2019. After Berglund’s mother passed away, she left thousands of books. “They were all over my dining room, and then I had this idea like, why not sell them and benefit the department?” she said. In addition to the 75 boxes, some retiree professors began donating their books once they heard about the initiative. After being open for a month, she sold about $150 worth of books. “Some people come back more than once. I can tell you, Dr. Mark Fulk is spending a lot of money,” she said. “He comes in like every two weeks and leaves with another five or six books!” There are many choices from mystery and detective novels to older fiction. English majors may wonder if some of the titles include those that we read in our classes, and the a...

SUNY Buffalo State College Mock Trial Team (left to right) Dominique Zirpola, Grace Gallagher, Vincent Bai, Lindsey Roth, Madeline Crosby, David Ben-Merre, Cait Malilay, Jerick Flores, Mimi Byrne, John Quinane and Jillian Tung Buffalo State College’s mock trial team shared what it was like competing for the first time in person at the Third Annual Geneseo Joust on Nov. 20 and 21 since the COVID-19 pandemic. The whole team, coached by David Ben-Merre, an English professor, was so happy to be back in person. “This year, it’s been great to be back in person and be able to compete safely,” he said in an email. Ben-Merre, who began coaching mock trial in 2008, said that although it was fun to be able to compete last year over Zoom, it felt like something important was missing. Vincent Bai, a University of Arizona graduate and mentor who helps coach the English-389 class, said that he judged a few competitions virtually, but observing online, he could tell that it comes with its challenges i...

photo credit: Buffalo State website Facilities Construction and Maintenance page The vice president of Finance and Management , Laura Barnum, spoke with Buffalo State The Record to respond to unanswered questions about Ketchum Hall’s degraded conditions. Barnum says that Ketchum was already on the list of priorities prior to her starting her position in 2018. In her first 90 to 180 days she conducted a risk assessment of what was needed throughout campus and discovered that there was a lot of work. “While there was a lot of good work being done in facilities and campus planning, there wasn’t a process in place to really navigate and understand across the institution of what the capital priorities were,” Barnum said. With the help of some colleagues across SUNY including Robert Haelen , the senior vice chancellor for Capital Facilities and general manager of the SUNY Construction Fund, she received guidance and helped set forth in putting a capital development board in place. “The capit...

Bleach stain on carpet in Ketchum from cleaning crew Ketchum Hall, home to many English and Education majors, is one of the five original buildings on campus. Despite Buffalo State College’s historical reputation of being a pioneer school for education , Ketchum Hall, occupied since 1931, suffers from degraded conditions. “There are constant leaks in the basement and the rugs stay wet for a very long time,” said Natalie Szymanski, an assistant professor and director of the College Writing Program, Ph.D. “I know there’s been a problem with the water fountain downstairs and a lot of [dirty, orange] unfiltered water coming out of that.” Raquel Schmidt, the chair of the department of Exceptional Education, Ph.D, and Lisa Berglund, the chair of the department of English, Ph.D, are working together to alert the administration of the building’s issues. Schmidt pursued her undergraduate studies as a student herself in Ketchum and is saddened to see its conditions deteriorate. “No, I would not ...

Photo Credit: Erin Schaff/ The New York Times It's been just a little over six months since the storming of the U.S. Capitol and unsurprisingly, GOP officials have showed their opposition to critical race theory. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida  tweeted that critical race theory "teaches kids to hate our country and to hate each other."  The Florida State Board of Education unanimously passed an amendment banning the teaching of CRT. It took me a while to wrap my head around this because arguments like the ones DeSantis make are absolutely unreasonable and given without context. To ban CRT, appears to be an attempt to erase the history of our past and to deny systemic racism.  CRT is a lens to analyze how racism shaped our world. How is that such a bad thing? How much more narrow-minded can people be? One of my biggest concerns as a college student who is fascinated by this lens perspective are, how will these bans impact the next generation? Will children turn into narrow-...

Remember that old PBS show called “Reading Rainbow?” I never really appreciated this show nor, to be completely honest, reading for that matter. I mean, I liked books and all, but I never truly appreciated the binding of the pages, that fresh smell of a new book, the yellowing of the pages as it ages, and the power of literature as I do now as a college student who made the decision to dedicate their life to writing and reading. As an English and journalism major, I look forward to watching the news, not only to be up to date with current events, but to get a sneak peek at the guest speakers’ bookshelves. I know, I know. Call me weird. Call me nosy, but I’m not the only one who does it. Apparently, The New York Times does it too . Yes, celebrities are just like us. They eat. They sleep. They read. The New York Times spotted Thomas Hardy’s “Jude the Obscure” on Paul Rudd’s bookshelf. David Ben-Merre, an English professor at The State University of New York Buffalo State College, said ...

I've heard of translated before, but the term "abridged" I haven't in my years of reading. I was so proud of myself I thought I was finally on the verge of crossing off number two on my bucket list: "To complete a thick classic lit." It was on page 142 of "The Count of Monte Cristo" when I closed the book and analyzed the front cover more thoroughly. "Translated and abridged by Lowell Bair," it read. I've heard of translated before, but the term "abridged" I haven't in my years of reading. Just like any other average person who doesn’t know the answer to a random question, I turned to Google. Abridged is by definition “to shorten by omissions while retaining the basic contents,” according to Dictionary.com. Omissions? Basic contents? My self-satisfaction turned into a feeling of self-disappointment. I wasn’t reading the original version of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” but rather a shortened one with “basic cont...