Medaille College News

Dr. Gerald Erion has been invited to serve on the editorial board of Explorations in Media Ecology, a peer-reviewed journal of the Media Ecology Association. The EME is a “quarterly international journal dedicated to extending our understanding of media and media environments.” Dr. Erion is an assistant professor in the Humanities Department.

Seven Medaille College faculty members have received tenure or promotions. All promotions are effective as of August 15, 2008, and tenure is effective as of August 15, 2009.

Dr. Terri Borchers has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and granted tenure. Borchers earned graduate degrees from the Northwestern School of Law, Cleveland State University, Ohio State University, and the University of Utah, and has taught in the Humanities Department at Medaille since 2002.

Dr. Craig Centrie has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and granted tenure. Centrie teaches in the School of Education and directs the Curriculum and Instruction Graduate Program. As a specialist in ethnographic data collection, he is the department’s resident anthropologist, whose work explores schools as a site for identity and culture construction.


Dr. Gerald Erion has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and granted tenure in the Humanities Department. Erion began teaching at Medaille in 2002, and his current research includes topics in ethics, moral philosophy, and the philosophy of the mind.


Ethan Paquin has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and granted tenure in the Humanities Department. Paquin earned an M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has published several books of poetry, including My Thieves (Salt, 2007). He is the founder and editor of the online literary journal Slope and the small poetry press, Slope Editions.


Louis Pozantides has been promoted to the rank of Clinical Associate Professor in the Communication Department. Pozantides began teaching at Medaille in 2002 following a long career in the local radio industry as a news director, programming director and on-air broadcaster.


Dr. Robert Tian has been granted tenure in the Business Department. Tian earned a Ph.D. from York University with a specialization in social anthropology, with a post-doctoral M.B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University in Marketing and Management.


Dr. Stephanie Westerman has been granted tenure. Westerman is the Program Director for the Associate of Science in Veterinary Technology degree program. Westerman earned her DVM from the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, and she is past president of the Western New York Veterinary Medical Association, and a board member of the Buffalo Academy of Veterinary Continuing Education.

Dr. Alan Bigelow, professor of humanities, has published a new story, “Love Is . . .”, at Webyarns.com.

According to Bigelow, ‘”Love Is…’ is an attempt at a definition, and as with all definitions that try to explain what love is, precision is not possible, and perhaps not even desirable. This piece moves toward a definition of love in three stages: first through a standard, accepted lexicon; then via a series of individual expressions of love; and finally, at the end of the piece, viewers can write their own definitions of love into the site. These definitions are saved in a database so the next visitor can view them as they are randomly displayed.”

Over 40 faculty members who have received funding from the Faculty Development Committee will participate in the Faculty Development Fair on Tuesday, April 15 from 5-7 p.m. in the Kevin I. Sullivan Campus Center Gymnasium. The faculty will present their work through table, poster, and laptop presentations.

Sarah Whitehead, visiting assistant professor of communication, submitted a proposal to the Reel Politics international reality television conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2008.

Her paper, “America’s next top homeless girl: America’s Next Top Model, Tyra Banks and social change” has been accepted for presentation at the conference and for publication in an edited volume based on the proceedings.

Dr. Todd Riniolo, associate professor of psychology, will discuss why everyone is vulnerable to developing foolish beliefs in a Meet the Author event on Monday, April 7 at 12:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. His book, When Good Thinking Goes Bad: How Your Brain Can Have a Mind of Its Own, examines unconscious biases in critical thinking, and poses such questions as:

In 1975 who warned us “the world as we know it will likely be ruined before the year 2000??
What role (if any) did critical thinking play in the famous “Monkey Trial”?
What was Albert Einstein’s failure as a critical thinker?

The event is sponsored by the Medaille College Scholars Program.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Ted Pelton is scheduled to read selections of his fiction works at two Wisconsin colleges during Medaille’s spring break. He will appear at Beloit College as a guest of the Beloit English Department on Tuesday, March 18, and at Ripon College as part of the Ripon College Reading Series on Wednesday, March 19.

Dr. Pelton is an associate professor of English and author of three books: the novel Malcolm & Jack, the short story collection Endorsed by Jack Chapeau 2, and a novella, Bhang. He directs Starcherone Books, a nonprofit fiction press based in Buffalo.

Dr. Craig Hovey, clinical associate professor in the Accelerated Learning Program, co-authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Global Economics (Penguin, February 2008). The book gives a concise and accessible overview of how global economics impacts daily life, from tariffs and terrorism to OPEC and outsourcing.

Mark Lavatelli, Professor of Humanities, will exhibit recent encaustic paintings in a two-person exhibition called “Into the Forest” at Insite Gallery (810 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo) from March 21 to April 20, 2008. The exhibit features realistic and abstract images inspired by trees, Lavatelli’s primary subject for the last eleven years.

Christopher Stangler is the other featured artist, and the opening reception for the artists will be held on Friday, March 28, from 7-9 p.m.

Yellow Pine. 2008. encaustic on panel 34″ X 36″

John Fronckowiak has published “Green programming - Conservation through better programming” on the AOL Developer Network. He outlines “green” programming tools and advocates for the use of shared resources.

Fronckowiak is a clinical assistant professor in the Computer Information Systems department and writes regularly on his blog at the AOL Developer Network.