Published: March 04, 2007 01:29 am      

HIGHER EDUCATION NOTEBOOK: Civics contest challenges students to be better citizens

Local schools are encouraged to take part in a civics project in order to become better citizens — and win tickets to see Richard Dreyfuss.

Niagara County Community College, which is hosting the actor/activist in a lecture later this month, is sponsoring a contest for local schools. Students are asked to work as classes on a project centering on the theme, “What are the privileges and obligations of a citizen?”

The idea behind the contest is to point out the importance of civic pride, Tony Ventresca, student programming adviser at the school, said in a release.

Entries are due March 15, with two winning classes receiving tickets to the lecture.

Dreyfuss will speak at 12:30 p.m. March 27 in the Sanborn college’s fine arts auditorium. For more information on the contest, teachers should call 614-6222, Ext. 4131, or write to board@niagaracc.suny.edu.

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Niagara University's Army ROTC has been recognized as the top small school unit in the Northeast.

The annual rankings by the MacArthur Foundation and Cadet Command were based on a program’s ability to commission new second lieutenants into the Army, as well as the quality of the cadets commissioned, the university’s press office said.

As well as ranking as the top school in First Brigade, which covers New York and New England, Niagara University's Army ROTC program is one of the top 14 schools out of 272 universities nationwide, university officials said.

For more information on the school’s ROTC program, contact Maj. Peter B. Wilson at 286-8235 or pwilson@niagara.edu.

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Niagara County Community College’s Division of Workforce and Community Development will offer non-credit, short-term programs for professional and personal

development.

Among those beginning this month are basic life support for professional rescuers, auction bidding basics, grant writing, Spanish for health care workers, journey to animal communication, an introduction to voice-overs and digital photography.

For more information, call 614-6470 or visit niagaracc.suny.edu.

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Applications at Buffalo State College increased 14 percent from fall 2006 to fall 2005, according to school President Muriel A. Howard, the biggest increase in a decade.

Other highlights of Howard’s recent state of the college, according to the university’s press office, include:

n Plans are under way to add apartment-style housing on campus to satisfy the influx of new students.

n The college has been upgraded from Tier IV to Tier III status by U.S. News & World Report; in its rankings of colleges, the magazine uses a four-tier system based on a variety of factors, so this means that Buffalo State has moved out of the bottom tier.

n The school’s new technology building is fully funded. Ground will be broken on the facility next academic year.

Contact Paul Lane

at 282-2311, Ext. 2251,

or lanep@gnnewspaper.com.