Briefly

Ratchford is editor of top marketing journal

Brian T. Ratchford, Alumni Professor of Marketing in the School of Management, has been named editor of Marketing Science, a top-tier academic journal in the area of marketing.

Ratchford will serve a four-year term as editor of the journal, published by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. He previously was an associate editor for the journal, which publishes new research on the scientific application of marketing theories, techniques and measures. Ratchford, a 26-year member of the management school's marketing department,is chair of the school's MBA committee.

Leppert elected to national council

Phyllis C. Leppert, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been elected program director representative to the Council of Residency Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG).

The CREOG is the national organization of faculty in obstetrics and gynecology concerned with issues in graduate medical education in the specialty. She will serve for a three-year term.

Leppert, who also serves on the New York State Council of Graduate Medical Education, is a specialist in the physiology of the cervix and has lectured and published widely on the subject.

Leppert received the Berlex International Research Fellowship in 1989, which enabled her to study and teach in Japan. In 1996, she completed work on a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation aimed at reducing sociocultural barriers to health care.

Faculty Senate, PSS to hear talk on budget

Faculty Senate and Professional Staff Senate members are invited to attend a special presentation on UB's budget today from 3-5 p.m. in 330 Student Union.

Senior Vice President Robert J. Wagner will explain how the budget is built, how and when to collaborate in building it and what to plan for in the future.

The program has been organized by the Faculty Senate Budget Priorities Committee and the Professional Staff Senate Executive Committee.

Sciences Alumni to hear how humans experience life in space

"What Happens to People's Blood in Space?" will be the topic of a talk to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 in Room 225 of the Natural Sciences Complex on the North Campus. The lecture, sponsored by the Sciences Alumni Association, will be free and open to the public.

Leon E. Farhi, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physiology, will discuss findings from his studies, which include research with astronauts on Spacelab missions, as well as in the human centrifuge in the UB Center for Special Environments.

For more information, call Cindy Nydahl at 645-2531.

Women's Club to have wine-tasting party

The UB Women's Club will have its seventh annual Valentine's Day wine-tasting party at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Center for Tomorrow. Wines from Australia, Germany, France and the U.S., hors d'oeuvres and desserts will be featured. The wine tasting will be conducted by Kevin Driscoll of the Premier Center in Kenmore.

Chairs of the event are Marie and Robert Coburn. Ninfa Straubinger is co-chair and reservations chair is Sun-Mi Fung. Committee members are Janet Fedor, Jean Jain and Julie Cohan. All proceeds will be used to provide awards to UB students through the Grace Capen Academic Award Fund. Guests are welcome. For more information, call Maria Coburn at 688-6772 or Sun-Mi Fung at 689-8147.

Phi Beta Kappa nominations open; applications due March 1

March 1 is the deadline for application for election to Phi Beta Kappa, the national honorary society for undergraduate students in liberal-arts degree programs.

Chief sources for nominations are departmental nominations, self-nominations and a computer printout from Records and Registration indicating students who meet the credit hour and GPA thresholds.

Nominations, accompanied by the relevant student transcripts, should be sent by March 1 to:

Jeannette Ludwig, acting president, Phi Beta Kappa; Attn: Mili Sidorski, Undergraduate College, 220 Talbert Hall.

Students must be enrolled in liberal-arts degree programs, B.A. or B.S. (normally not B.F.A.) in arts and letters, natural sciences, social sciences or special and individualized majors. Typically, seniors are nominated, but a small number of juniors also are elected annually.

Criteria include:

-- Grade-point average of 3.75 or higher (with 85 hours completed)

-- Grade-point average of 3.50 or higher (with 100 hours completed)

-- Well-rounded liberal-arts program of study (minimum: UB's general-education requirements have been completed)

-- Transfer students must have completed at least 32 hours at UB; the overall GPA (i.e., UB work, together with work done elsewhere) must comply with the standards listed above.

In addition to selecting new members, the Omicron Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa makes two monetary awards to distinguished students. The Samuel Capen Prize is given for outstanding work in any genre; the Hildegard Shinners Prize is given for the best student essay. Faculty are urged to send a potential qualifying piece of work or its detailed description, along with a nominating letter, to Jeannette Ludwig, Modern Languages and Literatures, 910 Clemens, North Campus, before April 1. A self-addressed envelope must be provided for materials to be returned.

Robert D. Yaro to lead second session on regionalism

Robert D. Yaro, executive director of the Regional Plan Association, America's oldest and most distinguished independent metropolitan research and advocacy group, will offer perspectives on land use and planning at the second session of "Regionalism: From Agenda to Action," a series of discussions on regional collaboration coordinated by the Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth at UB.

The session will be held from 5-8:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the Buffalo Hilton.

The focus of the session-improved approaches to land use and planning, with emphasis on Erie and Niagara counties-emerged from the series' first session, in which participants had identified land use and planning as a top priority for the region.

Following a dialogue with Yaro on these issues, participants at the session will generate action steps in land use and planning for the Western New York region.

The 1998 Clarkson Visiting Chair in the UB School of Architecture and Planning, Yaro also is a design critic in the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and an adjunct professor of urban planning at Columbia University.

For more information about the conference, call the institute at 829-3777. The deadline for reservations is tomorrow.

Collaborative learning is topic of SEAS-sponsored workshop

Faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics who teach engineering students are invited to attend a workshop on "Creating a Collaborative Learning Environment" from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday in the University Inn and Conference Center.

The workshop, sponsored by SEAS, is being conducted as part of the Visiting Scholars Program sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the National Science Foundation.

The UB workshops are being team-taught by Katherine J. Sanders, associate scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, and John M. Mitchell and Patrick V. Farrell, both professors of mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the workshops, the visiting scholars will meet with faculty and develop new techniques for the classroom that participants will be encouraged to apply this semester, as their "homework" assignment. At a return visit to UB, scheduled for April 27, the visiting scholars will continue their discussions with faculty to evaluate the success of the homework assignments.

Registration is required for the free workshop and space is limited. For more information, please contact Eileen Hassett at 645-2771 ext. 1102 or hassett@acsu.buffalo.edu

Two workshops set on managing a diverse workforce

A two-part workshop on "Dealing with Different, not Difficult, People," will be presented by the Professional Staff Senate ProfessionalDevelopment Committee from noon to 2 p.m. on Feb. 26 and March 26 in the University Inn and Conference Center.

The programs are co-sponsored by TIAA-CREF and United University Professions, Buffalo Center Chapter, Statewide. The workshop fee of $20 (for both sessions) includes lunch.

Debra L. Connelley, assistant professor in the Department of Organization and Human Resources, will lead the workshops, which will address effective management of a diverse workforce.

The Feb. 26 session on Managing Differences will cover introspective examination, knowing oneself as a first step in making the most of interacting with others; understanding others and understanding how culture and work influence one another.

The March 26 session on Resolving Conflict in a Diverse Organization deals with viewing conflict constructively, analyzing sources of conflict and conflict-resolution techniques.

To register, send a check payable to UBF/Professional Staff Senate to: Professional Staff Senate Office, 543 Capen Hall, North Campus. Registration deadline is Feb. 20. For more information, call 645-2003.

Brown Bag Video on Humor, Risk and Change" is Feb. 18

A one-hour video on "Humor, Risk and Change," designed to help individuals deal with change and stress, will be shown Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. in 106 Jacobs.

Part of the Spring '98 Brown Bag Video Series, it will be presented by the Professional Staff Senate and its Professional Development Committee. The series is co-sponsored by the Student Leadership Development Center, Office of Student Life.

The video uses a "humor perspective" to help individuals overcome a fear of embarrassment, access joy in adversity and overcome "terminal professionalism" by taking oneself lightly and the job seriously.

Other videos in the series will be "Effective Teamwork," on March 11, geared to creating more effective work teams, and "Be Prepared to Speak," offering a step-by-step process of composing and delivering quality presentations and speeches, on April 15. They will be shown in 106 Jacobs from noon to 1 p.m.

To attend the video presentations, call 645-2003.

Graphics presentation scheduled for Feb. 19

ProMac, the Western New York Professional Macintosh Users Group, is hosting a presentation by Steven Trombetta from Adobe Systems, Inc. at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19 in 120 Clemens.

He will demonstrate Adobe's graphics and Web publishing products, which provide integration and support of output to the Internet. Special emphasis will be given to the use of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create powerful graphics for print or Web output.

Aetna U.S. Healthcare legal chief to speak at management school

David F. Simon, chief legal officer for Aetna U.S. Healthcare, the nation's leading health-benefits organization, will address students from the joint JD/MBA program in the School of Management and School of Law.

Simon, a 1974 honors graduate of the management school and a 1977 honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, will discuss career issues and opportunities for students with business and law backgrounds. His presentation, to be held at 5 p.m. Feb. 24 in Room 312 in Jacobs Management Center on the North Campus, will be part of the management school's alumni speaker series. Simon is author of the Computer Law Handbook, published by the American Law Institute-American Bar Association.

Alumni Association to present Spring Senior Lunch Series

Non-verbal communication, lawn-care treatment, murder within the family and a tour of the Chautauqua Institution are among the topics to be addressed this spring during the Senior Alumni Program Series.

All luncheons will be held at noon in the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus.

Mark deTurck, associate professor of communication, will kick off the spring series with a discussion on "The Body Speaks Louder Than Words" on March 5. He will focus on how to "read" body language and other non-verbal forms of communication.

"A Theatrical Interlude" will be presented on April 9 by Vincent O'Neill and Josephine Hogan of the Irish Classical Theatre Company. The actors, formerly members of Dublin's Abbey Theatre, will read from the works of Nobel Prize-winner William Butler Yeats, followed by a discussion and question-and-answer session.

Thomas S. Mang, research associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery in the School of Dental Medicine, will discuss the potential environmental hazards of some lawn-care chemicals and their alternatives on May 12.

Murders within the family will be the topic of a talk to be presented by Charles Patrick Ewing, professor of law and adjunct professor of psychology, on June 10. Nationally recognized as an expert witness and consultant, Ewing is author of "Fatal Families," "Kids Who Kill" and "Battered Women Who Kill."

The series' final offering for the semester will be a day-long tour of the Chautauqua Institution on June 30. The tour will feature lunch and a paddle-boat cruise on Chautauqua Lake.

Series luncheon tickets are $10 per person; cost of the Chautauqua trip is $55.

Entrepreneurial program alumni to hold annual dinner

The alumni association of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) in the School of Management will holds its annual black-tie dinner-dance for alumni and friends on March 7. Sponsored by Key Bank, the event will be held in the Saturn Club, 977 Delaware Ave. Cocktails will begin at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7:30 p.m. will be followed by dancing at 9 p.m.

The event will celebrate the positive contributions of entrepreneurs to the Western New York economy. It will feature acknowledgment of a $50,000 gift to CEL from former Western New York residents Irene and Frank Jellinek that will be used to launch an on-line, business-advice network for area entrepreneurs and a business-strategy library for the CEL.

"Entrepreneurs are one of Western New York's most valuable resources for economic growth," said Douglas Smith, president of the alumni association and of Fulfillment Systems International of North Tonawanda. "Programs and events that bring them together offer support for the risks of entrepreneurship and pay tribute to those who turn those risks into successes."

For more information or to register for the dinner, call 645-3000.