Revised mission review available on the Web
A revised version of UB's mission-review statement as developed by Provost David J. Triggle is available on the provost's Web page at http://wings.buffalo.edu/provost.

The document, which will be submitted soon to SUNY central administration, outlines the direction the university will take as it heads into the 21st century. It proposes UB make major investments in four primary scientific areas: Molecular, biological and biomedical sciences; computer science and information technology; materials science, and the environment and infrastructure.

The revised version that is on the Web is in two sections: an overview of UB's mission set against the broad context of higher education and a set of appendices containing details of the schools, facilities and programs.

"This statement, still in developing form, is the end result of several years of planning, starting with an overall definition of our mission and running through the provost's planning document of 1997," Triggle said. "There have been a variety of inputs and comments made, and we are seeking further input and comment from the university community. Even after the document is sent to Albany, mission review will continue to be an iterative process."

Cuba's "man in Washington" to speak
The controversial Fernando Remirez de Estenoz Barciela, the first deputy minister of Cuba and chief of the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, will discuss Cuban-American relations at 3 p.m. tomorrow in the Screening Room (Room 112) in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus.

The talk, free of charge and open to the public, will be given by Remirez during a visit to Buffalo sponsored by the Office of International Education. Remirez was invited to UB to promote the development of the Caribbean Studies Program and the Cuban study-abroad program between UB and the University of Havana, the first such program the Cuban university has had with any American university since the 1959 revolution.

Remirez was Cuban ambassador to Angola in the 1980s when Cuban troops invaded Angola and were alleged to have employed chemical warfare. Although the Angolan civil war is no longer an issue, Remirez finds himself Castro's somewhat-tainted envoy in a country whose substantial anti-Cuban edifice has been maintained by successive U.S administrations. However, there are signs that edifice may be weakening, and Remirez has expressed hope that someday things will change.

Sexual harassment to be ACE/NIP topic
Kathleen C. Boone, associate dean of Daemen College, will be the speaker March 26 for the March Breakfast Seminar of the Western New York American Council on Education/National Identification Program (ACE/NIP). Her topic will be "Sexual Harassment: Trends and Issues." The session will be held at 8 a.m. in the Charles J. Wick Campus Center, Alumni Lounge, Daemen College.

To attend, send a $10 registration fee by March 17 to Marlene Erickson, Daemen College, 4380 Main St., Amherst, NY, 14226, phone 839-8332. Make checks payable to Daemen College. Parking will be available in front of Wick Campus Center.

For a map of the campus or for more information, contact Susan Orrange at sorrange@buffalo.edu or via phone at 829-2802 or fax at 829-2798.

Mark your calendar for the annual ACE/NIP spring conference, to be held April 23 in the Center for Tomorrow on UB's North Campus.

Diabetic patients are needed for dental study
Controlled diabetic patients are invited to take part in a three-month study to evaluate oral health in diabetics, Type I or Type II, who have the symptoms of gum disease (swollen red gums that bleed when brushed). Gum disease may be a risk factor for heart disease and is more prevalent in diabetics.

To take part in this joint study between the Center for Dental Studies at the UB School of Dental Medicine and the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York, patients must report to a clinic at Kaleida Health/Millard Fillmore Gates Circle for four examinations (screening, baseline, six and 12 weeks). Oral health and plaque accumulation will be evaluated and blood samples taken for laboratory analysis.

Subjects will have their teeth professionally cleaned at no charge and will be reimbursed $100 for time and travel.

For more information, call 829-3850 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Nobel prize-winning researcher to lecture on prion disease at UB
Stanley B. Prusiner, internationally known neurologist, researcher and 1997 Nobel laureate in medicine, will speak at 4:15 p.m. on March 22 in Butler Auditorium in Farber Hall on the South Campus.

Prusiner, whose controversial research suggests that rogue proteins called prions, not viruses, are responsible for disorders such as "mad cow" disease, will discuss "Clinical and Experimental Neurology of Prion Disease."

His presentation will be a combined Harrington Lecture, sponsored by the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and an Edward Fogan Lecture in Neurology, sponsored by the Department of Neurology in the medical school.

It will be free and open to the public.

Prusiner is a professor of neurology and biochemistry in the School of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, as well as professor of virology in residence in the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley.

His research came into international prominence in 1996, during the "mad cow" disease crisis in Great Britain. A nationwide panic erupted after it was announced that 10 young people in Great Britain had contracted a new strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and there was reason to believe these cases were caused by eating beef from cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a fatal brain disease commonly known as "mad cow" disease.

This focused attention on the research of Prusiner, who, in 1982, advanced the theory that CJD, BSE and related diseases were caused by rogue proteins that he called "prions." At that time, his hypothesis was dismissed as "heretical" by many scientists; the prevailing wisdom was that CJD and related diseases were caused by viruses. No one had ever heard of a self-replicating protein, much less an infectious one, such as the prion suggested by Prusiner.

He persevered with his research and over the years has produced a wealth of evidence on the existence of prions. His data pointed to the prion as the product of a mutant gene that causes disease by altering the shape of normal versions of the same protein. In 1997, Prusiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, only the sixth person in the past 40 years to win the award without any co-winners.

The Nobel committee praised his work and strongly asserted that it believes his conclusions to be true, but the controversy over prions continues. Prusiner's still-hotly-contested "prions," implicated in such diseases as CJD, also may have a role in learning about apparently related diseases, such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Prusiner is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Microbiology and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received numerous other awards, including the Richard Lounsbery Award for Extraordinary Scientific Research in Biology and Medicine from the National Academy of Sciences, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the Wolf Prize for medicine.

A cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Prusiner has been affiliated with the medical school at the University of California at San Francisco since 1974.

1999 poetry contests seek submissions
The Undergraduate Library is seeking submissions for the 1999 poetry contests sponsored in cooperation with the Department of English and the Friends of the University Libraries. Two prizes of $100 each are offered for the best poems submitted by UB students.

The Academy of American Poets (AAP) contest is open to graduate and undergraduate students. The Friends of the University Libraries prize is for undergraduates only.

Entries should consist of one or more typewritten, double-spaced poems, not to exceed a total of six pages. The writer's name should not appear on the poems, but on a cover sheet with the name of the prize and the writer's name, class, address, email address and phone number. Send entries to Margaret R. Wells, director, Undergraduate Library, 107 Capen Hall, North Campus. Deadline is March 19.

Winners will be notified by April 5 and will be invited to read from their work at a poetry reading to be held at noon April 16 in the Poetry/Rare Books Room, 420 Capen Hall.

Nominations open for Nancy Welch Award
Nominations are open for the 20th annual Nancy Welch Award, presented to undergraduate residential students who have made significant contributions to the university community through the development of creative programs or projects and volunteerism during the current academic year. First-, second- and third-prize awards are given in honor of Welch, the former residential coordinator of Rachel Carson College.

Consideration will be given to the quality of the program or project developed, implemented or supported by the nominee; the quality of the nominee's volunteerism to the program or project; the degree and quality of participation by others in the program or project initiated by the nominee, and the quality of the nominee's learning experience.

Candidates may be nominated by any member of the university community. Nominees must be undergraduate students currently living in campus residence halls. A completed application must be submitted for each nominee. Incomplete nominations will not be considered. Winners receive a cash award and a plaque during the Nancy Welch Award Ceremony, which will be held at 3 p.m. April 14 in Room 145A , Student Union. For application packets, contact Caroline Puccio, Office of Student Affairs, 542 Capen Hall; phone 645-2982 or email to: cpuccio@buffalo.edu. Completed applications must be received by 5 p.m. March 17.

Kronos Quartet to headline March music events
The Department of Music and the Buffalo Chamber Music Society will join forces this month to bring the exceptional Kronos Quartet to the Center for the Arts.

Since its inception in 1973, the Kronos Quartet has emerged as a leading voice for new work. Combining musical vision with a dedication to experimentation, the quartet has assembled a body of work that has captured the attention of audiences worldwide. The Kronos will perform at 8 p.m. March 23 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts.

Also on the concert schedule at UB this month are recitals involving several UB faculty members, the fifth concert of this season's Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle with UB's Slee Quartet in Residence, the Cassatt String Quartet and two programs in the Organ Recital Series.

Concerts this month include:
March 5: Pianist Sally Todd presents her third faculty recital, 8 p.m., Slee Concert Hall. Tickets are $5.
March 18: Jon Nelson, trumpet, one of UB's newest faculty members, 8 p.m., Slee Concert Hall. Tickets are $5.
March 19: Roland E. Martin, organ, and the UB Trombone Choir in Concert V, Organ Recital Series, 8 p.m., Slee Concert Hall. Tickets are $5.
March 23: Kronos Quartet in Concert VI, Slee/Visiting Artist Series, 8 p.m., Mainstage, Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15, $12 and $6.
March 24: Cassatt String Quartet, noon, UB Art Gallery, Center for the Arts. No admission charge.
March 26: Cassatt String Quartet in Concert V, Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle, 8 p.m., Slee Concert Hall. Tickets are $12, $9 and $5.
March 27: Michael Burke, organ, Anthony Miranda, percussion, Zodiaque Dance Company, Linda Swiniuch and Thomas Ralabate, directors, in Concert VI, Organ Recital Series, 8 p.m., Slee Concert Hall. Tickets are $5.

Commencement Committee seeks student speaker
The University Commencement Committee is seeking a student representative to address graduates at the 153rd University Commencement May 16 in Alumni Arena.

The competition for a student speaker is open to all graduating seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences, including special and individualized majors.

Nicolas D. Goodman, vice provost for undergraduate education, will chair a selection committee comprised of faculty, staff and student representatives.

Seniors who wish to be considered must submit a written version of their speech to Goodman. Each of three finalists will present his/her address before the committee, with the winning speech being presented by the student at the University Commencement.

Speeches should be no longer than three minutes. Selection will be based on relevancy, appropriateness of content and delivery.

Entries must be submitted by March 25 to the Student Speaker Selection Committee, in care of Goodman in 255 Capen Hall, North Campus. For further information, call 645-2991.