UB installs phone line for closing information
The university has installed a new telephone service to provide information when office hours and class schedules will be altered as the result of inclement weather or for other reasons.

The information will be available at 645-NEWS to students, faculty and staff, as well as the public, 24 hours a day. There never will be a busy signal since the line has the capacity to handle an unlimited number of calls simultaneously.

The standard recorded message will be "Offices are open and classes are being held as scheduled today at the University at Buffalo." The message will be changed appropriately as soon as university officials decide to alter office hours and class schedules due to weather conditions or other situations.

Supreme Court justice Scalia to speak
The Hon. Antonin Scalia, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, will be the featured speaker at a luncheon at noon on March 13 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. He is coming to Buffalo at the invitation of Rabbi Noson Gurary, regional director of the Chabad House of Buffalo and an adjunct faculty member in the UB Law School.

The Law School is co-sponsoring the event.

Born in Trenton, N.J., in 1936, Scalia graduated first in his class from Georgetown University and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1960.

Nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, Scalia took the oath of office on Sept. 26, 1986, becoming its youngest member and its first Roman Catholic since William J. Brennan. Since then, he clearly has played an important part in revitalizing conservative constitutional interpretation in the nation's highest court.

According to legal historians, Scalia is an "originalist," and argues that the constitution should be interpreted in the light of the understanding of its text at the time it was written. He also has expressed a preference for clear constitutional rules. One of the court's sharpest minds, he is known for his lively phrasing and entertaining wit, contributing colorful phrases in judicial opinions and lectures to legal audiences.

The cost of the luncheon is $40 per person. Advance reservations are necessary and must be made by March 6. Checks should be payable to the UB Law Alumni Association, or send a charge authorization for MasterCard or Visa to the UB Law Alumni Office, 312 O'Brian Hall, Buffalo, N.Y. 14260.

For further information, call Ilene Fleischmann at 645-2107.

Summer job fair to be held March 4
The Office of Career Planning and Placement will host its annual Summer Job and Internship Fair from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. March 4 in the Student Union Lobby and Social Hall on the North Campus.

Representatives from various summer camps, local and regional businesses and social service agencies will be available to speak with students about opportunities. Employers will be accepting applications and conducting informal interviews.

For further information, contact Lauren Johnson at 645-2232, ext. 132, or at lj8@buffalo.edu.

Béla Fleck to perform
The Center for the Arts will present the Grammy Award-winning musical group Béla Fleck and the Flecktones at 8 p.m. March 4 in the Mainstage theater in the CFA on the North Campus.

Widely recognized as a banjo virtuoso and one of the most innovative recording artists in music, Béla Fleck has been a Grammy nominee 17 times in a remarkable 10 different categories, and has won five times. The Flecktones debuted in 1990 with a "blu-bop" mix of jazz and bluegrass, and soon became a commercially successful, critically acclaimed and award-winning phenomenon.

Last year, Béla Fleck and The Flecktones took home the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for "Outbound," their most recent studio recording, and in October, Fleck released his first album of classical compositions, "Perpetual Motion," for the Sony Classical label.

The group frequently performs more than 200 concerts per year, and played to 500,000 fans last year alone. This month, they will release their first ever DVD featuring live concert footage showcasing their genre-bending mix of bluegrass, jazz and pop influences.

Tickets for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones are $23.50 for the general public and $20.50 for UB students. They are available at the CFA box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations. For more information, call 645-ARTS.

Law school to hold minority recruitment program
As part of National Minority Law Student Recruitment Month, the Law School will hold a visitation luncheon and program tomorrow for minority high school students who are interested in learning more about attending law school.

The program is designed to expose promising young scholars to the field of law, said Lillie Wiley, associate director of admissions and director of recruitment in the Law School.

"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 7 percent of lawyers in the U.S. are from minority groups: 3 percent are African-American, 2 percent Latino and fewer than 1 percent are Asian American," Wiley said.

"We want to send a strong message to students, faculty, administrators and the legal community: Don't turn back," said Wiley. "We've come too far to let recent assaults on affirmative action erode efforts to diversify the legal community in America."

The program will begin with a continental breakfast, followed by a presentation by Wiley on "How to Get into Law School."

Following lunch, Michelle Hutchinson, partner in Brown and Hutchinson, a minority-owned law firm, will present a keynote address, and a law professor will present a mock class. The day also will include presentations and panel discussions by representatives of various minority student organizations, including the Black, Latino and Asian Law Student associations.

"Some people believe the tide may be turning against diversity efforts," said Wiley. "In view of the challenge to affirmative action, we must do more to make people of color know that the law school is a place for them and that we are working hard to achieve a diverse environment on our campuses. The negativity generated by recent news about affirmative action cannot be allowed to foster a perception that law schools have closed their doors to people of color. Legal education is too important to the rights of all Americans to allow this misconception to exist."

The program is funded by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) to raise awareness of minority recruiting issues facing law schools. The effort comes on the heels of setbacks to affirmative action in major states like California and Texas that have vastly reduced minority representation in entering law school classes.

UB to host Mugel moot court
The Law School will host the 2002 Albert R. Mugel National Tax Moot Court Competition today through Saturday.

The largest and longest-running tax moot court in the United States, the competition will draw teams of law students from institutions that include UB, as well as Syracuse University, University of Baltimore, Louisiana State University, Quinnipiac University, St. John's University and John Marshall.

Kenneth R. Joyce, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Law School, who has been instrumental in the formulation of tax laws in New York State, serves as advisor to the competition, and has prepared for the teams a problem and bench memorandum on issues relating to debt discharge income and capital loss.

After researching the issues and writing a legal brief, contestants will meet at the Erie County Courthouse to engage in rounds of appellate-style argument.

Experts who will sit on the bench for the final round of the competition include the Hon. Renato Beghe of the United States Tax Court, Hon. Ellsworth Van Graafeiland of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Hon. H. Kenneth Schroeder of the U.S. District Court, Western District of New York.

The competition is named in honor of the late Albert R. Mugel, a long-time senior partner in the law firm of Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel who taught tax law at the UB Law School for more than 50 years.

AAUW to present panel discussion
To celebrate International Women's Day, the Buffalo branch of the American Association of University Women will present a panel discussion on "Portrayal of Women in Mass Media" at 6:30 p.m. March 8 in Samuel's Grande Manor, 8750 Main St., Clarence.

The cost of the talk and dinner is $25. The event is co-sponsored by the YMCA of Western New York; Erie County Commission on the Status of Women; Women's Action Coalition; National Organization of Women, New York State; Zonta International; Federal Women's Program Network, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The four speakers to be featured on the panel are Elayne Rapping, professor of women's studies at UB, who will speak on "Images of Women in Media in a Changing World;" Rafika Merini, associate professor of modern and classical languages at Buffalo State College, who will discuss "Stereotypical Images of Women in French-speaking Africa and Middle East in International Media;" Faye Lone-Knapp, author and poet, who will speak on "Portrayal of Native-American Females in Mainstream Children's Literature," and Bernadette Wegenstein, visiting assistant professor of media study at UB, who will address "Bellissima Pasta—Femininity and Italianita in Pasta Advertisements."

Advance reservations are required and must be made by Wednesday. For further information or reservations, call 634-5053 or email tgessner@acsu.buffalo.edu.

Nominations sought for PSS service award
Nominations are being sought for the Professional Staff Senate's Outstanding Service Award recognizing members of UB's professional staff who make outstanding community-service contributions.

Winners of the Outstanding Service Award receive a cash award and a certificate of recognition, and will be honored at a university-wide awards luncheon on May 15.

For further information on criteria and nomination procedure and materials, contact the PSS Office in 543 Capen Hall, North Campus, at 645-2003.

Nominations must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. April 17.

Entries for poetry contests sought
Entries are being sought for this year's student poetry contests sponsored by the Department of English and the Friends of the University Libraries.

The Academy of American Poets contest is open to all UB graduate and undergraduate students. The Friends of the University Libraries' contest is open to undergraduates only.

Both contests award prizes of $100 for the best poems.

Entries should be sent to Carmen Collado, Undergraduate Library, 107 Capen Hall, North Campus. The deadline is March 15.

Winners will be notified by April 1, and will be invited to read from their work at a poetry reading to be held at noon on April 4 in the Poetry/Rare Books Room.

Workshop to present "Dido and Aeneas"
The UB Opera Workshop will present Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" at 8 p.m. March 8 and at 2:30 p.m. March 9 in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

"Dido and Aeneas," a rarely performed opera, will feature a cast of student performers and a professional chamber orchestra. This fully staged production is directed by Dora Ohrenstein, visiting assistant professor of music, and conducted by Roland E. Martin, a lecturer in the Department of Music and an expert in baroque music. It is a multi-disciplinary effort that also will feature student artists from the departments of Media Study and Theatre and Dance.

Tickets for "Dido and Aeneas" are $5 and can be obtained at the Slee Hall box office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations.

Congressional appropriations add to SUNY funding
Recently passed congressional appropriations will mean more than $10.7 million in additional federal funding for SUNY, Chancellor Robert L. King has announced. This represents more than a three-fold increase in direct congressional appropriations for SUNY from the previous year.

Last year, overall funding for sponsored activity—including research—for SUNY campuses exceeded $594 million, almost $100 million more than the campuses received two years ago. Direct congressional appropriations amounted to $3.4 million last year, compared to the $10.7 million this year.

The congressional funding for fiscal year 2002 supports 20 projects at SUNY institutions, including $3.1 million for the Buffalo Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics, secured through the efforts of Rep. Tom Reynolds and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"These research projects have the potential to reap significant benefits for the people and businesses of New York State," King said. "The work being done by our faculty and campuses is crucial to the health and prosperity of our state, and we are delighted at the support our researchers are receiving in Washington.

"The success we are having in Washington is a direct result of the coordinated activities of all our partners in this effort," King said, specifically identifying members of the state's federal delegation, campus leaders, faculty researchers, staff of the SUNY Research Foundation, and the firm of Akin, Gump, Straus, Hauer & Feld, which the SUNY Research Foundation hired last year to help represent its interests in the nation's capital.