Law

The latest data on violent crime, fire fatalities and alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents in Western New York are among 52 Public Safety variables just added to the Regional Knowledge Network, an online information resource developed by the University at Buffalo Regional Institute.

The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy in the University at Buffalo Law School will hold a day-long public symposium Nov. 17 on "Public Health Emergencies and Legal Preparedness: A Cross-Border Challenge."

Hon. Michael A. Telesca, whose career on the bench has encompassed county, state and federal judgeships, will receive the 2006 Edwin F. Jaeckle Award from the University at Buffalo Law School and the UB Law Alumni Association at a luncheon to be held on Nov. 18 in the Buffalo Hyatt Regency.

When an explosion, accidental cremation or a fire set deliberately to cover a crime destroys a body, precious little may remain to link it to a life once lived. Yet even among the ashes, a team of forensic dental researchers at the University at Buffalo has shown that evidence exists that can help identify human remains when all else -- flesh, bones, teeth, DNA -- is lost.

Two University at Buffalo Law School professors and two second-year law students will be among the featured performers at a benefit concert that will raise scholarship funds for students pursuing internships and careers in public interest law.

While it might be very difficult to detect benign chemicals that could make an explosive when mixed together, it is not nearly as difficult to detect traces of potentially dangerous chemicals on the fingers of individuals who recently have been in contact with them. At the University at Buffalo, researchers have proposed development of a biometric sensor that could detect such traces on the fingers of airline passengers.

University at Buffalo Law School students received honors and awards at the school's 117th commencement ceremony held on May 20.

"Read It While You Can: Challenging the New Censorship and Celebrating Free Speech" will be the first program in the Celebration of the Book series, a new initiative of the University at Buffalo's Humanities Institute exploring the richness of Buffalo's thriving community of independent writers and small presses.

When trying to lie your way through any situation, keep a tight rein on your zygo maticus major and your orbicularis oculi. They'll give you away faster than a snitch. So says a University at Buffalo social psychologist, whose revolutionary research on human facial expressions in situations of high stakes deception debunks myths that have permeated police and security training for decades.

The risk of violence is a reality for most social workers in practice today, says a nationally regarded social work educator who will present a workshop sponsored by the University at Buffalo School of Social Work titled "Risk Assessment, Violent Clients and Practitioner Safety" on May 12 in the Holiday Inn Amherst.