Some might say Walter Simpson has a "bah, humbug!" attitude toward the holiday season. But the University at Buffalo energy officer and environmental activist says the holidays just are not happy anymore because they have become a time "scarred by hypocrisy and commercialism" and bring the year's most unecological and earth-destructive practices.

With the help of a $2.74 million grant, researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Missouri-Columbia are taking steps to find answers to why some teens engage in risky behaviors, such as drinking, using drugs and having unsafe sex.

For the University at Buffalo Department of Geology, "hands-on" in a lab apparently isn't hands-on enough. That's why excavators are drilling four, 50-foot wells on the North (Amherst) Campus so that students can learn about hydrogeology -- the study of how water and other liquids, such as pollutants, move through the shallow subsurface -- up close and personal.

A new University at Buffalo study published in the December issue of Pediatrics comparing the effectiveness over time of Adderall and Ritalin -- two drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -- shows that a single dose of Adderall is effective for a full school day.

Is there an infant or toddler with disabilities on your holiday gift list? If so, you might be interested in some advice from Susan Mistrett, director of the Let's Play! project at the University at Buffalo, which uses assistive technologies and interactive strategies to help disabled children to play.

A pharmacist and business executive turned venture capitalist, University at Buffalo graduate Henry A. Panasci, Jr. has given $1 million to the university to create a competition that encourages students to become entrepreneurs.

A detailed "environmental audit" prepared for Amherst Central High School by students at UB is being applauded by high school and district officials for its incisiveness and for its environmentally friendly, often economical recommendations.

Juniors and seniors studying advanced biology in Williamsville and Lockport high schools will be teaching classes this spring in cancer, infectious disease, cardiology and reconstructive surgery as part of an innovative, high-school science-enrichment program created by the popular mini-medical school at UB.

Jeremy M. Jacobs, Sr., chairman and chief executive officer of Delaware North Companies, today finalized purchase of the Butler Mansion and announced that he will make the building available for use by the University at Buffalo School of Management.

At this moment, computers across the University at Buffalo campus are analyzing signals from the sky that could be indicators of alien intelligence.

The University at Buffalo School of Social Work, in collaboration with UB's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA), has been named the New York State university partner for the Northeastern States Addiction Technology Transfer Center (NSATTC).

Twenty UB students affiliated with Hillel of Buffalo will visit Israel Jan. 5-16 as part of Israel 2000, a pilot program funded through Birthright Israel, a group of philanthropists, Hillel and the Israeli government.

An overnight stay in a Bedouin desert camp in Wadi Rum, where T.E. Lawrence was based during the Arab revolt, is just one of the many highlights of a new summer overseas program in Arabic languages and cultures sponsored by UB.

The Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE) in the UB Business Alliance has been recognized for its outstanding work by the National Association of Management and Technical Assistance Centers (NAMTAC).

Just because a volcano isn't erupting doesn't mean it poses no danger. In papers being presented today (Tuesday, Dec. 14) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, University at Buffalo volcanologists show how, in some cases, soft spots on volcanoes that simply collapse from the side may trigger mudflows that potentially can be more devastating than eruptions.

Gérard Bucher, a scholar of international distinction in French and German literatures and philosophy anda professor in the UB Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, has been named to the university's Melodia Jones Chair in French through August 2002.

Three faculty members in the Department of Psychology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences have been recognized nationally for their research in the field of personal relationships.

The University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has received a four-year, $3.8 million award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to speed development of two new research centers.

Thomas C. Rosenthal, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been named editor of The Journal of Rural Health, the peer-reviewed publication of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA).

A new law that will allow millions of disabled people to work without losing health benefits has made a new book by a University at Buffalo career planning expert an especially valuable -- and timely -- resource for those with disabilities.

James Jarvis, director of labor relations for the City of Buffalo, has been named director of employee relations at UB.

Charles J. Smith, associate professor of music and coordinator of the Music Theory Program at UB, has received the Outstanding Publication Award from the Society for Music Theory.