Efforts to remove floodwaters from New Orleans should focus on flood bypass, strategic pumping and channel improvement, according to Christina Tsai, Ph.D., an expert on open-channel hydraulics and water-resources engineering at the University at Buffalo.

"Nasty social behavior" is very common following the first 48 hours of a disaster, according to University at Buffalo professor Charles Ebert, Ph.D., who teaches the course, "Disasters: analysis of natural and human-induced hazards."

Reports of widespread looting in New Orleans following the tragic flooding of the historic city sound less like actual criminal activity than desperation, according to a forensic psychologist at the University at Buffalo.

Widespread devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina reminds Americans who are used to localized disasters being dealt with adequately that the U.S. is susceptible to catastrophes in which the ability to respond is itself severely damaged, says Ernest Sternberg, Ph.D., University at Buffalo professor of urban and regional planning.

A large percentage of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and its catastrophic aftermath will suffer from Acute Stress Disorder, according to Nancy J. Smyth, Ph.D., LCSW, a University at Buffalo expert on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Marsha S. Henderson, KeyBank Western New York District president, has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president for external affairs at the University at Buffalo by UB President John B. Simpson. Her appointment is effective Sept. 26.

A reconnaissance team from University at Buffalo's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) will travel next week to Gulfport, Biloxi and other areas of Mississippi devastated by Hurricane Katrina to determine the specific causes behind the failures of large engineered structures, primarily commercial buildings.

Techniques developed to safeguard buildings from earthquakes developed by engineers such as those affiliated with the University at Buffalo's internationally known Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research may be key to protecting buildings and bridges from the kind of widespread damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The wisdom of attempting to resettle the Gulf region "is highly questionable," according to Alfred Price, associate professor and interim chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo.

Intestinal diseases like diarrhea and dysentery, along with outbreaks of West Nile virus, are likely to occur because of floodwaters affecting New Orleans and other areas along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, according to microbiologist Iain Hay at the University at Buffalo.

The hundreds of thousands of Gulf coast residents left homeless by Hurricane Katrina have not only lost their homes, possessions and possibly loved ones, they also have lost their sense of security, says Hilary Weaver, associate professor of social work at the University at Buffalo.

While Louisiana and Mississippi residents struggle to evacuate, to relocate and -- above all else, to survive -- many of the youngest among them face years of recovery from a variety of traumas Hurricane Katrina has dispersed upon them.

The media, especially TV media, are clearly uncomfortable discussing issues of race or racism in its coverage of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, according to Elayne Rapping, a media critic and pop-culture expert at the University at Buffalo.

A federal policy of urban neglect is partly to blame for the extensive damage done to New Orleans by Katrina and the disastrous conditions left in its wake, according to Mark Gottdiener, Ph.D., an expert on urban culture and policy.

While the victims of Hurricane Katrina have begun to grieve by expressing their anger at the shortcomings of relief efforts intended to help them, they can not yet mourn the losses they have incurred because they themselves are still struggling to survive, says Thomas T. Frantz, a University at Buffalo professor who is an expert on bereavement counseling and grief education.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Rennie Harris: Puremovement at 8 p.m. on Oct. 14 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. A pre-performance talk will be held at 7 p.m. The performance is sponsored by KeyBank.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Opera Verdi Europa: Madama Butterfly at 7:30 p.m. on Oct 17 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

STAR 102.5 and the Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present An Evening with the Stars: Jon Secada. on Oct 1. Doors open at 7 p.m., with the concert at 8 p.m. in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. This intimate evening will feature wine-and-food sampling and a showcase from superstar Jon Secada.

The Center for the Arts will host Why Manage the Arts?: Arts Management Inaugural Seminar, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 24 in the Screening Room (Rm. 112) of the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The University at Buffalo will present the American Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead Traveling Film and Video Festival, the longest-running showcase for independent cultural documentaries in the United States, encompassing a broad spectrum of work from indigenous community media to experimental nonfiction, Sept. 22 to Nov. 10.

The hundreds of thousands of refugees from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina join 25 million people worldwide displaced by environmental catastrophes, events and processes, according to Lynda Schneekloth, professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo.

The effect of military culture on women's lives -- from the experiences of servicewomen in Iraq, to human rights violations against women, to the plight of homeless female veterans -- will be examined at a conference to be held Sept. 15 and 16 in the Center for the Arts Screening Room on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

Demand for unskilled labor to clean up after Hurricane Katrina will help drive economic recovery in New Orleans, according to an economist at the University at Buffalo School of Management.

"The most critical problems related to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina are related less to the lack of technological solutions than to the absence of a sound national policy for dealing with such events," says Shahin Vassigh, associate professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo.

Ten days after 9/11, University at Buffalo structural engineers were at Ground Zero investigating the collapse of the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings. Thus began a new era in anti-terrorism research at UB, whichi now has more than $21 million in active federal and state grants to develop and investigate new methods for combating terrorist threats and attacks

The rebuilding of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina gives the city an unprecedented chance to create new city neighborhoods that are economically and racially diverse, says University at Buffalo urban geographer Meghan Cope, Ph.D., associate professor of geography in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Reestablishment of wastewater and drinking-water treatment facilities is a critical step for rebuilding New Orleans, but it likely will take months to get those systems operational, according to wastewater treatment expert at the University at Buffalo.

Efficient and highly scalable new chemical synthesis methods developed at the University at Buffalo's Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics have the potential to revolutionize the production of quantum dots for bioimaging and photovoltaic applications.

Media discussion of race and class in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has done the country a great disservice by oversimplifying and distorting what is fundamentally a very complex problem, according to a sociologist who recently published a major study of the residential segregation of jobless black, Asian and Hispanic men in urban communities.

Alan H. Guth, Ph.D., a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the "father" of the inflationary theory of the universe, will give the 12th annual Moti Lal Rustgi Memorial Lecture at 4 p.m. Sept. 23 in Room 215 in the Natural Sciences Complex on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

Neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo have shown in two recently published papers that destabilization of structures called microtubules, intracellular highways that transport receptors to their working sites in the brain, likely underlie many mental disorders and could be promising targets for intervention.

The University at Buffalo Library Archives recently acquired the papers of Eva M. Noles, R.N., already a historic figure in 1939 when she became the first black nurse to be trained in Buffalo.

An innovative program that provides social services along with dental care to older adults treated in the dental clinics of the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine has received the 2005 Geriatric Oral Health Care Award from the American Dental Association.

After spending five hectic, sleep-deprived days on the Gulf Coast assessing structural damage to buildings in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, engineers from the University at Buffalo's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) have returned home to start doing the scientific work that they hope one day will help curb structural damage from future severe events.

The Center for the Arts has announced that the spring 2005 series Music is Art Live @ The Center, a television series celebrating Western New York's best contemporary musicians and visual artists, will begin airing on Sundays on UPN 23 WNLO starting Sept. 18 at 10:30 p.m.

John M. Thomas, dean of the University at Buffalo School of Management, recognized the public-service and community-engagement activities of the school's faculty, staff and students at a luncheon held today in 106 Jacobs Management Center on UB's North Campus.

Along with laptops and cell phones, more than 4,000 University at Buffalo students this fall will be packing a piece of gear into their backpacks that may make them feel like they're on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

Diana J. Mason, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Nursing, will deliver the Ninth Annual Bonnie Bullough Lecture at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Center for Tomorrow on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

A keynote speech by Winona LaDuke, a former U.S. vice presidential candidate, will kick off the fourth-annual UB "Gender Matters/Gender Week," to be held Sept. 19-23 at the University at Buffalo.

More than 1,000 racers are expected to participate in the 16th annual Linda Yalem Safety Run, to begin at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 25 on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

Aug. 29., the day that Hurricane Katrina barreled ashore on the Gulf Coast, also was the first day of class for Geology 428/528, "Preventing Geologic Disasters," at the University at Buffalo. Even though he had already prepared a semester's worth of historical examples, Michael F. Sheridan, Ph.D., UB professor of geology, decided that day to ditch much of it and to focus, instead, on Katrina as the harshest of case studies.

An international symposium focusing on major developments in research, treatment and prevention of acquired hearing loss and tinnitus co-hosted by the Center for Hearing and Deafness at the University at Buffalo and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command will be held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Oct. 9-12.

UB, along with 10 other upstate New York colleges and universities, will present UNYTECH05, a venture forum designed to connect promising university-based start-up companies with potential investors, on Sept. 21 and 22 in the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, 1340 Millersport Highway.

Carl J. Montante, president and managing director of Uniland Development Co., has been named the 2005 Niagara Frontier Executive of the Year by the University at Buffalo School of Management.

San Francisco -- SofTrek Corporation, an Oracle hosting and technology company, announced today at Oracle Open World that it has formalized membership in the Corporate Partner Program of the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

With the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein expected to begin soon, the Jewish Law Students Association at the University at Buffalo Law School will host a multi-media presentation and lecture on a war-crimes tribunal from years past.

Community leader Thomas R. Beecher, Jr., will receive the 2005 Edwin F. Jaeckle Award from University at Buffalo Law School and the UB Law Alumni Association at a luncheon to be held Oct. 22 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the University at Buffalo School of Management 13th among the top 47 regional business schools in North America, up two spots from last year's ranking.

Three short weeks after they fled New Orleans, many victims of Hurricane Katrina housed in shelters in Texas are having difficulties dealing emotionally with the disaster, particularly with another destructive hurricane headed toward the state where they took refuge, according to Nancy J. Smyth, Ph.D., associate professor and dean of social work at the University at Buffalo.

Effective mitigation of the drastic effects of extreme natural phenomena like hurricanes, floods, landslides and wildfires through integrated environmental management that includes the perspectives of geomorphologists and ecosystem scientists is the focus of the interdisciplinary 36th International Geomorphology Binghamton Symposium to be held Oct. 7-9 at the University at Buffalo.

The failure of levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina points out the need for new technologies to strengthen levees and monitor their reliability, according to Deborah D. L. Chung, Ph.D., a University at Buffalo materials scientist and inventor of "smart concrete."

The labels that teen-agers use to describe themselves and their peers provide an insight into their drug and alcohol use, according to a study at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions.

Improving the understanding of women's alcohol use and risky sexual behavior and the impact of alcohol treatment on women's HIV risk behaviors are the goals of research to be conducted under a $2.4 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to a researcher at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions.

The desire to assign cosmic significance to the arrival of hurricanes Katrina and Rita is an example of humankind's ages-old need to find reason within chaos, according to University at Buffalo anthropologist Phillips Stevens Jr., Ph.D., a renowned expert on the origins, nature and meaning of cults, superstitions and cultural identities.

President Bush's approval ratings should improve as a result of the federal government's improved disaster response following Hurricane Rita, according to University at Buffalo political scientist James E. Campbell, Ph.D., an expert on presidential politics and election forecasting.

Researchers from throughout the State University of New York system will gather to discuss emerging and ongoing research in homeland security at a conference being organized by the University at Buffalo, the University at Albany Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, and Stony Brook University.

Recent University at Buffalo alumni and UB students with innovative ideas in the technology, life science and engineering industries are being sought as participants in the Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC).

An addiction specialist at the University at Buffalo has received a $1.28 million grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to develop and test a new program designed to improve abstinence rates after alcohol detoxification.

Days after Hurricane Katrina hit, research teams from the University at Buffalo's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research were dispatched to the Mississippi coast to conduct structural analysis and remote sensing of damage to large structures. On Oct, 3, MCEER will send three teams of researchers to New Orleans, again with funding primarily from the National Science Foundation.

The UB Alumni Association will host a variety of activities during Homecoming Week 2005, to be held Wednesday through Oct. 9 on both the North (Amherst) and South (Main Street) campuses.

Kathryn A. Foster, director of UB's Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, talks about the mission of the institute and plans for the future in a Q&A published in the Reporter on Sept. 22, 2005.