Now more than ever, the Buffalo Niagara region needs reliable, timely information for sound decision making. To help meet this need, the Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth at the University at Buffalo has launched the Regional Knowledge Network (http://www.rkn.buffalo.edu), a state-of-the-art information resource for the bi-national region.

Two research teams at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions recently explored the scientific literature focusing on relapse to addictive behavior. The first team reviewed studies of relapse to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and the second team, the differences between men and women who relapse to alcohol and drug abuse.

A survey of seniors' access to dental care conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College presents a sobering picture of the dental needs and barriers to dental care experienced by seniors.

The Office of Continuing Education in the School of Social Work at the University at Buffalo will sponsor a hands-on, clinical-skills training program titled "Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment: The Fairy Tale Model" from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 10 in the Holiday Inn Amherst, 1881 Niagara Falls Blvd.

Fred Dansereau, professor of organizations and human resources in the University at Buffalo School of Management, has been named associate dean for research by Dean John M. Thomas.

Anthony Vidler, an internationally recognized scholar, theorist and critic of modern and contemporary architecture widely known for his essays on the most pressing debates in the field today, will be in residence the week of April 10 at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning as the 2006 Will and Nan Clarkson Visiting Chair in Architecture.

Alex Ampadu, CPA, associate professor of accounting and law in the University at Buffalo School of Management, will receive the Dr. Emmanuel Saxe Outstanding CPA in Education Award.

What does it cost a company when a manager neglects to improve a supply-chain or other manufacturing process over a three-year period? According to conventional management wisdom, such sins of omission are commonplace but difficult, if not impossible, to quantify in dollars and cents. Until now.

Greenestuff Inc. will present "My Bedbugs in J. Edgar's Birthday Party" at 1:30 p.m. on April 30 in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

"NET<3," a two-day exhibition of new work by nine media study students from the University of Buffalo is scheduled for 5-9 p.m. April 10 and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 11 in the UB Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, North (Amherst) Campus.

"Karel Appel: The Color of Chaos," an exhibition of graphic work from the University at Buffalo collection, will open with a reception from 6-8 p.m. on April 20 in the first floor gallery of the UB Anderson Gallery.

"Welcome to the Promised Land," an exhibition of paintings and drawings by David Schirm, chair of the new Department of Visual Studies at the University at Buffalo, will open in the UB Art Gallery in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) with a reception from 5-7 p.m. on April 20.

"Media Mixer: Sculpture from the Collection," an exhibition highlighting the University at Buffalo sculpture and print collection, will open in the UB Anderson Gallery on April 20 with a free public reception from 6-8 p.m.

The University at Buffalo Center for the Arts 2006 Spring Magazine received a Gold Award in the Buffalo Club of Printing House Craftsmen Superb Printing Awards competition. The award was announced at the 49th Annual Printing Awards Banquet held March 23 in Salvatore's Italian Gardens.

Bruce D. McCombe will serve as interim dean of the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences effective July l and until the university identifies a successor to Uday P. Sukhatme through a national search.

Three CDs featuring faculty in the Department of Music in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences have been released recently to critical applause.

The University at Buffalo Alumni Association will present its highest honor, the Samuel P. Capen Award, to J. Grant Hauber, B.S. '48, at the association's Achievement Awards Ceremony, to be held at 6 p.m. April 28 in the Adam's Mark Hotel.

Aspiring physicists who also appreciate the arts are invited to apply for the University at Buffalo's first Physics & Arts Summer Institute for high school students, sponsored by the Department of Physics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University at Buffalo will present Hot L Baltimore on April 20-22 at 8 p.m. and April 23 at 2 p.m. in the Blackbox Theatre, located at the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Recent incidents of student fighting in the Buffalo Public Schools point to a disturbing problem facing schools across the U.S. It's an issue that the University at Buffalo School of Social Work is addressing, thanks to several programs it has developed to defuse and prevent school violence.

The Physics Department in the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences will install a dramatic, 25-foot-long Foucault Pendulum extending from the third floor of Fronczak Hall to the lobby level of the building on the UB North (Amherst) Campus at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 14.

What's up with the mist? When the Niagara Parks Commission posed that question back in 2004, the concern was that high-rise hotels on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls were contributing to the creation of more mist, obscuring the very view that millions of tourists flock there every year to see. Now University at Buffalo geologists have determined that the high-rise hotels are probably not to blame.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse to study how methamphetamine disrupts the immune system, increasing susceptibility to HIV among users of the recreational drug.

The growing prevalence of detention as a policy within the U.S. immigration system is strikingly similar to policies of criminal sanctions and mass incarceration used to fight the "war on drugs" in the 1980s, according to University at Buffalo Law School Professor Teresa A. Miller, who studies the U.S. prison system and teaches immigration law.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo affiliated with the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences have identified a novel agent that can protect neurons involved in Parkinson's disease from being destroyed by the pesticide rotenone.

Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, professor in the Department of Geography in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE) for 2006-07.

The University at Buffalo School of Social Work will hold its fifth annual Alumni Day from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 20 in the Buffalo/Niagara Marriott, 1340 Millersport Hwy., Amherst.

The University at Buffalo's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) Information Service is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the devastating 1906 earthquake with a major exhibit, "A City in Ruins: The San Francisco Earthquake and Fires of 1906."

Despite their feminist leanings, social workers and their female college assistants wound up falling back on "moralistic, age-based standards of appropriate sexual interest and behavior" when it came to mentoring a group of middle-school girls, according to research co-authored by an assistant professor in the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.

With the recent debates and protests over U.S. immigration policy as a backdrop, the University at Buffalo Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy on April 28 and 29 will present a conference "Merging Immigration and Crime Control," featuring commentary and analysis from leading international experts on the social and economic impact of immigration.

"Grab a Buddy and Let's Get Muddy" is the theme for Oozfest 2006, the annual mud volleyball tournament sponsored by the University at Buffalo's Student Alumni Board (USAB), to be held April 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 29 at the Mud Pit on St. Rita's Lane, behind UB Stadium on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

A former post-doctoral fellow at University at Buffalo has provided a gift to support young researchers in honor of the training in the field of pulmonary medicine, environmental physiology and bioengineering that he received at the Center for Research and Education in Special Environments and Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Middle-school-aged students at Buffalo's Native American Magnet School are having their interest in science and science careers nurtured through an after-school science program conducted by University at Buffalo faculty members and students.

Five graduates of the University at Buffalo Law School will receive Distinguished Alumni Awards for their valuable contributions to the legal profession and community at the 44th annual UB Law Alumni Association meeting and dinner to be held at 6 p.m. May 10 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

University a Buffalo Law School alumni Denise E. O'Donnell, a partner in the Buffalo-based law firm Hodgson Russ LLP, and Robert C. Schwenkel, a partner in the New York City-based law firm Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson, will be honored at the 17th annual Buffalo Law Review dinner on April 27 in The Buffalo Club.

At an international symposium to be held at the University at Buffalo May 5-6, algorithm developers and informatics researchers will explore the diffusion of evidence-based mental health treatment information for use throughout the world.

Selenium does not protect against cardiovascular disease, despite its documented antioxidant and chemopreventive properties, analysis of a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial covering 13 years has shown.

Joseph I. Fradin, Ph.D., of Buffalo, professor emeritus of English at the University at Buffalo, died of cancer on April 24. He was 80.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present David Sedaris at 8 p.m. on Oct 10 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on May 5.

To help ensure that Buffalo Niagara has ready access to reliable information on critical regional issues, the John R. Oishei Foundation has awarded the University at Buffalo's Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth $336,371 to develop phase two of the recently launched Regional Knowledge Network.

The Jacobs Neurological Institute at the University at Buffalo has developed an online education program on Medicare Part D for physicians treating patients with multiple sclerosis. "Medicare Part D: Implications for Physicians and Patients" was developed by the Kenneth Alford Medical Education Center, the continuing-medical-education arm of the institute.

Edward O. Wilson, Ph.D., preeminent scientist, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and considered by many to be the father of the modern environmental movement, will present the University at Buffalo's D. W. Harrington Lecture at 10:30 a.m. May 6 in the Adam's Mark Hotel.

David Forliti, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, is the recipient of a Prestigious Department of Defense Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program Award.

Thomas Szyperski, Ph.D., University at Buffalo professor of chemistry, biochemistry and structural biology, is a co-recipient of one of the most prestigious prizes awarded in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the Gunther Laukien Prize.

Providing products and services to biotechnology firms was the common denominator for the two teams that won more than $60,000 in cash and services in the University at Buffalo's annual Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC).

University at Buffalo head football coach Turner Gill will be the speaker at the UB at Noon...Downtown luncheon series, to be held May 18 in Chef's Restaurant, 291 Seneca St., Buffalo.