Christopher Johnson-Robertson of Buffalo, a student at City Honors High School, has been awarded first-prize in the annual poetry contest for high school students sponsored by the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).

Reginald B. Newman II, chairman and former president of NOCO Energy Corp., a family-owned petroleum company, and longtime friend and supporter of UB, will receive the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UB's highest award, during the university's 160th general commencement ceremony, to be held at 10 a.m. May 14 in Alumni Arena, North (Amherst) Campus.

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.

University at Buffalo researchers are launching a series of unprecedented seismic tests on a full-scale, three-bedroom, wood-frame townhouse being built in an earthquake-simulation laboratory in the university's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In November, the structure will be put to a final test in a simulation of California's 1994 Northridge earthquake that is expected to create massive damage.

In the lobby of a nondescript brick building on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus, a unique marriage of sorts is taking place through a new "Physics and Arts Exhibition."

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.

"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.

In 2001 the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario, initiated a cross-border dialogue by inviting Western New York representatives to its annual Smarter Niagara Summit to discuss regional challenges. This year, the binational focus of the event has been significantly expanded, with Southern Ontario and Western New York leaders, including representatives from the University at Buffalo, jointly coordinating "Summit 2006: Creating the Cross Border Capital -- One Region, Two Niagaras, Our Shared Future."

An exhibition of work by students from Kenmore West High School will open in the UB Anderson Gallery Arts Education Classroom (second floor) with a public reception from 7-9 p.m. on May 19. The exhibition of paintings, photos, prints and sculpture was selected from more than 250 submissions from students in grades 9 through 12.

Neuroscientists in the Department of Neurology/Jacobs Neurological Institute at the University at Buffalo have received $1.2 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to link the cognitive deficits in working memory frequently observed in persons with lupus to specific electrical activity and anatomical changes in the brain.

A four-decade career dedicated to mitigating geologic catastrophes and saving lives will be the focus of "Volcanic Flows and Falls: A Conference to Honor Professor Michael Sheridan" to be held Thursday and Friday in the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center (formerly the University Inn and Conference Center), 2402 N. Forest Road.

Margaret McGlynn, president of the vaccine division of Merck & Co., is a second-generation graduate of the University at Buffalo following her late father's lead and honoring his memory with a start-up gift to establish the Edward J. Hempling Community Pharmacy Education Fund in UB's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Mental-health professionals representing a variety of fields will gather in Buffalo on June 1-3 for the Second International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision, an interdisciplinary conference devoted to clinical-supervision theory, practice and research.

The Western New York community has a new user-friendly way to learn about the University at Buffalo's local impact and to access the university's services and programs with the new "Your UB" Web site.

Mathematics will be the subject of the day on May 18 and May 19 when the University at Buffalo welcomes hundreds of elementary and middle-school students who will conduct presentations and participate in individual and team competitions designed to engage area elementary and middle-school students in math.

The applications don't say "Santa's Helpers Wanted," but students who participate in this summer's Fisher-Price Cyber-Engineering High School Workshop at the University at Buffalo will be designing toys as they learn state-of-the-art engineering design techniques.

People whose recurrent headaches have been diagnosed as tension-related actually may be suffering from temporomandibular muscle and joint disorder, or TMJD, a study headed by a researcher from the University at Buffalo's School of Dental Medicine has shown.

William E. Pelham, Jr., Ph.D., professor of psychology, pediatrics and psychiatry at the University at Buffalo and one of the leading experts in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, has received a total of $5.8 million to begin two new studies of treatment approaches for the condition.

Longtime University at Buffalo faculty member Claude E. Welch, Jr., has been named the recipient of the first Lifetime Achievement Award presented by TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

Harvey G. Stenger, Jr., Ph.D., professor of chemical engineering and former dean of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science at Lehigh University, has been named dean of the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

A science and industry symposium featuring world renowned researchers in the fields of genomics, neuroscience and biomedical informatics will be held June 13-15 in conjunction with the grand opening of the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, a major research center of the University at Buffalo.

Creation of a life-sciences industry and economy for Buffalo Niagara will take an historic step forward with the grand opening in June of the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

What would have been the 80th birthday of the late University at Buffalo poet and faculty member Robert Creeley will be celebrated this weekend in The Church on Delaware Avenue and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery with a variety of events, including poetry reading, film screenings and musical presentations.

IBM, State Sen. Dale M. Volker and New York State Assembly Majority Leader Paul A. Tokasz will be honored at the University at Buffalo's Business Partners Day 2006 luncheon to be held at noon June 15 in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

Buffalo, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing at 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. The performance is sponsored in part by UB. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for students and will go on sale at 10 a.m. on May 30.

"Layers: Collecting Cuban-American Art" comprises work from two private and one institutional collection to illustrate how collecting art involves the negotiation of identities.

Francisco Toledo: Contemporary Graphic Art, an exhibition in the University at Buffalo's Anderson Gallery that highlights prints from UB's permanent collection, has been extended through July 16.

"Politics is Local: National Politics at the Grassroots," a new book by Canadian political scientists Donald Munroe Eagles and R. Kenneth Carty, has been short listed for the Donald Smiley Prize, awarded annually by the Canadian Political Science Association to the best book published in the previous year dealing with Canadian politics or government.

"Strange Culture." a documentary film about the recent experiences of noted bio-artist Steve Kurtz, associate professor of art at the University at Buffalo, will have its world premiere at "ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge," Aug. 7-13 in San Jose, Calif.

Students at the University at Buffalo recently were inducted into the Omicron Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honorary society.

Twenty-eight students were honored for being the outstanding graduating senior in departments within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo's 160th general commencement ceremony held on May 14.

The University at Buffalo's engagement in local, national and world communities and world interests is the focus of the UBThisSummer Lecture Series 2006: Our Community and Our World, which will run from June 1 to Aug. 17 on the North (Amherst) Campus.

Twenty-six students in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning recently received awards of excellence in their fields of study.

Students attending the School of Informatics at the University at Buffalo have been inducted into the Nu Upsilon chapter of Lambda Pi Eta national honor society.

Start-up data from an innovative $1 million demonstration project being conducted in Western New York suggests that if the organization you work for is concerned with wellness, it may affect how healthy you are.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present "Jesus Christ Superstar" on Sept. 8-13 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Twenty-seven students in the art program in the Department of Visual Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo have received awards for their work during 2005-06.

Lani Jendrowski of Akron, senior counselor for the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at the University at Buffalo, has received the 2006 Outstanding Service to the Professional Staff Senate (PSS) Award from the PSS, the governance group for members of the professional staff at UB.

University at Buffalo men's basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon, whose teams have won 59 games over the past three seasons, has received a three-year contract extension from Director of Athletics Warde Manuel.

Eleven graduates of the University at Buffalo School of Management received awards during the school's commencement ceremony on May 13.

Donald Henderson of Williamsville, a professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo, has been named the recipient of the third annual Hofstra University National Research Award in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the field of hearing science.

Two students in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Buffalo received awards during the department's graduation ceremony held earlier this month.

Rajan Batta, Ph.D., professor of industrial and systems engineering and associate dean for graduate studies in the University at Buffalo's School for Engineering and Applied Sciences, has received the Institute of Industrial Engineering Fellow Award.

The number 666 -- the "number of the beast," according to the Book of Revelation -- conjures devilish images for many, so forecasts of evil, even doom, are rampant regarding dates or places where the number occurs, including next Tuesday, June 6, or 6-6-06.

The University at Buffalo Department of Sociology and the City of Buffalo Division of Citizens' Services will present the "Community Update and Forum on Block Clubs in Buffalo" today (Wednesday, May 31, 2006) from 6-8 p.m. at the Belmont Shelter Center, 1195 Main St., Buffalo.

Students attending the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo have been recognized with numerous honors.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Leahy at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Tickets go on sale June 2 at 10 a.m.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Linda Eder at 8 p.m. on Dec. 16 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Tickets go on sale June 9 at 10 a.m. The concert is sponsored by GEICO.

The public is invited to tour the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences during a free open house to be held from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, June 11.

Three free public lectures in the UBThisSummer Lecture Series will be held at the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, Virginia and Ellicott streets. The lectures, part of the center's grand opening, will be held June 19, 20 and 21 at 4 p.m.