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Program to address gentrification
Harvard anthropologist Michael Herzfeld will wrap up the three-part Theorist and Jurist seminar series presented by the Baldy Center on Law and Social Policy with a lecture from 4-6 p.m. today in 509 O’Brian Hall, North Campus.
The series is being presented in conjunction with the creation of a new Baldy Center Working Group on Law and Anthropology in the UB Law School.
In his lecture, titled ““Housing Rights and Historical Wrongs: Gentrification and Neoliberalism, from the Eternal City to the City of Angels,” Herzfeld will use the examples of Rome and Bangkok to address the conflict among legal rights such as eminent domain, free market values and constitutional and international agreements as they relate to the right to housing. He also will examine the rights of the state and other authorities to decide what is historically significant and the strategies that local actors adopt to rebut such claims and establish their own moral claims.
Herzfeld will continue the discussion on Friday with a screening of his film “Monti Moments: Men’s Memories in the Heart of Rome” at 4 p.m. in 355 Millard Fillmore Academic Center, Ellicott Complex, North Campus. He presents the struggle between poor and middle-class locals, their wealthier neighbors and real estate developers in the Roman district of Monti through informal conversations with long-time residents who have seen the rapid gentrification of the historic neighborhood.
Visual Studies students showcase work
“Contemporary Design Issues & Designed Play,” an exhibit by UB Visual Studies students on how to keep the campuses green and how to use play to address serious issues like racial stereotyping, genetic engineering and the economic crisis, will open with a public reception from 5-7 p.m. today in the Visual Studies Gallery in the basement of the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
The exhibition, which also will be on view from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday, features art-and-design projects by students of Stephanie Rothenberg, assistant professor of visual studies. The students completed the work as part of two classes: the undergraduate course “Contemporary Design Issues” and the graduate studio “Designed Play.”
Contributions from the “Contemporary Design Issues” class include a student-oriented campaign to spotlight the university’s green efforts, posters and a Web site that offers an online energy-saving tool kit and a contest in which the prizes are student-designed green products.
Students in the “Designed Play” class showcase multimedia projects, public interventions and interactive games that explore a new design medium: the changing role of play and its impact on contemporary cultural production.
Alumni siblings donate art
The College of Arts and Sciences has received a steel and slate sculpture from alumni Sharon Bob Young, B.A. ’71, and her brother Richard Bob, B.S. ’67, to honor their parents, Isadore and Ruth Bob.
“Cayuga Lake Landscape, 2003” was installed in Capen Hall near the Office of Admissions and dedicated late last year.
Young discovered the sculpture while visiting the Adirondack studio of internationally renowned sculptor John Van Alstine. “You should select art when it calls you,” she said. “When I saw the piece, it was just so beautiful, and I thought it would look wonderful on the UB campus.”
The sculpture is dedicated to the memory of Isadore and Ruth Bob. Ruth worked in the UB Office of Admissions for nearly 20 years. “She told me that her time at UB gave her strength, confidence and joy,” said Young. “The students loved her as she loved them. So my brother and I were thrilled to have the sculpture located in the reception area of the admissions office.”
UB receives recycling bins
UB recently received 750 recycling bins as part of the Recycling Bin Distribution Program managed by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and Alcoa Inc.
Alcoa donated approximately 25,000 of the 22-gallon, open-topped, curbside bins to the NRC for distribution to schools, government and office buildings, and low-income communities in 19 states across the U.S. Of that total, 1,150 bins were donated to New York State colleges and universities—750 to UB and 400 to Niagara County Community College.
The bins are expected to enhance the waste paper collection programs currently in place at the institutions and further motivate members of the university community to recycle.
The bin distribution program requires that recipients track basic baseline data and annual diversion rates.
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