This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
News

Briefs

Published: June 28, 2012

  • Tiberi named director of student life

    Tom Tiberi, interim director of student life since January 2011, has been named director of student life, overseeing activities, programs and services designed to help students get involved, develop leadership and cultural competence skills, and become responsible global citizens.

    Tiberi is responsible for directing the Center for Student Leadership and Community Engagement, the UB Marching Band, Student Activities, Student Unions, Greek Affairs and the Intercultural and Diversity Center.

    He joined the UB staff in 1992 as residence hall director and rose to the position of senior associate director for university apartments.

    Prior to working at UB, he was resident director at Rochester Institute of Technology.

    Tiberi holds an MS in counseling from Shippensburg University and a BS in music business from Fredonia State College.

  • Student receives Boren Scholarship

    Sarah Boerschig, a sophomore history and Asian studies major and University Honors College scholar, is the first UB student to receive the 2012 David L. Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program (NSEP).

    The scholarship offers a grant of up to $20,000 to outstanding U.S. undergraduates through a competitive, national, merit-based process. It was established in 1994 in the wake of Desert Storm to send scholars abroad to countries considered by the NSEP to be critical to U.S. national security.

    The goal is to increase the national capacity to deal effectively with foreign cultures and languages. Recipients study the language and culture of host countries and commit to working for the U.S. government for at least one year after their scholarship year.

    Boerschig, also a recipient of both UB’s Provost Scholarship and the Katherine Pratt Horton Scholarship, will use the award during the 2012-13 academic year to fund her studies in Japan, where she plans to attend either Kanazawa University or Konan University. In addition to speaking Japanese, Boerschig is fluent in Spanish.

  • Med student receives AMA award

    The Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic, run by UB medical students, is a key reason why Michael J. Blanco, a Florida native, chose to attend UB’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Now, the third-year medical student has won an American Medical Association Foundation 2012 Minority Scholars Award, in part, for his work at the Lighthouse Clinic.

    Blanco is one of only 13 students nationwide to receive the $10,000 scholarship award, which recognizes academically outstanding medical students committed to promoting diversity in medicine and eliminating health care disparities. It is the second year in a row that a UB medical student has won the prestigious AMA award.

    “The Lighthouse is part of the reason I came here,” says Blanco, noting that he was impressed with the fact that UB’s medical students were getting involved, providing free medical care to underserved populations in Buffalo.

    The walk-in clinic serves Buffalo’s East Side community under the supervision of family medicine physician Kirk Scirto and UB medical school faculty members who volunteer their time.

    At the clinic, Blanco has served as infectious disease manager, testing and counseling patients for diseases ranging from TB to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

    Blanco also has served as AMA Minority Issues Committee Liaison and organized a Doctors Back to School program at Buffalo’s Health Sciences Charter School, which encourages minority youth to choose a career in health care.

  • Flags at half-mast honor fallen soldier

    Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has directed that flags on state government buildings—including those at UB—be flown at half-mast on June 27 in honor of a New York soldier who died in Afghanistan on June 22.

    Maj. Paul C. Voelke died in Mazar E. Sharif while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Voelke was from the Town of Monroe.

    Cuomo has ordered that flags on all state buildings be lowered to half-mast in honor of and tribute to New York service members who are killed in action or die in a combat zone.