July 26, 2001-Vol32n33: Obituaries

Charles Atkinson Haynie, retired UB lecturer and former administrative coordinator for the university's Leo Tolstoy College, died Friday in Hospice Buffalo after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 65.

A native of Queens, Haynie received a bachelor of arts degree in engineering physics from Cornell University in 1956 and left his graduate studies in mathematics to become involved in the civil rights movement.

He came to UB in 1969 to teach experimental courses in Tolstoy College—one of the university's residential colleges of the 1960s and 1970s—and soon became known as a voice of the left-wing perspective on campus and in the Buffalo area. He was one of the "Faculty 45"—faculty members arrested during an anti-war sit-in in Hayes Hall in 1970—and was a reform Democratic candidate for the Buffalo Common Council in 1979.

Haynie took part in efforts to ease racial tensions, helping to organize a Buffalo Unity Day rally in 1980, and joined demonstrations against the Seabrook, N.H., and Three Mile Island nuclear power plants.

A lecturer in the Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Program, Haynie taught such courses as "Statistics for Social Sciences," "American Left" and "American Reactionary Movements."

He also served as the program's undergraduate advisor and was an affiliate of the Environment and Society Institute.

Haynie retired from UB last year.

The details of an on-campus memorial service planned for the fall will be announced.

Mary Beth Spina, 59, News Services' editor

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 13 in 250 Baird Hall for Mary Beth Spina, coordinator of radio and television coverage for the UB Office of News Service, who died July 8 in her Clarence home. She was 59.

Eccentric, sardonic, good-natured and wildly expressive, Spina spent more than 40 years in the fields of journalism and press relations, the majority of it at UB.

Although she suffered for years with chronic and increasingly debilitating illness, she played out her professional life with panache and boundless energy.

"Mary Beth was a truly unique and unforgettable person, a real 'character,"' said Arthur Page, UB director of news services and a friend of nearly 30 years.

"As a professional, she built lasting and strong relationships on behalf of UB with the news media and scores of reporters, and always was responsive to their needs, no matter what time of day or night they contacted her," Page noted.

Born and raised in Johnson City, Tenn., Spina earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Her work in the field included stints as a reporter for Tennessee newspapers and the Buffalo Courier-Express.

Spina joined the News Services staff in 1974. She worked as health-sciences editor until 1982, when she became radio/TV coordinator.

Armed with a sense of humor, raspy voice and a Southern accent that became more pronounced the longer she lived in the Buffalo area, she was dogged in her pursuit of press for her "stars"—UB faculty members whose expertise kept Spina hot on their tails.