Archives
People etc.
Forums set for parking study
The Office of Parking and Transportation Services and Chance Management Advisors (CMA) consulting firm will host two open forums on Feb. 13 to review the results of the recent study of UB's parking and transportation services by CMA.
The forums, which will include an overview of CMA's findings along with a brief question-and-answer period, will be held from 9-10:30 a.m. in Harriman Hall, South Campus (room number will be posted in the lobby), and from 2-3:30 p.m. in 145-C Student Union, North Campus.
The forums are open to all members of the UB community.
The parking and transportation study developed by CMA was based on a review of UB services and issues, open forums for stakeholder groups, a Web-based survey, a review of peer institutions and such related issues as security, quality service and customer service in these areas, as well as future growth and development. It concludes with a financial review of the Office of Parking and Transportation Services.
The report is available for review and comment at http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/announcements.shtml.
Murray recognized by APA
The American Psychological Association (APA) has presented Sandra L. Murray, associate professor of psychology, with a 2003 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of social psychology.
She will share the award—a plaque and $1,000—with Steven J. Heine of the University of British Columbia.
The award, which will be presented at the annual APA national conference in Toronto in August, is an "outstanding accolade for scientific achievement," says Harry Reis, head of scientific affairs for the APA.
Murray's research and publications focus on "motivated cognition" in the context of close relationships; specifically, how individuals in romantic relationships interpret and construct reality in ways that protect them from potential threats to commitment, such as the perception of a partner's faults, the risks inherent in depending on another person and the potential of rejection.
Murray, who received the 1999 New Contribution Award from the International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships, has been on the faculty of the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences since 1996.
She is a member of the department's Close Relationship Consortium, a group of psychology faculty members and graduate students who study a broad range of normal and pathological relationships at different developmental stages. She also heads the department's social-personality area and is the principal investigator in the university's Interpersonal Processes Laboratory.
Murray is a member of the editorial board of the journal Personal Relationships and publishes frequently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Enrollment and Planning reorganizes
The Office of Enrollment and Planning has made three changes in organization and leadership that Vice Provost Sean Sullivan says will improve the office's ability to serve students and meet enrollment goals.
Three Enrollment and Planning units—Web Services, Mainframe Systems and Programming Services—have been brought together into one group headed by Mark Petrie, who assumes the position of assistant vice provost for IT services. Petrie, who has worked at UB for 12 years as both a programmer and admissions operations officer, is charged with integrating a team of professionals with diverse skills to create technologies that improve recruitment success and student satisfaction.
Regina Toomey, now senior associate vice provost for new student recruitment programs, will assume responsibility for all Enrollment and Planning staff units that interact directly with enrolled students. She will become the principal liaison with campus student services units and the academic unit advising groups in order to improve the student experience. Toomey will supervise the Student Response Center and the Student Advising Services group, while maintaining responsibility for the administrative aspects of the Honors and Scholars and Transfer and Articulation Services offices.
Patricia Armstrong, who assumes the title of associate vice provost and director of admissions, will become the lead undergraduate recruitment and admissions officer, reporting to Sullivan. She came to UB as director of admissions in April 2002 after serving as director of admissions at St. John's University.
Columbia tragedy won't deter students
News of Saturday's space shuttle tragedy was especially upsetting to students who belong to the UB chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a nationwide association of students and professionals with career interests in space flight and exploration.
Members of UB's 35-student chapter traded phone calls and email over the weekend, expressing shock and sadness at the loss of the Columbia and its seven-member crew. The students convened Monday and Tuesday to discuss how to formally express their condolences to the NASA "family," according to chapter president Nicholas Leone, a senior mechanical and aerospace engineering student.
"What happened doesn't change my mind that NASA is the finest aerospace organization in the world," says Leone, whose dream is to one day design space shuttles and other space vehicles for NASA. "It's obviously a huge tragedy, but unfortunately you have to realize that the aerospace industry is very risky—it always has been and it always will be."
Leone doesn't expect the tragedy to deter any of his fellow students from pursuing careers in the aerospace industry or dampen their passion for space flight.
"I'm 100 percent certain that everyone of them would love to be an astronaut someday, including myself," he says.
Leone and chapter treasurer Lindsay Volaski have a personal connection to NASA, which makes the tragedy especially painful, they say. They were among a team of UB students who last summer participated in NASA's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the students conducted zero-gravity experiments in NASA's KC-135 turbojet, nicknamed the "weightless wonder."
"The experience gave me a deep appreciation for what NASA does and the way they operate—it's very much like a family," says Volaski, who plans to pursue a career in NASA's research-and-development division. "We saw firsthand the amazing way everyone works together to accomplish their goals."
Adds Leone: "Everyone I met there, including the astronauts, was very hardworking and very dedicated. I'm sure they will work twice as hard to prevent something like this from happening again."
UB spin-off company gets $100,000 grant
AMBP Tech Corp., a UB spin-off company, will develop a process to generate bulk quantities of metallo-carbohederenes (met-cars) compounds using its Laser Assisted Molecular Beam Deposition equipment under a $100,000 Small Business Innovative Research Phase I grant administered through the National Science Foundation.
Met-cars are a new class of compounds discovered only a decade ago. These compounds could play an important role in catalytic synthesis of new compounds and potentially evolve into a new area of chemistry.
"Met-cars are very unstable in nature," said James Garvey, AMBP Tech founder and UB professor of chemistry. "People believe they are so reactive that they chemically change in the presence of air or water."
This reactivity prevents researchers from isolating and further studying them.
"To date, no one has been able to produce stable, bulk quantities of this material," noted Garvey.
AMBP will attempt to stabilize these molecules using its LAMBD. As met-cars are being formed in gaseous form, added Garvey, a sulfide coating would be applied, blocking any further reactions.
AMBP recently was awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency to develop further and commercialize its advanced molecular beam deposition equipment for use in the microelectronics, optoelectronics and coatings industries.
AMBP Tech Corp. is located in the UB Technology Incubator in Amherst.
Paroski to speak at Emeritus meeting
Margaret W. Paroski, interim dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, will answer the question, "What's a Nice Girl like Me Doing in a Place like This?" at the monthly meeting of the Emeritus Center, to be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in 102 Goodyear Hall, South Campus.
The talk is free and open to the public.
For further information, call the Emeritus Center at 829-2271.
Nominations sought for Weinstein Award
Nominations are being sought for the Rose Weinstein Award, an annual award sponsored by the Emeritus Center to recognize exceptional research or artistic activity by a UB graduate or undergraduate student that focuses on human aging in a changing world.
The award includes a prize of $500.
Students may nominate themselves or be nominated by program directors or departmental chairs. All nominations must include a one-page letter from the candidate that describes the project, the parameters and methods involved and what has been achieved; material evidence of the candidate's accomplishments involving human aging, such as a term paper, dissertation abstract or a completed dissertation, a portfolio of artistic works, a musical score or recording, a video of a film or dance presentation, or concert program, and a brief letter of support from the chair of a candidate's major department or the director of undergraduate or graduate studies.
Nominations should be sent by April 7 to Michael M. Metzger at the Emeritus Center, South Lounge, Goodyear Hall, South Campus. A winner will be announced by May 1.
For further information, contact Metzger at mmetzger@acsu.buffalo.edu.
"Vagina Monologues" to be performed
V-Day, the global movement to stop violence against women and girls, is going grassroots and global for V-Day 2003, with a 12-week calendar of events and social action campaigns anchored around Valentine's Day. V-Day 2003 will encompass 800 benefit productions of the groundbreaking, Obie Award-winning "The Vagina Monologues" in theaters, houses of worship and college campuses around the world.
As part of the V-Day 2003 College Campaign, "The Vagina Monologues" will be performed at UB at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 and 19 in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
V-Day University at Buffalo 2003 is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Theatre & Dance and the Center for the Arts.
The cast will feature 13 students from the Department of Theatre & Dance; the production will be directed by Susan Anner.
Proceeds from "The Vagina Monologues" will benefit the Anti-Rape Task Force at UB.
Tickets are $17 for the general public and $7 for students and are available in the CFA box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.
For more information, call 645-ARTS.
WBFO to present concerts
WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by UB, will present free concerts this month by the Erie County Wind Ensemble and the Amherst Saxophone Quartet.
The Erie County Wind Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. on Feb. 13 and the Amherst Saxophone Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. on Feb. 20. Both concerts will be in the auditorium of Allen Hall, South Campus.
The performances will be broadcast live on WBFO.
The Erie County Wind Ensemble was founded in 1983 as the "Erie County Music Educators' Wind Ensemble" under the direction of Donald Schleicher. The ensemble has evolved under successive conductors from a primarily music teachers' ensemble to a more mixed group that draws its membership from musicians of various backgrounds and occupations from throughout Western New York.
The Amherst Saxophone Quartet will perform the music of Eubie Blake, Philip Glass, Miles Davis and Phil Woods. A world premiere of "Transcendental Samba" by Harry Fackelman, a member of ASQ, also will be featured.
Formed in January 1978, ASQ is celebrating its 24th full season of concert performances. The ensemble has performed across the United States and in Japan, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands.
Concert highlights include appearances in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Chautauqua Institution, as well as broadcasts on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Performance Today," Public Radio International's "St. Paul Sunday," Voice of America, and NBC's "Tonight Show."
For further information, contact WBFO at 829-6000.
CFA to present "Sherlock Junior"
The Center for the Arts will present "Sherlock Junior," Buster Keaton's classic silent film accompanied by an original film score performed live by The Blue Grassy Knoll band, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Mainstage theater in the CFA, North Campus.
The performance is part of the Tops Family Adventure Series, sponsored by Tops Friendly Markets, WGRZ-TV and WJYE-FM.
Made in 1924, "Sherlock Junior" was Keaton's third feature film. Keaton plays a cinema projectionist framed for theft by a jealous rival for his girl's hand. It is a sublime study of film and fantasy; fast-moving and surreal, with Keaton becoming an imaginary detective in his dreams. He was decades ahead of his time as proven by the incredible comic sequences—a veritable cascade of unbelievably complex gags.
Australia's The Blue Grassy Knoll band has developed a truly unique project of writing scores to accompany the classic silent films of Buster Keaton. Performed on banjo, accordion, double bass, fiddle, mandolin and guitar, the scores give these films a whole new rush of energy, with bursts of music and sounds from a head-spinning range of traditions that showcase the band's versatility and humor.
In recreating the silent-movie experience, the band sits facing the screen and uses the film itself for its queues, so it literally becomes the "conductor." The band also invites the audience to provide sound effects, resulting in a truly interactive experience.
The evening also will include a screening of Keaton's short film, "Cops," also accompanied by The Blue Grassy Knoll.
Tickets for "Sherlock Junior" are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and children 12 and under. They may be purchased at the CFA box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations. Patrons who present their TOPS bonus cards at the CFA box office will save $2 on all tickets purchased.
For more information call 645-ARTS.
Relationship workshops set
Forty-five percent of new marriages end in divorce and relationship conflict is directly related to poor physical health, depression, parent-child conflict and behavior problems.
Many people don't know it, but the UB Department of Psychology houses one of the most active academic research groups in the United States dedicated to the study of the dynamics of intimate relationships—the UB Close Relationships Consortium.
Attached to and affiliated with the consortium is the Psychological Services Center, which offers professional services by psychologists to anyone in Western New York and Southern Ontario, including group and individual relationship counseling.
In February and March, the center will offer two three-hour workshops for people currently in a romantic relationship, whether married, partnered, living together or dating seriously. They may attend alone or with their partner.
The workshops will be offered from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 and from 1-4 p.m. on March 1 in 168 Park Hall, North Campus.
On both days, two versions of the workshop will be presented: one for couples attended by both partners and one for individuals attending without their partner. Registrants should choose to attend on only one of those days.
The per-person fee of $15-$35, which will be assessed on a sliding-scale basis, will be discounted if postmarked by Feb. 12.
For registration information, call the Psychological Services Center at 645-3697.
Why is such therapy necessary in romantic relationships?
Center director Beth Cohen says that successful couples attribute their relationships not to romantic love, but to their commitment and hard work.
"Not surprisingly, the number one relationship problem reported by couples and counselors alike is communication," she says.
"Regardless of the cause of problems, however, these kinds of difficulties usually involve arguments that result in increased blood pressure, cardiovascular stress and alterations in the immune systems," says Cohen.
"It also frequently causes depression and provokes other emotional distress," she adds, "and contributes to increased emotional and behavioral problems in the children of troubled couples."
Cohen notes that her staff offers a variety of therapies proven to help reduce relationship stress, depression, anxiety/panic, self-esteem and obsessive compulsive disorders, conflict resolution and stress management through psychosocial education and skills training.