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WBFO receives gifts for digitization
WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by UB, has received two substantial gifts from local foundations to be used for the digitization of all station studios.
The Cameron Baird Foundation has given a $50,000 grant, while the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation has awarded a $20,000 grant.
The digitization project will involve the replacement of obsolete broadcasting equipment as well as the improvement of delivery systems for WBFO and its repeater stations, WUBJ 88.1 in Jamestown and WOLN 91.3 FM in Olean, according to Carole Smith Petro, associate vice president and WBFO's general manager.
"The digitization of the WBFO studios, once complete, will enable us to reach new audiences and provide a higher quality, more consistent signal to our current audiences. WBFO's studios will be the most technologically sophisticated radio facility in Western New York and the Southern Tier," Petro said.
The funds from the foundations, which have supported the station through prior grants, satisfy the required match of the $50,000 competitive grant that WBFO received from the federal Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) to implement the digitization work. The project, which will cost a total of $250,000, is scheduled for completion during 2003.
WBFO reaches an audience of approximately 100,000 people per week through its main signal in Buffalo and through its repeater stations. WBFO offers a depth of programming not available elsewhere in Western New York, including NPR/PRI news and entertainment programs, local and regional news, public and cultural affairs programming, and jazz and blues.
The grants from the Cameron Baird and Sheldon foundations are part of "The Campaign for UB: Generation to Generation," now entering its final phase. The drive has raised nearly $210 million of its $250 million goal.
Professor goes by the book in gift to Department of Communication
Gerald Goldhaber, associate professor of communication in the School of Informatics, has donated the royalties of the current and future editions of his textbook "Organizational Communication" to create a discretionary fund for students in the school's Department of Communication.
The gift marks the first time UB has received a written agreement for a donation based on current and future royalties from a book, according to Ed Schneider, executive director of the UB Foundation.
Goldhaber
Goldhaber's textbook, which first was published in 1974, now is in its seventh edition. Already, the gift has generated a payment of nearly $20,000 in royalties, with several thousand dollars more expected this academic year, and Goldhaber is confident it will continue to provide many thousands of dollars for years to come.
George Barnett, chair of the communication department, said that Goldhaber's gift is earmarked to support communication students in activities in pursuit of their careers, such as providing funds for travel to academic conferences and to present research findings.
"It will provide greater visibility for our outstanding students and programs at UB and will help in job placement for students and in recruitment of students to UB," he said. "The gift means that the Department of Communication will be able to compete with our peer institutions for the highest-quality graduate students."
Goldhaber said the gift was a good way to combine his scholarship and teaching with a way to help UB students, since "the royalties received from the book come from students buying the book, and I figured this was the best way to target the donation."
He said he also hopes his donation will spur other faculty to consider donating to UB the income from their books or scholarly works. He was inspired to give to the School of Informatics because of its tremendous growth under Dean David Penniman.
"We have a very engaging and talented faculty, a tireless and visionary and loving dean, and most importantly, an exciting and challenging student body dedicated to the study of the creation and exchange of information and its effects on society," Goldhaber said. "We are organizing our thousands of alumni for the first time, we are reaching out to the private and public sectors very aggressively for support, we have and are continuing to develop cutting-edge, state-of-the art curricular offerings and degrees, and we are starting to attract graduate students who previously would not consider UB."
Goldhaber is former chair and current director of graduate studies for the communication department. He has written or edited 10 books in the field of communication and is a frequent lecturer. He has served as vice president of the International Communication Association and is a member of several marketing and communications organizations.
The gift from Goldhaber is part of "The Campaign for UB: Generation to Generation." Entering its final phase, the campaign is well positioned to achieve its $250 million goal, having raised nearly $210 million. Campaign goals include enriched academic programs, increased scholarships and fellowships and an enhanced university life.
Theatre & Dance to present "Chamber Music"
The Department of Theatre & Dance will present a student production of Arthur Kopit's "Chamber Music" Feb. 26 through March 2 in the Black Box Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Show times are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
The production, which is sponsored by WBFO 88.7 FM, UB's National Public Radio affiliate, features students from the Department of Theatre & Dance. It is directed by Sally Fox.
The play, written in 1962, is about eight women who have been elected to represent the women's ward of a psychiatric clinic. They assemble for a meeting to find a way of fighting their unseen enemy, who they believe to be the patients in the men's ward. Are these women engaged in a psychotherapeutic experiment, role-playing famous historical personalities—Joan of Arc, Queen Isabella of Spain, Constanze Mozart, Gertrude Stein, suffragette Susan B. Anthony, silent movie star Pearl White, pioneer pilot Amelia Earhart, and explorer Osa Johnson—or are their delusions of grandeur the reason for their internment?
Tickets for "Chamber Music" are $5 and may be purchased at the CFA box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations.
Goldman to speak at RIA seminar
Mark Goldman, a distinguished research professor and director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Research Institute in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Florida, will discuss "Alcohol Expectancies: A Comprehensive Approach" during the first seminar of the Spring 2003 Semester Series presented by UB's Research Institute for Addictions, to be held at 10 a.m. Feb. 28 in RIA, 1021 Main St., Buffalo.
Each spring and fall, RIA offers seminars that provide information about the study of alcohol, other drugs and other related issues. The series showcases topics of interest to researchers, clinicians, policy makers and the general public.
All seminars, which are free and open to the public, are held in RIA's first-floor seminar room.
A fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), Goldman's major research interests are alcohol expectancies and cognitive mediators of alcoholism risk, and the development of drinking and risk for drinking in children and adolescents.
He has served as a member of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's (NIAAA) National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, as chair or a member of a number of NIAAA portfolio review committees, as president of the Division on Addictions for APA, and as a member and then chair of the Psychosocial Advisory Review Group of the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation.
Goldman received a MERIT Award from NIAAA in 1992. He earned his doctorate from Rutgers University.
The full schedule of seminars is available at http://www.ria.buffalo.edu/events/index.html.
"Ode to Joy" exhibit extended
The Anderson Gallery has extended its "Ode to Joy" exhibition through March 23.
The second floor of the exhibit will close on March 2.
Curated by Sandra Olsen, director of the UB Art Galleries, "Ode to Joy" is a selection of artwork recently donated to the university by David K. Anderson. The exhibition features paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints dating from the mid-20th century to the present.
Hours for the Anderson Gallery, located on Martha Jackson Place, Buffalo, are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, call 829-3754.
Entries for poetry contests sought
Entries are being sought for this year's student poetry contests sponsored by the Arts and Sciences Libraries in cooperation with the Department of English and the Friends of the University Libraries.
The Academy of American Poets contest is open to all UB graduate and undergraduate students. The Friends of the University Libraries' contest is open to undergraduates only.
Both contests award prizes of $100 for the best poems.
Entries should be sent to Carmen Collado, Undergraduate Library, 107 Capen Hall, North Campus. The deadline is March 6.
Winners will be notified by March 24, and will be invited to read from their work at a poetry reading to be held at noon on April 3 in the Poetry/Rare Books Room, 420 Capen.