Archives
People etc.
Newman Convocation and Liturgy to be held
A UB alumnus who worked at Ground Zero during the first few weeks after the Sept. 11 tragedy will present an American flag that flew over the site to President William R. Greiner during the university's Annual Newman Convocation and Liturgy of the Holy Spirit, to be held at 11:30 a.m. Sunday in St. Joseph University Church, 3629 Main St.
Capt. Stephen Spall, a civil engineering graduate and member of the New York City Fire Department's Emergency Rescue Task Force who worked at Ground Zero, will present the flag to Greiner in memory of those members of the UB family who died on Sept. 11.
The 11 UB alumni and fathers of two UB students who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as two family members of parishioners of the church, will be honored at the event.
Also during the convocation, the Newman Award, the highest honor given by the Newman Centers, will be given to Mary Anne Rokitka, assistant dean for biomedical undergraduate education in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and clinical associate professor of physiology in the UB Department of Physiology and Biophysics.
Rokitka will be recognized for her efforts on behalf of UB students and faculty during her many years in the medical school.
Members of the UB community and the general public are invited to attend.
CAS to hold raffle
A personal tour of the Darwin Martin House and an hour of private instruction in ballroom dance will be among the items available during the College of Arts and Science's raffle to benefit UB's State Employee Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign.
Tickets to the raffle will be on sale from CAS SEFA representatives beginning Sept. 23. The drawing will take place at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Student Union lobby.
The raffle will operate similar to a Chinese auction, with participants having the opportunity to bid on particular items.
For further information, contact Michele Bewley at 645-6000, ext. 1171.
Linda Yalem Run set for Sept. 29
More than 1,600 runners, walkers and joggers are expected to participate in the 13th annual Linda Yalem Memorial Run, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 29 on the North Campus.
The 5K race, held in memory of a UB student who was assaulted and murdered while jogging on a bike path near the North Campus, promotes personal-safety awareness and supports campus-based crime-prevention programs. At the time of her death, Yalem was training for the New York City Marathon.
The 5K U.S.A. Track and Field certified course, part of The Buffalo News Runner of the Year Series, will start and finish near Alumni Arena. Dick Barry, recently retired UB track coach, will be the official starter for the race.
Participants can register in the main lobby of Alumni Arena from 4-7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 or from 7:30-8:30 a.m. the day of the race. Online registration also is available at www.lindayalemrun.buffalo.edu/reg.shtml. The cost of registration is $15 before the day of the race and $18 on race day.
Awards will be given to the overall male and female finishers in the open division, the top race walkers and the top UB male, female, faculty/staff, student and alumni finishers. Prizes include gift certificates and plaques; the major raffle prize is "finish line" seating at the New York City Marathon, with air transportation provided by Jet Blue.
Julia Butterfly Hill to speak
Julia Butterfly Hill, the environmental activist who lived for more than two years in the canopy of a 1,000-year-old redwood tree in California, will give a free lecture at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 in Slee Hall, North Campus.
Her talk will be sponsored by the Environmental Task Force, the UB Green Office and WBFO-FM, 88.7, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by UB.
Hill's lecture will be part of a campus "Ecofest" that will include environmental films and roundtable discussions on the challenges of creating an environmentally sustainable "green campus" and the global issue of population and the environment.
There will be an environmental information fair and refreshments from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the lobby of Slee Hall preceding Hill's lecture.
For 738 days, Hill lived in a tree that she named Luna in Northern California to protest the destruction of old and ancient growth forests by the Pacific Lumber Co. She endured freezing rain, frostbite and near constant wind to save the tree and protest logging. Early into her two-year "tree sit," living 180 feet off the ground, Hill learned to deal with threats from angry loggers and corporate lawyers while negotiating increasing world-wide media attention for her cause. The details of her sparse existence lived out on a six-by-eight foot weather-beaten platform are chronicled in her book, "The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, A Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods."
Although Hill endured months of harassment from loggers, her resolve to remain in the tree grew out of a dedicated effort to educate herself about the complexities of the ecosystem.
Her latest book, "One Makes a Difference: Inspiring Actions that Change Our World," is a resource guide that shows how to apply the environmental principles of "rethink, respect, reduce, reuse and recycle" to daily life.
Hill's work as an activist now has a global focus. In July, she and seven other activists were jailed in Ecuador for protesting oil development by Occidental Petroleum, which plans to build a 300-mile pipeline through the Amazon Basin. The pipeline project, a joint venture with several other oil companies, reportedly cuts through a virgin Andean Cloud Forest that is home to many endangered species.
Hill and other forest activists founded the Circle of Life Foundation to "activate people through education, inspiration and connection to live in a way that honors the diversity and interdependence of all life."
For more information, contact the UB Green Office at 829-3535, or http://wings.buffalo.edu/ubgreen.
Workshop to address police
"Diversity and Law Enforcement: Educating the Campus Community" will be the topic of the Fall 2002 Diversity Week Celebration Lunch and Workshop Program, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.
The program will be presented by the University Committee for the Promotion of Respect for Diversity.
The interactive workshop will examine the social, economic, political and cultural forces that may come into play during an encounter with the police. Participants will approach the issue from the perspective of both the campus citizen and the campus police, with the goal of developing a better understanding of individual roles and responsibilities, reducing stress and encouraging students, faculty, staff and campus police officers to work collaboratively for a safer campus community.
The cost of the program will be $5 for faculty and staff, and free for students. Seating is limited. To register, contact Ellen Christensen at 829-2584 or the Office of Student Affairs at 645-2982.
Volunteers needed for beach sweep
The 14th annual Great Lakes Beach Sweep, sponsored by the Great Lakes Program and the New York Sea Grant Program, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 21 on the North Campus.
Volunteers ages 16 and older are needed to clean up the university's portion of the Great Lakes watershed, Lake LaSalle and a section of Ellicott Creek.
Organizers hope that shifting the focus to local areas/watersheds from lakes Erie and Ontario will encourage a feeling of stewardship for students and residents who enjoy the waterways on campus. The New York Sea Grant program is a co-sponsor of this environmental activity designed to preserve the Great Lakes watershed.
As part of the International Coastal Cleanup, participants will clean up and document the types of debris found along campus waterways. Data gathered from worldwide cleanup efforts will be categorized to determine what steps might be taken to reduce or eliminate dumping of debris.
The campus cleanup and beach sweep are part of the New York effort being sponsored by the American Littoral Society and an international effort sponsored by the Center for Marine Conservation (CMC).
Individuals or groups interested in joining the sweep on campus should contact Helen Domske, associate director of the Great Lakes Program/New York Sea Grant extension specialist, at 645-3610 or 645-2088 or at hmd4@cornell.edu.
The New York Sea Grant (www.nyseagrant.org) is a joint program of the SUNY, Cornell University and the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
EOP to hold ceremony honoring students
The Educational Opportunity Program will holds its 28th annual Awards Ceremony and Honors Convocation from 3-5 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Student Union Theatre, North Campus.
A reception will follow in the Student Union Social Hall.
The convocation honors current EOP students for distinguished academic performance. Henry Durand, EOP director, and H. William Coles, associate director, will distribute the awards.
Greiner to appear on WBFO call-in show
The first installment of the semester of "Talk of the University," the live radio call-in show featuring President William R. Greiner, will be held from 7-8 p.m. Sept. 23 on WBFO 88.7 FM, UB's National Public Radio affiliate.
Anyone wishing to ask a question should call 829-6000.
Oishei gives second grant to Social Work, Management
Building the management skills of area nonprofit executives remains a high priority for the John R. Oishei Foundation, which has given a $245,000 grant to the schools of Management and Social Work for continuing support of UB's Institute for Nonprofit Agencies.
The grant will allow the institute to continue its training in the areas of program planning, organizational and human resources, financial management and evaluation. In addition, it will continue to support the individualized analysis and planning assistance offered to agencies by community consultants and UB faculty members.
A previous grant of $190,000 from the foundation helped to establish the institute, which works with the management of local health and human-service agencies to train and certify executives, managers and staff in program planning, development, management, supervision and evaluation.
Lawrence Shulman, dean of the School of Social Work, expressed his gratitude for the grant and praised the foundation's ongoing commitment "to ensure stronger, healthier and more effective nonprofit organizations in Erie County."
Established in 2001, the institute collaborates with the Not-for-Profit Resource Center for Western New York, which is affiliated with the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, and the CEO Institute that was established by the Agency Executives Association.
Workshops held by the institute have focused on funding and resource development, information technology, and ethics and leadership in social-service organizations. To date, the institute has provided free training and assistance to 17 nonprofit agencies and training for a fee to an additional three agencies.