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Call 645-NEWS for closing information
Faculty, staff, students and the public looking for information about the university's office hours and class schedules during inclement weather can call 645-NEWS.
The telephone line will be available 24 hours a day. There never will be a busy signal since the line has the capacity to handle an unlimited number of calls simultaneously.
The standard recorded message will be "Offices are open and classes are being held as scheduled today at the University at Buffalo." The message will be changed appropriately as soon as university officials decide to alter office hours and class schedules due to weather conditions or other situations.
Emeritus meeting to feature concert
Mary Artmann and Jonathan Golove, cello, and Frieda Manes and Stephen Manes, piano, will present a classical concert featuring music by Mozart, Chopin, Scriabin, Debussy and Poulence at the next meeting of the Emeritus Center, scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday in 102 Goodyear, South Campus.
The performance is free and open to the public.
RIA seminar delayed
The Research Institute on Addictions Fall Seminar Series presentation scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed until the spring.
The presentation, "Enhancements to Drinking Reduction Treatment for Problem Drinkers: Evaluating Spouse Involvement and Behavioral Couples Therapy," will be given by Kimberly S. Walitzer, RIA deputy director, at a date and time to be announced.
New date set for Hines' performance
The Center for the Arts has announced a new date for an appearance in the Mainstage theatre by Tony Award-winning actor Gregory Hines. Originally scheduled for March 22, Hines now will appear at 8 p.m. March 29 in the Mainstage in the CFA, North Campus.
Patrons are encouraged to use purchased tickets for the new performance date. All sold tickets will be honored. In the event that a patron cannot attend the new performance, a full refund will be available at point of purchase.
Refunds also are available at the CFA box office from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.
Dance company cancels performance
Tango Buenos Aires has cancelled its performance scheduled for Feb. 26 in the Center for the Arts due to the company's rescheduling of its national tour.
Patrons are encouraged to exchange their tickets for performances by either the Joffrey Ensemble Dancers at 8 p.m. on Feb. 14, or the Limón Dance Company at 8 p.m. on April 11.
If an exchange cannot be made, full refunds are available at point of purchase.
Hicks named associate VP
Kenneth M. Hicks, associate vice president for development for The University of Connecticut Foundation, has been appointed associate vice president for constituent development at UB, effective Dec. 19.
In his new position, Hicks will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive school and unit-based fundraising program that successfully meets university and school/unit targets and contributes to the overall growth of private philanthropy at the university.
He also will be responsible for the cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of a group of select prospects.
While at The University of Connecticut Foundation, Hicks also had served as associate vice president for principal gifts, major gifts and constituent programs.
In addition, he has held positions as assistant vice president for campaign operations at Drexel University and director of donor relations at Syracuse University.
Hicks received a bachelor's degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy and a MBA from Syracuse University.
UB to receive IBM award
UB will receive the IBM Excellence in Education Award during a special ceremony at 11 a.m. today in the John Karrer Conference Room, 122H Porter Quad in the Ellicott Complex, North Campus.
The award is given periodically by IBM to colleges and universities that have contributed significantly to the business of education. UB is being recognized for its successful transformation of the student-services function, said Michael Kelly, client executive, team leader, IBM Education Northeast.
On Jan. 1, the Office of the Provost merged Records and Registration, Financial Aid, Student Accounts and the Academic Advisement Center into one central university student-service structure, the Student Academic and Financial Services unit. The goal of the restructuring was to simplify students' access to these services.
Sean Sullivan, vice provost for enrollment and planning who oversaw the restructuring, delivered a presentation on the effort this past summer at the Student Services Forum held in Berkeley, Calif. The IBM award is being made as the direct result of that presentation.
Units move to Ellicott Complex
The Office of the Vice Provost for Enrollment and Planning has consolidated some units delivering student academic and financial services into new offices in the Porter and Millard Fillmore Academic Complex (MFAC) quadrangles of the Ellicott Complex on the North Campus.
The units formerly were housed in the Hayes annexes on the South Campus.
Moving into the new offices were Student Academic and Financial Services—Student Processing Services and Student Response Center—and the Information Technology—Student Mainframe and Programming Services—units.
Advising Services—part of Student Academic and Financial Services—remains in 107 Norton Hall, North Campus.
U.S. researchers sought for earthquake exchange program
U.S. researchers in the fields of earthquake studies, earthquake engineering, and earthquake-hazards mitigation are invited to participate in the U.S./PRC Research Exchange Program in Earthquake Studies.
The program is designed to further cooperative research in earthquake hazard mitigation between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is sponsored jointly by the National Science Foundation and the Ministry of Construction of the PRC, and is coordinated by the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), headquartered at UB. Applications now are being accepted for placement during the spring of 2003.
The program enables selected U.S. researchers to visit host institutions in the PRC for as little as two weeks to as long as three months. Participants will research, develop and implement—on a cooperative basis—innovative engineering methods and new enabling technologies that are needed to design, construct, maintain, manage and renew the built environment for reduced seismic hazard.
Proposed research should embrace at least one of three distinct components, including fundamental research, new technology, earthquake engineering application, autoadaptive and sensing systems for disaster-resistant construction, infrastructure performance-based design and control for ground motions in urban areas and advanced disaster response management.
Awards will be contingent upon approval by the National Science Foundation.
Some support for exchange travel and subsistence costs will be provided by sponsors. No funding is provided for salaries. Length of funded exchange periods will be determined based on extent of research proposed. Exchanges are expected to begin as early as February, and travel must be completed by June 30. Deadline for applications is Jan. 31.
For an application and information packet, contact Andrea Dargush, assistant director for education and research administration at MCEER, at 645-3391, ext. 106, or at dargush@buffalo.edu. Applications also may be downloaded from the MCEER Web site at http://mceer.buffalo.edu/outreach/intActivity/usPrc2002.asp.
Activist Sheila Tobias to lecture at UB
Sheila Tobias, nationally known writer and activist on a variety of issues concerning science and mathematics education, is coming to UB this week to meet with administrators and deliver two lectures.
TOBIAS
Coordinator of the Sloan Foundation's Science Master's Outreach Project and best-known for her groundbreaking work on math anxiety in girls, Tobias will discuss "Feminism's Lessons for Women in Science" at 4 p.m. today in 210 Natural Sciences Building, North Campus.
A reception will follow the talk, which is sponsored by the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender (IREWG) and the Association of Women in Science.
Tomorrow, Tobias will meet with members of the Advisory Board of the College of Arts and Sciences at 4 p.m. to review aspects of the Sloan Professional Masters Program. The CAS will host a reception for Tobias from 5-6 p.m. in 830 Clemens Hall, North Campus.
UB was one of only a handful of institutions selected to receive funding from the Sloan Foundation for the development of new professional master's degrees.
Professional master's degree programs are designed to provide students with proficiency in fields poised to experience dramatic growth over the next few decades, but that are not well-served by currently available academic programs.
The funding provides for development of professional master's degree programs at UB in molecular chemical biology, computational chemistry and environmental geographic information systems.
Tobias will conclude her visit to UB with a talk about "Math Anxiety: What to do About It" at 10 a.m. Saturday in 250 Mathematics Building, North Campus.
The talk, which is free of charge and open to the public, is sponsored by the CAS, the Sloan Professional Master's Program and IREWG.
Tobias is the author of numerous books, including "Overcoming Math Anxiety," "They're not Dumb, They're Different," "Breaking the Science Barrier" and "Rethinking Science as a Career: Perceptions and Realities in the Physical Sciences."
She is equally well-known in academic and popular circles as a feminist and for her book "Faces of Feminism: An Activist's Reflections on the Women's Movement."
Grant to assist in cancer study
The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo has awarded a $7,500 grant for a study of prostate cancer to the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Lowell Sheflin, UB research assistant professor of medicine working at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, is in charge of the year-long study. He will look at how loss of androgen-mediated changes in two RNA-binding proteins affects the expression of early-response genes that are known to cause prostate cancer to become malignant.
"This study ultimately will help in the early detection and therapy of prostate cancer, using the proteins as metastatic cancer markers," Sheflin said.
Sheflin has conducted endocrinology research at the Buffalo VA Medical Center in collaboration with Stephen W. Spaulding, UB professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics, since 1987.
The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, created in 1919, makes annual grants to charities and nonprofit organizations in Western New York, as well as scholarships to college-bound students from the area. With assets of approximately $120 million, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $10 million in grants and scholarships in the past two years.
The grant is part of UB's $250 million campaign, one of the largest ever conducted by a public university in New York and New England. Although it is the fifth major fund-raising campaign conducted by UB, it is the first national/international, university-wide campaign to be alumni-driven with campaign volunteer leaders from across the country. Funds raised will be used to enrich academic programs, support students ranging from undergraduates to post-doctoral students and to enhance university life.