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Day of Caring set for Aug. 17
Members of the UB community are urged to help make a difference in the lives of other Western New Yorkers by supporting the 13th annual United Way Day of Caring, to be held on Aug. 17.
Last year, approximately 150 volunteers from UB joined volunteers from across Erie and Niagara counties who completed a variety of projects focused on making the community a better place to live.
This year, UB will focus on education, and volunteers will perform a variety of tasks at local schools, including working with children, painting, preparing classrooms, landscaping, cleaning and other projects that will improve the schools in the community.
The UB team will kick off Day of Caring with breakfast at 8 a.m. at St. Joseph School, 3275 Main St., adjacent to the South Campus.
To reserve a spot on the UB Day of Caring team, visit http ://www.vpsa.buffalo.edu/dayofcaring/docstart.asp.
Anyone with questions regarding the Day of Caring can contact Ken Lam, Day of Caring chair, or Kate Doran, SEFA graduate assistant, via e-mail at ubdayofcaring@vpsa.buffalo. edu or 645-7904, ext. 633.
CFA offers Technical Theater Program
The Center for the Arts will present a Technical Theater Program designed for high school students, college students, and adults from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 15-17 in the CFA, North Campus.
The Technical Theater Program offers an overview of the basic technical skills required in the world of professional theater. The program will consist of daily courses covering basic technical theater topics-an introduction to technical theater, lighting and sound. Workshops are taught by UB staff, faculty and other area professionals.
In "Introduction to Technical Theater," students will be introduced to basic lighting, sound, staging concepts and terms. Students also will learn about equipment and how it is put into practice in any size theater.
During the "Technical Theater Lighting" sessions, students will learn basic lighting principles and design, instrument types, hanging, focusing, board operation and troubleshooting. Students will see how lighting is used to invoke emotion and create the performance environment.
In "Technical Theater Sound," students will receive instruction and hands-on experience with basic sound principles and design, live sound equipment, signal distribution, mixing techniques, recording and troubleshooting.
The cost of the three-day program is $150, which includes instruction and all classroom materials. A $50, nonrefundable fee is required at time of registration. The balance of the fee must be paid by Aug. 5, the deadline for registration.
For further information, call 645-6254, or visit http://www.ubcfa.org.
Flute festival to be held
Flute performers and educators from around the world will return to UB July 7-15 for Pantasmagoria 2005, the second annual conference of flute performance and creative pedagogy hosted by the Department of Music.
The brainchild of flutist Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman, adjunct assistant professor of music, Pantasmagoria will offer futuristic "flying lessons," as well as interactive study and consideration of performance traditions led by master teachers and collaborative professionals.
The program will feature many events open to the general public, including a solo concert by guest lecturer Robert Dick, America's "Jimi Hendrix of the Flute," on July 9. The concert, entitled "Blasts from the Past" and "Here and Now," will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre, Center for the Arts, North Campus. Tickets are $10 at the door.
Dick also will be part of an evening of improvisation at the Big Orbit Gallery at 8 p.m. July 14. Tickets are $6.
New to the festival this year is an "intensive techniques retreat" set for July 7-9, an adventurous "boot camp" for aspiring and ambitious flutists.
In addition, "Canada Day" on July 13 will feature flutists from north of the border performing in master classes led by esteemed British flutist Peter Lloyd and culminating in a gala concert of music for the flute by seminal Canadian composers researched and performed by Derek Charke, who received his master's degree in music performance and a doctorate in composition, both from UB. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus. Tickets are $10 at the door,
Other public concerts include "Baroque and Beyond," featuring Harmonie Universelle, Baroque specialists from Atlanta, Ga., performing at 7:30 p.m. July 11 in Baird Recital Hall. Tickets are $10 at the door.
The festival's final public concert on July 15 will feature Pantasmagoria participants performing short works, as well as an experimental group composition, "Transdimensional Lending Library," led by Dick. The free concert will begin at 3 p.m. in Baird Recital Hall.
Interested enthusiasts can audit all the daily master class sessions, held between 9:30 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. July 11-15 in Baird Recital Hall, and led by Dick and Lloyd. Day passes will be available at the door for $25.
For a full schedule of events and repertory, go to http://www.pantasmagoria.com .
WBFO receives grant to revive radio program
WBFO 88.7FM, UB's National Public Radio affiliate, in collaboration with Just Buffalo Literary Center, recently was awarded a $20,000 grant from the First Niagara Bank Foundation to support WBFO and Just Buffalo's Spoken Arts Radio program.
"As a community bank, First Niagara proudly makes our support of charitable organizations a priority," said Leslie G. Garrity, vice president for corporate affairs and communications. "Supporting organizations like WBFO and Just Buffalo, which have such a positive impact on the quality of life here, is a great opportunity for us to help make a difference. By embracing the significance of giving as part of our business philosophy, we believe we are making First Niagara a better place to work and this community a better place to live."
Carole Smith Petro, associate vice president and general manager of WBFO, noted that the grant enables WBFO and Just Buffalo to restore an on-air program that had a 16-year history and was listened to by thousands of people each week.
"We are inspired by the First Niagara's confidence in us, as demonstrated by this grant, to contribute to the Buffalo/Niagara region's cultural richness," she said.
Spoken Arts Radio integrates the arts into the mainstream of the NPR news format. Over the years, it has featured writers from every conceivable genre—from Pulitzer Prize winners Tony Kushner (drama) and Carl Dennis (poetry), to famous writers of Buffalo origin, such as Joyce Carol Oates and Ishmael Reed, to local writers who have yet to reach a wide audience, but who have made noteworthy contributions to the Western New York literary community.
For more information about the Spoken Arts program, visit http://www.wbfo.org.
Alumni office moves to Center for Tomorrow
The Office of Alumni Relations is relocating temporarily from Allen Hall on the South Campus to the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus.
The move, which will occur July 7, is necessitated by renovations to Allen Hall. The alumni staff will share a wing of the Center for Tomorrow with UB Foundation employees for approximately one year before moving back to the South Campus.
Visitors are encouraged to make a note of this change. A map to the new location can be found at http:// www.buffalo.edu/buildings/building?id=cft. The office phone and fax numbers will remain the same, 829-2608 and 829-3901, respectively; as will the mailing address, 109 Allen Hall, Buffalo, N.Y. 14214-8009.
Routine dental panoramic X-rays not necessary
Most dental patients would agree that the fewer dental X-rays they are exposed to, the better.
Now, a new study by UB dental researchers has shown that one type of X-ray patients receive routinely, called the panoramic X-ray, could be used selectively in some cases instead of as a routine diagnostic tool.
"You can't assess cavities or gum disease on a panoramic X-ray," said Lida Radfar, senior author on the study and an assistant professor of oral diagnostic sciences in the School of Dental Medicine. "If a small X-ray isn't good enough for a condition you see in a patient, then a panoramic X-ray can be done. But our results show it isn't necessary routinely for every single patient."
As the name implies, panoramic X-rays provide a wide view of the teeth, jaws and surrounding structures and tissues. Patients have a panoramic X-ray taken for an initial evaluation, followed by a series of close-up views of all sections of the teeth, called periapical X-rays. A periapical X-ray gives a close and in-depth look at a particular tooth. A "full-mouth series" consists of a group of periapical X-rays taken of all the patient's teeth.
Nearly everything a dentist needs to know about a person's oral health is revealed by full-mouth periapical X-rays, said Radfar, dispensing with the usefulness of the routine panoramic view.
Radfar and colleagues randomly selected 1,000 panoramic X-rays from records of patients who were admitted to UB dental-school clinics between January 2000 and December 2003. The sample was composed of records from 536 women and 464 men, who had a mean age of 52.
Two dental experts evaluated the X-rays for evidence of bone lesions or other abnormal appearances that would indicate trouble. The evaluators found a total of 352 lesions and concluded that all but a few would have been picked up by full-mouth-series X-rays.
The only lesions that would not have been picked up on a full-mouth series, said Radfar, were those in the sinus cavities of the cheeks seen in 1.5 percent of the panoramic X-rays; those in the soft tissue of the neck, revealed in 4.8 percent of panoramic X-rays; and three lesions located in the upper portion of the jaw bone close to the temporomandibular jaw joints.
"Based on our study, the panoramic X-ray has limited value," said Radfar. "Eliminating it as a routine part of dental care would expose patients to fewer X-rays, although the amount is minimal, and save costs. And if it isn't necessary, why do it?"
Additional researchers on the study were Nader Ehsani and Lakshmannan Suresh, students in the UB dental school.
TMD-depression link found
Persons with chronic temporomandibular disorders, or TMD, are five times more likely to be taking antidepressants than persons who go to the dentist for routine dental care, a UB researcher reports.
"Chronic pain has been associated with clinical depression in various studies, and we know that many patients with chronic TMD also suffer from depression." said Heidi Crow, associate professor of oral diagnostic sciences and senior author on the study. "We were interested in comparing the use of antidepressant medications by TMD patients with antidepressant use in non-TMD patients."
Crow and Jacob Froerer, a dental student at Indiana University where Crow was a faculty member before coming to UB, reviewed 50 randomly selected charts of patients who had come to the Orofacial Pain Clinic at the Indiana University School of Dentistry for TMD treatment. They compared TMD records with 50 charts from general dentistry patients matched to TMD patients by age (within five years), gender and socioeconomic status.
Their findings showed that 38 percent of patients seeking treatment for TMD were taking antidepressants, compared to 10 percent of general dental patients.
"Generally, the thought is that chronic pain of any type, including chronic TMD, can lead to depression," said Crow. "Certain antidepressants, typically those known as tricyclics, have been associated with pain relief, independent of their antidepressant activity.
"Chronic pain is often a major component of TMD, and it can affect the prognosis of these patients. Knowing if TMD patients are taking antidepressant medication at the time of initial treatment is important because it can limit types of medications you may be able to prescribe for TMD," Crow said.
"The side effects of some antidepressants are similar to side effects of some muscle relaxants, and prescribing them together may amplify problems. Dentists must make sure there is adequate communication between all prescribing doctors so that potential side effects can be avoided."
Of those patients taking antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil are examples of SSRIs—were the most frequently prescribed, study results showed. Eleven of 19 (58 percent) TMD patients taking antidepressants and two of five (40 percent) control patients taking antidepressants were using SSRIs.
Other antidepressant medications used were tricyclics, taken by four of 19 (21 percent) of TMD patients and two of five (40 percent) of the general dentistry patients. The remainder of patients—four TMD patients and one control—were taking a combination of these two types or another type of antidepressant.
The Dental Practice Act allows dentists who treat chronic TMD or other chronic orofacial pain conditions to prescribe antidepressants for pain control, Crow noted, but not for depression.
WBFO wins AP awards
The news department at WBFO 88.7FM, UB's National Public Radio affiliate, won six awards—two first-place honors and four special mentions—at the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association's annual awards banquet, held recently in Saratoga Springs.
WBFO won more awards than any other Buffalo radio station. Members of the WBFO news team are Mark Scott, news director; Eileen Buckley, news producer and reporter; and Joyce Kryszak, cultural affairs reporter and producer.
"WBFO's talented news staff members were recognized for their creativity, as well as their great writing and strong production skills, " says Carole Smith Petro, WBFO's general manager and associate vice president. "Mark, Joyce and Eileen are an outstanding news team."
WBFO won awards in the following categories:
First place, general excellence in use of medium, "Bloodless Battles," Joyce Kryszak. This story on last year's Shakespeare in Delaware Park production of "Henry IV" featured the sounds of the actors in battle scenes and the real dangers they face from realistic sword play.
First place, best enterprise reporting, "Homegrown," Joyce Kryszak. This investigative piece uncovered the fact that a local supermarket chain was advertising produce as being homegrown even though it came from farms hundreds of miles away.
Special mention, best interview, "Ross Gelbspan," Joyce Kryszak. Kryszak spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ross Gelbspan about his book "The Boiling Point," which focuses on global warming.
Special mention, best continuing news coverage, "The 27th District," Mark Scott, Joyce Kryszak, Eileen Buckley. A series of stories on Rep. Jack Quinn's surprise retirement and the competitive race to succeed him.
Special mention, best continuing news coverage, "Erie County Budget Crisis," Mark Scott, Joyce Kryszak, Eileen Buckley. The WBFO news team also was cited for its work covering the Erie County budget crisis.
Special mention, best feature, "The Orphan Train," volunteer producer Josie Roberts. Report on a commemoration last year of the "orphan" trains that passed through Western New York filled with orphaned children from New York City who would be adopted by people along the way.
In the past decade, WBFO has received 42 Associated Press Awards, three awards from Public Radio News Directors Inc., and three from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.