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Constitution to be honored
UB will hold two events to celebrate Constitution Day, including a mass recitation of the preamble of the document at Saturday's home football game.
President George W. Bush signed a bill last December designating Sept. 17 as Constitution Day, a day designed to remember the U.S. Constitution—what it stands for and how it continues to affect our lives. The federal government now requires all federally funded agencies and programs to recognize this day.
At UB, the first 1,000 people at the UB-Rutgers football game on Saturday night will receive a free "pocket copy" of the Constitution. The crowd will be led in a recitation of the preamble prior to the singing of the National Anthem.
Timothy Boyd, research associate professor of classics, will continue the celebration by leading a discussion, entitled "The Strange Idea of a Permanent Body: Creating the Constitution," at 3 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Student Union Theater, North Campus. Boyd will begin the discussion with a 1783 letter by Thomas Jefferson in which Jefferson discusses the idea that, with the Revolution over, Congress should disband and go home. Mementos honoring the document will be distributed at the lecture.
For more information, contact Tim Tryjankowski at 645-7778 or tat@buffalo.edu.
Ed tech grants awarded
Fourteen UB faculty members have received Educational Technology Grants under the latest round of funding for the program, supported by the Office of the CIO and administered by the Educational Technology Center.
The grants are designed to encourage research and development activities that use technology innovations to enhance teaching and improve learning outcomes.
In each grant cycle, faculty proposals are peer-reviewed to identify projects that aim to fulfill university expectations of information technology fluency among faculty and students.
Since the grant program was created in 1999, nearly 100 faculty awards have been granted for leveraging educational technologies in curricular redesign.
Faculty members receiving grants in the latest round of funding were:
Thomas Kalman (Chemistry) "3D visualization of drug-target interactions at the molecular level."
Omar Khan (Architecture) and Marc Bohlen (Media Study) "Machine vision for responsive architecture."
Cort Lippe (Music) "DVD-based educational tools."
Paula Maxwell (Exercise and Nutrition Sciences) and Louise Gilchrist (Rehabilitation Science) "Anatomical landmark palpations: an interactive web-based approach."
David Murray (Management) "Hands-on learning of computer forensics."
Bina Ramamurthy (Computer Science and Engineering) "Visual grid tutorial (ViGor) for learning grid technology concepts."
Chris Renschler (Geography) and Michael Sheridan (Geology) "Geo-spatial project management tool (GeoProMT) for interdisciplinary class work and project collaboration."
Trebor Scholz (Media Study) "Distributed Learning Project."
Shahin Vassigh and Kennith Mackay (Architecture), and Venkat Krovi (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) "Integrating Building Technology and Design in Architecture."
UNYTECH05 to be held
UB, along with 10 other upstate New York colleges and universities, will present UNYTECH05, a venture forum designed to connect promising university-based start-up companies with potential investors, on Sept. 21 and 22 in the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, 1340 Millersport Highway.
UNYTECH05 will showcase business-plan presentations from high-growth, start-up companies to venture capital, seed and angel investors. The presenting companies have been selected based on their market opportunity, development stage, intellectual-property protection and need for early-stage investment.
Local companies based on research done at UB that are being featured include Buffalo BioBlower Technologies and OsteoInvent Biologics.
Ten other companies also will be present at UNYTECH05, representing such industries as biotechnology, medical services, information technology, materials, optics and energy technology, among others.
UNYTECH05 is sponsored in part by the New York State Science and Technology Law Center and Hodgson Russ LLP. Additional sponsors include Nixon Peabody, Honen and Wood, P.C., High Peaks Venture Partners, UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, UB Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology and National Grid.
Attendees can register online at http://www. unytech.org/registration.html for a fee of $75. For more information, contact Lorraine Stinebiser at 636-3651 or info@unytech.org.
Nursing School sets Bullough Lecture
Diana J. Mason, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Nursing, will deliver the Ninth Annual Bonnie Bullough Lecture at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.
Mason will speak on "Evidence-Based Practice: A Cautionary Tale."
The Ninth Annual Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching also will be awarded at the Lecture. The award, established by Dean Mecca Cranley, recognizes the importance of teaching to the mission of the School of Nursing.
The lecture is free of charge and open to the public. While there is no fee to attend the lecture, reservations are required and should be made by calling 829-2533 or emailing sams@buffalo.edu.
The Bullough Lecture was created by Vern Bullough in memory of his wife and colleague, Bonnie, dean of the School of Nursing from 1980-91 and a professor on the nursing faculty until 1993.
Yalem run set for Sept. 25
More than 1,000 racers are expected to participate in the 16th annual Linda Yalem Safety Run, to begin at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 25 on the North Campus.
The run is held yearly in memory of Linda Yalem, a 22-year-old UB student who was raped and murdered Sept. 30, 1990 while running on the Ellicott Creek bicycle path, near campus. She was training for the New York City Marathon.
Race registration fees support efforts to promote personal safety awareness and rape prevention programming at UB. A small grove of trees also was established near the bike path in Yalem's memory by race organizers.
The 5K USA Track-and-Field-Certified course is one of most popular races in Western New York and a qualifying race for the Buffalo News "Runner of the Year" series.
Awards will go to the top overall male and female finishers, as well as the top three male and female finishers in five age categories, top race-walkers and top wheelchair racers.
Others prizes will go out to top UB finishers in the categories of male, female, faculty/staff, student and alumni. Other raffle prizes include merchandise and gift certificates.
The men's course record is held by David A. O'Keefe, clinical assistant professor of family medicine, with a time of 14:39 in 1991. The women's course record is held by Vicki A. Mitchell, head coach of the UB women's cross-country and track team with a time of 17:31 in 2001.
Those interested in participating in the race should register in 150 Student Union or in Alumni Arena from 4-7:30 p.m. Sept. 23. Registrants also can call 645-2055 or go online at www.lindayalemrun. buffalo.edu. Advanced registration is $17 and runs to Sept. 23. Race day registration is $20 and begins at 7:30 a.m. at Alumni Arena. UB students pay $12.
Free long-sleeve race T-shirts go to the first 1,000 registrants.
Race organizers also are seeking volunteers. To help out, contact Pam Stephens-Jackson at 645-2055 or Mary Clare Fahey at 645-6469.
Sponsors include Century Printing and Graphics of Williamsville and Certo Brothers of West Seneca. UB sponsors are the Division of Student Affairs, undergraduate Student Association, United University Professions, University Bookstore and Campus Dining & Shops. Race friends include Joe Galanti, Division of Athletics, Niagara Walkers, UB Alumni Association and Runners World.
Assessment workshop scheduled
A three-session workshop on improving classroom tests and assessments will be held from 12:30-2:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, Oct. 14 and Oct. 21 in 567 Capen Hall, North Campus.
The workshop, presented by the Center for Teaching and Learning Resources, will be conducted by J. Ronald Gentile, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology, Graduate School of Education.
Those wishing to attend the first or all three of the workshops should register at the CTLR Web site at http://www.buffalo.edu/ctlr or contact Lisa Francescone at lcf@buffalo.edu, 645-7328.
Rustgi lecture set
Alan H. Guth, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the "father" of the inflationary theory of the universe, will give the 12th annual Moti Lal Rustgi Memorial Lecture at 4 p.m. Sept. 23 in 215 Natural Sciences Complex, North Campus.
The Rustgi lecture, presented by the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, will be free and open to the public. The annual lecture is held to honor the late Moti Lal Rustgi, professor of physics at UB from 1966-92.
Guth, Victor F. Weisskopf Professor of Physics at MIT, conducts research applying theoretical particle physics to the early universe.
His theory of inflationary cosmology, a modification of the hot big-bang theory, offers possible explanations for a number of features of the universe, including its uniformity, the value of its mass density and the properties of the faint ripples that are now being observed in the cosmic background radiation. It even offers a possible explanation for the origin of essentially all the matter in the universe.
The recently discovered acceleration of the cosmic expansion has altered radically the picture of the universe, but also has helped to confirm the basic predictions of inflation.
In related work, Guth and colleagues at MIT have explored the theoretical possibility of igniting inflation in a hypothetical laboratory, resulting in construction of a new universe.
Guth, who earned his doctorate at MIT, has held postdoctoral positions at Princeton, Columbia and Cornell universities and at the Stanford University Linear Accelerator Center.
He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
"La Virgen Triste" to be performed
A production of "La Virgen Triste" (The Sad Virgin) will be presented by the Cuban theater company Teatro Galiano 108 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
The production is being presented at UB in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Year of the Languages, and Gender Week. Sponsoring groups include the International Artistic & Cultural Exchange (IACE) Program of the Department of Theatre and Dance, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Antecesores, a not-for-profit organization that aims to advance children's knowledge about Latino ancestral cultures and heritage.
Teatro Galiano 108 will be in residence at UB next week, and company members will engage in a wide variety of artistic, academic and cultural activities on campus and in the community. As part of the IACE Community Outreach Program, and in close collaboration with Antecesores, an additional performance will be held for high school students the following day in the CFA Drama Theatre.
Since its founding in Havana in 1990, Teatro Galiano 108 has become one of the most acclaimed Cuban troupes of the decade and has earned major awards at renowned international festivals in Europe, Africa and the Americas. The company focuses its research on recapturing the purest values and the richness and theatricality that are present at the roots of the Afro-Cuban culture from which it draws its inspiration.
"La Virgen Triste," written by Elizabeth Mena, directed by Jose Gonzalez and performed by Vivian Acosta, centers on the passion of Juana Borrero, one of the most exceptional figures of Cuban arts and letters of the 19th century.
Wednesday's performance will be free and open to the public. Tickets will be available at the door one hour before the show on a first-come first-served basis. The play will be performed in Spanish and will be followed by a bilingual question-and-answer session with the artists.