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Last Reporter is today
Today's print issue of the Reporter is the last print issue of the semester.
The Reporter will continue to publish an online issue weekly during the summer. No print issues will be published this summer.
Regular print publication for the fall semester will begin on Aug. 31.
Keep up with what's happening on campus this summer by reading the online Reporter at http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter.
Hauptman to receive Asimov award
Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Hauptman, president of the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and UB professor of structural biology, has been selected to receive the 2006 Isaac Asimov Science Award from the American Humanist Association.
The award "recognizes a person or team of researchers whose scientific work has contributed significantly to the advancement of humanist values." It also honors those scientists and advocates of science "who have increased the public awareness, understanding and appreciation of science and the scientific approach," according to the American Humanist Association.
"The spectacular advances of science and technology in the 20th century and the current trends hold enormous promise for good and an equally great threat to our very survival," Hauptman said. "The promise is that the fruits of science will be used for the benefit of mankind, leading to never-ending improvement in the quality of life for everyone; the threat is that the fruits of science will be used for destructive purposes, leading to consequences ranging from devastating pollution of the environment to the destruction of human life by nuclear holocaust.
"Thus, it is more important than ever that the public be aware of current scientific progress and assume the responsibility of ensuring that this progress be used for the benefit of mankind, not its destruction," he said. "The scientist can do no less."
After more than 20 years with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., Hauptman joined the staff of the Medical Foundation of Buffalo (now the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute) in 1970.
He received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1985 for an innovative mathematical technique called "direct methods," which has enabled scientists around the world to determine the three-dimensional structure of molecules rapidly and automatically, using computer programs.
Hauptman's current work builds on his earlier Nobel-winning research. He and his colleagues at HWI are working to extend the methods of structure determination to very large molecules of biological importance, including the proteins that are the targets for drug-design efforts. They have achieved new success in recent years by developing a procedure known as "shake and bake" that has greatly extended the power of direct methods.
PSS to offer conference
The Professional Staff Senate will present "Enjoy the Ride," a conference designed to promote staff development and job satisfaction, from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19 at the Holiday Inn Grand Island, 100 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island.
The keynote speaker will be Steve Gilliland, a professional speaker with Performance Plus Development.
Participants will have their choice of attending one of four workshops offered during the morning and the afternoon sessions. Workshops are designed to enhance efficiency, increase productivity and allow for creativity, both in and out of the office.
The cost of the conference is $35 for UB faculty and staff members, which includes continental breakfast and lunch.
Following the conference, participants may take an exclusive charter cruise on the Niagara River aboard the Grand Lady, an 80-foot, yacht-style, luxury cruise vessel.
To reserve a spot for the conference, go to http://www.pss.buffalo.edu/, print out the information brochure, complete the form and mail it with payment to the PSS Office, 543 Capen Hall, North Campus.
For further information, contact the PSS Office at 645-2003.
Women's Club to hold luncheon
The UB Women's Club will hold its 2006 spring luncheon at 11:30 a.m. May 20 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.
The luncheon menu will feature salad; grilled chicken with herb sauce, seasonal vegetables and rice pilaf, or vegetable lasagna with alfredo sauce and garlic toast; and key lime cake and beverage.
The cost of the luncheon is $20. Reservations are required and can be made by calling Joan Ryan at 626-9332.
After the luncheon, the newly elected officers for the club will be installed. The slate for 2006-07 is Carmella Hanley, president; Maureen Kindel, vice president; Ellen Pierino, treasurer; Margaret Jusko, corresponding secretary; Marion Schultz, recording secretary; and Julia Cohan, Christina Sonne-Noe and Connie Rao, members-at-large.
The Women's Club also has announced that 61 students received Grace Capen Academic Awards at a reception held on May 1.
Symposium honors Sheridan retirement
A four-decade career dedicated to mitigating geologic catastrophes and saving lives will be the focus of "Volcanic Flows and Falls: A Conference to Honor Professor Michael Sheridan" to be held today and tomorrow in the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center (formerly the University Inn and Conference Center), 2402 N. Forest Road.
Michael F. Sheridan, a UB faculty member since 1990, and chair of the Department of Geology from 1990 to 1999, is retiring next week after nearly two decades at UB.
The scientific conference in his honor features an international, multidisciplinary group of speakers, reflecting the highly multidisciplinary nature of Sheridan's research.
Conference proceedings will be published in an upcoming volume of the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.
Among the UB faculty members speaking at the conference will be Abani Patra, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Chris Renschler, assistant professor of geography; Bruce Pitman, associate dean for research, College of Arts and Sciences; Eliza Calder, assistant professor of geology; and Marcus Bursik, professor of geology.
The keynote address at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow will be delivered by Sheridan. It is entitled "Using Models of Geophysical Mass Flows for Hazard Map Construction and Risk Assessment," and will be free and open to the public.
An internationally revered volcanologist, Sheridan will continue to conduct his research assessing risks to populations living near volcanoes all over the globe—from Ecuador and Siberia to Italy and Mexico.
He is a pioneer in developing some of the first computational tools to help researchers estimate how far and how fast ash and lava flowing from eruptions will travel.
His research at such famous volcanoes as Vesuvius in Italy and Colima in Mexico has made headlines around the world, and his work as a volcanic-hazards expert has impacted—indeed, improved—the lives of thousands who live adjacent to active volcanoes.
For more information on the conference, contact the Department of Geology at 645-6800, ext. 6100.
Faculty honored in Albany
Four UB faculty members were among the 45 SUNY faculty members from 18 campuses honored by the SUNY Research Foundation and TIAA-CREF during the Recognition Dinner Honoring Research and Scholarship, held on May 3 in Albany.
"Each honoree has demonstrated a willingness to ensure SUNY continues to offer exceptional opportunities and to play a fundamental role in the success of our students, alums, communities and state," Chancellor John R. Ryan told the honorees and guests at the dinner. "Your research and scholarship is not only of great magnitude, it is of great consequence."
Claude E. Welch Jr., SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science, was presented with the first TIAA-CREF Lifetime Achievement Award for his more than 40 years of academic achievement and leadership, as well as his extensive contributions to the university community and the community at large.
The award, which includes a $10,000 grant from the Research Foundation, was established to recognize individuals who embody the true spirit of TIAA-CREF's mission for more than 86 years—serving those who serve others for the greater good.
Three other UB faculty members received the Research and Scholarship Award. This award is the highest honor the Research Foundation can bestow on SUNY faculty members for their outstanding scholarly and research contributions in the humanities, arts, social sciences, sciences, medicine and engineering.
The UB recipients are:
Kenneth E. Leonard, professor, Department of Psychiatry, and senior research scientist, Research Institute on Addictions. Leonard's research interests focus on marital/family processes, parenting and infant development, interpersonal aggression, bar violence and domestic violence. He has studied couples in the early years of marriage since 1988. In his most recent project, he has studied couples recruited while applying for marriage licenses at Buffalo City Hall and is currently assessing them at the time of their seventh and ninth anniversaries. The study focuses on the impact of one's spouse, family and peers, but also considers the influence of cognitions about substance use, parenthood, major life events and environmental stressors on couples' drinking and drinking problems. Since 1994, he has received funding totaling more than $11 million.
Jean Wactawski-Wende, associate professor, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. A nationally respected epidemiologist, Wactawski-Wende's research focuses on the study of women's health issues, including osteoporosis, cancer and menopause. She is a co-director of UB's Vanguard Center for the Women's Health Initiative. Her research results from a decade-long dietary modification study involving thousands of women showed that a low-fat diet had no statistically significant effect on rates of breast and colon cancer. Her research also shows that hormone replacement therapy does not significantly reduce osteoporosis. She regularly is among the top federally funded researchers at UB. Her research studies have been published in the world's leading peer-reviewed medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Ewa P. Ziarek, Julian Park Professor, Department of Comparative Literature. Ziarek's interests span several disciplines, with published work in the areas of feminist theory, modernism, continental philosophy, ethics and critical theory. She is the author of "The Rhetoric of Failure: Deconstruction of Skepticism, Reinvention of Modernism" and "An Ethics of Dissensus: Feminism, Postmodernity and the Politics of Radical Democracy;" an editor of "Gombrowicz's Grimaces: Modernism, Gender, Nationality;" and a co-editor of "Revolt, Affect, Collectivity: The Unstable Boundaries of Kristeva's Polis" and "Intermedialities: Philosophy, Art, Politics" (both forthcoming). Her work was the subject of a special session of the International Association for Philosophy and Literature. She organized and is the first director of UB's Humanities Institute.
Summer teaching institute offered
The Center for Teaching and Learning Resources and the University Libraries will present a Summer Institute from 10:30 a.m. to noon July 12 and July 19 in 250 Park Hall, North Campus.
The July 12 session, "Toward an Understanding of International Classroom Cultures," will be presented by Ellen Dussourd, director of International Student and Scholar Services. With the assistance of students from India, China and Korea, Dussourd will lead a discussion of the nuances of classroom culture in the students' home countries and offer useful techniques to bridge the cultural gap between faculty members' teaching styles and students' expectations.
The July 19 session, "How to Improve Your Teaching by Keeping Your Students in Mind," will be presented by Christopher S. Cohan, professor of pathology and anatomical sciences in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and recipient of the 2005 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Cohan will use video vignettes of student comments to explore what students think about instruction and what qualities they seek from teachers. A simple set of guiding principles for teaching, which can be applied to any level of instruction and help to engage and motivate student learning, will be discussed.
Both sessions of the institute are free and open to all UB faculty members. Seating is limited, and registration is required.
To register, go to http://www.buffalo.edu/ctlr, or contact Lisa Francescone at lcf@buffalo.edu, or 645-7328.
Conference for TAs set
"Target Your Teaching," a fall conference for teaching assistants, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 21-23 in 120 Clemens Hall, North Campus.
The conference is sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning Resources.
Among the topics to be discussed are common classroom problems, the Ten Commandments of effective teaching, planning a course and syllabus, and teaching with technology.
The cost of the conference is $35. Participants must register at http://wings.buffalo.edu/provost/ctlr/events/ta_fall_conf_2006/index.htm by Aug. 11.
Cross-border summit planned
In 2001, the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario, initiated a cross-border dialogue by inviting Western New York representatives to its annual Smarter Niagara Summit to discuss regional challenges.
This year, the binational focus of the event has been expanded significantly, with Southern Ontario and Western New York leaders, including representatives from UB, jointly coordinating "Summit 2006: Creating the Cross Border Capital—One Region, Two Niagaras, Our Shared Future."
Hosted by the Regional Municipality of Niagara and UB's Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth and Urban Design Project, the event convenes today in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and tomorrow in Niagara Falls, New York.
"We recognize that as a cross-border region, our futures are inextricably tied together. Fostering a continual enriching dialogue around shared issues is paramount—this is our primary goal in broadening the scope of the annual summit," says Robert Gabriel, a regional councilor for the Regional Municipality of Niagara and member of the summit's steering committee.
Adds Kathryn Bryk Friedman, deputy director of the Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth and member of the summit's steering committee: "This effort is part of an important, broader national trend of U.S. border regions partnering with our Canadian neighbors to identify and act upon synergies."
Among the topics to be addressed at the summit are the health of the Great Lakes, public access to the Niagara River, cultural tourism, cross-border governance, the Peace Bridge, sustainable agriculture and the upcoming anniversary of the War of 1812.