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Collins to deliver Silverman reading
Former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins will deliver the 30th annual Oscar Silverman Poetry Reading at 8 p.m. Nov. 17 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.
The reading will be free and open to the public. It is held in memory of Oscar Silverman, distinguished UB scholar and teacher who chaired the Department of English and directed the University Libraries. He also helped to develop UB's extensive collection of 20th-century poetry.
A native of New York City, Collins is the author of several books of poetry, among them "The Trouble with Poetry" (2005); "Nine Horses" (2002); "Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems" (2001); "Picnic, Lightning" (1998); "The Art of Drowning" (1995), which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; and "Questions About Angels" (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National Poetry Series.
A recording of Collins reading 33 of his poems, "The Best Cigarette," was released in 1997. His poetry has appeared in anthologies, textbooks and a variety of periodicals, including Poetry, American Poetry Review, American Scholar, Harper's, Paris Review and The New Yorker.
His work also has been featured in the "Pushcart Prize" anthology and has been chosen several times for the annual Best American Poetry series. Collins edited "Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry" (Random House, 2003), an anthology of contemporary poems for use in schools and was a guest editor for the 2006 edition of "The Best American Poetry."
He was named U.S. poet laureate in 2001. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.
He has conducted summer poetry workshops in Ireland at University College Galway, and has taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence and Lehman College, CUNY.
EOC offering job-readiness exam
UB's Educational Opportunity Center has begun administering the National Work Readiness Credential Exam designed to certify job readiness in those seeking employment.
EOC is the first official online national testing site for the exam.
The National Work Readiness Credential obtained by those who successfully complete the exam certifies that they possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to succeed in an entry-level job in the 21st-century workplace. The national credential was created through a public-private partnership that includes business/industry, unions, chambers of commerce, education and training professionals, and workforce investment boards.
The credential benefits employers by reducing their recruitment costs, improving productivity and minimizing turnover. Job seekers with the credential are able to demonstrate to employers that they have the skills to perform and advance in the workplace.
For more information on the National Work Readiness Credential, call 849-6727, ext.110.
Bruce Hornsby to perform in CFA
Three-time Grammy winner Bruce Hornsby will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
One of pop's most in-demand 'side-men,' Hornsby has sold more than 10 million records since his multiplatinum debut in 1986. He draws from a wide array of influences—among them jazz, pop, classical, bluegrass, rock and vaudeville—all the while bringing his patented blend of playful lyrical whimsy and formidably refined musicality to the table.
Earlier this year, Hornsby released "Intersections," a boxed set of recordings, plus a DVD, commemorating his 20th anniversary in the music business. It includes collaborations with the Grateful Dead, Shawn Colvin, members of the New York Philharmonic, Ricky Skaggs, Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans, Robbie Robertson, Branford Marsalis, Chaka Khan, Roger Waters, Bonnie Raitt, Pat Metheny, Gregory Hines, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and many more.
Hornsby's latest album, "Halcyon Days" (2004), was his ninth full-length album and first for Columbia Records. He has played on more than 100 records with artists ranging from Bob Dylan, Don Henley and the Grateful Dead to Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, Béla Fleck and Willie Nelson. Hornsby's songs also have been performed and/or recorded by a variety of artists, including Tupac Shakur, Chaka Khan, Robbie Robertson, Huey Lewis, Sara Evans and Leon Russell.
Tickets for Hornsby's CFA show are $29 for general admission and $20 for students, and are available at the CFA box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations, including Ticketmaster.com.
For more information, call 645-ARTS.
Help offered to stop smoking
Nov. 16 is the Great American Smoke Out and UB is encouraging its students, faculty and staff to quit smoking on or before this day.
Tobacco use kills more people than AIDS, motor vehicles, homicide, illegal drugs, alcohol and suicide combined, yet millions of people successfully quit smoking every year.
"Every year we see many students suffering smoking-related health problems," says Frank Carnevale, director of Health Services. "Quitting is not easy, but it is very achievable. We encourage everyone at UB to make Nov. 16 the day they finally kick the habit."
Members of the university community who are interested in quitting smoking are urged to call the New York State Smokers' Quit Line at 866-NYQuits (1-866-697-8487), or visit http://www.nysmokefree.com.
The New York State Smokers' Quit Line offers a free starter kit of nicotine patches, gum or lozenges for eligible smokers; trained specialists offering help with quit plans; information about local stop-smoking programs; and informational taped messages.
Anderson Cooper to speak
Journalist and CNN host Anderson Cooper will speak at 8 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Arena, North Campus.
The lecture is part of UB's Distinguished Speakers Series.
Host of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360�," Cooper presents an unconventional, wide-ranging news program covering the world's top stories, as well as the underreported ones. He also is a contributor to CBS's "60 Minutes."
Prior to joining CNN in 2001, Cooper worked for ABC as a news correspondent and as a contributor to "20/20" and "World News Tonight." He moved to ABC from a position at Channel One News as chief international correspondent, reporting and producing stories from hot spots around the world.
Throughout his 15-year reporting career, Cooper has anchored such major news stories as the Sri Lankan tsunami, the Iraqi elections, Terri Schiavo and Hurricane Katrina. He received the National Headliner's Award for his tsunami coverage, an Emmy Award for his work as part of ABC's coverage of Princess Diana's funeral and the Chicago International Film Festival's Silver Plaque for his report on the Bosnian civil war.
He is the author of "Dispatches from the Edge," a memoir reflecting back on his experiences as a witness to the devastation of events such as Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami.
Tickets to the lecture are available at the Alumni Arena Ticket Office or at www.tickets.com.
Support UB through retirement assets
UB faculty and staff give generously of their time and resources to UB. Thanks to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, a simple, tax-friendly option, it's now even more beneficial for UB employees to support the university through their retirement assets.
Under this new provision, donors who are 70.5 years of age or older may make a gift through charitable IRA assets of up to $100,000, free of federal taxes.
"It's no secret that UB faculty and staff make significant contributions through their professional service, and the IRA rollover provision is yet another way in which they can give back in a very meaningful manner," says Wendy Irving, senior director of planned giving. "Up until now, they would have had to report such money taken from their IRAs as taxable income," she says
This provision will expire on Dec. 31, 2007.
For more information, call the Office of Planned Giving at 829-2632.
Juxtaposition lecture series continues today
Meredith McGill, associate professor of English at Rutgers University, will discuss "The Traffic in Poems: Nineteenth-Century Poetry and Transatlantic Exchange" at 4 p.m. today in 436 Clemens Hall, North Campus.
The lecture, which will be free and open to the public, is part of the Department of English's Juxtapositions lecture series.
In her talk, McGill will survey a range of recent transatlantic approaches to the study of 19th-century poetry.
"I am interested in how literary canons and the hierarchy of genres shift when regarded from a transatlantic perspective, but also in the possibility that studying the place of poetry in culture—rather than the evolution of national traditions—might open up alternatives to a nationalist historicism," she says.
"Studying poetry in the context of its circulation calls attention to aspects of the genre that a historicist criticism has been least able to account for: the complex pleasures of discontinuity and anachrony, and the power of decontextualization."
McGill is the author of "American Literature and the Culture of
Reprinting, 1834-53" and has published essays on such topics as American copyright law, handwriting and mass production, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Lowell and Wallace Stevens.
Eder to return to CFA
Recording artist, concert sensation and Broadway star Linda Eder will return to UB on Dec. 16 for an 8 p.m. performance in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
After performing to capacity crowds at the CFA in both April and December of 2004, Eder returns by popular demand. The concert will feature holiday classics intermingled with standards and Broadway favorites.
Born in Brainerd, Minn., to immigrant parents who exposed her to all kinds of music, Eder was influenced by three singers more than any others. "From the time I was a kid," she says, "my 'teachers' were Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and [classical/jazz soprano] Eileen Farrell."
Eder spent much of her 20s perfecting her vocals and stage presence. Her big break came in 1988 on the TV show "Star Search," where she reigned a record 13 weeks. That led to a lead role in the 1990 Broadway-bound musical "Jekyll & Hyde."
She recorded seven Atlantic and Angel albums between 1994 and 2004, each a blend of standards, pop hits and originals. Her most recent recording, "By Myself: The Songs of Judy Garland" (Angel), hit stores in fall 2005. In its 11 tracks, Eder pulls off the impossible: paying tribute to her idol while making the timeless Garland songs her own.
Tickets for Linda Eder are $49, $45, $41, $37 and $20 for students. Tickets are available at the CFA box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations, including Ticketmaster.com.
For more information, call 645-ARTS.