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Zodiaque cancels performances
The performances by the Zodiaque Dance Company originally scheduled for today through Sunday in the Center for the Arts have been cancelled.
Refunds are available at point of purchase.
Zodiaque will give a free, informal performance at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Drama Theatre in the CFA. Guest choreographers will be in attendance to discuss the pieces to be performed.
Free, general admission tickets will be available one hour prior to the performance, while supplies last.
For more information, call 645-ARTS or visit http://www.ubcfa.org.
Dark side of universe to be topic of lecture
The Cutting Edge Lecture Series, the free series of Saturday morning seminars in which top UB scholars and alumni give presentations aimed at increasing public awareness of the rapid advancements being made in a number of academic and professional fields, is expanding its regularly scheduled spring series to include a lecture this fall in downtown Buffalo.
William Kinney, assistant professor of physics, College of Arts and Sciences, will discuss "The Dark Side of the Universe" at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 28 in the main branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo.
Kinney says that one of the oldest questions mankind has ever asked is, "What is the universe made of?'"
"The ancient Greeks supposed that everything was made from the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. Relativity and quantum mechanics in the early 20th century provided a similar, but more sophisticated answer: the universe is made from atoms and light," notes Kinney, whose areas of interest include cosmology and particle astrophysics.
His lecture will touch on how in the 21st century cosmologists have for the first time successfully "weighed" the contents of the universe and have made a startling discovery: all of the atoms and light make up a tiny fraction of the total mass of the cosmos. More than 95 percent of the universe resides in "dark" components, whose identity is unknown. Kinney will talk about how cosmologists hope to solve the mysteries of this strange new "dark side of the universe."
Kinney was a featured presenter in a prior Cutting Edge lecture series and was so popular he was asked to speak again. The series this past spring attracted about 750 students from 31 different Western New York high schools.
Like all lectures in the Cutting Edge series, Kinney's talk will be free and open to the public. Registration will take place at 10 a.m. Light refreshments will be served and the lecture will begin at 10:30 a.m.
The lecture is sponsored by the UB Humanities Institute, the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, and WNED's ThinkBright.
For more information, call 645-2711.
Pianist Biss to perform
Identified by the Boston Globe as "a very significant instrumental and musical talent," 25-year-old pianist Jonathan Biss will present a piano recital at 8 p.m. Nov. 3 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.
Biss' performance is part of the Slee/Visiting Artist Series.
He also will present a master class at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 in Lippes Concert Hall. The class is free of charge and open to the public
Hailed as a major new performing artist since he made his New York
Philharmonic debut six years ago, Biss has appeared with many other major U.S. orchestras, including the National Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra and the symphonies of Baltimore, Cincinnati and San Francisco. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such artists as Isaac Stern, Andras Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman and Midori.
He has been a member of Chamber Music Society Two at Lincoln Center, a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, has toured with "Musicians from Marlboro" and often collaborates with such chamber ensembles as the Borromeo and Mendelssohn quartets.
Tickets are $15 for the general public; $12 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card; and $5 for students. They may be obtained at the Slee Hall box office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the Center for the Arts box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster outlets, including Ticketmaster.com.
Kofke named chair
David Kofke, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has been appointed chair of the department.
Kofke conducts research in which he uses molecular simulation to evaluate the physical behaviors exhibited by model materials.
One of his goals is to develop knowledge and methods that enable others to conduct thermodynamic free-energy calculations efficiently and reliably, which is critical to the rational design of better, more sophisticated materials and processes, as well as to improving understanding of the basic mechanisms of nature, life and disease.
Research applications that Kofke currently is pursuing include electromigration in solids, which is important to the development of a new generation of lead-free solders for electronic packaging; and the role of entropy in solid-phase stability, which is key to the formulation and manufacture of new drugs, among other things.
Kofke also is involved in a major effort in software engineering aimed at developing cyberinfrastructure that can synthesize the efforts of a broad range of molecular simulation developers and making these techniques accessible to nonexperts with applications in both research and education.
Kofke is a recipient of the prestigious 2004 John M. Prausnitz Award for "significant and lasting contributions to the field of applied chemical thermodynamics." Early in his career, Kofke received a Presidential Young Investigator Award and a Dow Outstanding New Faculty Award.
A UB faculty member since 1989, Kofke is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities. He also received a UB Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement.
The author of approximately 100 scientific papers, Kofke's research on the development and application of simulation methods is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy; his software engineering efforts are supported by IBM and by grants from the NSF.
Women's Club to hold feast
The UB Women's Club will hold its annual International Feast at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Palms at Tandoori's, 7740 Transit Road at Sheridan Drive in Williamsville.
The event will feature a sit-down dinner of Indian cuisine.
The cost will be $30 per person. Reservations are required and can be made by calling Joan Ryan at 626-9332.
Proceeds will benefit the Grace Capen Academic Awards and the Women's Club's International Committee.
The International Committee also will present a Thanksgiving feast for international students and their friends from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 14 in 210 Student Union, North Campus.
For information about the UB Women's Club and its activities, call Joan Ryan at 626-9332.
Music department offers free concerts
Budget-conscious music lovers can find something to keep them occupied during November at UB.
The free monthly Brown Bag Concert will take place Nov. 7 on the stage of Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.
Coordinated by UB faculty member Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman, this series of free, informal concerts presented during the lunch hour allows patrons to catch a glimpse of the kind of programming offered on a regular basis by the Department of Music. Patrons are encouraged to bring their lunch and enjoy a complimentary cup of Starbucks coffee. Each attendee will receive a pair of complimentary tickets to a more formal concert within the following month.
Other concerts, to be presented free of charge, include:
UB Symphony: Magnus Martensson, conductor, 8 p.m., Nov. 1, Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall, North Campus.
Percussion Studio Recital: Students of Anthony Miranda, noon, Nov. 2, Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.
Voice Studio Recital: Students of Tony Arnold and Alexander Hurd, 12:30 p.m., Nov. 8, Baird Recital Hall.
Flute Studio Recital: Students of Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman, noon, Nov. 9, Baird Recital Hall.
UB Jazz Ensembles: David Schiavone, director, 3 p.m., Nov. 12, Baird Recital Hall.
UB Marching Band: James Mauck, director, 8 p.m., Nov. 12, Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall.
Percussion Studio Recital: Students of Anthony Miranda, noon, Nov. 16, Baird Recital Hall.
UB Percussion Ensemble: Anthony Miranda, director, 8 p.m., Nov. 18, Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall.
Chamber Music Class Recital: Jonathan Golove, coordinator, 12:15 p.m., Nov. 28, Baird Recital Hall.
UB Concert Band: Jon Nelson, director, noon, Nov. 29, Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall.
Piano Students Recital: Students of Jacob Greenberg and Stephen Manes, noon, Nov. 30, Baird Recital Hall.
Physics lecture to be held
Martin L. Perl, professor at Stanford University and the 1995 Nobel Laureate in Physics, will discuss "What Einstein Did Not Know" at 5 p.m. tomorrow in 225 Natural Sciences Complex, North Campus.
The lecture, sponsored by the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, is free and open to the public. It is being presented in honor of Piyare Lal Jain, a member of the UB physics faculty for more than 50 years.
Albert Einstein was one of the world's great thinkers, yet most of what we know today in physics Einstein did not know and did not foresee—the only exception is the problem of the accelerating universe, notes Perl. "Science is ever moving, dependent primarily on observation, measurement and experiment. In science we are always at the beginning, and so what Einstein did not know he could not know," he says.
In his lecture, Perl will talk about what has been learned in the field of high-energy physics since Einstein. Perl also will address the major contribution of astronomy to the fundamental physics of matter and the discovery of the still mysterious dark matter.
For more information about the lecture, call 645-2017, email uphysics@buffalo.edu or visit http://www.physics. buffalo.edu/.
Refunds to be issued for Family Weekend
Family Weekend 2006 events that were cancelled last weekend due to the snowstorm and subsequent power outage will not be rescheduled.
Those who purchased tickets to any of the events will be reimbursed. Those who registered for Family Weekend and purchased tickets for events at http://parent.buffalo. edu/family, will automatically receive full reimbursement for all tickets, including Cirque Voila!, UB Bulls pre-game party, UB Bulls football game, the family brunch and the performance by comedian Dwayne Perkins. Credit will be issued to credit cards within the next two weeks. No action is necessary.
Those who purchased Cirque Voila! tickets through Ticketmaster.com or charge-by-phone have been contacted and will receive automatic credit to their credit cards. No action is necessary. Tickets purchased at the Center for the Arts box office must be returned to the CFA to receive a refund.
Saturday's Bulls football game against Miami (OH) was played on Sunday. Those who purchased tickets to the game through the UB Athletics Ticket Office and did not attend the rescheduled game will have their unused tickets honored for either of UB's remaining home games: Nov. 4 versus Kent State or Nov. 24 versus Central Michigan. To exchange unused tickets, visit the UB Athletics Ticket Office in Alumni Arena from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information, call 645-6666 or visit http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/tickets/football.shtml.