29th-annual Oozefest tournament brings together students, alumni for day of mud volleyball

Seven and a Half White Men struggled to march out of the knee-deep mud pit. Their faces were barely visible through the layers of caked-on mud from seven hours of grueling and demanding volleyball.

For the third year in a row, the eight players were victorious.

The 29th-annual Oozefest tournament took place on Saturday in the mud pit behind the South Lake Apartment Complex.

Longtime English professor Neil Schmitz retires from teaching

Neil Schmitz has been on the faculty since 1966 and has earned a place as one of the most prominent and beloved figures in the English Department. He teaches American literature, focusing on Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and William Faulkner.

Schmitz recently announced this would be his last semester teaching. He has tried to close the door quietly and leave matter-of-factly. He will remain as a professor emeritus but will no longer conduct any courses.

Pegrum Colloquium offers geology students alternative classroom format

Christine Burrill, a first-year graduate student in geology, heard a story about people living in the crater of a volcano in the Canary Island in class that opened her eyes to the world of geology. It wasn’t what she thought.

Burrill listened to this story and others told by senior-level scientists during Pegrum Colloquium, a weekly lecture series organized by Christopher Lowry, an assistant professor in the geology department.

The class is named after Reginald Pegrum, the founding faculty member of the geology department, Lowery said. It isn’t a normal class.

UB is offering brand-new BikeShare program to students, faculty

UB is the first university to use GPS tracking technology for students to come together as a biking community.

BikeShare at UB offers students, faculty and staff the option of renting bicycles instead of bringing their own to campus. By using GPS technology, participants can track and rent a bike conveniently using a computer or mobile device.

The Spectrum sat down with graduating seniors and asked them to sum up their college experience in one word, what they'll remember most about their four years and what their plans are post-graduation.

R. Lorraine Collins studies the reasons behind substance abuse

R. Lorraine Collins is known as a compassionate, groundbreaking psychologist, and recently, her accolades have surrounded two things: marijuana and research.

Collins, associate dean for research in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, focuses on alcohol and marijuana use among 18- to 25-year-olds in her projects. Her current nationally funded grant is focused on physical activity and marijuana use.

White applies lessons learned on skates to pharmacy career

Alexis White could not comprehend what the doctor had just told her.

Her eyes were wide but her stare was blank. She felt numb as she listened to the clock.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

She could not imagine worse news.

White had suffered two back fractures, and for the next six months, she could not do the one thing that made her feel liberated:

Figure skating.

White, now a sophomore pre-pharmacy major at UB, grew up skating in Western New York. She traveled as far as Texas to compete against the country’s best.