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            Smokers at the University at Buffalo only have a few more weeks to enjoy a cigarette on campus. [read more]

Dear Editor,
 
In your June 29th "Kicking the Habit" story, Editor Stephen Marth quotes the VP of health sciences as saying, "If you can smell smoke, you are breathing in cancer-causing chemicals."
 
That's perfectly true.  It's also perfectly true that if you are within 500 feet or so of a running car that "you are breathing in cancer-causing chemicals."  And according to the National College of DUI Defense at:
 
http://www.ncdd.com/dsp_articledetails.cfm?article=15
 
you will be breathing in carcinogenic benzene, as well as isoprene, acetone, toluene and a hundred or so other nasty chemicals if you happen to be sharing an enclosed area with another living, breathing human being: Human respiration is a mechanism for getting rid of many noxious metabolic byproducts and chemicals.
 
So will the University be banning indoor space sharing and outdoor automobiles within 500 feet of campus (or at least ON campus)?  I doubt it.  Secondhand smoke is just the sideshow "smoke and mirrors" excuse for the real reason for bans on campuses, in bars/restaurants, and elsewhere, as admitted by  Dr. Cappuccino: "By de-normalizing smoking on campus, we will be able to take steps in helping students never start."
 
I spoke of "DeNormalization" and social engineering as motivations for smoking bans ten years ago and was usually met with the response that I was seeing "black helicopters" that didn't exist.  Back then the motivation was rarely acknowledged publicly by those pushing for bans because it was felt it would inspire too much resistance: far better to simply trump up fears around scary sounding chemical names that people might be exposed to in almost imaginary quantities: picograms, femtograms, attograms, or even zeptograms.
 
Today antismoking activists are at least a bit more honest about why they're doing what they do, but they still play the "fear" card and the "save the children" card, and they still wildly distort scientific studies or even deliberately design research from scratch to misrepresent facts to the public.  And when students fall from ledges or get mugged on dark streets where they sneak smokes, or when fires occur because of improperly and hastily disposed of butts... where will the University, those activists, and those researchers be then?
 
If the University actually believes in honest and open academic debate about its policies and any students would like more information about what lies at the root of smoking bans like this, they are more than welcome to email me at Cantiloper on the aol system.
 
 
Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"
4424 Ludlow St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-386-8430 [read more]

    Residents in UB’s apartment complexes will be hoping for some sunny days in the near future.
    On May 7, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the University at Buffalo unveiled what officials said would be the largest solar energy project in the state to date.
    At a news conference in the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus, NYPA President Richard Kessel and UB President John B. Simpson announced a $7.5 million award to the university for the construction of a collection of solar panels in an attempt to encourage renewable energy technologies across New York State.
    The solar panels will produce 1.1 megawatts of solar energy for the campus and are set for installation near the beginning of the fall semester in 2010.
    “It’s part of an ongoing initiative to meet more of the university’s energy needs through renewable sources,” Simpson said.
    The project, paid for by a NYPA grant, will cost nearly $7 million, while providing approximately 5,000 photovoltaic solar panels that will be installed on seven acres of North Campus. The panels will power 735 apartment complexes including UB’s Flint, Hadley, South Lake and Creekside Village apartments. Nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate UB students will be utilizing the solar energy after it is installed.
    Simpson noted that this solar panel installation will give UB students the opportunity to have the exclusive experience of living in housing where their electricity is provided by the clean, renewable power of the sun, instead of burning fossil fuels.
    “[UB] takes great pleasure in accepting this exciting grant from the New York Power Authority,” Simpson said. “By helping us generate our own power on campus, this solar array helps us take a significant step toward meeting one of the primary goals of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, in which the university has pledged to go climate neutral.”
    This will be the second array of solar panels installed on North Campus. UB completed a smaller project on the roof of Norton Hall in 2006, which provides roughly 6 percent of that building’s power.
    According to the American Solar Energy Society, these solar panels will be the largest solar installation on any college or university campus in New York State.
    “This partnership between NYPA and UB exemplifies how New York State is poised to become the leader in this new energy economy,” said Gov. David A. Paterson.
    As the UB/NYPA joint venture continues to merge with the university and as surrounding colleges start certifying personnel in the installation of solar panels, Western New York is gaining potential to become a new axis for green-collar jobs.
    “NYPA is committed to investing in Western New York, and the University at Buffalo is the perfect partner for promoting, developing, educating and training in photovoltaic technologies for a cleaner environment, energy independence and green-collar jobs,” Kessel said.
    According to NYPA, the solar array on North Campus will reduce carbon emissions at UB by more than 500 metric tons per year. It is also specially designed to endure heavy snowfall and function in cold weather, providing a standard for future innovative solar technologies in similar climates.
    Records from the National Weather Service show that from May through November, Buffalo is the sunniest and driest city in the Northeast, challenging many negative perceptions about Buffalo’s weather, and therefore making it a model contender for generating solar power.
    “Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing the next generation and is of great concern to UB students,” said Emily Bauer, member of the UB Environmental Stewardship Committee and a delegate to the State University of New York Student Assembly. “By stepping up as a leader in solar energy, UB has shown it is committed to a bright future for our environment.”

E-mail: spectrum-news@buffalo.edu [read more]

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