Features - The Spectrum

Brian “Sole Man” Gavigan repairs a shoe during the Points of Intervention (POI) tour in SU. Gavigan and other repairers aimed to fix everything from watches to laptops at this year’s fair.

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Buy it, use it, break it, fix it

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Mar. 15, 2018

If it was broke, it could be fixed in the Student Union on Monday. Close to 30 volunteers repaired small appliances and educated students on managing waste at the Points of Intervention tour in the SU. Repair stations were scattered throughout the SU lobby, along with educational tables for DIY-home goods, DIY-sewing kits and proper wire rolling instructions. The UB-hosted tour runs with the Post Landfill Action Network.

Jordan Einhorn, president of the Jewish Student Union, and Sasha Shapiro are upset that the SA Comedy Series on March 30 lands on the first night of Passover.

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Students upset Comedy Series aligns with Passover

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET , WANLY CHEN and ERIK TINGUE | Mar. 15, 2018

Andrew Meyer has attended every Student Association Comedy Series since 2015. The event is on March 30 this year, the first night of the Jewish holiday Passover. Meyer will not be able to attend this year’s Comedy Series because he will be home on Long Island for the holiday.

Dogs, including the one above, are available for adoption at the Erie County SPCA. SPCA president and CEO, Gary Willoughby, spoke at O’Brian Hall on Monday about the dangers of puppy mills and his non-profit organization’s mission. Note: None of the above dogs can be confirmed as raid rescue dogs.

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Local SPCA president speaks at UB

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Mar. 7, 2018

Law school students discussed their concerns, with puppy mills, in O’Brian Hall on Monday. The discussion, hosted by the law school’s Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, featured Gary Willoughby, the CEO and president of Erie County’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

UB students forms new club on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Members discuss how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology looks to change the way the financial world runs.

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UB club gets cryptic

By WANLY CHEN | Mar. 7, 2018

Cryptocurrency –– digitalized money or assets –– has a unique stance in the financial market: its value will not be backed by any banks or government. With a current frenzy for cryptocurrency, UB Blockchains & Cryptocurrency Club is bringing interested students together. Members of the club are taught cryptocurrency’s financial impact and the technology behind how the currency obtains its value.

Fifty years after it’s founding, PODER Latinos Unidos abides by its original mission and continues to advocate for Latino students on-campus.

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PODER pushes students toward advocacy, education

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Mar. 5, 2018

Alberto O. Cappas founded PODER with a goal. He wanted an outlet for Puerto Rican students at UB. Cappas and other founding members aimed to bring reformist and radical techniques to PODER, based on clubs like Black Student Union.

The third annual Ethical Fashion Show Berlin took place Jan. 16-18 at the former Kraftwerk power plant, now a vibrant and energetic venue for exhibits and events. It involved over 120 vendors and a catwalk finale with 25 models wearing the hottest ethical styles.

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A glimpse into Berlin's eco fashion scene

By ELIZABETH ROTH | Mar. 5, 2018

BERLIN – From outside, the former industrial power station looks blocky and unappealing. Inside, it teems with life as vines cling to the walls and ceilings, and packs of 30-something fashionistas and 60-something fashion insiders comb makeshift stands for Berlin’s next big trend.

Chris McClure, assistant director of Intramural and Sports program, is striving to improve the program by recruiting players and offering more athletics and sporting events to students across campus.

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Check yourself before you 'rec' yourself

By ERIK TINGUE | Mar. 5, 2018

UB may be a school of Division-I athletes, but that has not stopped students like Matthew Nazzaro from playing in Alumni Arena.

Japanese international student Elle Machomoto says that one of the biggest differences between how Japanese and Americans date is public displays of affection. While Americans express affection openly with their partners, Japanese couples keep their relationships more private.

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International love

By MAX KALNITZ | Mar. 1, 2018

Love is a universal language, but everyone views and forms relationships in different ways. UB’s international student body represents more than 110 countries, each with its own dating culture. Many Asian countries have traditions and values when it comes to dating, marriage and sex and more often than not, domestic students have misconceptions about how international students date.

On Wednesday morning, "#ENDWOMENSRIGHTS" flyers were posted on bulletin boards throughout halls like Norton, Knox and the Student Union. The fliers listed Young Americans for Freedom as its distributor but the club and UB deny members posted the messages.

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'#ENDWOMENSRIGHTS' fliers found throughout North Campus

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET and ERIK TINGUE | Mar. 1, 2018

Across the academic complex on Wednesday mornings, many students were concerned to see fliers posted with text like “#ENDWOMENSRIGHTS.”

Junior biomedical engineering major Andrew Hoke controls his bot from outside the arena.

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Battle-bots, roll out

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET , MAX KALNITZ and THOMAS ZAFONTE | Feb. 26, 2018

Forget about Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream. UB engineers made Cybertron a reality in the middle of the Student Union. Ben Coleman, a sophomore electrical engineering major, represented the robotics department during this year’s Bot Wars competition. Part of Engineering Week, Bot Wars is an annual battle of student metallic creations.

The School of Engineering is beginning to research a driverless bus on campus. The bus, which has already been tested in places like Germany and Denmark, runs on 360-degree sensors and can seat 12 passengers.

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School of Engineering begins research on driverless bus

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Feb. 26, 2018

Principal investigators met Thursday to discuss UB’s purchase of a driverless Olli bus. The bus, composed of 3D printed material, does not come with a steering wheel and uses 360-degree sensors to drive. The passenger bus seats 12 people and runs on an electrical charge.

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Abbott Hall boasts rich history of medicine, architecture

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Feb. 22, 2018

The library at Abbott Hall is still in operation over a third of a century since it opened, preserving its history in its collection and architecture. The building features vintage woodwork study areas, like the Austin Flint Reading Room’s carved interior lit up by chandeliers. The library houses students in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as well as dental students and others.

“We Wanted A Revolution” is a survey of work by women of color through a period encompassing civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights and anti-war movements. Throughout, visitors to the gallery can view works by black female artists like Faith Ringgold, Ming Smith and Emma Amos.

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Art of a revolution

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Feb. 19, 2018

The Albright-Knox rewrote history on Saturday, celebrating black female artists. The gallery opened its latest exhibit this weekend, “We Wanted A Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85.” The exhibit, curated by the Brooklyn Museum, highlights over 200 pieces that encompass a time where black women artists were often underscored, devalued or overlooked.

Heather Petri pictured with her grandfather, Richard Petri, who passed away on Feb. 7. Heather, who graduated from UB in 2016, said she didn't say goodbye to her grandfather after UB took his body on the night of his death.

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Families upset UB won't let them see bodies and ashes of donated loved ones

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Feb. 15, 2018

When Heather Petri’s grandfather passed away on Feb. 7, she wanted to say goodbye. But UB would not let her see him.

The tale of the birds and the bees is the censor version of sex talk. UB students share their experiences learning about sex from their parents.

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The talk

By WANLY CHEN | Feb. 12, 2018

When Sankara Daly told his dad he wasn’t sexually active, he was ready for an open discussion about sex. Instead, his father handed him a book. Parents typically don’t have a calendar with a date circled for the talk, but many parents anxiously anticipate this interaction. This conversation varies among families, but can cover a range of topics from sexually transmitted infections (STI) to consensual sex.

Analingus is becoming a new internet trend. Memes regarding the subject have dominated the web and rap artists like Jhené Aiko and Nicki Minaj have bragged in their songs about how much they enjoy rimming.

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Anal-ize this

By ERIK TINGUE | Feb. 12, 2018

For Sofia Rapatsouleas, analingus is a routine part of sex. Analingus is the oral sex practice where a person stimulates another’s anus by use of their mouth, including lips, tongue or teeth. Forty-four of 356 students polled indicated they have participated in analingus during sex, according to The Spectrum’s Sex Survey.

Ellen DeGeneres, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Victor E. Bull head-swap. New video-altering technology has been used to create realistic fake pornography involving celebrities called Deepfakes.

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Diving into deepfakes

By HARUKA KOSUGI | Feb. 12, 2018

You could be the star of a porno without even knowing it as the result of an alarming new trend that has raised legal and ethical concerns in the U.S. Deepfakes, named after the redditor who first started face-swapping celebrity faces onto porn performers’ bodies, are becoming more popular with the rise of user-friendly applications like FakeApp, which allows people to create their own realistic face-swapped videos using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Porn can be enjoyed in moderation, but if viewed too much, there are consequences.

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Problems with porn

By MAX KALNITZ | Feb. 12, 2018

It won’t make your hands fall off and it won’t make you go blind, but watching too much porn can screw up your sex life. Erectile dysfunction, issues with body image and full-blown addiction are just a few of the symptoms of over-watching porn. A 2011 survey by Italian researchers at the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine surveyed 28,000 men who categorized themselves as being addicted to porn. The results showed that many men, some as young as 14, suffered from “sexual anorexia.”

The Realbotix project by RealDoll is developing a sex robot with touch sensor and heating abilities. Students are concerned about what the future of relationships will be as the robot gains popularity in the sex doll industry.

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Sex machina

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Feb. 12, 2018

The days of making love to sex dolls that are no better than inflatable pool toys are over. In 2018, sex dolls can love you right back and ask you about your day.

UB Campus Dining and Shops recently introduced new plastic cups, a change from the green paper-based cups used in previous semesters. The new cups are recyclable and were created to alleviate problems with paper cups breaking down.

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New year, new cups

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Feb. 8, 2018

In January, Campus Dining & Shops (CDS) introduced a new plastic version of their previous paper-based cups. The change, according to CDS, was made to change the cups “in terms of both integrity and ability to be recycled,” with the new plastic cups being both recyclable and reusable.