Sheltered by a ring of highways in Amherst, the UB campus can be all but invisible to many Western New York high school students.
But through a lecture series on emerging fields and a poetry contest that is attracting national interest, the College of Arts and Sciences is attempting to change that.
Uday Sukhatme, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is hoping the Cutting Edge Lecture Series, which begins Saturday, will spark the interest of local students.
"The Cutting Edge Lecture Series is intended to showcase the wide spectrum of cutting edge research activities in the College of Arts and Sciences," Sukhatme said. "High school students benefit enormously from such lectures since they are looking for direction on what university to attend and what major to choose."
The series is composed of five lectures. Each will be held in the Center for the Arts.
On Saturday at 10 a.m., Cort Lippe, an associate professor in the Department of Music, will give the first lecture: "Real-time Interactive Computer Music Systems."
Lippe, who teaches Composition and Computer Music, said he is excited by the challenge of teaching a younger audience.
"I think it will be intriguing, as I have little experience with teaching high school students," he said. "Most lectures I just give to musicians or students in the field."
Lippe said he will discuss the use of specialized computers for music output in a concert environment.
"The idea is that if you use computers on stage during a concert, you give the instrumentalist some control over the computer output," he said. "The computer's sound will be more sensitive to the musician's musical interpretation."
Sukhatme said he encourages UB students to attend the lectures alongside the younger students.
"Our own UB undergraduates should also really make an effort to come (to the lectures) and find out something about the research activities of their professors," he said.
The poetry contest - the second part of the College of Arts and Sciences' event schedule - is attracting national attention this year, according to Michele Bewley, an assistant to Sukhatme.
Last year's poetry contest brought in nearly 1300 entries, Bewley said. While the contest has received fewer submissions this year, Bewley said they have attracted young poets from all over the country.
"We have fewer contestants this year," says Bewley, "but now entries are coming in from all different states-Wyoming, Wisconsin, England, Texas, even from students in juvenile correction facilities."
Guest judges from the English department, often hailed as having one of the nation's leading poetics programs, will judge the poetry. The first place winner will receive $200.
A Poetry Awards Ceremony will be held for the winners on April 3 at 1 p.m. in the Center for the Arts.
"It is an opportunity for outreach to high school students with poetic inclinations, and to let them know about the high quality of the poetics program in our Department of English," Sukhatme said.
Such a national interest advertises the university to a wide audience, according to Bewley.
"This way, potential students get to know UB's name," Bewley said. "And that's what you want to do for the university-get the word out."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
