Chemistry department ‘will not hold in-person’ labs
By REILLY MULLEN | Mar. 12, 2020UB’s chemistry department will not hold in-person lab sessions during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mandatory “distance-learning model” for SUNY and CUNY schools.
UB’s chemistry department will not hold in-person lab sessions during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mandatory “distance-learning model” for SUNY and CUNY schools.
Students in UB’s Theatre and Dance department sent letters to the department chair, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, provost and president asking for an exception to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s newly implemented “distance-learning” class model.
Students were confused Wednesday as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and UB announced a move to a “distance-learning” model on March 23 for the rest of the spring semester.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced all SUNY and CUNY schools will transition to online classes starting March 19 during a press conference Wednesday at 1:45 p.m.
The Spectrum’s editorial board elected Senior News Editor Alexandra Moyen, a sophomore English major, as editor-in-chief for the 2020-21 academic year. Moyen ran unopposed and won the election in a 16-1 vote. Her campaign platform emphasized the importance of minority voices and building upon The Spectrum’s web-based news coverage, with an emphasis on social media engagement.
Students found a live bat in the fountain beverage machine tray in C3 Thursday evening. Campus Dining and Shops suspects the bat entered from an outside hallway or an open door and that it was an isolated incident, according to Marketing Manager Ray Kohl. Kohl said the bat did not come into contact with guests, staff or food. CDS called a local exterminator to assess the situation and advise whether or not CDS needs further extermination services.
Student Association executive board elections will take place from Tuesday, March 24 through Thursday, March 26. Current students who want to run for the 2020-21 e-board must have a minimum 2.0 grade point average and a petition with at least 200 signatures from undergraduate students.
Salaah Khan says she feels sick and helpless watching the news about her home country, India. She says she is horrified by the lynch mobs, the burning neighborhoods and the religious intolerance that has spread across the country in recent weeks. In the country’s capital of Delhi, at least 53 people, mostly Muslim, were killed and 200 were injured during street riots initiated by Hindu nationalist mobs.
Student Association President Yousouf Amolegbe has waited for a follow-up decision on his now five-plus-week suspension, as the SA Board of Directors continues to vote to keep it in place. The BOD met Thursday as SA Treasurer Kendra Harris motioned to reopen the discussion of Amolgebe’s suspension.
Students felt Shira Gabriel was best equipped to help in a hypothetical apocalypse during UB’s annual Life Raft Debate on Wednesday.
Members of the UB Chinese community have raised $19,142 to send medical supplies to hospitals in Hubei province, China after a UB student began a donation program on Jan. 20. Yuqi Pang, a senior marketing major and vice chairwoman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, started the program on Jan. 20 and joined Chinese students around the world by raising money to stock hospitals in Hubei province with supplies. Pang’s efforts allowed UB Chinese students and local Chinese residents to raise $19,142 for hospitals in Hubei province.
Emma Valvo opened her phone Monday morning to an overwhelming feeling of relief. The social work master’s student had just found out Harvey Weinstein was convicted of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act.
When Gabriella Galizia* returned from her UB study abroad trip to Italy on Friday, no one at JFK screened her for the coronavirus or put her in quarantine. “I flew into JFK and there was no temperature screening,” Galizia said. “There was nothing and that surprised me. It was actually scary. Like I actually would’ve wanted to be screened.”
Students followed along Tuesday as democrats rallied around former Vice President Joe Biden on “Super Tuesday,” when he regained the front-runner position in the 2020 democratic primary.
United University Professions, the SUNY faculty union, rallied for more state funding for SUNY on Feb. 25 at Buffalo State College and at other campuses statewide. Roughly 70 UB and Buffalo State UUP leaders and students, many wearing red in support of UUP, met in Buffalo State’s Campbell Student Union at 12:30 p.m. to hear speeches from state, state and UUP leaders and officials.
UB is recommending students studying abroad in Italy stay there amid the country’s coronavirus outbreak. There are currently 11 UB students studying abroad in Italy with UB’s Rome, Florence, Tuscania and “Three Cities” programs, as well as a foreign exchange program with University of Rome La Sapienza.
UB spends over $23 million more on administrative salaries than the average of their “peer institutions,” according to an accounting professor’s independent financial analysis report. The analysis, conducted by Eastern Michigan University’s Howard Bunsis, found roughly 13% of the money UB spends on salaries is on upper administration.
By 2026, a four-story wellness and recreation facility featuring pools, basketball courts and artificial turf fields will likely stand where The Commons and the University Bookstore are now located. Representatives from CannonDesign, an integrated design firm working on the project, unveiled project boards and 3D models of the proposed Wellness and Recreation Center at the Student Union Wednesday.
Campus Dining and Shops and other businesses around campus will stop offering single-use plastic bags as part of the state-wide plastic bag ban beginning March 1. New York State created the law to reduce waste and other negative environmental impacts. All businesses required to collect NYS sales tax will be banned from distributing plastic bags, even during tax-exempt sales. Businesses are not required to provide alternative bags, like paper bags, so NYS encourages consumers to carry reusable bags with them.
Former UB basketball player Rodney Pierce was one of four people arrested Tuesday in a Buffalo drug-trafficking bust. Pierce, 32, was arrested and charged with conspiring to distribute 500 grams “or more” of cocaine. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and maximum of 40 years in prison.