Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announced Monday his office won’t file criminal charges for the April 2019 death of 18-year-old UB freshman Sebastian Serafin-Bazan. Serafin-Bazan was found unconscious on the lawn of 69 Custer St., which belonged to the Sigma Pi fraternity, on April 12, 2019. He later died on April 17.
Howard Bunsis –– the Eastern Michigan University accounting professor who reported UB spends more on administration than any of its “peers” –– denies UB’s statement that his independent financial analysis had a “preconceived agenda.” Bunsis’ report, which he released in February, called UB financial reporting “less transparent” than any of the over 100 universities he examined over the last 15 years. UB’s response urged readers to be “very skeptical of its findings” and said Bunsis had a “preconceived agenda” because he was hired. UB said the “report contains several flaws, inaccuracies and inconsistencies that misrepresent and misinterpret UB’s budget and budgeting process.” But Bunsis, in an April 3 email, said his report was based on “facts.”
UB will host a virtual commencement ceremony for its class of 2020, according to a Monday email from President Satish Tripathi. Planning for the online ceremony is underway, according to Tripathi, with schools expected to email students graduation details in the coming weeks. The email did not name which online platforms UB would make available for the ceremony’s streaming.
The Food and Drug Administration gave UB and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center permission Wednesday to begin a “collaborative clinical study” using an experimental drug, sarilumab, to try to treat some COVID-19 effects. Igor Puzanov, the trial’s co-principal investigator, hopes the drug, which reduces inflammation, may alleviate some of COVID-19’s worst symptoms like lung injury.
UB named Kemper Lewis dean of UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Provost A. Scott Weber announced Wednesday.
Mingchen Cai went home to China over winter break to see his family. Upon returning to Buffalo, he had to self-isolate. But Cai never anticipated New York becoming a virus hotspot. Now, he feels “trapped.” Cai is just one of many international students at UB who decided to stay in Buffalo as U.S. COVID-19 cases rose from 5,000 to more than 130,000 across the nation in the last two weeks.
The Student Association has “approximately” $900,000 of student fees left from this semester after SA cancelled all events, activities and meetings until May 16, according to SA Treasurer Kendra Harris. Harris said she’s pursuing prorated refunds for students’ activity fees.
A medical student tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Wednesday email from Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Michael Cain.
Commencement is a rite of passage for students who spend years studying, interning and researching their way to the graduation stage, but this spring, UB will not hold its scheduled commencement ceremonies for the class of 2020.
UB will allow students to resign classes and elect to have their grading changed from a letter grade to satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) through the last day of spring 2020 exams, the university announced Saturday.
Student Association elections will take place 10 a.m. Tuesday until 5 p.m. Thursday through UBLinked, according to members of the elections committee. While elections usually take place at a physical polling location in the Student Union, this year’s move to online voting comes after UB’s switch to a “distance-learning” model and SA’s cancellation of all other SA events.
UB ordered students to not return to on-campus dorms and apartments Wednesday night, hours after UB President Satish Tripathi announced that a community member tested positive for COVID-19.
A UB community member tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday and is currently in mandatory isolation in their off-campus residence, according to an email from UB President Satish Tripathi.
UB Provost A. Scott Weber recognizes this “changing” situation (before our interview, the housing refund news was hours away). He talked to The Spectrum via phone Tuesday as UB adjusts to a new reality: the coronavirus/COVID-19 global health pandemic has caused UB to shift to a “distance-learning” model effective March 23.
After university officials announced Wednesday that “dining will be open for students who remain on campus” given a “distance-learning” shift at UB, students woke up to the contrary on Saturday. Security gates shut down popular on-campus food establishments Saturday and the only places open on campus were in The Commons, which does not accept student dining plans.
As UB canceled everything, Daymond John was the maestro for a crowd of over 50 people as they defied social-distancing regulations so he could talk about a TV show. Daymond John said he saw “future” and “current sharks” in the audience of UB students who were taking notes during his speech Wednesday.
The Mid-American Conference canceled all remaining regular season and championship competitions for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year, commissioner Jon Steinbrecher announced Thursday. “During this unprecedented health crisis that continues to evolve daily, we fully support the decision made today by the Mid-American Conference and the NCAA,” UB Athletics Director Mark Alnutt said in a press release. “While we are disappointed for our student-athletes, coaches and staff who have worked diligently to prepare this spring and have had their seasons cut short, their health, safety and well-being will always be our top priority.”
Cybercriminals are using phishing attacks to take advantage of COVID-19 worries, according to UB Information Technology. The Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization warned that cybercriminals are using the organnizations’ names and images for phishing attacks –– when cybercriminals pose as reputable organizations to convince people to share personal information. The University of Michigan warned students to beware of scams including: promotion of products that claim to prevent, treat or cure COVID-19; requests for money from fraudulent charities; misinformation; phishing; and links to malicious websites disguised as COVID-19 maps. UBIT wrote in a news release that “phishing emails will likely include alerts and warnings about the coronavirus outbreak, along with a link.”
All School of Engineering and Applied Sciences courses, including labs and tests, will be taught online beginning March 23, following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mandatory “distance-learning model.”
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.
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