NEWS
Mechanical smackdown
By REILLY MULLEN | Feb. 23, 2020UB hosts an annual fight club. But it isn’t an underground ring pitting students against each other for Dining Dollar prizes.
News
NEWS
Students urge UB Foundation to ‘divest’ from fossil fuels
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Feb. 20, 2020UB Divest conducted a phone-banking drive on Wednesday, urging the UB Foundation (UBF) to “completely divest” from all investments related to the fossil fuel industry.
NEWS
Suspect connected to South Campus thefts to face charges
By KATHERINE THOMAS | Feb. 19, 2020A woman banned from UB property on Jan. 14 is facing charges after University Police found her to be connected to five thefts reported on several of UB’s South Campus buildings. UPD is currently working with the Erie County District Attorney’s office to indict Wright, covering all the thefts into one plea agreement in the coming months.
NEWS
Quarantined students worry they may lose visa statuses, won’t graduate on time
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA and SHUYI LI | Feb. 16, 2020Emily Mingxia’s* sophomore year at UB came to a halt when she was quarantined in Wuhan, China before she could return to Buffalo. Mingxia said UB was unable to offer solutions to her predicament, as she said she may graduate later than expected and might lose her student visa as a result.
NEWS
Student Association president’s fate in limbo after six-hour meeting, board of directors planning meeting to further discuss
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA and BRENTON J. BLANCHET | Feb. 13, 2020The Student Association Board of Directors spent six hours Tuesday night discussing the suspension of SA President Yousouf Amolegbe and voted against lifting his suspension. Close to 80 students –– many of whom came in support of Amolegbe –– watched, spoke and shared their thoughts during and after the meeting, which lasted from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 12 a.m. Wednesday.
NEWS
UB awarded $21.7 million Clinical and Translational Science Award renewal
By REILLY MULLEN | Feb. 13, 2020The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health awareded UB a five-year $21.7 million award renewal for increasing community involvement in clinical research on Feb. 10.
NEWS
UB students, Amherst police officer in car crash identified
By ALEXANDRA MOYEN | Feb. 10, 2020Amherst police released the names of the five UB students and the Amherst police officer involved in the Jan. 31 Sheridan Drive car crash on Friday. APD identified the officer involved as John Rusch and the five UB students as driver Brenna Sullivan, passengers Cara Wojtach, Mary Devaney, Savanna Hinten and Sophia Calleo.
NEWS
SA president suspended due to deal with rapper, according to board of directors member
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Feb. 10, 2020A member of the Student Association Board of Directors (BOD) told The Spectrum, on the condition of anonymity, the primary reason for SA President Yousouf Amolegbe’s suspension is that Amolegbe planned to host rapper Fivio Foreign at SA’s Trap Fest on the same night he planned to host the rapper for an event hosted by RAGE Boyz Entertainment, a company he is co-CEO of. Under Amolegbe’s deal, SA would have paid Fivio Foreign $9,500, which would cover his transportation to Buffalo and enable RAGE Boyz to book him for “much cheaper,” according to the BOD member. The deal was stopped before it was finalized. The BOD member said SA and university professional staff stopped the deal, while other officials said Amolegbe stopped the deal.
NEWS
Student Association president indefinitely suspended for alleged conflict-of-interest violations
By ALEXANDRA MOYEN and JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Feb. 9, 2020The Student Association’s Board of Directors voted to suspend SA President Yousouf Amolegbe on Friday. The vote came after SA’s Rules, Administration and Government Oversight Committee (RAGO) found Amolegbe guilty of nine SA policy violations, including alleged conflict-of-interest violations concerning his role as co-CEO of entertainment company RAGE Boyz, according to Amolegbe.
NEWS
Students search for common ground with College of Arts and Sciences dean
By ALEXANDRA MOYEN | Feb. 5, 2020During a heated two-hour meeting on Tuesday, a group of Black Student Union members challenged College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robin Schulze on UB’s minority hiring and retention process, on the low numbers of black faculty and on the future of the struggling African and African American Studies Program.
NEWS
Committee confirms Student Association president suspended for potential conflict-of-interest violations
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Feb. 5, 2020The Student Association Board of Directors (BOD) will keep documents which led to SA President Yousouf Amolegbe’s suspension private until at least next Tuesday, 11 days after the vote to suspend him. But students say they want answers now.
NEWS
Black Student Union, Buffalo community host Black History Month events
By REILLY MULLEN | Feb. 5, 2020The Black Student Union is teaming up with several organizations in honor of Black History Month, where they hope to promote relationships between black students and faculty and provide black students with mentors and networking opportunities.
NEWS
UBIT explains Friday’s campus-wide network outage
By ALEXANDRA MOYEN | Feb. 2, 2020Last Friday, UB experienced a campus-wide network outage which caused either a steady or complete loss of connection, according to UB Information and Technology. The campus-wide outage was caused by the network’s core primary router hardware failing and rebooting, according to UBIT, then a “few seconds later” the same thing happened to its backup router.
NEWS
Friday crash leaves five students injured, two critically injured, as of Saturday
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA and BRENTON J. BLANCHET | Feb. 2, 2020Five students were injured, two critically injured, as of Saturday morning following a Friday night car accident on Sheridan Drive near Sweet Home Road, according to Amherst Police. A 20-year-old student from Centereach, NY was driving a 2012 Chevrolet when the vehicle and Amherst Police vehicle collided shortly before midnight, according to the Amherst Police. UB spokesperson Cory Nealon says Amherst Police is investigating the collision.
NEWS
Iranian students fear immigration hardships may amplify during political tension
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Jan. 30, 2020Graduate student Gheysar Jebelli* tries to avoid news stories about his home country, Iran. They upset him and distract him from his academic studies. But when his friend texted him on Jan. 8 that Iran had fired missiles at an Iraqi airbase housing U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S.’ assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, Jebelli became distressed. He kept his eyes glued to the headlines.
NEWS
A. Scott Weber prepares for provost role, talks diversity and student retention
By REILLY MULLEN | Jan. 30, 2020Students have a lot of questions for A. Scott Weber as he transitions into his role as the second-highest UB official. But they mainly want to know one thing: What does the “A” stand for?
NEWS
Construction ‘confusion’
By ALEXANDRA MOYEN | Jan. 29, 2020Navigating North Campus has left some students “confused” during syllabus week, as the on-going One World Café construction, which began May 20, has led to certain areas being closed off.
NEWS
Students express concerns, difficulties despite ‘low’ local risk of coronavirus
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Jan. 29, 2020Bella Chen* notices when people glare at the surgical mask she started wearing after her trip to the Hubei province in China this winter. She says the looks are hurtful and add to what is already a stressful situation.
NEWS
Iranian students fear immigration hardships may amplify during political tension
By JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA | Jan. 29, 2020Graduate student Gheysar Jebelli* tries to avoid news stories about his home country, Iran. They upset him and distract him from his academic studies. But when his friend texted him on Jan. 8 that Iran had fired missiles at an Iraqi airbase housing U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S.’ assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, Jebelli became distressed. He kept his eyes glued to the headlines.
NEWS
Future of Asian Studies Program uncertain following director’s resignation
By JACKLYN WALTERS | Jan. 13, 2020Students and faculty are concerned for the future of UB’s Asian Studies Program following Walter Hakala’s Dec. 10 resignation as director. Many said they feel College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robin Schulze is to blame.
