10/15 5:07 p.m. A caller reported a dumpster fire near the solar panels between Flint and Rensch. Playback footage showed the fire, but patrol confirmed the fire was out when they arrived on scene.
Students marched to Davis Hall Friday demanding the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences end its partnerships with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
Nyle DiMarco taught the Center for the Arts crowd how to sign “love yourself” in American Sign Language Wednesday night. He wanted everyone to embrace who they are and learn to “use their differences to their advantage.”
Local activists are upset with UB for its role in environmental studies on the former Tonawanda Coke plant. The plant, which manufactured coke –– a fuel made by heating coal or oil –– was convicted in 2013 for violating the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Nyle DiMarco can see the differences between himself and his deaf family members who didn't have the same access to language and education he had as a child. Now, he’s working to make sure children today have these opportunities.
Roughly 600 students reserved tickets to Fall Fest Wednesday during a two-hour unexpected ticket release, which left students confused and upset. SA planned on releasing tickets Sunday for the Nov. 8 show, which will feature rappers DaBaby and Gunna in the 1,748-capacity Center for the Arts, according to SA President Yousouf Amolegbe. He said the tickets for the student-funded show –– which cost SA roughly $190,000 and is paid for by 21,000 undergraduates’ $109 mandatory student activity fee –– released early because SA Entertainment didn’t confirm the updated release date with the UB Ticket Office.
Dinesh D’Souza says socialism is the “most discredited idea since slavery” and hopes for America to become a more capitalist society.
Native American advocates taught UB community members about the lasting effects of genocide during a “Native American Conversation” event Friday. Thirty-two students and faculty members attended the four-hour “Witness of Injustice” seminar, hosted by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Native American Community Services, at Goodyear Hall, where indigenous scholars and volunteers discussed the mass murder and removal of Native Americans during colonization. The seminar featured indigenous activists who discussed the lasting effects of displacement and genocide throughout history, and the importance of creating relationships of “peace and friendship” with Native Americans for the future.
The Muslim Student Association held “Love Shouldn’t Hurt,” a domestic violence workshop Friday, which featured guest speakers Sheikh Isma’il and April Arman. Muslim Women’s Council, a sub-group of MSA, organized the event as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Interim Provost A. Scott Weber confirmed Saturday that funded Ph.D. students will remain in assistantships, meaning they will continue to have benefits such as health insurance, dental insurance and retirement plans. Some students worried their roles would change to fellowships –– which don’t include these benefits –– when the August Ph.D. Excellence Initiative announcement stated first-year Ph.D. students will not teach classes.
UB students were elbows-deep in garbage on Wednesday, searching for sustainable ways to manage large-scale waste and encourage companies to do the same.
UB’s new Tutoring and Academic Support Services (TASS) in Capen Hall has seen roughly 1,000 students since opening on Sept. 9. Cheryl Taplin, director of student success and retention, proposed the idea for a center to teach all undergraduates, as UB’s previous tutoring services only catered to select majors. Now, UB offers free hour-long tutoring sessions in 130 Capen Hall Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Students can book appointments ahead of time through the Student Success Portal or walk in to the office, according to Vivian Jimenez, interim director of the Office for Tutoring and Academic Support Services. The 36 undergraduate and graduate tutors are paired with students based on subject.
Twenty-four students, including Latin American Student Association members, marched in the pouring rain Wednesday to demand UB celebrate its minority students. Protesters began in the Student Union and made their way, with arms linked, through the academic spine to Capen Hall.
The Student Association Assembly passed a resolution on Thursday calling on UB to “divest” from fossil fuels. Although there is no proof that UB is investing in fossil fuel industries, the resolution asks the UB Foundation, UB President Satish Tripathi, Interim Provost A. Scott Weber and the UB Council to direct “adequate attention and militant resources” toward “divesting” all UB funds from fossil fuel industries. SA Board of Directors Chair Hayden Gise introduced the resolution to the BOD on Sept. 25, but the board rejected it. Since the assembly passed the resolution, Gise said copies of the resolution will be sent “immediately” to those being asked to divest.
Roughly 100 students gathered in the Student Union as three drag queens captured the attention of passersby on National Coming Out Day Friday.
UB opened its new biorepository facility Friday, providing “state-of-the-art” storage for research samples at UB’s Clinical and Translational Research Center. The UB Biorepository is a mechanized facility that collects, processes, stores and distributes millions of biological samples and keeps them in the lab at a constant -81 degrees Celsius. Committees have been working on creating UB’s “vital” biorepository for seven years. Now, UB is the first SUNY college to have a biorepository. It is open to UB researchers as well as researchers from other public and private colleges and universities, research centers and industry partners.
Roughly $900,000 in UB transactions between 2016 and 2018 are “questionable,” according to a 20-page audit report released by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) Friday. The transactions primarily come from UB’s contractual relationships with the UB Foundation (UB Foundation Activities, Inc.) and Corr Distributors, Inc. (custodial equipment maintenance) between April 2016 and Sept. 2018. The report’s key findings criticize the university for its “poor monitoring of spending and contracting practices” which “resulted in potential lost savings and cost avoidance,” among other things.
Most students go to UB Stadium to watch football, but for those who prefer esports, the opportunity to see a SUNY-wide esports tournament at the stadium may soon be a reality. UB’s new esports team allows students to compete against other universities in various video games, with the goal of someday hosting a “massive” tournament at the UB Stadium.
Buffalo community members gathered at Third Street in Niagara Falls on Tuesday to march against domestic violence and hang purple ribbons on trees to show support for victims. Roughly 50 community members participated in the event, which featured artwork displays in the Wine on Third restaurant. Pinnacle Community Services held the walk to raise awareness for women and families who have dealt with domestic abuse and to highlight Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Passage House shelter, which helped with the event, is part of Pinnacle Community Services and provides shelter for abused women and their children.
UB President Satish Tripathi’s lunch preferences may seem plain and even incomplete ––for instance, ordering a Garden Burger with no buns –– but he assures his vision for the campus isn’t.
Solutions by The State News
