News

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Wangari Maathai represents the environment

Environmental "responsibility and accountability" was the core message of Dr. Wangari Maathai's speech to students and community members Friday night at the Center for the Arts.Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, an organization geared toward preserving the environment through planting trees, Maathai's address was presented as part of the 20th Annual Distinguished Speaker Series."It's a challenge to begin to think that in order to live with each other we need to manage the world's resources with more responsibility and accountability," Maathai said.

Belly dancing inspires creativity and confidence

For some, belly dancing has the connotation of scantily clad women moving their bodies in sexually suggestive ways.For Kathleen "Kassia" Boldt, however, it is a pure, artistic means of expression - one that has become a part of her daily life.Eleven years ago while living in Toronto, Kassia and a friend took a belly dancing class, curious to see what it would be like.

Turnovers corral Bulls

It was a defensive smorgasbord for the Ball State women's basketball team this Saturday. During the Bulls showdown against their Mid-American Conference rivals, Buffalo managed to turn the ball over 23 times, eight of which coming from the first four possessions of each half.Head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald recognized the team's lack of ball security in its 59-55 loss.

Slain rapper's family keeps pushing suit

Despite numerous setbacks, the family of slain rapper Biggie Smalls continues to pursue a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles based on a theory that a rogue LAPD detective helped orchestrate the murder.

How the average Joe can become a big shot

With new technology, a good photograph doesn't necessarily have to come from a professional. Cameras the size of a mouse can produce images similar to those seen on the sides of buildings in New York City, and even cell phones can produce decent shots.Twenty years from now, we will be rifling through photo albums on facebook wondering who the heck that beautifully possessed red-eyed demon was standing next to us in a basement in University Heights.Junior history major Joshua Walther has already found those ruined images from freshman year on his personal computer."Photographs hold a dream-like quality that helps you reanimate a sequence of events in time which occurred when the picture was taken," he said.Now, blurry overexposed photos that look like a preview for the next Terminator movie, an epidemic of poor photography, can be held at bay for even the most amateur of photographers.Daniel Calleri, the instructional support technician for the Department of Visual Studies has shed some light on a few tips that could greatly improve your photography:Compose each shot.

Sidelines

Clarke invited to MLS workoutFormer Buffalo men's soccer star Andrae Clarke has been invited to travel to Bradenton, Fla.

Spectrum Cartoon: 2.05.07

What it means to be a man

Super Bowl Sunday is probably the manliest day of the year.Twenty-four hours straight of football pre-shows and post-shows well into the wee hours of the morning.

Members only

In the basement of virtually empty building hangs a simple black and white portrait of a girl's face masked by a stocking.

"Diversity, communication top spring semester SA goals"

This semester, the Student Association will make new strides to implement changes throughout campus, increase communication and emphasize diversity throughout campus according to President Viqar Hussain.

Schedule

"There is nothing to report"

President Simpson for Erie County Executive

Tremendous prospects are in sight for Buffalo as UB President John B. Simpson and his administrative cohorts make significant headway in generating a better, brighter future for UB and Buffalo.It's about damn time.UB and the Greater Buffalo area are way behind regions of similar size when it comes to competing in the knowledge economy.Why is it that SUNY's flagship university wasn't leading the way 10 or 15 years ago?

Rookie-veteran combo leads Bulls to win

After going 1-7 in Mid-American Conference play in a dismal January, the men's basketball team happily moved ahead to February, with help from a fresh face.

Don't beat a dead...

The gates fly open, the horses charge, then snap. I rewind the tape. Snap. Again. Snap. It becomes hard to watch.

The Spectrum Watchlist

Classic: Rudy ("1993")Aspiring Notre Dame defensive end Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger follows his dreams and overcomes all odds in what is perhaps the most inspiring film of all time.

Ten years of B-sides and heartbreak

From the darkest depths of emo music, Alkaline Trio are charging up again. Since their inception in 1996, Matt Skiba and the boys have been wearing their hearts on their sleeves, and allowing their fans to really feel what it was like to be heartbroken, depressed or angry.

Track teams split up for weekend trips

Divide and conquer. The track teams did just that this weekend, as the squads were broken into two groups to compete.

Chicago jury acquits two in terror charges

A federal jury in Chicago acquitted two men Thursday of charges that they were part of a long-running conspiracy to finance Hamas activities in Israel - marking the latest defeat for the Justice Department in cases involving support for radical Palestinian groups.Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 48, a former Howard University professor from suburban Washington, and Muhammad Salah, 53, a former grocer from suburban Chicago, were found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy.

Future and growth top concerns for university

President John Simpson addressed the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) this past Wednesday, reporting on many issues critical to UB's future growth and development.Simpson reported on the status of Governor George Pataki's state budget, explaining that there would be no considerable change in funding for higher education."It's basically a budget that does nothing positive and nothing negative - it's basically neutral," Simpson said.The proposed budget would allocate enough money for basic operating costs, and would cover negotiated salary increases for faculty and staff, as well as five or six million dollars for hiring faculty of "research distinction."The budget would not, however, fund enrollment increases or change the university's tuition policy, Simpson said.Scott Nostaja, interim vice president for Human Resources, gave a presentation focusing on the university's growth in terms of student, faculty and staff population."If you think about the UB 2020 that the president, provost and others have been talking about, the overall goal is to make UB one of the great public research universities in the country," Nostaja said.

Spectrum Book Club

Book: Running with Scissors, A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs.Theme: Disturbed childhood.Film: A movie of the same title was released last fall with Annette Bening ("American Beauty"), Alec Baldwin ("The Departed"), Gwyneth Paltrow ("Shakespeare in Love") and Joseph Cross ("Flags of our Fathers").Accolades: The author, Augusten Burroughs, was named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the fifteen funniest people in America.Summary: Based on Burroughs' real life childhood, the novel is a recollection of his experiences growing up with a lesbian mother who has psychotic tendencies and a yearly nervous breakdown, and an alcoholic father.