News

---

Ben Sargent Cartoon 4.29.05

This weekend in Buffalo

Sidelines

MAC honors for VanceSarah Vance, of the UB women's track and field team, had a record-setting day on Saturday at the UB Open.

Faculty Senate prepares to write new conduct codes

UB's faculty conduct policies, which many critics over the years have called vague and unfamiliar, will finally be revamped.Officials at Wednesday's Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting said that the new Faculty Code of Conduct, at President Simpson's urging, would consolidate the several policies in use right now into one clear document.Officials say they hope the new policy will provide a missing consistency while also clarifying the process for conduct violations, officials said.Peter Nickerson, the chair of the Faculty Senate, said the new code might expand the scope of already existing conduct codes."We are trying to determine what specificity we need for this document," said Peter Nickerson, chair of the Faculty Senate.

Mud pit beckons those crazy Oozfesters

Is all that studying and paper-writing driving you nuts? Are you in need of an escape for a day to unwind and release that end-of-semester stress?Would flinging yourself face-first into a big pile of mud do the trick?Twenty-one years ago, a handful of students and faculty answered 'yes' to that question, and now over two decades later, Oozfest is one of UB's most popular and messiest traditions.Sponsored by the UB Student Alumni Board, Oozfest was specifically created to give students a break from their studies at the end of the spring semester.

UB announces Dalai Lama's visit to campus

In the 18 years of the Distinguished Speaker Series, the UB community has seen its share of big names, and in September 2006 the Dalai Lama will top that list.The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and Tibet's exiled head of state, has agreed to come to UB during his next visit to the United States, according to UB officials.

Making the bucks

College students are notorious for scavenging for money. Adam Kern and Vishnu Reddy, two students who started their own businesses from scratch, no longer have that problem.Adam Kern, a junior mechanical engineering major, fooled around with the idea of starting his own business for a long time before finally putting his dreams into action in Sept.

Correcting society's inherent inequality

In response to several feedbacks regarding affirmative action, let's hear a perspective from the other side of the fence where there is no green grass.I would like to start with a quote from the ACLU executive director, Ira Glasser (who retired in 2001): "Eighty percent of the poor in New York City are black and Latino; the unemployment rate for young black men hovers around 40 percent; a large number of black Americans who use or deal in drugs are arrested while the same activities by white Americans are largely ignored; 80 percent of the Americans who die from curable diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, and gallbladder disease are black; and few white Americans advocate spending money on the kind of programs that would eliminate many of these phenomena."For universities or colleges to give racial, ethnic and gender minorities, as well as economically disadvantaged people, a 10 percent or so point advantage in consideration of admissions is definitely in the interest of potentially having the unheard voices of these diverse populations heard on our campuses across America.

New business building opens to high expectations

The Alfiero Center, a new $7 million building devoted solely to the School of Management, opened for business with a formal dedication ceremony on Tuesday after three years of planning and construction.Every inch of the 23,000-square-foot facility next to Jacobs Hall has been designed and intended for student use.According to John Thomas, the dean of the School of Management, there is not one office or administrative section in the entire center, which features an Internet caf?

Fox rut

For years, people have complained about the lameness of newspaper comics. It is rare that a nationally syndicated comic has the ability to amuse on even a semi-regular basis."Marmaduke," "Blondie" and the consistently banal "Family Circus" hearken back to a joke style that has been dead for 40 years, since the days of Gomer Pyle and Andy Griffith.The 2005 FoxTrot collection, "Orlando Bloom Has Ruined Everything" is updated in terms of its pop-culture references and tech-jargon, but its sense of humor is not.People who apparently lead the most ordinary lives possible should not write comics.

Controversial novelist coming to UB Thursday

Acclaimed writer and intellectual Salman Rushdie, who redefined the modern novel while sparking controversy in the Islamic world, is set to speak at Alumni Arena Thursday night as the finale for this year's Distinguished Speaker Series."We're just very happy he's here," said Bill Regan, director of the Office of Special Events.

Sidelines

Barstad blistering for BullsSophie Barstad of the softball team has been named the Mid-American Conference East Division pitcher of the week.

It was all good just a week ago

Now that the judicial side of Wallace Hall's arrest seems to be crystallizing, we have to start considering the actions the team will take.

Barking up a strange tree

It opens with a siren wailing and it ends with the stampede of horses.Doesn't exactly fit under the traditional definition of music, huh?"Never Let Them Catch You Crying" is the new album from More Dogs.

Army intrudes into the bedroom

Most military laws regarding soldier behavior make sense. There are the obvious rules, like those against murder, kidnapping and theft.

Criticism lacked direction

I agree that affirmative action has its limitations (Letters, April 25), but at the moment there are no other conceivable solutions to this problem.

Plenty of sax appeal

Get ten saxophones together and it sounds like an accordion.Luckily, that was a good sound for many of the ragtime and jazz selections played by the UB Saxophone Ensemble Sunday afternoon in Lippes Concert Hall.

The triumphant return of the Spectrys

Well, we're wrapping up the semester here at UB, and like every year, all the sports - college and professional - seem to dull down just in time for finals.So to liven things up a bit, we here at The Spectrum bring to you the second annual Spectrys!These are the most prestigious awards given out by any UB publication.

Scoreboard

BaseballTuesday:Bonaventure5Buffalo2

Evaluations' effectiveness debated

If there's one sure sign students can count on every year to remind them the semester is coming to a close, it's teacher evaluations.Passed out in classes and arriving in e-mail inboxes, the surveys filled out to rate professors and classes tend to draw mixed opinions on whether they are effective.