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Catchy 'Elevator' music

"Elevator," the third album created by Canadian dance-rock quartet Hot Hot Heat, continues to put a happy face on teenage angst.The recent success of bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and Temper Temper has brought popular music's obsession with 80s culture to a boiling point.


NEWS

GSA election nets few voters

With one day left to vote for executive positions in the Graduate Student Association elections, the majority of UB's sizeable graduate student population has yet to rush to the polls.As of Tuesday evening, just over 350 students voted.


The Spectrum
NEWS

The Sharpest Point

Judged by JENNIFER GILLAN, Sports EditorIt's the consolation round here at The Spectrum's "The Sharpest Point." This week, it's the battle of the Dans: Daniel "New Hotness" Honigman against Daniel "Not-so New Highlight" Gvertz.The topic: Who is going to be the first big name to fall victim to the new Major League Baseball steroid policy?The Stay Puf't second basemanBy DANIEL B.


NEWS

Ninety minutes in Baghdad

The palace is completely in ruins. Rubble and debris surround the stairs and piles of twisted wires, splintered wood, and shattered glass lie scattered in every room.This bombed-out Iraqi palace, once the venue for lavish weekend parties hosted by Saddam's son Uday Hussein, is the setting for filmmaker Michael Tucker's documentary, "Gunner Palace."Most American citizens have a strong opinion about the war in Iraq.


NEWS

"Win some, lose some"

After taking two of three this weekend against Akron, the UB softball team split a doubleheader Monday afternoon against cross-town rival Canisius College.The Bulls (10-23 overall, 6-6 Mid-American Conference) won the first game in extra innings by a score of 1-0, but the Golden Griffins (6-10 overall) captured game two with a lopsided score of 7-2.In the first game, senior centerfielder Ann Magur stepped up to the plate with no outs and a runner on second.


NEWS

Baseball drops two to Eagles

UB baseball came back down the 290 empty handed Tuesday night, losing both games of a doubleheader to Big Four rival Niagara University, 2-1 and 4-3."Every game is important but we like to win the ones where we're playing our local guys like Niagara, Canisius, and St.


NEWS

Painting the town pink

Every starving artist needs to possess certain qualities: a passion for their work, a unique approach to art and disdain for at least one parent.Ariel Pink, L.A.-based musician and mixmaster extraordinaire, has all three.Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, coming to Buffalo with Animal Collective on Thursday, is an underground one-man band that devotes itself to creating synthesized beats, rough vocals and layered instrumentation, most of which Pink manages himself."I'll be jostling melodies around in my head, some come almost totally formed, some come in tiny pieces," the 26-year-old musician said.


The Spectrum
NEWS

Borderline sacrifice

Taking a casual trip into Canada is about to become a whole lot less casual. Starting in 2008, everyone, including newborns, will require a passport to get back into the United States from our northern neighbor.


NEWS

Breakdowns press alternate buses into service

While UB waits for its new fleet of customized buses to hit the pavement in May, students have been surprised and annoyed to discover a downgrade in bus quality when they've expected the opposite.An alternate fleet, ranging from luxury limousines to yellow school buses, has taken over during the past two weeks for many of the soon-to-be-replaced Coach USA buses.According to transportation officials, Coach USA has encountered maintenance problems with its usual fleet, so UB has accommodated the company by allowing Coach USA to sub-contract local transportation services to fulfill its contract with the university.At the end of this semester, Cognisa will replace Coach USA as UB's sole transportation provider after 25 years of service.Chris Austin, the adjudication and transportation coordinator of Parking and Transportation Services, said there was no connection between the change in buses and Coach USA's upcoming termination of service."This could have happened at any given time," Austin said.


NEWS

Sphere sale comes full circle

The Sphere Entertainment Complex, which hosted the Student Association's DJ Series until a spate of violent shootings this year, will be under new ownership by the end of May, according to the new owners.Artie Kwitchoff, former manager of the Goo Goo Dolls, is in the final stages of purchasing the downtown venue.With financial help from a small group of partners, Kwitchoff said he plans to turn the Sphere into a concert club that will feature live music.Renovations are planned for the summer months and a grand re-opening, complete with a new name, is set for September."It's going to be less of a restaurant in the front, and more of an adult bar," Kwitchoff said.


NEWS

The two-year advantage

Community colleges, regardless of what many may think, are more than they are cracked up to be.In the small town where I grew up, we referred to the nearby community college sarcastically as Harvard on the Hill, but realistically as High School Part Two.The school acquired these nicknames mostly because the classes were rumored as easy, but also because a ton of kids from high school go there after graduation.So if the school is that much of a laughingstock, why do so many people go?While I was there, I couldn't figure out why I was spending the first two years of my college career at a school where you live at home and drive at least 30 minutes to visit your friends that went away to school to have a good time.


NEWS

Hypocritical dressers

Some artists are content with playing serenely in the background. Others prefer center stage.The Plain White T's won't settle for less than the listener's full attention.The T's have earned a reputation as one of the hardest-touring bands on the Fearless Records label, performing up to 250 shows in a year.


NEWS

Students honor favorite professors

Five professors were recognized on Monday as some of the most popular teachers at UB, and awarded for their efforts in the classroom, at the annual presentation of the Milton Plesur Excellence in Teaching Awards.The winners this year include Associate Professor Timothy Boyd, Department of Classics; Professor Jessie Carter, African-American Studies; Adjunct Professor Larry Davis, Marketing; Assistant Professor Lynne Formato, Theater and Dance; and Albert Michaels, Department of History.The Student Association, which gives out the awards, hosted a ceremony for the winners Monday in the Student Union Flag Room where friends, colleagues and students turned out to honor the five professors.Shirley Yiu, a business major who participated in a panel of students who chose the recipients, said 60 students nominated 20 teachers for the award.


NEWS

Just a jersey

Monday was a day I never thought I would have to live through. I never ever thought I would be watching SportsCenter and see clips of the Boston Red Sox hanging a World Series Championship banner.Not only did I have to swallow that pill but also they were celebrating their accomplishment in front of my Yankees.


The Spectrum
NEWS

Sidelines

Bulls of the WeekAfter posting impressive individual performances in their respective sports, Chandra Hazey of the women's crew team and pitcher Tony Kurtz of the baseball team were named UB athletes of the week.Hazey came up big for UB's Varsity 8 boat, filling in a vacancy, yet the team saw no drop in performance.


NEWS

Officials working to make online course syllabi a reality

Student Association and UB officials hope to have a program in place by August that would post course syllabi online and allow students to better plan for classes.SA President Anthony Burgio, who made the syllabi program a goal of his last fall, has been working with Michael Ryan, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, to promote the idea around campus.If implemented, course syllabi would be available months before the start of the semester, allowing students to prepare early for classes and judge what they are getting into.Burgio and Ryan outlined their proposal at a Faculty Senate meeting last Wednesday and fielded faculty questions.


NEWS

UB grad breaks into Hollywood

Having found success in the intensely competitive show-business world of Hollywood, UB graduate Parry Shen has learned to juggle an acting job and a teaching profession along with fatherhood.


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