News - The Spectrum

NEWS

MAC Gaining Football Notoriety

By MICHAEL SCOTT | Aug. 31, 2001

Like that nervous kid with acne who stands in the corner at your party sipping a wine cooler and trying to gain the courage to slip out of his anti-social slumber, the Mid-American Conference was once just an afterthought in the gigantic fraternity party that is national college football.Not only has that kid finally come out of the corner, he's dancing with your girlfriend.The MAC has quietly gained respectability over the years, aided mostly by Marshall's success on the national stage, and is now starting to receive dividends for the conference.Another bowl game has been added, the GMAC Bowl (formerly the Mobile Alabama Bowl), to go along with the Motor City Bowl, which the MAC has participated in since 1997.

NEWS

Letter to Our Readers

By Editorial | Aug. 29, 2001

Being the reader of a newspaper should not be a passive activity. The Spectrum welcomes letters of feedback or opinion pieces from students, faculty, staff and other members of the university community.

NEWS

Pan-Am Art Decorates CFA Gallery

By MATT MUMAU | Aug. 29, 2001

One thousand pieces of memorabilia from Buffalo's 1901 Pan-American Exposition, on loan from antiques collectors from across the country, will decorate UB's University Art Gallery, located in the Center for the Arts, through the end of September.The exhibit, titled "Tangible Memories," documents the six-month long 1901 World's Fair.

NEWS

Stem-Cell Research

By Editorial | Aug. 29, 2001

President Bush announced this month that the federal government will no longer fund research involving stem-cells obtained at the cost of destroying human embryos, nor will the United States support any other research utilizing newly- created stem cells.

NEWS

Feet First

By MICHAEL LUCINSKI | Aug. 29, 2001

"Where would you rather be than right here, right now?"Marv LevyHi, my name is Michael Lucinski. You might remember me from such films as "The President's Neck is Missing" and "The Erotic Adventures of Hercules." Since drawing the short straw among the editors, I've been allowed the honor of walking the newest additions to the UB family, freshmen, through dorm life.Freshmen commuters that are tempted to turn to the sports section should read this, too.

NEWS

Students Plug Into UB's Campus Movie Channel

By MICHAEL LUCINSKI | Aug. 29, 2001

"Oh, hey. What are the new movies?" This is more than just a question but a weekly, if brief, ritual for thousands of UB students living in the on-campus residence halls and apartment complexes.As screenshots of the new films cycle through, most give a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down." When the verdict is negative, a variation of the question "Who picked that?" inevitably follows.The answer: students did.By participating in a little electronic democracy, students have the ability to choose what movies will air, though it's rare they actually take advantage of the opportunity."Not many people make requests," said Brian Haggerty, Governors Complex coordinator.The selection process begins when a list of roughly 50 films is compiled that, when completed, will be pared down to the 12 shown each month.

NEWS

Flint Village Opens Its Doors to 536 Students

By ELIZABETH M. FOX-SOLOMON | Aug. 29, 2001

Five years ago, some 3,800 students resided on UB's North Campus. Now, over 5,500 students call the Amherst campus home, with a new apartment-style complex cropping up along the perimeter of campus each year since 1998.Flint Village, the latest installment in the university's long-term plan for increased student housing, opened its doors to students Aug.

NEWS

Not Just a Game But a Way of Life - or Death

By TAI KHANDAKER | Aug. 29, 2001

Take a look around the sports page. Notice anything? Yeah, maybe we're a bit too focused on Football.

NEWS

Bulls Look to Shock the World

By MICHAEL SCOTT | Aug. 29, 2001

Across the front entrance to Alumni Arena is a banner that reads, "We Can Shock The World," referring to the Bulls' football game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this Thursday night at UB Stadium.Easier said than done.The game will be the beginning of new UB head football coach Jim Hofer's regime, but he won't be the only one looking to make a good first impression.For Rutgers, a new coaching era also will begin Thursday night.

NEWS

UB Offers Master's Degree in Education Via Distance Learning

By ADAM SMITH | Aug. 29, 2001

Beginning this fall, students working towards a master's degree in general education will never have to be in the same room with a professor.A joint effort between the UB Graduate School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences has formed a new distance-learning program, allowing students to complete coursework via online resources and teleconference rooms set up in various locations around western New York.While UB has offered classes in a similar format before, the new degree will mark the first time that students can complete an entire degree program through distance learning.Participants can attend classes in one of three locations: Jamestown High School in Chautauqua County, Cuba-Rushford High School in Cattaraugus, and Niagara Academy in Niagara County.

NEWS

Bulls Kick Off New Era

By MATT ALBERT | Aug. 29, 2001

When the Bulls said goodbye to former Head Coach Craig Cirbus last season, they were making a statement that he had taken them as far as he could go.

NEWS

Barbara Bono

By Editorial | Aug. 29, 2001

Last May, Professor Barbara Bono was fired as chair of the English department by Charles Stinger, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

NEWS

Don't Test Me

By STEFANIE ALAIMO | Aug. 29, 2001

I'll never forget the day I took the SAT. It was a sweltering hot and cloudy day and there I was, sitting in a nearby Catholic high school, with three perfectly sharpened number two pencils in hand.

NEWS

Rutgers Game To Have Carnival Atmosphere

By MICHAEL SCOTT | Aug. 29, 2001

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will be heavy favorites going in to their game with the UB Bulls Thursday night at UB Stadium ... if they can make it to the field.Given the enormous number of events being put on by the Office of Student Unions and Activities in conjunction with SA and RHA, getting to the field might be more of a challenge than expected.This year student tickets are valid not for the topmost level of seating, but for seats in the West Grandstand directly behind the opposing team's sideline.It is expected to be the largest student body to ever attend a UB football game.

NEWS

Sharks Bite Close to Shore

By MICHAEL LUCINSKI | Aug. 29, 2001

Turn-of-the-century America was a time of ascendancy for the "young" republic. The Victorian-minded men and women of that age considered their world the pinnacle of reason and scientific enlightenment.

NEWS

TA Protest Leads to Chair's Dismissal

By SARA PAULSON | Aug. 29, 2001

The CauseWhen Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Charles Stinger asked Barbara Bono, then-chair of the English department, to forward an e-mail May 17 to teaching assistants in her department, her refusal to support the e-mail's contents led to her immediate dismissal as chair.The e-mail Bono refused to send warned the graduate students that any delay in the submission of undergraduate student grades past deadline would result in non-renewal of TA positions for the coming school year.

NEWS

3 Doors Down to Headline Alternative Fall Fest

By STEFANIE ALAIMO | Aug. 29, 2001

The Student Association and the University Union Activities Board have announced that chart-toppers 3 Doors Down will headline Fall Fest 2001, accompanied by Everclear, Nickel Back and Seven Channels.3 Doors Down are best known for their hits "Kryptonite," "Loser" and "Duck and Run," from their multi-platinum album "The Better Life." The band's new single, "Be Like That," was featured on the soundtrack for the recent hit movie "American Pie 2."Everclear, the most well known of the opening acts, first achieved commercial success with "Santa Monica," off their 1995 album "Sparkle and Fade.""We're expecting a good turn out," said SA President Christian Oliver."This should be a big event."Returning students can anticipate significant changes and improvements to this year's Fest, which SA expects to be more successful than its predecessors."The past three [Fests] have been all hip-hop," said Keith Hessian, music coordinator for UUAB.

NEWS

Women's Soccer Looks To Prove the Critics Wrong

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG | Aug. 29, 2001

The UB women's soccer team, on the wings of last season, which ended with a regular season record of 14-6-1 (8-2-1 MAC), is once again looking to soar despite the loss of seven seniors."This year we only have one returning senior, but 13 players overall returning, including sophomores and juniors.

NEWS

Elmwood Arts Festival

By MATT MUMAU | Aug. 29, 2001

Elmwood Avenue hosted its annual festival for the arts last weekend, featuring an array of western New York artisans, musicians and dancers in a creative setting for local residents and families.Booths filled with paintings, carvings, photographs, jewelry, pottery and other forms of art lined the avenue while music from local bands and singers entertained pedestrians.

NEWS

Quest for Cheap Rent Leaves Students Searching

By GENE PARK | Aug. 29, 2001

Hal Brown needs somebody to help pay off his rent.As a graduate student studying school counseling at UB, Brown is actively looking for a roommate to live with in his Richmond Avenue house in Buffalo."If I don't find a roommate, I would pay everything - $300 in all.