ELIZABETH NAPOLITANO

Students show love for black culture through art
Iaisha Johnson was “nervous” approaching the stage Friday night in Goodyear Hall. But once she finally stood in front of her 45 peers, she became more confident. For three minutes, Johnson shared her pride for her culture and was a force on stage. Whenever she said, “I’m black, y’all,” her audience responded, “how black?” in unity.

Campus Dining and Shops reward points to expire ahead of new reward program launch
Students have until March 13 to redeem campus reward points at UB Campus Tees. After that, points awarded through dining dollar purchases, campus cash purchases and meal swipes will expire.  Under the current program, students can use points at any time during their UB career, but participants forfeit all accumulated points if they have not reactivated their dining plan within 12 consecutive months. Many students, unaware of the program’s rules and restrictions, unknowingly forfeited their points by failing to redeem them before the end of the 12-month period. Now, students hope others will take advantage of the program before the March 13 deadline to avoid forfeiting their points, too.

Discussing Drugs
Avishai Afek said he knows students are doing drugs but felt those who struggle with drug use don’t know where to turn. So he created a place for students to freely talk about drug use and drug policy.

Student government leaders advocate for participatory budgeting at UB
Student government leaders are looking at other New York colleges as models to give students a greater voice in the university’s budgeting process. Thursday night, students discussed a proposed budgeting program that would allow more student input. The group also discussed changes to UB’s smoke-free policy. Mike Brown, the University Council student representative, chaired the meeting.

New club aims to promote non-partisan discussion, debate over current affairs
For years, clubs like UB Democrats, UB Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom have attracted like-minded students to discuss current events, but Harris Bresowsky, a senior international affairs and public policy major, felt students needed a non-partisan club on campus.