KATIE WARD - The Spectrum

NEWS

UB Institute for Lasers Develops First Fetus-on-a-Phone

By KATIE WARD | Mar. 31, 2004

Billy goats, hold on to your socks.UB scientists from the Institute for Lasers have bypassed the cloning fad and left Dolly in the dark, using their lasers to create the first-ever fetus with a phone attached to its ear."Well, you see, we used our lasers," said Laser Professor William Hung, head scientist of Fetus-on-a-Phone."It was actually a mistake," Hung said.

NEWS

PJ Bottoms Installs Play Place

By KATIE WARD | Mar. 31, 2004

In an unprecedented alliance, P.J. Bottoms on Main Street across from South Campus has teamed up with the Ronald McDonald House to provide UB's underage students a safer place to play.Tuesday, the bar unveiled PJ's Play Place, a labyrinth of plastic tubes and giant mesh nets so elaborate it could rival Discovery Zone.When youthful banter and hoo-ha at the bar began to grow out of control this past decade, PJ Bottom's owner, the Honorable Constable Big Mac, knew he had to take action."We had too many patrons trying to climb trees and ride in shopping carts outside our door.

NEWS

'Coming Out Day' For Both Sides of Political Spectrum

By KATIE WARD | Mar. 26, 2004

A lone table of College Republicans got a little more than they expected from their self-proclaimed "Conservative Coming Out Day" in the Student Union Thursday as a dozen gay rights supporters showed up carrying flags and banners to offer their two cents.Laden with informational fliers, George W.

NEWS

UB Mourns Drowning Death of Recent Graduate

By KATIE WARD | Mar. 12, 2004

Twenty-three-year-old UB graduate Aaron J. Coonick of Endicott, N.Y., passed away while vacationing with friends in Florida on March 3.According to the Binghamton Press, Coonick drowned after being pushed from a dock outside Cactus Jack's Bar in Key Largo, Fla., shortly after midnight.Officials ruled his death a result of horseplay, but family members say they are investigating the incident further.Coonick is survived by his father and mother, Thomas and Juliene, his brother Thomas and his sister Melissa.According to Thomas, Coonick's older brother, Coonick received his bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting in January 2003.

NEWS

Well Runs Dry For Spring Fest

By KATIE WARD | Mar. 8, 2004

This year, Fall Fest resounded with an unusual monetary melody - to the tune of $273,000.That sum, roughly 75 percent of SA Entertainment's total $381,247.39 budget for Spring and Fall Fest combined, leaves the organization with little over $108,000 to host MTV's Campus Invasion in April, according to budget reports.Comparatively, SA spent $100,000 on Godsmack alone during Fall Fest.But according to SA Entertainment Director Maggie Hausbeck, when all's said and done, the organization should break even.Hausbeck said the initial plan was to transfer some cash from another area of SA's budget to cover the shrinking Spring Fest funds, but SA Treasurer Anthony Burgio did not want to risk putting the 2004-05 SA in financial danger."We thought that as Spring Fest approached, at that point in time they would move money into the Spring Fest line," she said.

NEWS

SA Sets Spring Fest

By KATIE WARD | Feb. 25, 2004

The face of UB's Spring and Fall Fests may be about to change, according to SA officials, but this year's Spring Fest will go on as usual now that SA has booked acts for the show."The talent has been confirmed, and the show is set for Friday, April 23," said Maggie Hausbeck, director of SA Entertainment, the branch of SA that coordinates the Spring Fest and Fall Fest events.Though Hausbeck and SA Treasurer Anthony Burgio declined to confirm the acts, according to www.pollstar.com, MTV's Campus Invasion will be hitting UB the same evening Spring Fest is scheduled for, with artists Hoobastank, Ima Robot and Lostprophets.Burgio said there are plans in the works to make the event more inclusive for a wide range of students than past Spring Fests and Fall Fests have been.

NEWS

Former UB Students Arraigned on Kidnapping Charges

By KATIE WARD | Feb. 6, 2004

Four gunpoint kidnappings on both UB campuses in October and November may have been solved Wednesday, with the arraignment of four University Heights area men, two of whom were UB students at the time of the crimes.The defendants allegedly abducted and robbed students whom they suspected were marijuana dealers, because dealers might be hesitant to involve police, investigators said."They thought that the kids were selling grass on campus," said Erie County District Attorney Frank J.

NEWS

Lower Endowments Stem From Uncertain Economy

By KATIE WARD | Jan. 28, 2004

UB"s endowment funds didn"t quite measure up to those of other institutions across the country for the 2002-03 school year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.While endowments at surveyed American institutions rose an average of 3 percent by June 2003, UB took a $10 million hit, dropping 2.5 percent to $378.4 million.

NEWS

Business in the Heights On the Decline

By KATIE WARD | Jan. 21, 2004

Gone are the days of patrons who glanced nervously over their shoulders to make sure no one was watching as they entered that restroom labeled "The Weaker Sex." No more Monday open-mic nights.

NEWS

Fire Hose Prank Floods Fargo

By KATIE WARD | Jan. 14, 2004

Pete Limpraphanonta wasn't quite sure what to make of the muddy brown water pouring down his Fargo stairwell Monday afternoon."Water was coming down the stairs from the third floor - hard," said Limpraphanonta, a sophomore physical therapy major.