Features
Profiles
Departments
UB EVENTS CALENDAR
Archives
Join the Alumni Association
Check out the new alumni Web site!
To stop receiving the print version and to get e-mail reminders > click here
Or to download a PDF version of this issue > click here
in my OPINION
If you could create another national holiday, what would you call it?*
*Question posed in “In My Opinion,” a feature of the monthly electronic
newsletter @UB, a portion of which also appears regularly in UB Today. To
subscribe, go to the Stay Informed tab at www.alumni.buffalo.edu.
We should create a national holiday in August and call it Peace Day to commemorate the fact that nuclear weapons were used by the U.S. on another country (atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 6 and 9, 1945), in the hopes that they will never be used again.
John Harder, BS ’87
Albany, NY
National Unplug Day. People would turn off all phones, computers, electronic games, TomToms, etc. Get back to what is going on right around you.
Lori Klamner-Wood, BA ’81
New York, NY
9/11 should be commemorated as National Remembrance and Community Volunteer Day. It would be a day for nationwide volunteerism to honor the victims and the first responders.
Irene Burns, MD ’78
Batavia, NY
My holiday would be called “X-Day.” This holiday would be used as a day to mend a relationship, have lunch with an ex, reconnect with an old friend or whatever someone decides “X” stands for.
Sarah Ruchalski, BA ’06
Lancaster, NY
Patriot’s Day—to honor all citizens throughout America’s history who have lived ethically and honorably.
Bob Deneen, CEL ’92
Amherst, NY
Social Networking
Learn more about opportunities for UB alumni social networking. Meanwhile, more and more campus units are producing podcasts, including WBFO, the School of Social Work and the Division of Athletics.
Here in Ontario there is a holiday in February called “Family Day”—it falls on the third Monday of the month. I would recreate this day in the U.S. It’s all about having a long weekend to spend with the kids, enjoying each other.
Jennifer Wood, BS ’00 & BA ’98
Toronto, ON
I would designate a National Volunteer Day to honor the efforts of everyone who volunteers and to encourage others to give of themselves. The U.S. has a wonderful culture of volunteerism that is not seen anywhere else in the world.
Jane Wittman-Roll, BA ’92
Cape Coral, FL
Equal Access to Justice Day! We must all ensure that access to a lawyer to guide you through the complexities of the legal system is not just for those who can afford to pay. One national holiday would serve to remind everyone—lawyers and non-lawyers alike—of this sacred, truly American, principle.
Sam Prince, BA ’78
Plano, TX
Repeal Day–December 5. Celebrates the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment on that date in 1933, and our freedom to brew and drink alcohol.
Michael Donato, BS ’03
Fair Lawn, NJ
International Women’s Day is annually observed on March 8. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. The only other day celebrating women [in the U.S.] is Mother’s Day, which is not a national holiday.
Judith Weiland, MA ’02 & BA ’98
Amherst, NY
I’d extend to a national level a decades-old tradition they have in Cincinnati. I’d make the first day of the new baseball season a national holiday. We could just call it “Opening Day.”
Thomas Capo, PhD ’97
Silver Spring, MD
E Pluribus Unum Day: A celebration of the melting pot of America, how immigrants from all over the world have come together to build and shape this country. It would honor diversity and multiculturalism, while recognizing the values and diversity of the various regions of the country.
Wayne Elsaesser, BS ’01
Holland, NY
Taxpayer Day. It is the taxpayer who pays for all of the other “special” days!
David Rose, DDS ’67
Roseville, CA
I would make May 11 a national holiday. It is the anniversary of the incorporation of UB in 1846.
Ronald Balter, BA ’80
Brooklyn, NY
Family Day.
Jeanne Martens, BS ’79
Dearborn, MI
Volunteer Day to recognize those who volunteer their time to help the community, and to publicize the importance of volunteerism. Citizens would be encouraged to spend this day volunteering.
Terry Lynch Fleig, Friend
Orchard Park, NY
I think we should create a National Day of Remembrance on 9/11. We need a day to remember those who were lost on that tragic day and those who survived, and to recall when time seemed to stand still. America will never be the same, but a day to salute the human spirit living and past is needed.
Christine Lewis, BA ’95
Kendall Park, NJ
President John F. Kennedy’s Birthday: May 29, 1917.
Peter Frieary, JD ’88
Albany, NY
UB in the News
New York Times
SUNY weighs the value of Division I sports
An article in the New York Times looks at the advantages and disadvantages SUNY schools have encountered as they upgrade their athletic programs to compete with other major public institutions at the Division I level. UB is mentioned as having led the way to Division I in 1991 and the football team played a bowl game for the first time in January, but the path has not been as smooth for other SUNY campuses. The article quotes former UB president William H. Greiner and UB athletic director Warde Manuel.
New York Times
UB photographer says a rephotograph lifts the illusion that time stops
UB's Doug Levere, photographer in University Communications, is quoted in a New York Times article about the changing urban landscape of New York City.
USA Today
Government downsizing may result in a dangerous concentration of power, expert says
An article in USA Today about efforts in Western New York to downsize local governments and the wave of national frustration over big government that was illustrated this year by raucous town-hall style meeting over health care reports a study by UB's Regional Institute concluded that if every municipality in Erie County cut two legislators, the savings would be "negligible," less than $4 per person a year in most cases. The article quotes Kathryn Foster, director of the Regional Institute.