Editorial: Critics of new medical school are off base

An editorial in the Buffalo News calls two UB faculty members “off base” after they complained in an article that the money being spent on the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building is doing nothing for them.  “Any implication that the university made poor use of its resources by improving its medical school and moving it to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is not only off base, but out of the game,” the editorial states.   “The expense is certainly doing something for the [Jacobs] School, for the future health professionals it is training and, not insignificantly, for all of Western New York. This was a wise investment, and if it takes some time for the university’s finances to stabilize, that’s both acceptable and predictable for a project as far-reaching as this one.” The editorial quotes VP Laura Hubbard and UB President Satish K. Tripathi, who observed that the university is also investing in improvements at both the North and South campuses, and that graduation rates are rising as a result of the strategic hiring of new faculty across the university.  “There isn’t a school or college that we haven’t done this with,” said Hubbard.

In addition, a letter to the editor by Howard Zemski, president and CEO of Empire State Development, praises UB for investing in the new Jacobs School building. “Hats off to Jeremy Jacobs, Satish Tripathi, Michael Cain and the University at Buffalo team for having the vision and courage to invest in a new [Jacobs School building] on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Investing in Buffalo’s downtown and in the life sciences cluster aligns perfectly with the Western New York Regional Strategic Plan, and advances our economy in significant ways,” he writes.

Read more:

http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/02/editorial-critics-of-new-medical-school-are-off-base/

http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/02/letter-kudos-to-ub-for-investing-in-its-new-medical-school/