Reporter Volume 25, No.28 Commencement Extra

By BETHANY GLADKOWSKI
Reporter Staff
Rob Busch, of Middleport is a non-traditional student in the most
literal sense. A 30-year-old motorcycle mechanic-turned-mathematician,
he transferred into the UB honors program after receiving an
associate's degree in business administration from Genesee Community
College in 1990. He will graduate this year with a B.A. in
mathematics.
	Recipient of the Mary W. Montagu Award for outstanding
third-year performance in the Math Department, he also is a member of
the Golden Key Society and Phi Beta Kappa.
	Rob has applied to a group of "dream schools" for graduate
studies in mathematics. They include Harvard, MIT, the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, UB, and his first-choice, Cornell. 
	After that, he plans to teach mathematics in a junior
collegeQand hopes he'll still have time to play golf.

Q. Many young people find themselves flipping hamburgers before
college. You were replacing transmissions on Harley-Davidson
motorcycles. How did that job come about?
A. After high school I went to a trade school called AMI (American
Motorcycle Institute) in Daytona, Fla., for four months. We were in
classes for 40 hours, so it was very intense. They wanted to get you
out of there and into a job quickly. This was not the official factory
school, where they make you cut your hair. 
	He gets out his driver's license. In the picture, he sports an
impressive beard, a very different look from his now clean-shaven
face.
	AMI was a bunch of guys with long hair and leather jackets
trying to make a living doing what they enjoyed. Somebody once told me
that that was a good idea [he laughs].

Q. Where's the beard now? 
A. My grandmother lectured me regularly about it. She said she'd pay
me $100 to shave it off. I finally did in the summer of 1992, when I
helped with a fund-raiser for the Math Department (I thought it might
help sales, but it had no effect at all). But when I showed my
grandmother, she only came up with $50. I wonder if that means I only
need to stay clean-shaven for half a lifetime.

Q. What made you decide to give up a job you apparently enjoyed to go
back to school and be a struggling student? 
A. After going through trade school, I worked for years in different
shops, including running my own. One morning in August I just woke up
and thought, "I have had quite enough of this." That day I called
Genesee Community College and asked if they were still accepting
applications. The same week I got an interview and was accepted. By
the fall of 1989, I was in school.
	I got my degree from GCC, then transferred to UB, even though
I knew its reputation for grinding freshmen into little bloody balls.
I picked math because I had enjoyed it along the way. I'm fascinated
with abstract algebra. I'm in love with it.
	It is difficult to put life on hold to go back to school. But
there are rewards.

Q. What do you hope your reward will be? And will it have been worth
almost seven years of college education?
A. I suppose it would be the Honors Convocation on May 13. The
pressure of the past few years is all okay on graduation day. You've
got that cookie. It is an education, and no one can take it away from
you once you have it. I'm looking at teaching at a junior college.
Depending on how things turn out, I might go on and get my Ph.D.
	You're constantly asking yourself if it's worth it....You are
a student 24 hours of the day. I didn't watch the Super Bowl, I didn't
watched the Olympics and I haven't seen a movie since Batman II came
out. My family thinks I have an "attitude." It's impossible to put
into wordsQthere's no experience like it. Being a chronic
over-achiever is a two-edged sword. 

Q. Do you drive a Harley now?
A. Oh yeah, I still own both my bikes. Right now I'm borrowing one of
my parents' cars for the commute (from Middleport). I have never owned
a four-wheel vehicle. You've got to get your priorities straight.

Q. Did your expertise in fixing motorcycles help you in later
pursuits?
A. Not in any concrete way. I went from carrying a toolbox to carrying
a book bag in literally one week. That's been sort of my trouble all
along: I've had so many diverse interests. I like working with my
hands, but math by nature is a solitary mental endeavor. And the
results can be appreciated only by a handful of people. Many times you
study summers to prepare for next year's courses. 

Q. What kinds of stereotypes have you encountered about math majors?
How true are they?
A. For math majors, it's the "geek" stereotype. There are times when
it's true. After a while, we begin to feel we lack social skills. A
friend of mine once criticized me for always putting mathematical
terms into conversations, such as: "Person X took course Y." After
that, I became very aware of how I said things.
	Most people go through life with a "wet sponge attitude."
There are some who look at life differently. If their shoe is untied,
maybe it's because they're thinking about something much larger and
more important to them....Intelligent people are very passionate about
their pursuits.

Q. What's your critique of UB in general?
A. UB has to work hard at being less of an obstacle to people who
don't need any more obstacles. I know people who are short of
finishing their undergrad degree by just one class, but the hassles
they would face, such as drop/add, turn them off from ever coming
back. 
	I also think it would help undergraduates if the two campuses
were unified. Most of my classes are on the Main Street Campus; I
don't know how many other people I would have met had it been simply a
matter of buildings instead of zip codes.

Q. What advice do you have for incoming freshmen?
A. If you're not sure (about a course), go S/U. You have a big part in
getting yourself through it. Work hard. But also try hard to get out,
take the time to enjoy life a little.

Q. Most honors students don't seem to have much time for getting out.
Did you follow your own advice? 
A. Well...no. Guilty as charged. I didn't. And you can print that.