Reporter Volume 26, No.1 September 1,1994

By STEVE COX
Reporter Staff
They're rolling out the Periodic Tables and priming the Bunsen burners
for the long-awaited opening of the new Natural Sciences and
Mathematics Complex. As two departments move into the new building,
there's a flurry of other activity on the North Campus, from
additional student parking to a new Taco Bell.
	Part of the continuing effort to consolidate undergraduate
education on the North Campus, the NSM Complex is now home to the
Chemistry Department, which moved from Acheson Hall over the summer,
and Geology, which is moving out of leased quarters at the Ridge Lea
Campus, which will now close.
	Constructed at a cost of nearly $45 million, the new
nine-story structure adjacent to Talbert, Fronczak and Hochstetter
Halls brings 38 faculty members and approximately 200 students to the
North Campus, so parking becomes an even more acute concern, said
Clifford B. Wilson, associate vice president for student affairs.
	"We are building a new parking lot on White Road, across from
the Governors residence complex," explained Wilson, "which will be
exclusively student parking." The new lot holds spaces for 260 cars.
The nearby Governors B lot will be redesignated as faculty/staff
parking, according to Wilson.
	Students and faculty populating what administrators call the
west end of campus will also find a brand new eatery serving them on
the first floor of Talbert Hall. According to Wilson, several rooms
there were renovated this summer to create "Bert's," a Putnam's style
food court featuring fast food fare like pizza, sandwiches and
burgers, highlighted by a Taco Bell Express. Bert's seats nearly 450.
	Ronald Nayler, associate vice president for  university
facilities, reports that efforts are already well under way on Phase
II of the Natural Sciences construction project, which will bring the
mathematics department, the last natural science slated to leave Main
Street, to the North Campus. The architectural firm of Mitchell
Giurgola, from New York City, has been selected, according to Nayler,
and contract negotiations are under way. This building, to be built
next to Fronczak Hall, will be home to the Mathematics, Computer
Science and Geology Departments by the end of the decade.
	The university's  library system has moved its chemistry
collection from Main Street to the Science and Engineering Library on
the North Campus. Acting Director Renee Bush said her staff has
completed the process of integrating more than 18,000 volumes into the
science collection. The SEL, located on the second and third floors of
Capen Hall is  accessed through the entrance to the Undergraduate
Library on the first floor.
	The chemistry move also predicated construction of a new
Volatile Substances Building on Service Center Road next to the Helm
Building. Nayler explained that because of safety regulations,
transportation of these chemicals back and forth from the current
storage site on the South Campus was not feasible. The new structure
houses bulk supplies of potentially hazardous chemicals used by the
department, as well as waste created by the department.
	On the east end of the North Campus, work continues on the
pedestrian walkway linking the Student Union and the Commons.  Wilson
explained that work has been completed on the interior portions of
both buildings, so disruption should be minimal. The glazing and
finishing work in the walkway itself should be completed by November.
Nearby, the Center  for the Arts is almost fully operational, with the
grand opening celebration set to begin in October.
	Four new buses shuttling students and staff between Ellicott
Complex and Lee Loop now run exclusively on natural gas. Busing
Director Laura Miller said complaints of diesel fumes in the tunnel at
Ellicott, and in the offices above, prompted her to look for
alternatives. Blue Bird purchased the buses to meet the specifications
of the new busing contract. According to Miller, the compressed
natural gas is clean burning and is less than half the cost of diesel
fuel.

	Dorm rooms in Ellicott Complex and in Goodyear Hall got
facelifts over the summer, according to Joseph Krakowiak, director of
university residence halls. Crews painted more than 500 rooms, and
doors in Red Jacket and Goodyear were sanded, restained or painted and
varnished, some for the first time in 38 years, he said. New metal
lofts are on order for many dorm rooms, he said. More versatile than
wooden structures now in some rooms, the lofts are popular, Krakowiak
added, because they offer students an additional 40 square feet of
living area. State fire codes preclude students from building their
own lofts, Krakowiak said.
	Work continues in Goodyear Hall, Krakowiak points out, where a
half-million dollar project is under way to replace the cabs and
controls of all five elevators and the roof is being replaced. 
	Other projects in the offing for the North Campus, according
to Nayler, include a campus-wide energy savings program and planning
for a new Student Services building.
	Annual energy costs at UB should drop by 25 percent when the
current energy conservation project is completed, according to Nayler.
Financed entirely by UB through rebates from Niagara Mohawk and
projected energy savings, the energy consulting firm CES/Way has
developed a campus-wide energy conservation plan. "We are replacing
virtually all the lighting, retrofitting mechanical systems and
converting hot water heaters from electricity to gas," explained
Nayler. He expects to save more than $3 million a year.
	Nayler has also undertaken a study for design of a new student
services center for the North Campus. "Undergraduate services such as
the health center, financial aid and student accounts, now in
'temporary' buildings on the South Campus would be located in this new
facility," said Nayler. On the South Campus, he reports, a firm has
been retained to design a new steam/electric cogeneration facility to
replace the current power plant. He says the new facility will be more
efficient and have adequate capacity for the anticipated needs of the
redeveloped South Campus as a health sciences center.
	The steering committee of the South Campus Master Plan has
interviewed department heads and inventoried resources, Nayler says.
In September, a retreat will be held to develop specific goals and
objectives. He expects a completed plan by the end of 1995.