December 1, 1994: Vol26n12: Interns get an inside view of Buffalo City Hall

By PATRICIA DONOVAN
News Bureau Staff
Six UB students are among 17 students from area schools working this
semester in Buffalo City Hall as participants in a college internship
program that is the first of its kind in the history of Buffalo city
government.
	The five undergraduates and one graduate student, the first
participants in UB's "Inside City Hall Internship Program," are
working 10 hours a week for 12 weeks on projects in the Division of
the Treasury, the Division for Substance Abuse, the Division for
Youth, the Office of the Mayor and the Grant Department. They will
earn an hourly salary, plus three credit hours.
	Mayor Anthony Masiello, an enthusiastic supporter of the new
city internship program, says it offers two major benefits to the City
of Buffalo.
	"First, it involves young, energetic, talented minds in the
search for solutions for our problems," he noted. "Second, it gives
the students a sense of inclusion in the work of this community. We
need to do more of both of these things in the City of Buffalo."
	Muriel A. Moore, UB's vice president for public service and
urban affairs, said the program provides students with an opportunity
to learn professional work skills while still engaged in academic
study.
	"I believe," she added, "that this experience will stimulate
their intellectual development and heighten their awareness of career
options in the area of governmental relations and public experience."
	The UB program is administered by the university's Cora P.
Maloney College, which combines residential and academic programs to
address the needs and concerns of inner-city residents and minorities.
According to Curtis Hamm, who coordinates the program for UB, it has
been of particular interest to students in the fields of city
government, economic development, city planning, human services and
community relations.
The new UB interns include Daniel Gerena, a senior economics major,
who is working in the city's Treasury Division helping to set up a new
system of treasury checks and balances.
Javier Sosa, a junior chemistry major, works in the Substance Abuse
Division with intake clients referred from courts and elsewhere. Under
the supervision of Raphael Rondon, the division's medical director,
Sosa expects to become familiar with clientele and with the medical
side of substance-abuse recovery programs.
James Lorimer, an intern in the city's Grants Department, is a
graduate student in urban planning whose research background is
expected to be useful in helping to administer the city's block-grant
program.
Todd Kniazuk, a senior in the field of urban political studies, is
working as an intern in the Office of the Mayor under the supervision
of Matthew Brown, the mayor's liaison with minority communities.
Jeff Levy, a junior accounting major, is working in the City
Comptroller Joel Giambra's office on a large-commodities computer
project developed in connection with the mayor's office.
Alan Holmes, a senior human-services major, is interning in the
Division for Youth.
Bonnie Russell, who coordinates the college internship program for the
City of Buffalo, said that the city departments like having the
student interns because they require little training and bring fresh
insights and unusual enthusiasm to their tasks.
She noted that the program was inaugurated to encourage college
interns to stay to become familiar with city government and perhaps
opt for careers in government, a goal that she says is important to
Masiello.