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LECTURES TO CELEBRATE "BIRTHDAY" OF HAL, THE 2001 COMPUTER
The Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at UB is marking the "birthday" of the infamous talking computer, HAL, of the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," by presenting two lectures by author and scientist David G. Stork on April14.

Stork will deliver a lecture for general audiences, "The HAL 9000 Computer and the Vision of '2001: A Space Odyssey'," at 7:30 p.m. in Room 215 of the Natural Sciences Complex on the North Campus.

Stork, author of "HAL's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality" (MIT Press, October 1996), is a chief scientist at the Ricoh California Research Center, head of its Machine Learning and Perception Group and a consulting professor of electrical engineering and visiting scholar in psychology at Stanford University.

For a more technically proficient audience, Stork will talk on "Seeing Speech: Speechreading ('Lipreading') by Computer" at 3 p.m. in Room 220, Natural Sciences Complex. He will discuss the Ricoh speechreading system, potential commercial applications and future research.

Free and open to the public, the talks are part of the 1997 John W. Cowper Distinguished Visiting Lecture Series. Principal funding for the series is provided by the Cowper-Siegfried Company, Inc.; Orrin Foster Lecture Fund, and the UB Sesquicentennial Planning Committee.

According to the Arthur C. Clarke novel on which "2001: A Space Odyssey" was based, HAL became operational in January 1997. For Stork, HAL's birthday is a prime time to look back and compare the 1968 film's computer science "predictions" with current technological fact.

Stork will illustrate his talk with clips from the movie. For more information, call Cindy Nydahl, 645-2531.



FORMER SEN. BRADLEY INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN LAW SYMPOSIUM
Former New Jersey Sen. William Bradley has been invited to participate in an environmental law symposium to be held May 9 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus. The event is the third in a series sponsored by the Environmental Law Colloquium, which focuses on timely issues of special interest to professionals in law and science.

Topics to be addressed include role of public utilities in a competitive market, future of utilities in a deregulated environment and impact of deregulation on a utility's ability to handle facility-related environmental issues.

John B. Sheffer II, UB interim vice president for public service and urban affairs, will make opening remarks. Bradley is expected to speak at 3:30 p.m. on the need for a national energy policy. A panel discussion on structuring a national energy policy and its impact on geopolitics will begin at 4:15 p.m.

Other speakers and topics:

­ John Roberts, senior analyst, NYS Department of Public Service, federal nuclear-waste program development and the role of nuclear power in a competitive market

­ Carl Peckman, supervisor of energy and environmental economics, NYS Department of Public Service, New York electric restructuring and treatment of nuclear power

­ Chris Flavin, sr. vice president, director of research, Worldwatch Institute, alternative energy sources

­ Joseph Visalli, program manager, environmental research, NYS Research and Development Authority, ozone transport research and fossil fuel and environmental air quality

­ David Wooley, executive director and professor of law, Center for Environmental Legal Studies, Pace University Law School, renewable portfolio standards and other regulatory mechanisms to promote renewable energy resources.

Registration is $50; deadline is April 9. Call Sharyn Eklund, 645-7342 for more information or to register.



EXERCISE CONFERENCE SET ON THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS
A conference on exercise physiology emphasizing the therapeutic benefits of exercise in rehabilitation will be presented from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, April 11, in the Buffalo Hilton, 120 Church St.

The program, sponsored by the UB Department of Physical Therapy and Exercise Science, will feature sessions on basic energy metabolism, neuromuscular function, exercise-induced muscle injury and repair, and pulmonary and cardiovascular responses to exercise in health and disease. It will conclude with a session on exercise testing.

The conference is open to the public. There is a registration fee.

Frank J. Cerny, chair of the UB Department of Physical Therapy and Exercise Science, and Harold W. Burton, director of the depart-ment's exercise science program, will be presenters. Both have published widely in professional journals. For more information, call 645-3705.



MICROBIAL PATHOGENESIS CONFERENCE IS APRIL 23
Four authorities on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that microbes use to cause disease will speak at the annual Buffalo Conference on Microbial Pathogenesis, set for April 23 in the Sheraton Inn, Cheektowaga.

The all-day conference will be co-sponsored by the Microbial Pathogenesis Graduate Group at UB and the WNY Branch of the American Society of Microbiologists. The $25 registration fee includes lunch.

The speakers and their presentations will be:

­ Lynn W. Enquist, professor, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University-"Circuit-specific Invasion of the Brain by Neurotropic Herpes viruses."

­ Thomas E. Wellems, head of the Malaria Genetics Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-"Antigenic Variation and Immune Evasion in Malaria."

­ June R. Scott, professor of microbiology and immunology, Emory University-"Virulence Factors of Streptococcus Pyogenes."

­ Magdalene Y.H. So, professor and chair, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University-"Role of IgA1 Protease in Survival of Pathogenic Neisseriae within Epithelial Cells."

Morning and afternoon poster sessions also will be held.

For more information, call 829-2459.



OOZFEST TOURNEY TO BE HELD APRIL 26
The University at Buffalo's 13th annual Oozfest, billed as the "largest volleyball tournament played continuously in the mud in North America," will be held April 26 on the North Campus. Teams must register by Friday, April 4.

The tournament last year attracted nearly 100 teams, more than 1,000 players and hundreds of spectators.

Six- and eight-member teams representing WNY businesses, community organizations and colleges and universities, as well as colleges and universities from elsewhere in the Northeast and Canada, traditionally compete for trophies and prizes.

Each team will receive Oozfest T-shirts, lunch, commemorative programs and a team photo snapped after the competition. Shower facilities will be provided.

Sponsors are needed, as well as volunteers who can referee, judge, keep score and assist with registration, lunch and clean-up. The event is sponsored by UB's University Student Alumni Board (USAB), student affiliate of the UB Alumni Association.

Team registration fee is $110 (U.S. currency), with proceeds benefiting the J. Scott Fleming Scholarship Fund, which honors students who have demonstrated positive leadership qualities while attending UB.

For more information, call 829-2608. Registration information is available on Oozfest website:http://wings.buffalo.edu/ind/sbi/usab/Oozfest



FOLK MUSIC IS SEIDL'S TOPIC AT SENIOR ALUMNI LUNCHEON
Fredrick Seidl, dean of the Graduate School of Social Work at UB, will speak ­ and sing ­ about the use of modern folk music to educate audiences about social problems and triumphs of "the folk" at a noon luncheon April 17, in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.

The presentation will be part of the UB Senior Alumni luncheon series sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations for UB senior alumni, spouses and guests.

Seidl and his musical partner, Rochester social work educator Dean Santos, perform as Hull-House Revival. The duo, which entertains audiences with voice and guitar, has several recordings.

Luncheon tickets are $10 each. For reservations or more information, call the UB Office of Alumni Relations at 829-2608.



UB SINFONIETTA TO DEBUT IN BENEFIT CONCERT APRIL 15
The UB Department of Music will present the all-new UB Sinfonietta under the direction of Magnus Martensson in the Music Department's annual Benefit Concert April 15 at 8 p.m. in Slee Concert Hall. The professional chamber orchestra is comprised of members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, UB music faculty, students and Buffalo-area musicians.

The first program for the Sinfonietta, approximately half the size of a symphony orchestra, will include Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, Bartok's Divertimento and opera arias by Mozart, with Melissa Thorburn, mezzo-soprano, as guest artist. Thorburn, visiting assistant professor in the UB Music Department, is first prizewinner of the Metropolitan Opera New England Regional Auditions and has been engaged by such distinguished organizations as the Metropolitan Opera, the National Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony as well as being a featured soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra for five seasons.

Tickets for the Benefit Concert are $20; senior citizens and UB community, $15; and students, $8. They may be purchased through the Slee Concert Hall Box Office, the Center for the Arts Box Office or at Ticketmaster locations.



SESQUI SYMPOSIUM SET ON HISPANIC STUDIES
Several graduates of the UB doctoral program in Spanish who have gone on to become highly respected scholars in their field will join UB faculty on April 11 and 12 for a symposium on Hispanic studies sponsored by the Spanish section of the UB Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

The event, to be held in Clemens Hall, North Campus, is free and open to the public. It is funded by the UB Dean of Arts and Letters in connection with the university's sesquicentennial celebration. For registration and information, call Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, 645-2191.

The symposium was conceived as a celebration of the achievements of the Spanish section and its doctoral graduates and as a tribute to retired Professors Peter Boyd-Bowman, Leon Livingstone, Wilma Newberry, George Schanzer and C. Alan Soons.

Papers will be presented in Spanish and English on topics in Spanish-American literature, Peninsular literature, Hispanic linguistics and issues related to foreign-language programs in general and study abroad programs in particular.

Participating UB doctoral alumni will include Debra D. Andrist (1986), associate professor, University of St. Thomas, Houston; Rosemary Geisdorfer-Feal (1984), professor, University of Rochester; Lee Ann Grace (1976), director of international education and associate professor, SUNY College at Buffalo; Barbara P. Esquival-Heinemann (1989), associate professor, Winthrop University, and Aida L. Heredia (1992), assistant professor, Howard University.

Also Katharina E. Kovach-Allen (1984), associate dean of human communications and behavior, Genesee Community College; Kathleen March (1980), professor, University of Maine; Dorothy Rissel (1976), associate professor, Department of Learning and Instruction, University at Buffalo; Alfredo Torrejon (1984), associate professor, Auburn University, and Juan Zamora (1971), professor, University of Massachusetts.

The doctoral program in Spanish language and literature at UB, established in 1964, has produced 47 doctoral graduates who hold faculty positions at colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Current enrollment of the UB graduate program in Spanish is 48 students.


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