VOLUME 32, NUMBER 1 THURSDAY, August 24, 2000
ReporterBriefly

Briefly

send this article to a friend Math moves offices to North Campus

The Department of Mathematics has joined the rest of the arts-and-sciences departments on the North Campus.

Faculty and staff members have moved into offices in the new $7.3 million math building adjacent to the Natural Sciences Complex. The department offices had been located in Diefendorf Hall on the South Campus.

"Our presence here on the west end of the spine should make it much easier for faculty and students to get in touch with each other, much easier for our department to interact with the other departments here on the North Campus, and much easier to integrate the discipline of mathematics into the educational experience of the students in the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the other schools located on this campus," says James J. Faran V, interim chair of the department.


Davies receives award from J&J

Huw M.L. Davies, Larkin Professor of Organic Chemistry, has received a prestigious Focused Giving Award from Johnson & Johnson.

The award, worth $80,000 per year over three years, will fund a research project entitled "Pharmaceutical Applications of Catalytic Asymmetric Reactions."

Davies and his UB colleagues have developed a revolutionary method for synthesizing specialty chemicals-especially pharmaceuticals-that makes it possible to activate the normally unreactive carbon-hydrogen bonds in organic molecules.

The new method is significant because it generates catalytic reactions and allows for control of the resulting three-dimensional structure, features that make it extremely useful for industrial applications. It is applicable to the synthesis of a wide range of chemicals.

In an article published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Davies highlighted the method's effectiveness in synthesizing two important pharmaceuticals: Ritalin, the common treatment for children with attention-deficit disorders, and sertraline, the commonly prescribed antidepressant marketed as Zoloft.

Since the inception of the Focused Giving Program at Johnson & Johnson in 1980, more than $38 million has been awarded to academic scientists doing basic research to advance science and technology in the health-care and medical fields.


UB to offer doctoral degree in audiology

UB has received approval to offer a doctor of audiology degree (Au.D.), one of less than 10 in the United States, beginning with the Fall 2000 semester.

The program will be offered through the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, the professional organization that certifies audiologists, has mandated that by the year 2007 persons applying for certification must have a doctoral degree in the field.

Audiologists are responsible for the diagnosis and rehabilitation of hearing impairments. Training for the doctoral degree includes coursework in anatomy and physiology of the auditory system and nervous system, pathologies of the ear, speech perception and instrumentation and acoustics.

Clinical experiences include diagnostic, rehabilitative, pediatric and industrial audiology; central auditory processing disorders; hearing aid evaluation and fitting; tinnitus retraining therapy; auditory-evoked potentials; otoacoustic emissions and vestibular testing.


Simon gift to fund SOM technology

David F. Simon, an alumnus of the School of Management, has given $100,000 to the school to fund the purchase and development of instructional technologies.

A 1974 honors graduate of the school, Simon made the gift in recognition of the positive influence of his parents, Maurice and Susan Simon, and in appreciation of the school's role in his career success.

"Technology has been an interest of mine since an early age and I've seen firsthand how important technology is in business," says Simon. "I feel there's a real need for students to be able to use technology during their studies because they get a good head start if they learn how to operate in the mode that the business world operates in."

Lewis Mandell, dean of the School of Management, said that Simon's gift will be used for acquisition and maintenance of equipment and software in the school's computer lab and for purchase of interactive classroom technologies.


UBF to sell Pfeifer Theatre

The UB Foundation is selling the Pfeifer Theatre in the downtown Buffalo Theatre District.

UB has declined to renew its lease of the building from the UBF when it expires at the end of this month, says Kerry Grant, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The university cannot continue to pay the theatre's $50,000 annual maintenance cost in the current cost-conscious climate, he says.

And since the UBF can only operate facilities and programs that benefit UB, it serves no purpose for the foundation to own the building, says Edward Schneider, executive director of the UBF.

UB bought the Pfeifer-once home to the Town Casino restaurant-nightclub and the Studio Arena-in 1986. It served as the major venue for productions of the Department of Theatre and Dance.

But once the Center for the Arts was built in 1994, most UB-produced events were relocated to one of the center's four performance stages. UB productions also are staged in the Katharine Cornell Theatre in the Ellicott Complex.

The Pfeifer has been serving as the home of two resident companies-Curtain Call Productions and Shakespeare in Delaware Park-as well as an occasional second stage for several companies, including Studio Arena Theatre, the Irish Classical Theatre and Summerfare Theatre, now known as MusicalFare.


Gebbie supports WBFO

WBFO 88.7 FM, a National Public Radio affiliate and a major public service of UB, has received a $75,000 grant from the Gebbie Foundation, Inc., to support the expansion and improvement of the signal of WUBJ 88.1 FM, its repeater station serving the people of Jamestown and Chautauqua County.

The Gebbie Foundation grant is the largest of four-totaling $130,000-received in support of the $133,000 project.

The station previously received a $25,000 grant from the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, a $20,000 grant from the Hultquist Foundation and a $10,000 grant from the Johnson Foundation.

The project to expand its signal will involve moving the WUBJ transmitter to a more central location-from Gerry to a tower at Ellery Center owned by the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office-and increasing its power approximately seven-fold.

The signal will be extended to reach a potential audience of 90,000 in Mayville, Chautauqua, Cassadaga, Sinclairville, Brocton and Panama in New York and Sugar Grove and other areas in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The signal strength will improve throughout the present service area in and around Jamestown, with improvements particularly noticeable around Chautauqua Lake. There will be a greatly improved signal in the area along Lake Erie from Westfield to Fredonia, which will receive a secondary area signal for the first time.


Course in combinatorial chemistry to be offered this fall

The Department of Chemistry this fall is offering the first course of its kind at any university on combinatorial chemistry, a new technology that is revolutionizing drug discovery.

The department has received a $50,000 grant from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences-along with $15,000 in matching funds from the UB Provost's Office-to establish a training laboratory in combinatorial chemistry as part of the new course.

Combinatorial chemistry is a new technology that is changing rapidly the way drugs are discovered in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. While chemists used to synthesize new compounds one at a time for subsequent testing as potential drugs, combinatorial chemistry allows chemists to synthesize hundreds or more compounds in the same amount of time, thereby accelerating the drug-discovery process, says David Hangauer, associate professor of medicinal chemistry and chemistry, who will teach both graduate and undergraduate sections of the course.

Hangauer notes that this productivity enhancement is particularly important now that the human genome has been sequenced and many new targets for drugs are being discovered rapidly.

Consequently, chemists with experience in combinatorial chemistry are in very high demand in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, he adds.

The new course will be offered as MCH 427 for undergraduates and MCH 527 for graduate students.

For further information, contact Hangauer at 645-6299 or hangauer@acsu.buffalo.edu.


Ebert to lead off science series

Charles H.V. Ebert, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography, will present "An Analysis of Global Warming and Potential Effects on Climate and Weather Phenomena" on Sept. 6 as the lead-off speaker in the 2000-01 Western New York Science and Technology Forum lecture series for area teachers.

With the exception of two field trips, the programs will be held on Wednesday evenings through Jan. 10 on the North Campus.

Speakers from area institutions and industries, as well as UB, will provide information on new, exciting scientific developments that can be incorporated into the classroom.

The series was begun in 1969 by its director, George H. Nancollas, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. Co-directors are Stephen Free, professor of biological sciences, and Charles Mitchell, professor of geology.

For further information or to register for the series, contact Barbara Raff at 645-6800, ext. 2020.


Baldy Center to host philosophy workshop

The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy in the School of Law will host a workshop on "First Principles of Collective Decision Making in Public Contexts" tomorrow and Saturday in the Law School Faculty Lounge, 545 O'Brian Hall on the North Campus.

Papers will be given by leading authorities in the field of the philosophy of law, including Barbara Fried of Stanford, David Gauthier of the University of Pittsburgh, Robert Goodin of the Australian National University, Michael Meurer of Boston University, Mariam Thalos of UB and Jeremy Waldron of Columbia. They will address such topics as deliberative democracy, hypothetical tax bargains in Hobbesian contractualism, cooperative game theory and fair division, the majority principle and the dignities and indignities of collective rationality.

A panel discussion involving all presenters will be held from 4:30-6 p.m. Saturday.

Registration for the workshop is still open. For further information, contact the Baldy Center at 645-2102.


Creative Craft Center to offer workshops

The Creative Craft Center in the Ellicott Complex is offering early fall workshops beginning the week of Sept. 11.

Workshops are scheduled in photography, pottery, weaving, quilting, Brazilian embroidery, knitting and crocheting, beginning and advanced stained glass, jewelry construction and basic drawing.

Workshops run from 7-10 p.m. one night a week for six weeks.

Pottery for Children and Creative Kids classes-mixed media for children-will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Pottery for teens will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Fees are $30 for UB students and $60 for all others.

For further information, contact the Creative Craft Center at 645-2434 from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or from 7-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday


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