UB Child Care Center receives accreditation

The North Campus site of the UB Child Care Center recently was granted accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation's oldest and largest organization of professionals dedicated to improving the quality of early-childhood education.

The center also has received word that its South Campus site has been reaccredited by the NAEYC.

Only about 7 percent of early-childhood programs nationwide are accredited by the NAEYC.

The UB Child Care Center serves 150 children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 5 years at its North and South campus sites.

Architects to kick off Atelier activities

The world-renowned architectural team of Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, the first architects to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, will be the special guests of Atelier 2001, the School of Architecture and Planning's annual showcase and open house, to be held April 6 on the South Campus.

Diller and Scofidio will lead off the activities with a slide lecture at 5:30 p.m. in 148 Diefendorf. Following the lecture, participants will view exhibits by students in architecture and urban planning that will be on display throughout Crosby Hall. At 7:30 p.m., donors to the school will be recognized at a ceremony to be held in 301 Crosby.

Atelier, which will be free of charge and open to the public, is sponsored by Lauer Manguso Architects and the Buffalo chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students.

"This is the most exciting time of the year in the School of Architecture and Planning because the students are showcased," says Ruth D. Bryant, assistant dean of the school. "The students are so talented; the building just vibrates with all this energy."

Kent Kleinman, chair of the Department of Architecture, says that the presence of such figures as Diller and Scofidio at UB "speaks to the esteem in which UB is held in the international architectural community."

Diller and Scofidio's work includes a stunning and disturbing set design for a ballet that incorporates the sensations inherent in a choreographer's schizophrenia, an installation that is a troubling paean to the American lawn, an unromantic robotic installation that replicates "life" in bureaucratic spaces and a wondrous "floating" oblong building that is virtually invisible beneath a constant cloud-cover of its own creation.

Capaldi to speak at GSA meeting

Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi will discuss new directions for graduate education at UB during a talk to the Graduate Student Association Senate at 7 p.m. Wednesday in 112 Norton Hall, North Campus.

The GSA is the representative body for graduate students at UB. More than 100 senators from more than 50 academic departments and various student clubs are expected to attend.

The meeting is open to all members of the university community. Graduate students are particularly encouraged to attend.

For further information, contact the GSA at 645-2960 or at hliao@acsu.buffalo.edu.

Abstracts sought for environmental forum

Scientists, faculty members and graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit abstracts as part of the Earth Day Environmental Science Colloquium to be held April 20 in the Student Union Theatre and Social Hall on the North Campus.

The colloquium is sponsored by the Environment and Society Institute, Environmental Health Sciences Graduate Group, Environmental Studies Program in the Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Degree Programs, UB Green and Westinghouse.

The colloquium will provide opportunities to present research findings and identify common issues or problems that can lead to new collaborative efforts.

Participants may submit abstracts for exhibits or poster or platform presentations on any topic in the environmental sciences—air, water, soil and food. Research in the natural and social sciences that has relevance to and overlaps with environmental science would be appropriate, including work in the fields of ecology, environmental chemistry, engineering, psychology, anthropology, environmental toxicology and environmental health. Posters or exhibits presented at other scientific meetings are welcome.

Abstracts should be limited to one-half page and include all authors and affiliations. They should be submitted by email as Microsoft Word documents by April 6 to Ann Salter at salter@acsu.buffalo.edu.

Former basketball player pledges $250,000 to UB

Ronald W. Schlenker Sr., a UB alumnus and former basketball player, has pledged $250,000 to the Division of Athletics for a scholarship fund for student athletes.

Schlenker lived on Lisbon Avenue near the South Campus in the 1940s and ’50s until the death of his father when he was a teenager, which forced his family to relocate several times. “Those were some rough times,” remembers Schlenker.

He credits his former basketball coach at UB, Len Serfustini, for securing scholarships and donations that enabled him to attend the university and play basketball while pursuing a bachelor’s degree.

“‘Serf’ taught us, on the court and off, to have a high degree of humility and honesty, which helped me learn life lessons and be successful after graduating,” said Schlenker. “Playing basketball showed me how to work within a team and how to establish real goals and achieve them.”

“We are very grateful for Ronald Schlenker’s continuous support of his alma mater,” said Athletics Director Bob Arkeilpane, “and we are greatly appreciative of his commitment to provide young scholar-athletes a place to foster their academic and athletic pursuits.”

Schlenker, who played for three years on the university’s varsity basketball team, received a bachelor’s of arts degree in geology and geography from UB in 1960. He credits his UB education as being instrumental in helping him run a successful business for 30 years.

“It is very difficult now for a person to succeed in life without a college education. I wanted to ensure that education for someone who otherwise might not have received it,” said Schlenker.

With details still to be worked out regarding the qualification criteria, Schlenker was very clear on the purpose of the Ronald W. Schlenker Sr. Endowment Scholarship Fund: “I designed it for student-athletes because that’s how I made my way through UB. While attending the university, various alumni in the athletics program made my college education possible through donations and scholarships.”

After graduating in 1960 and spending two years in Texas, Schlenker returned to Buffalo to work for Spaulding Fiber in Tonawanda. Eventually, the company transferred him to Minnesota. In 1967, Schlenker opened his own business, Schlenker and Associates, to represent manufacturers of printed circuit boards, wire, cable and fiber optics. In 1997, Schlenker sold his business to four employees.

Schlenker now lives in Wayzata, Minn., and Naples, Fla., enjoying retirement and consulting part-time.

Virtual dissertation defense makes headlines in Finland

While not a rare occurrence at UB, defending one’s dissertation via the virtual realm is unusual in Finland.

Leena Lestinen, who will receive her doctorate from UB this spring, earned top billing in the dissertations section of the Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s primary national newspaper, after defending her dissertation via interactive video linking Finland with UB on Feb. 1.

Hank Bromley, associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, agreed to serve as the Finnish student’s advisor after her original advisor left the university. Having never met, the two communicated via email and telephone in the time leading up to her defense.

Lestinen, whose focus was comparative education, also was assisted by a professor in Finland, who sat in on the defense. Bromley said defending via video seemed the most logical course of action for the circumstances—particularly since both women would have had to travel to Buffalo.

“Given that it’s very expensive to fly here from Finland, we decided to try it this way,” he said.

Admittedly, the Feb. 1 defense “did not have the same flow and engagement that other defenses have,” Bromley said, also noting a seven-hour time difference. The process was impeded somewhat by the limitations of sound and delivery, he said, adding that it felt labored.

“A one- or two-second delay wreaks havoc with the natural exchange of conversation,” he said.

Bromley said he found himself projecting louder, “as if to reach Finland,” which took away from the usual intimacy of the situation.

“I still think it’s a clear second-best,” he said, compared with on-site defenses.

Director of the Center for the Study of Technology in Education at UB, Bromley is interested in exploring what technology can and cannot do to enhance the quality of education, and cautions that often it is “more flash than substance.”

In that research vein, and as part of the GSE’s GSA Research Symposium being held on Saturday in the University Inn and Conference Center, two UB students will present a paper on the results of a study of faculty members’ perceptions of interactive video course benefits and compromises. In particular, Bromley said, Susana Verdinelli and Lian Zhao look at “why these facilities were established, and if they were accomplishing what they were supposed to do.”

The results are critical, he said, and find that they are “not true to educational goals.”

Fiesta to celebrate cultural diversity

For those who couldn’t get away for a vacation during spring break, International Fiesta 2001, being held April 6 in the Student Union Social Hall on the North Campus, may be just the ticket.

The fiesta, which is open to the general public as well as the university community, will celebrate its 28th anniversary with a dinner at 5 p.m. featuring ethnic foods from 20 countries.

Show time will follow at 7 p.m., when members of the culturally diverse student clubs provide music and entertainment, including belly dancing, Caribbean reggae dancing, ribbon dancing from China, the hopak folk dance from the Ukraine and martial-arts demonstrations from southeast Asia.

Tickets, at a cost of $5, are available at the Student Union Ticket Office.

Varone dancers to appear in CFA

The 2000-01 KeyBank Dance Series will conclude with an appearance by Doug Varone and Dancers at 8 p.m. April 7 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The dance troupe is in residence at UB, offering lecture-demonstrations, workshops for UB dance students, master classes for dancers from UB and the community, and performances for elementary and high-school children. The company will conclude the residence with the public concert April 7.

Founded in 1986, Doug Varone and Dancers performs a body of work heralded by critics as among the most compelling of the contemporary repertory. Honored with five New York Dance and Performance Awards (Bessies), the company has been singled out for its extraordinary physical daring, vivid musicality and genius for capturing through movement the nuances of true human interaction. The company has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, the Americas and Asia, performing regularly at major venues, festivals and universities.

As a choreographer of contemporary dance for the concert stage, opera, Broadway, regional theater, film and television, Doug Varone’s creativity is wide-ranging.

In addition to the 30-plus pieces he has created for his own company, Varone has designed works for more than two dozen companies, among them the Limón Dance Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Dancemakers (Canada) and Batsheva Dance Company (Israel).

Tickets for Doug Varone and Dancers are $18, $15, and $9 for the general public and $7 for UB students. Tickets are available in the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations.

For more information call 645-ARTS.

GSA to present film festival

Films from four continents will be featured during the Spring International Film Festival presented by the Graduate Student Association Tuesday through April 5 in the Student Union Theatre on the North Campus.

All films are free of charge and open to the public.

The festival will open at 6 p.m. on Tuesday with screenings of the 1996 Korean film “Farewell, My Darling,” directed by Chol-Soo Park, and the 1996 Danish film “Pusher,” directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.

The second day’s screenings will feature “Guelwaar,” a 1993 Senegalese film directed by Ousmane Sembene, and “The Apple,” a 1998 film directed by Iranian Samira Makhmalbaf. The show will begin at 3 p.m.

The final day’s activities on April 5 will feature a screening at 6 p.m. of “Nueba Yol,” a 1995 Dominican film directed by Angel Muniz. A reception will follow the film presentation.

In addition to the GSA, the festival is sponsored by UUAB, Artvoice and the Korean Cultural Service.

For further information on the festival, contact the GSA office at 645-2960.

RIA to hold alcohol screenings

Alcohol problems have many faces. Could yours be one of them?

Do you question how much you’re drinking? Or is the problem how someone else’s drinking may be affecting your quality of life? Is alcohol use creating problems for someone you care about at work, home or school, or in dangerous situations like driving a car?

The Research Institute on Addictions will participate in National Alcohol Screening Day on April 5 with free, confidential screening from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the institute, 1021 Main St., between North and Goodrich streets in Buffalo. Educational materials also will be available.

“A simple 10-item questionnaire is available to help in identifying an alcohol problem,” according to Paul R. Stasiewicz, director of RIA’s Clinical Research Center. Participants in the screening day will complete the questionnaire with one-on-one assistance from an alcoholism counselor.

“In addition, we hope to raise public awareness of alcohol-related issues, alert people to the services available in our own community and encourage some changes in behaviors that may be disrupting people’s lives.”

National Alcohol Screening Day will be conducted at 2,000 sites across the country, including hospitals, alcohol-treatment centers and colleges. Modeled on the very successful National Depression Screening Day, the program is aimed at helping people in a non-threatening, easily accessible way.

For more information, stop in at RIA on April 5 or contact the institute at 887-2387.

LEAP set for April 4

The third annual Leadership Achievement and Experience Program (LEAP), a one-day mentoring experience for students sponsored by the Leadership Development Center at UB, will be held on April 4.

LEAP allows students to gain valuable knowledge and insight by observing community leaders in action. The mentors serve as a guide through a day in the professional world, ensuring that students understand the importance of leadership within the community, as well as in the workplace.

Representatives from local businesses, hospitals, non-profit organizations and city and county offices will participate as mentors. Among them will be such community leaders as Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello; WIVB-TV news anchor Carol Jasen; Leonard Lenihan, Erie County commissioner for personnel, and Darren Strickland, executive director of Friends of the Night People.

Student participants are nominated by faculty or staff members and selected based on their campus involvement and desire to be a success in the Buffalo community. A total of 55 students will take part in this year’s LEAP.

The day will begin when students report to their mentor’s office at 9 a.m., and will conclude with a reception hosted by President and Mrs. William R. Greiner at 4:30 p.m. in the Jacobs Executive Development Center in the former Butler Mansion on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo.

For further information, contact Frank J. Ciccia, director of the Leadership Development Center, at 645-6469.

Psychology to present colloquium series

Domestic violence will be the topic of the first lecture in the Department of Psychology 2000-01 Colloquium Series, scheduled for 2 p.m. April 5 in the Kiva, 101 Baldy Hall, North Campus.

The lecture, “MVPs (Maritally Violent Partners) Under the Spotlight: Testing a New Typology of Batterers,” will be delivered by Amy Holtzworth-Munroe of the Department of Psychology at Indiana University.

The series will continue on April 19 with a lecture by Daniel Gilbert of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Gilbert will discuss “Why the Secret of Happiness is a Secret: Some Problems in Affective Forecasting” at 2 p.m. in 280 Park Hall, North Campus.

The colloquium series is open to all members of the university community. Refreshments will be served after each lecture.