This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
News

Briefs

Published: September 15, 2011

  • Space weather topic of lecture

    Thomas J. Bogdan, BS ’79, director of the federal Space Weather Prediction Center, will talk about “Space Weather” in a free public lecture at 5 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.

    The lecture is part of the Cowper Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of Physics and the College of Arts and Sciences.

    Space weather refers to conditions on the sun and in space that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems, and can endanger human life or health.

    The rapidly evolving, high-tech global economy has become increasingly vulnerable to the disruptive effects of space weather on satellite telecommunications, GPS-based navigation and timing, transpolar commercial aviation and the exploration and commercial utilization of space.

    The Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the National Weather Service, is the nation’s official source for space weather alerts, watches and warnings.

    Bogdan graduated summa cum laude from UB with a BS in mathematics/physics and earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago. The author of more than 100 papers on solar-terrestrial research topics, he is the recipient of the Gregor Wentzel and Valentine Telegdi prizes from the University of Chicago.

  • Jazz band to offer master class

    The Department of Music will present a master class with Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton and his band at 4 p.m. Sept. 22 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.

    UB’s Late Nite Combo will perform and work with the Tierney Sutton Band.

    The master class is free and open to the public.

    The Tierney Sutton Band is celebrating its third consecutive Grammy nomination for “Best Vocal Jazz Album.” During a collaboration that has spanned 17 years, band members Tierney Sutton, vocals; Christian Jacob, piano; Ray Brinker, drums; Kevin Axt, bass; and Trey Henry, alternate on bass, also have been recipients of a JazzWeek Award for Vocalist of the Year and consecutive nominations for Jazz Journalist Association awards, recorded several No. 1 CDs on jazz radio and garnered critical praise throughout the world.

  • Humanities series continues at Hallwalls

    The Humanities Institute will kick off its “Scholars at Hallwalls” lecture series—formerly the Scholars at Muse series—on Sept. 23 with a free public lecture by David Herzberg, assistant professor of history at UB and an expert in America’s relationship with prescription drugs.

    Herzberg’s talk, “The Drug War in the Medicine Cabinet: Prescription Drug Addiction in the Age of Miracle Pills,” will take place at 4 p.m. in Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, and address the question of why a vast and growing markets for prescription uppers, downers and narcotics has characterized America’s “war against drugs.”

    “Licit drug abuse has always dwarfed ‘street’ drug problems, yet drug war scholarship focuses almost exclusively on heroin, cocaine and marijuana,” Herzberg says. A corrective is needed here and he provides one with his extensively researched history of prescription drug abuse and addiction in 20th century America.

    Author of “Happy Pills in America: From Miltown to Prozac” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009), Herzberg recently organized the 6th Annual International Conference on the History of Alcohol and Drugs.

    The Scholars at Hallwalls series—formerly held in the Muse Restaurant in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery—features lectures by UB Humanities Institute Research Fellows. Fellows will present their cutting-edge humanities research in terms understandable to those in other disciplines and outside academia.

    The series, which is free and open to the public, continues as a social occasion, with complimentary hors d’oeuvers and a cash bar available.

  • Dance alumni to perform

    An eclectic group of alumni from the UB dance program will return to UB on Sept. 24 in “Back to Buffalo 3: The UB Dance Alumni All-Star Concert” to benefit the Center for the Arts’ Dance Residency Program.

    The concert, sponsored by the UB Alumni Association, will take place at 8 p.m. in the Drama Theatre in the CFA, North Campus.

    Among the alumni scheduled to perform are Rich Ashworth (Chicago Tap Theater), Megan Castlevetere (Stiletto Entertainment/Holland America), Kristen Danga (Disney, YOW Dance), Teal Darkenwald (faculty, East Carolina University & Magnus Midwest), Jenny Laroche (Rockette: The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, TV/film), Meghen Squires McKinley (Convergence Dance Theater), Leanne Rinelli (choreographer, adjunct professor at Buffalo State College, Jason Stotz (Missouri Contemporary Ballet) and Jessica Wolfrum (River North Chicago).

    The concert also will feature UB’s Zodiaque Dance Company, which will perform a piece choreographed by UB alumnus Jon Lehrer, founder and artistic director of LehrerDance.

    Tickets for Back to Buffalo 3: The UB Dance Alumni All-Star Concert are $26.50 for the general public and $11.50 for students from any school. Tickets are available at the CFA box office and at all Ticketmaster locations, including Ticketmaster.com.

  • Open figure drawing sessions set

    The Student Visual Arts Organization in the Department of Visual Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, is sponsoring open figure-drawing sessions this fall from 7-9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, now through Dec. 7 in 218 Center for the Arts, North Campus.

    The sessions, which are open to the public, cost $5 per session. No registration is required. Easels are provided; artists must bring their own drawing materials.

  • Flags at half-mast honor fallen soldiers

    Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has directed that flags on state government buildings—including those at UB—be flown at half-mast on Sept. 16 and Sept. 20 in honor of a New York State sailor and two soldiers who died in the service of their country.

    Flags will be flown at half-mast on Sept. 16 to honor Cmdr. James K. Crawford, who died on Sept. 7 in a noncombat-related incident in Manama, Bahrain. He was assigned to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command at the Combined Maritime Forces Coalition Coordination Center at Naval Support Activity, Bahrain.

    Flags will be flown at half-mast on Sept. 20 in honor of two Fort Drum soldiers who died in Afghanistan on Sept. 8.

    Army Spc. Koran P. Contreras and Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr. died of wounds suffered when their unit was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, stationed at Fort Drum. Contreras was from Lawndale, Calif.; Jeffries was from Springville, Calif.

    Cuomo has ordered that flags on all state buildings be lowered to half-mast in honor of and tribute to New York service members who are killed in action or die in a combat zone.