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

Briefs

Published: January 18, 2012

  • Huebner recital postponed

    The UB Department of Music has announced that the Jan. 20 faculty recital by pianist Eric Huebner has been postponed to next season. A date for the recital has yet to be announced.

    Audiences can still hear Huebner, an assistant professor of music, perform alongside UB faculty member and cellist Jonathan Golove in a duo faculty recital on Feb. 24 and as a member of the renowned chamber ensemble Antares, which will visit UB on March 30.

  • Disease detectives to discuss ‘Contagion’

    The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions will present a free, public screening of the 2011 thriller “Contagion,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon, at 5 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Screening Room of the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

    Free pizza and refreshments will be served.

    Following the screening of the movie, which depicts a dangerous pandemic and the public health response, Buffalo’s own disease detectives—epidemiologists from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and the Erie County Health Department—will discuss the movie in light of what really happens during pandemic situations.

    Gale Burstein, newly appointed Erie County health commissioner, UB clinical associate professor and a pediatrician at Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, will provide a sneak peek into the role of frontline public health workers during pandemics.

    “The idea behind the event is to give people a better sense of what public health workers do and perhaps encourage some of them to pursue public health as a career,” says Jo Freudenheim, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine.

    For more information, contact the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at 829-5376.

  • Free tax preparation services available

    IRS-certified accounting students from the School of Management will again provide free tax preparation services to individuals and families with annual incomes below $50,000.

    Area residents and students are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity, which will be held on UB’s North and South campuses. The IRS estimates that using such free services can save taxpayers between $100 and $300 in preparation fees.

    This service can be especially valuable to low-income tax filers by helping them apply for earned income-tax credits that can provide a needed boost in annual income. The tax credits, which can reduce or completely eliminate income taxes by refunding taxes already withheld from wages, can mean as much as $5,028 for a family with two children.

    The tax service is coordinated by the UB chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honors organization for accounting and finance students, with help from the UB Accounting Association.

    Tax preparation for nonresident aliens requires special processing that is beyond the scope of the services provided by Beta Alpha Psi. UB international students on a nonimmigrant visa should visit UB’s International Student and Scholar Services website for more information.

    Free tax preparation will be offered from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis in 100 Allen Hall, South Campus, on Feb. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26. Services also will be offered in 106 Jacobs Management Center, The John H. Shellum Room, North Campus, on March 3, 4 and 31, and April 1, 7, 8 and 14.

    Those interested in participating can find information on what they need to bring to the sessions, as well as maps and directions, on the Free Tax Preparation website.

    Additional questions can be directed to mgt-freetaxprep@buffalo.edu or 507-3563; a volunteer will respond within 48 hours. Services on the South Campus are available thanks to support and equipment provided by the UB Office of Community Relations.

  • Siblings sought for study

    Parents who wonder why one of their children is normal weight while the other is overweight may want their children to participate in a study on eating behaviors that will be conducted by UB’s Division of Behavioral Medicine.

    Same-gender biological siblings ages 13-17 are being recruited to participate in the study. The siblings will complete five pizza taste tests and record their activities for one week. Each child can earn $120 for participating.

    Parents interested in the study can call 829-6695 or fill out a short survey to see if their children are eligible to participate. Recruitment is ongoing, but act fast to reserve a spot for your children.

  • O’Brien to deliver King address

    Award-winning CNN correspondent Soledad O’Brien, winner of the 2010 Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, will present the keynote address for the 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Event, to be held at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 in Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo.

    The lecture, part of UB’s Distinguished Speakers Series, is sponsored by the Minority Faculty and Staff Association.

    Tickets are available through the Alumni Arena and Center for the Arts ticket offices, as well as through Kleinhans.

    Discount vouchers are available for faculty and staff.

    UB also is offering free tickets to Western New York high schools, as well as to local community and religious organizations and churches. Up to 20 complimentary tickets per group are available while supplies last. Ticket requests will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

    Visit the Special Events website for information on the free ticket program. Requests must be received by Jan. 26.

    A Harvard graduate, O’Brien worked for NBC News and its affiliates from 1991 to 2003 as a field producer, bureau chief, local reporter and anchor before joining CNN as anchor of “American Morning,” the network’s popular morning news program, a position she held until 2007.

    Since then, she has reported breaking news throughout the world for CNN and produced several award-winning documentaries on important international issues. She also anchored “Black in America,” a 2007 special that documented the successes, struggles and complex issues faced by black Americans 40 years after the death of Martin Luther King.

    O’Brien has received many honors for her work, including the Gracie Allen Award for her reporting on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; the NAACP President’s Award; and was the first recipient of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Goodermote Humanitarian Award for her work in reporting on the devastating effects of Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami.

    For more information, visit the Distinguished Speakers Series website.