VOLUME 29, NUMBER 7 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1997
ReporterBriefly

Briefly

New stop signs to be installed on North Campus

New stop signs will be installed in two locations on the North Campus on Monday, Oct. 13.
Stop signs will be installed at Rensch and Hadley and at Hamilton and White roads, making both all-way-stop intersections.

The Department of Public Safety will issue warnings for a one-week period to drivers who do not observe the new stop signs. Beginning Monday, Oct. 20, traffic summonses will be issued for violations.

J. Warren Perry receives Theodore Roosevelt Award
J. Warren Perry, founding dean of the School of Health Related Professions, recently received the 1997 Theodore Roosevelt Award for Exemplary Citizenship and Service at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation's anniversary luncheon. The award is given annually to a person whose life and work exemplify the ideals of Theodore Roosevelt, including devotion to the community and unselfish leadership.

Perry also was honored by a declaration of J. Warren Perry Day by Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello. Erie County Legislator Judith P. Fisher presented Perry with a resolution from the legislature honoring him for his contributions to the community.

Richard Ellis to head Department of History
Richard E. Ellis has been named chair of the Department of History for a three-year term.

Ellis, a noted authority on the United States Constitution, has been teaching early American constitutional and political history on the UB faculty since 1974. He received SUNY Continuing Faculty Development awards in 1993 and 1995, and an undergraduate Student Association Teaching Award in 1987.

The author of two books, he serves on the advisory council of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic and is an associate of the Institute of Early American History.

Ellis has held fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1972-73, he was a Charles Warren Fellow at Harvard University.

Baird Point Ambulance will not handle medical emergencies
Baird Point Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the student-run response and transportation team, will no longer handle medical emergencies on the North Campus, pending a review of the group's operations.

During the fall semester, emergency situations will be handled under a mutual aid agreement involving Public Safety, Getzville Fire Company and Rural/Metro Ambulance, said Dennis Black, interim vice president for student affairs.

This mutual-aid response system already serves the campus, usually during the summer, during midsemester break and at other times during the academic year when Baird Point is not available, Black added. All calls for assistance on the North Campus should continue to be directed to Public Safety at 645-2222.

There has been no review of the Baird Point operation since the corps was formed about 15 years ago, said Barbara Ricotta, interim dean of students. "It's time to revisit their mission and see if we still need the services that are provided, and if the campus is still benefiting (from the service)," said Ricotta.

Baird Point will continue to provide educational and training programs as a recognized student organization, Black said, adding that this will allow corps members to participate in the review of the organization's operation and develop a long-term strategy for campus service.

"The corps has a long tradition of UB service, and we look forward to working with the members again in the future, as appropriate," he said.

PSS to present Brown Bag Video
Tired of having unproductive meetings that only seem to waste time? The Professional Staff Senate Professional Development Committee will present, "We've Got to Stop Meeting Like This," on Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. in 106 Jacobs. The program is part of the Fall 1997 Brown-Bag Video Series.

The 19-minute video will be followed by a discussion. RSVP to the PSS Office, 645-2003.

New student housing to be built as Pataki signs legislation
New student housing will become a reality on the North Campus for the first time since the 1970s, thanks to legislation signed recently by Gov. George Pataki. Construction of apartment-style units will begin in 1998, with occupancy expected in Fall 1999.

The legislation allows construction on two sites: a parcel located between the University Bookstore and Audobon Parkway, and a parcel located between Hadley Road and the Audobon Parkway, across from the Cooke-Hochstetter complex.

Michael Dupre, interim associate vice president for university facilities, said that both sites will be developed as soon as possible, with construction on at least one site, "if not both," expected to begin by next summer. Occupancy is expected in Fall 1999.

"UB is very glad to have the support of our legislators and the governor in passing this bill," said President William R. Greiner. "Giving us the authority to build the first new housing on our campus since the early '70s is a great leap forward in improving quality of life for our undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

"Realizing the long-laid plan of a thriving residential community on our North Campus will help to build the true spirit and essence of academic community," Greiner said. "By bringing a critical mass of collegiate residents together, we'll be able to create a safer, more productive learning environment, and strengthen UB's dynamic vitality by integrating living and learning into a truly top-flight university experience."

Under the terms of the special bill approved by the state Legislature and signed by Pataki, the SUNY trustees will lease land to the UB Foundation, which will bid out the construction work and then contract with the university to manage the apartments.

The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville, and Assemblyman Paul A. Tokasz, D-Cheektowaga. Rath and Tokasz will be honored for their support of UB at a breakfast sponsored by the Legislative Action Committee of the UB Alumni Association on Oct. 23.

Award-winning engineer, bridge designer to speak
Award-winning engineer T.Y. Lin, often called "the greatest structural engineer in the world," has been internationally renowned for nearly 50 years. His designs for functional and beautiful bridges, buildings and other public works unify Eastern and Western philosophies and aesthetic principles. The foremost developer of pre-stressed concrete, he has used the revolutionary material to push building technology beyond existing limits, not only in bridges, but in arenas, convention facilities and other long-span structures of surpassing lightness and grace.

Lin will present two talks at UB next week, both free and open to the public:

Thursday, Oct. 16: "Interaction Between Architecture and Engineering," at 5:30 p.m. in 105 Harriman Hall on the South Campus, as part of the fall lecture series sponsored by the School of Architecture and Planning. For information, call 829-3485, ext. 120.

Friday, Oct. 17: "Creative Engineering for Bridges and Buildings," at 3 p.m. in Screening Room 112 in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus, a Distinguished Speaker Seminar Lecture hosted by the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Urban Affairs. For information, call, 645-2114, ext. 2400.

Lin, an American-educated civil engineer, served from 1933-46 as chief bridge engineer and chief design engineer for the Chinese Government Railways, designing more than 1,000 bridges and culverts for railroad companies.

In 1946, he returned to the U.S. to teach at his alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, where he was the mainstay, and now professor emeritus, in one of the world's leading engineering faculties.

Among his notable achievements is Minnesota's Mississippi River Bridge, whose central arch is flanked by two half-arches that give it a carefree fluidity. In Costa Rica, Lin's Colorado River Bridge has its arch inverted into the shape of a smile. In Singapore, his work can be seen in an unusual bridge at the Safti Military Institute in Tuas. It is a 100-meter curved bridge that is hung from only one pier and seems to be suspended in the air.

He is responsible for the design of many major bridges so bold in concept that they have yet to be built. One is the proposed poetic design for the Ruck-a-Chucky Bridge in the Sierra hills, a bridge whose slender, curved 1,300-foot deck is designed to be hung from cables anchored in the surrounding mountainsides, allowing it to curve freely above the gorge of the American River. Other spectacular Lin designs include a proposed 55-mile-long bridge across the Bering Strait and the UN-sponsored link between Spain and Morocco that involves twin 16,000-foot spans.

Lin was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and recently received the highest award presented by the American Institute of Architecture, a rare feat for an engineer.

Ramesh, Rao editors of academic journal
Ramaswamy Ramesh and H. Raghav Rao, associate professors in the Department of Management Science and Systems in the School of Management, served as editors of the most recent issue of Annals of Operation Research, a leading academic journal in the field.

Ramesh and Rao edited two volumes of the journal, which discussed the interface between information systems and operations, and featured a contribution by Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon. Together the volumes present 26 cutting-edge articles by leading academicians and industry experts.

BYOB party aims to address issue of responsible alcohol use
BYOB. Bring Your Own Banana, of course. And come to the party.

It's a party planned for Thursday, Oct. 16, in the Student Union on the North Campus, with free food-ice cream sundaes and non-alcoholic drinks-music, and messages about an important issue on campus: the responsible use of alcohol.

The event, to take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., is part of the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness programming sponsored by the Natural High Program of Recreation and Intramural Services and the Living Well Center.

This is National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Month, and the program aims to create an awareness of responsible behavior for use or non-use of alcohol; to offer healthy activities as alternative choices for students and to develop responsible attitudes toward friends and community when alcohol is involved.

Campus sponsors are the Division of Athletics, Recreation and Intramural Services, and Student Health Services. Food donors are Rich Products, Perry's Ice Cream, Tops Markets and Hershey's Products.

Faculty-Staff Handbook updated, available online
The updated version of the UB Faculty/Staff Handbook is now available online, under the "Faculty and Staff" section of UB Wings.

"Preparing the handbook electronically made excellent sense," said Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science who initiated the project last year as chair of the Faculty Senate. "It is easy to keep up to date, inexpensive and efficient to distribute, and people need the information."

Faculty and staff commonly use the handbook to reference guidelines for course syllabi, promotion procedures, grading policy, university by-laws, vacation, sick-leave and other information. The online version is divided into five sections: general information, faculty and professional staff governance, UB academic policies, UB personnel policies, and SUNY general information.

Soon, says Welch, the site will contain links to other information, including union contracts.

The site is located at http://wings.buffalo.edu/faculty/handbook/

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