Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Diversity is off to a smooth start

Dear Editor:

The Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, appointed last spring by President William R. Greiner, has organized itself and is off to a smooth beginning. Professors Margaret Hollingsworth and Margarita Vargas will serve as co-vice chairs.

The task of the group is a "Four A" responsibility, meaning that it requires us to assess, assemble, analyze and advise, not necessarily in that order. The task force will need to retrieve and identify information necessary to bring about strong recommendations and a report that will stand on its merit.

President Greiner, at the initial meeting of the task force held May 27, reviewed the charge with the group and stated that "The group's work should be based on careful thought and analysis." He asked that the task force provide the campus community with a situational report regarding the progress that the university has made in the areas of diversity and ethnicity, paying particular attention to people of color. The report should identify an agenda for action and set a foundation for change.

The charge to the Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Diversity at UB is to assess the campus climate regarding racial and ethnic diversity, assemble and analyze data on campus progress in this regard and advise the president on steps to improve our performance in this area. In particular, the task force will advise on:

- Improving the campus climate for racial and ethnic minorities, with full consideration of the special needs of diverse and underrepresented groups

- Possible deleterious effects of past university policies and practices regarding racial and ethnic diversity in our campus community and steps to remediate any such effects

- New or revised university policies and practices regarding appointment, advancement, compensation and retention of faculty and staff that may be necessary in order to assure that UB's faculty and staff reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of our society

- Methods of identifying, encouraging, developing and retaining leaders from underrepresented groups

- Recruitment and retention of a student body reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of our society

- Methods for developing a campus environment that is free of racial and ethnic intolerance

- Means to assure that faculty, staff and student governance bodies reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of our society

- Developing processes of responsibility and accountability at all levels, and from all members of the UB community, regarding our progress in achieving a campus with a population that reflects and celebrates the racial and ethnic diversity of our society.

The task force will deliver an interim report to the president on or about Dec. 1, and conclude its work at such time as determined by the president after consultation with the task force and other appropriate constituencies.

To enable the task force to look at certain specific issues and to explore these issues in depth, the group has been divided into four sub-committees. These sub-committees are being chaired by members Henry Durand, Regina Toomey, Paul Francavilla and Glendora Johnson-Cooper.

The task force meets monthly, with several meetings of the sub-committees during the interim. Members of the UB community will be called upon from time to time to elicit comments or recommendations that will help the task force gather the necessary data to assure a comprehensive report.

Those wishing to reach the task force or to provide input may contact me at 220 Norton Hall, via phone at 645-2732, Ext. 16, or via e-mail at nt@buffalo.edu.

Long-term global warming and climate change should concern all

To the Editor:

In the Aug. 26, 1999, issue of the Reporter, there was an article, "Drought, heat are normal, Ebert says" by Patricia Donovan. As it was written, many readers must have thought Professor Ebert's comments referred both to short-term weather variability and to prospects for long-term climate change. But after having read the article and then talking with him, I know that he was talking about short-term weather variability. But the article seems to imply-see the opening paragraph-that we should have no concern about long-term global warming and the consequent climate change. I know from talking with Professor Ebert that he shares my view that we should all be greatly concerned about long-term climate change. In fairness to readers of the Reporter, I think I should explain why we feel that way.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme. The 1995 report by IPCC Working Group I, on the Science of Climate Change, was prepared by 78 lead authors from 20 countries, assisted by more than 400 contributing authors from 26 countries and more than 500 reviewers from 40 countries. It represents our best scientific guidance concerning global climate change from the world's best climate scientists. Among the findings are that "Most ...studies have detected a significant change and show that the observed warming trend is unlikely to be of natural origin." and "...the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate."

In other words, global climate is heating up and human activities are contributing to the change. Projections based on business-as-usual scenarios of continued emissions of greenhouse gases indicate significant additional global heating and serious climate change. That's why business-as-usual is NOT a good idea.

It is true, of course, that heat and cold, drought and flood, are normal variations in the weather we experience. That is, there is a lot of "noise" in the climate signal. The challenge of IPCC Working Group I was to determine if recent global warming is, in fact, beyond the range of normal variability and, if so, if the heating can be attributed at all to human activities. In their reports of 1990 and 1992 they did not declare that they had found that to be true; they were not sure. By 1995, their answers were YES and YES.

I cannot believe that anyone reading the article by Ms. Donovan would find the impression left by it to be consistent with the consensus of the world's leading climate scientists concerning the present understanding of recent and future climate change and the human impact that we can expect in the next century. Nor did it do a good job of putting professor Ebert's weather-related observations into an appropriate context.