Inbox

Readers share their thoughts

Royal recovery

As a member of the women’s volleyball team from 1975-78, I’ve been following the successes of the current team along with news of the new coach, Blair Brown Lipsitz (“She’s a Winner,” Fall 2015]. While cleaning, I came across our team photo from 1977 or ’78. Our coach was Peter Weinrich, who helped us to be fairly competitive even though we were Division III in the ’70s. Also during that time a contest was held to name the women’s teams. I won a $25 gift certificate for a dinner at a local restaurant for coming up with the UB “Royals” (later changed to the “Bulls”). The school color was royal blue, of course. I have great memories of the old Clark Gym on the South Campus, and had lots of fun playing a sport for UB.

Susan Trabert (BSN ’80)
Buffalo, N.Y.

Rules of debate

I support your encouragement of civility through the Coffeehouse section of At Buffalo. A university should teach civil discussion of challenging ideas.

Unfortunately, the substitution of political advocacy for debate is not commendable (“Raising the Minimum Wage,” Fall 2015). The advocacy for expansion of minimum wage laws omitted any discussion of the 500,000 workers who would become unemployed (U.S. Government Accountability Office). Further, studies show that only 21 percent of minimum wage benefits go to the working poor. With our dynamic economy, the best policy to help the working poor is encouragement of market capitalism.

Again, I applaud the civil debate goal of the Coffeehouse section. A free civil society needs that skill. There probably were other faculty members who could have lucidly presented challenges to minimum wage expansion.

Tom Reeve (JD ’74)
San Diego, Calif.

The nascent North Campus

I wanted to express my thanks to At Buffalo for clearing up in my mind what the North Campus is all about [“UB Yesterday,” Fall 2015]. I am a 1958 graduate of the UB School of Dental Medicine. I spent three years as an undergraduate at the Main Street campus, then four additional years on the same campus at Capen Hall (now Farber). I have never visited the North Campus, but plan to do so when my dental class celebrates its 60th reunion in 2018. Thank you again for your informative publication.

Joseph J. Massaro (DDS ’58)
Lynbrook, N.Y.

As a UB student from 1975-79, I loved the UB Yesterday picture of the North Campus taking shape in 1977. I remember that the athletic “Bubble” was informally renamed in honor of UB President Robert Ketter by many who lived on the North Campus. Thus, we knew the Bubble as the “Ketterpillar,” due to its resemblance to a caterpillar. Keep up the good work!

David L. Seitelman (BS ’79)
Highland Park, Ill.

Students on South Campus’ marble columns, 1959. Originally from Buffalo’s Federal Reserve Bank, the columns were later moved to North Campus to form Baird Point. Photo: University Archives  

Bared Point?

If these Baird Point columns could really talk [“Last Look,” Fall 2015], they would tell you about the ’60s, when their pieces were stored, or rather strewn like giant toy blocks, in an area not far off the main path to Goodyear Hall, the new women’s dorm. This was well before the age of coed dorms (no men allowed above the first floor of Goodyear). The columns area, by then overgrown with bushes, became a favorite private retreat for couples returning to the dorms at the end of their dates.

Paul Tenser (MS ’74, BA ’67)
Buffalo, N.Y.

From the Editor’s Desk

Donald Trump caricatures.

Photo: Michael Gelen

In this political season, we see a lot of caricatures, but one truly captured our attention when it went viral this fall. It was an illustration of Donald Trump by Michael Gelen (JD ’88), a regular At Buffalo contributor, in which Gelen’s cat became Trump’s infamous mane. According to The Buffalo News, Gelen, who had recently illustrated Trump for a couple of national publications, spotted his curled-up kitty one day and noticed the similarity. “I looked at him one time and just made that connection, a shabby orange cat that kind of resembled Donald Trump’s hair,” Gelen told the newspaper. “I thought that would be kind of funny to combine the two. It just kind of clicked.” Indeed, “Composition in Line and Cat” got 27,000 shares when fellow illustrator Jim Charlier put it on his Facebook page. It also appeared on Huffington Post’s Instagram account.

We want to hear from you!

Send letters and comments to Editor with the subject heading “Letters.” Or mail to Editor, At Buffalo, 330 Crofts Hall, Buffalo, N.Y. 14260. Letters are subject to editing for length and clarity. Please include a daytime phone number for verification.