Kudos

William J. Rappaport, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and adjunct professor of philosophy, presented a talk, "How Computers Can Think: A Conversation with Cassie; or, Knowledge Representation for Natural-Language Understanding," as part of the "Exceptional Minds/Exceptional Machines: Minds and Machines" public lecture series held Oct. 8 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Albert J. Ermanovics, associate director of Student Life and Buffalo Center chapter treasurer of United University Professions (UUP), has been elected to the UUP executive board. Ermanovics has served UUP in various capacities at chapter and statewide levels and is chair of the statewide UUP grievance committee. He also has been appointed to the negotiations committee for the upcoming UUP contract talks.

Mark Gottdiener, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, recently was an invited speaker at a meeting of major businesses engaged in the development of tourism and themed environments in Europe. The forum, which was held in Barcelona, Spain, included executives from EuroDisney, Warner Bros., The Hard Rock Cafe and other major developers of new tourist spaces. Gottdiener has written extensively on the significance of themed environments and also is an internationally regarded expert on urban affairs, cultural studies, cultural semiotics and popular culture.