SOM career center cited as one of nation's best

A national benchmarking report has cited the Career Resource Center in the School of Management as one of the five best business-school career offices nationwide in terms of student satisfaction.

Produced by Educational Benchmarking Inc. (EBI), the report was based on surveys of 20,000 MBA students over a three-year period.

The UB School of Management career office-as well as business-school career offices at Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of North Carolina and Penn State University-was cited by the report for having the highest levels of student satisfaction among 385 U.S. business schools.

The five business-school career offices will be featured in a "best practices" case study being published by EBI and the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The study will be distributed to business schools across the country.

Scientist challenges animal assumptions

Leading scientists have begun to share their ideas on the culture, intelligence and cognition on a variety of animal species. In fact, last year 27 of the world's leading animal-behavior experts shared their latest research on the social lives of everything from velvet monkeys to hyenas at the "Animal Social Complexity and Intelligence Symposium" sponsored by the Chicago Academy of Science.

Among them was eminent primatologist Frans de Waal, who will speak at UB on Monday as part of the "University and the World" lecture series presented by the College of Arts and Sciences.

De Waal, who will speak at 4 p.m. in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus, is at the center of the animal culture debate and takes it up in his new book, "The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist," which will be published three days after his lecture here.

It has been suggested that once you hear de Waal speak, you'll never look at your terrier the same way again, so convincingly does he challenge our most basic-and arrogant-assumptions about who we are and how we differ from other animals.

Using an engaging amalgam of intriguing anecdote, rigorous behavioral research, autobiography, philosophy and fascinating speculation, de Waal asks us to consider the possibility that apes have their own culture, a notion that shakes our centuries-old convictions about what makes humans distinct.

Bromley to speak at Emeritus Center

Hank Bromley, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education, will discuss “The Battles of Buffalo: Urban Vitality and Public Involvement in City Planning,” at the monthly meeting of the Emeritus Center, set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday in the South Lounge, 102 Goodyear Hall on the South Campus.

Bromley is a member of a civic group, Citizens for Common Sense, that promotes smart-growth strategies for economic development in Buffalo.

The program is open to the UB community.

For more information, call the Emeritus Center at 829-2271.

Students tour Israel with Hillel program

A group of 25 UB students affiliated with Hillel of Buffalo visited Israel Jan. 3-13 as part of Hillel’s Israel Birthright, a program funded through Birthright Israel, Jewish philanthropists, Jewish Federations and the Israeli government.

Hillel of Buffalo is one of 80 Hillel foundations, which are campus-based educational, cultural and religious organizations, selected to participate.

Local program director Jamie Fleischmann coordinated the trip. The students were accompanied by Dan Leshem, a graduate student in the Department of English.

Highlights of the trip were tours of ancient and modern sites, including an archeological dig at Beit Guvrin; Jaffa; a kibbutz in northern Israel; the Knesset (parliament); Jerusalem, and the museum and memorial of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem.

Honorary degree nominations sought

The university-wide Honorary Degree Committee is seeking nominations of persons to be considered for an honorary degree from SUNY.

Eligibility is restricted to persons of state, national or international stature. Nominees who have made extraordinary contributions to UB will be considered if they have made significant contributions to areas beyond UB and Western New York.

Nomination forms may be obtained from University Advancement and Development, 503 Capen Hall, North Campus.

The deadline is March 9.

National tax moot court set

The Honorable Richard C. Wesley, associate judge on the New York State Court of Appeals, will be among the experts sitting on the bench for the final round of competition when law students from around the nation come to Buffalo Feb. 22-24 to compete in the Law School’s national Mugel Tax Moot Court.

Students will argue the tax consequences of transferring certain property pursuant to a divorce decree under the laws of New York State.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Mugel tax competition has become the largest and longest-running tax moot court in the United States. Teams from such institutions as William Mitchell Law School, Syracuse University, Louisiana State University, University of Baltimore, University of Maryland, as well as UB, will compete this year.

The competition is named in honor of Albert R. Mugel, a senior partner in the Buffalo-based law firm of Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel and a professor of law who has taught tax at UB Law School for more than 50 years.

In addition to Wesley, Judge Lewis Carluzzo of the United States Tax Court also will be a judge in the final round.

“One of the major strengths of this annual event has been the quality of the judges it attracts from year to year,” says Simon A. Fleischmann, a third-year law student who is chair of the competition. “Distinguished representatives from the local legal community, as well as national tax experts, have volunteered their time and expertise to make the competition a success. This year is no exception.”

Kenneth R. Joyce, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the UB Law School, serves as advisor to the competition, preparing the problem and bench memorandum. Joyce has been instrumental in the formulation of tax laws in New York State in his capacity as director of the New York State Law Revision Commission.

After researching the issues and writing a legal brief, the contestants will meet in downtown Buffalo to take part in several rounds of appellate-style argument. Problems at past competitions have involved capital gains versus ordinary income, tax status of gambling debts and capitalization versus deductions.

“Complex and challenging problems such as these have become the hallmark of the Mugel competition and have furthered its reputation as a rigorous and preeminent competition,” Fleischmann says.

Those serving as judges may obtain Continuing Legal Education credit.

For information on the Mugel competition, contact Simon A. Fleischmann at 645-2037 or saf4@buffalo.edu.

Law school plans program for minority recruitment

As part of its continuing commitment to diversity, the Law School will host a visitation program and luncheon for minority high school juniors and seniors who wish to learn more about law school.

The program, marking National Minority Law Student Recruitment Month, will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 16 in the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus.

Lillie Wiley, the school’s assistant director of admissions and director of recruitment, says the purpose of the program is to expose promising young scholars to the field of law.

Citing U.S. Census Bureau figures, Wiley notes that only 7 percent of lawyers in the United States are from minority groups: 3 percent are African American, 2 percent Latino and less than 1 percent Asian American.

“We want to send a strong message to students, faculty, administrators and the legal community: Don’t turn back,” she says. “We’ve come too far to let recent assaults on affirmative action erode efforts to diversify the legal community in America.”

National Minority Law Recruitment Month at the Law School is funded by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) to raise awareness of minority-recruiting issues facing law schools. The effort comes on the heels of setbacks to affirmative action in major states like California and Texas that have vastly reduced minority representation in entering law-school classes.

“The good news is that you see increased numbers of minority students and minority faculty at the nation’s law schools, although not enough,” said Wiley. “The bad news is that some people believe the tide may be turning against diversity efforts.

“In view of the challenge to affirmative action, we must do more to make people of color know that the law school is a place for them and that we are working hard to achieve a diverse environment on our campuses. The negativity generated by recent news about affirmative action cannot be allowed to foster a perception that law schools have closed their doors to people of color,” she said. “Legal education is too important to the rights of all Americans to allow this misconception to exist.”

The program on Feb. 16 will feature a talk by Wiley on “Preparing for Law School” and a mock class on “Law and Public Education” conducted by Wade Newhouse, professor of law, and law student Rashondra Jackson. Other presentations and panel discussions will include representatives from various minority-student organizations, including the Black, Latino and Asian Law Student Associations.