@UB, September 2005

Our University at Buffalo community extends its heartfelt sympathies, concern, and support to the thousands who have been affected by the Hurricane Katrina crisis, and we are committed to doing all we can to help those in need.

As a public institution of higher education, one of the most significant ways in which our UB community can offer assistance is by reaching out to our fellow academic institutions impacted by this disaster. As you may know, a large number of colleges and universities along the Gulf Coast have temporarily shut down because of severe damage from Hurricane Katrina, leaving thousands of students stranded at the beginning of the academic year.

To date, nine undergraduate students who have been evacuated from universities in New Orleans are enrolling at UB as visiting students. We are doing everything we can to ease their entry into UB, coordinating the transfer of course credits and financial aid where applicable, providing housing as needed, and helping to put them in touch with faculty and academic advisors. Similarly, the UB Law School has enrolled three law students from Gulf Coast universities and will make its fall courses available to third-year law students from Tulane University and to second- and third-year students from Loyola University. Additional UB response initiatives include outreach to UB students whose homes are in the Gulf Coast area, and a fund drive to be conducted at the opening football game.

Applying our research strengths to addressing pressing social problems is also a key aspect of our mission as a public research university. Currently, a reconnaissance team from UB's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research is on-site at impacted areas in Mississippi, assessing the structural damage caused by Hurricane Katrina with the ultimate goal of developing engineering solutions capable of protecting against future disasters. I encourage you to read more about these and other efforts by visiting http://alumni.buffalo.edu/nl/0905.php?id=katrina, which provides information, analysis, and guidance from several UB faculty members across the disciplines, particularly those with expertise in responding to catastrophic events.

As part of this national effort, our UB community is committed to doing all it can to lend assistance in the aftermath of this disaster and during the long period of clean-up and reconstruction to follow. We welcome your comments and your input as to additional ways in which we can work together to help those in need.

  -- John B. Simpson, President

University News

PROTECTING THE WORLD: UB researchers hold more than $21 million in grants to develop and investigate new methods for combating terrorist threats and attacks that also may help the world to mitigate and respond to extreme events such as natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

ON-SITE INSPECTION: With an eye toward the design of buildings that will better withstand extreme events, a reconnaissance team from UB's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research has traveled to Gulfport, Biloxi and other areas of Mississippi devastated by Hurricane Katrina to determine the specific causes behind the failures of large engineered structures, primarily commercial buildings.

HENDERSON NAMED VICE PRESIDENT: UB alumna Marsha S. Henderson, KeyBank Western New York District president, has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president for external affairs. Her appointment is effective Sept. 26.

NURSING GRANT: The School of Nursing will incorporate specialized training in addictive disorders and mental-health conditions into its family nurse practitioner program this fall, making it one of the first nursing schools to offer such training for primary-care nurses.

"BEST BUSINESS SCHOOL": Forbes magazine has again included the School of Management in its ranking of top business schools for providing MBA students with the best return on their investment.

CHINESE ART: The most ambitious exhibition of contemporary Chinese art to travel beyond China will be presented this fall by the University at Buffalo art galleries and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery after its debut in Beijing this summer at the Millennium Art Museum.

UB People

FATAL ATTRACTION: America's obsession with serial killers and its use in American culture is the subject of a new book, "Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture," by David Schmid, Ph.D., UB associate professor of English.

SEIGEL RECEIVES AWARD: Gail Seigel, Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and physiology and biophysics, has received a $50,000 Sybil B. Harrington Scholar Award from Research to Prevent Blindness to support her research into diseases of the eye.

Breaking Research

FOCUSING ON SHAME: Reducing feelings of shame during the treatment of individuals who abuse alcohol and drugs may be an effective way to improve treatment outcomes, according to a study by researchers with UB's Research Institute on Addictions and George Mason University.

BLACK JOBLESSNESS: The first comprehensive study of the location of unemployed men in metropolitan areas, conducted by UB sociologist Robert L. Wagmiller, has found that jobless black men occupy a uniquely disadvantageous "ecological niche" that severely limits their potential for future employment.

GRIEVING THE NEEDLE: Heroin addicts trying to kick the habit often profoundly grieve their lost "relationship" with the needles they use to inject the drug, according to a researcher who recently earned a doctorate in counselor education from the Graduate School of Education.

Heard on Campus

"UB is a tremendous asset and influence in the community. Through the new community engagement effort that my office will oversee, the university will focus its efforts to strengthen its relationships with existing partners and reach out to and engage new partners, increasing its leadership in the areas of community engagement and public policy."

----Marsha Henderson, BA '73, on being appointed to the newly created position of UB vice president for external affairs.

In My Opinion...

While disasters such as Hurricane Katrina are devastating, they also bring out the best in people. Support for the victims in the Gulf region from ordinary citizens has been phenomenal, and will surely make a difference in the lives of many. We'd like to hear from UB alumni and friends about supporting disaster victims, whether Katrina, 9-11, the South Asian tsunami or other. Click here and tell us your story. Please include your name and graduation year.

To see how your fellow alumni beat the heat when they were UB students (last month's "In My Opinion" question), go here.

"Hot" Links

See you at Homecoming! October 5-9: http://alumni.buffalo.edu/nl/0905.php?id=homecoming

UB On the Road has begun. Check it out: http://alumni.buffalo.edu/nl/0905.php?id=ontheroad

Do you have a cap and gown you don’t know what to do with? Donate it!

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