BRENDAN MCGARRY - The Spectrum

NEWS

Marcella's Owners to Buy University Theater

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Apr. 24, 2002

After a year and a half and several interested buyers, UB is in final negotiations to sell the Pfeifer Theatre - a longtime staple in Buffalo's Theater District - to the owners of Club Marcella's, an area nightclub.The UB Foundation, a non-profit educational corporation that oversees the university's fundraising and development efforts, originally placed a $500,000 price tag on the theater, but will likely settle for under that amount, according to Ed Schneider, executive director of the foundation.Both Schneider and Mike Slyder, a spokesman for Club Marcella's, were unable to provide specific information about the sale, pointing to a confidentiality clause in the sale contract.The UB Foundation purchased the theater in 1986 from Studio Arena, but with the completion in 1994 of UB's $52 million Center for the Arts, which houses four theaters, the university slowly phased out its programs downtown and moved them to venues available on the North Campus.The last UB show held at the Pfeifer Theatre was two years ago, according to Gerard Kegler, facilities director for the Center for the Arts.

NEWS

Ireland New Partner in Biomedical Pursuits

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Apr. 15, 2002

UB's Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics recently forged an international partnership with Biopharma Ireland, the country's new national institute of biopharmaceutical research and development.

NEWS

UB English Professor Wins Coveted Pulitzer

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Apr. 10, 2002

When the 2002 Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday, a UB professor's name was among them. Carl Dennis, a UB English professor, was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.Dennis received the award for his eighth work, a collection of over 40 poems titled Practical Gods that was published last fall by Penguin Books."I think the Pulitzer confirms the national recognition of the history of creative writing at UB," said Joseph Conte, interim chair of the English department.The Pulitzer, one of the nation's highest honors for the arts, carries a cash prize of $7,500 and makes Dennis the first UB faculty member ever to win the coveted award.

NEWS

"Compaq Merger Will Not Affect Corporate Commitments, Administrators Say"

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Apr. 5, 2002

Technology giant Hewlett-Packard recently announced its likely victory in the merger over Compaq Computer Corp., but university officials confirmed that Compaq will remain one of the biggest corporate sponsors to UB's Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics.

NEWS

New York's Formula for Funding

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Mar. 18, 2002

State legislatures across the nation are increasingly linking state aid for public institutions of higher education to performance, an idea popular among politicians despite complaints from college officials.According to Research Associate Henrik Minassians, who works for the Rockefeller Institute, a research institute of public policy for SUNY, states generally use three methods for determining aid to colleges and universities: performance budgeting, performance funding and performance reporting.Performance budgeting examines overall academic performance and bases funding on a number of different academic indicators, such as grade performance and graduate job placement.

NEWS

Pape to be Confirmed as SUNY Trustee

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Feb. 22, 2002

UB student George Pape will be ceremonially confirmed as the newest member to the State University of New York Board of Trustees next Thursday, Feb.

NEWS

Lobbying to Put Buffalo on the Map

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Feb. 20, 2002

Lobbyists from UB are working to secure millions of dollars in funding from both the New York State and federal governments as part of the university's efforts to place Buffalo at the forefront of economic activity in biomedical research.Faculty, administrators and employees in the university's Office of Government Affairs are working as a team to secure finances for the new Center of Excellence for Bioinformatics, said Bruce Holm, UB senior vice provost and chief administrator for the center.The Office of Government Affairs has representatives in both Albany and Washington, and continues to utilize SUNY's powerful Washington lobbying firm to leverage the university for additional government funding."Our ultimate mission is to bring back funding for the university," said Janet Penksa, former secretary to the New York State Assembly's Ways and Means Committee, and currently UB's associate vice president for government affairs.

NEWS

Pharmacy Gains New Major: Pharmacometrics

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Feb. 6, 2002

UB's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences recently developed the nation's first master's degree program in pharmaceutics with a concentration in pharmacometrics, an emerging field that combines pharmacological studies with computational data analysis.Pharmacometrics is comprised of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and biostatistics, and studies the disposition of drugs in the body and the time-course of drug effects."These kind of data are essential for understanding the action of drugs," said William Jusko, professor of pharmaceutical sciences and founder of the program.

NEWS

Power Outage Results in Fire at Young Chow

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Feb. 4, 2002

A small fire was reported around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon at Young Chow, the Chinese restaurant located in the Commons.Dave, the Young Chow manager on duty at the time, who would not give his last name, said the fire began when a candle, lit because the restaurant was without power, fell off the service counter, igniting a piece of paper on the floor.

NEWS

"The beat generation, in black and white"

By BRENDAN MCGARRY | Jan. 30, 2002

If it were up to Distinguished Professor Bruce Jackson, one of the rooms in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery would house a vintage 1957 pink Cadillac."How can you have a '50s exhibit without a 1957 pink Cadillac?" Jackson asked at the gallery, Sunday.Unfortunately, the classic car would not fit through the doors of the museum, so he compromised, and a rare1952 cherry-red hog (Harley Davidson motorcycle) rests in its place.The item is one of many 1950s-era collectibles UB contributed to the museum that complement the "The Tumultuous Fifties: A View from the New York Times Photo Archives," on display from Jan.