William J. Jusko, Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has been named chair of the school's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

A study by an education researcher at the University at Buffalo has found that the "celebratory grand epic" about America that prevails in many of the nation's history classrooms and textbooks is no longer taken at face value by the increasingly heterogeneous population of U.S. high school students.

"The Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man" -- two legendary film adaptations of Dashiell Hammett novels -- will be among the highlights of the Fall 2002 edition of "Buffalo Film Seminars: Conversations About Great Films with Diane Christian and Bruce Jackson."

Bioorganic reactions, essentially the reactions that distinguish living systems from nonliving ones, will be the subject of an international symposium to be held at the University at Buffalo on Aug. 15-17.

The grand opening of Creekside Village, the University at Buffalo's newest student housing complex, will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 22 in the community building of the complex on Skinnersville Road on the UB North Campus.

University at Buffalo researchers have found an association between bacteria in the sputum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and exacerbations of the disease, answering a long-standing question about the role of pathogens and COPD flare-ups.

John M. Thomas, associate dean for international programs in the UB School of Management, has been appointed interim dean of the school, effective Aug. 1.

Seven UB faculty members, four professional-staff members and two librarians have received 2002 SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence from State University of New York Chancellor Robert L. King.

In America's libraries, thousands of good jobs are going begging, says Judith S. Robinson, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Library and Information Studies in the University at Buffalo School of Informatics. "Most people don't know that there is a massive job surplus in the field."

Researchers at the University at Buffalo are combining 21st-century materials and computerized sensors to create a simulator for surgical training with "organs" that feel, smell and respond like living tissue in the human body.

From design of terrorist-resistant buildings to development of devices to detect airborne bioagents, the University at Buffalo is among several prominent universities nationwide that are making counterterror research a priority in their laboratories.

"Wednesdays at 4 PLUS," the bi-annual series presented by the Poetics Program in the UB Department of English, will stray from its usual format of poetry and prose readings this fall with a diverse lineup that includes film screenings, a digital poetry showcase and a symposium on "language and encoding," as well as the traditional readings by pre-eminent poets and novelists.

Seven preeminent, world-class scientists in the fields of genomics, chemistry, biophysics, proteomics and computational biology have been named to the Scientific Advisory Board for the Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics.

"Today" show co-anchor Katie Couric, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, astronaut Mae Jemison, best-selling author Amy Tan and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley will headline the University at Buffalo's 2002-03 Distinguished Speakers Series.

Third-year medical students in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will mark the transition from the classroom to the real world of medical treatment at the first annual Student Clinician Ceremony, to be held at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 in the Center for the Arts on UB's North (Amherst) Campus.

Two faculty members at the University at Buffalo have been invited to make presentations at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held Sept. 2-11 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Building the management skills of area nonprofit executives remains a high priority for the John R. Oishei Foundation, which has given a $245,000 grant to the University at Buffalo's schools of Management and Social Work for continuing support of UB's Institute for Nonprofit Agencies.

Computer scientists at the University at Buffalo who developed handwriting recognition software systems for the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Census Bureau are developing a system to flag suspicious patterns in emergency medical reports and make them available to public-health authorities within days, if not hours.

New affiliation agreements that are being negotiated between the University at Buffalo and its teaching hospitals will define and fundamentally change the working relationship between the UB medical school and its teaching hospitals. The agreements are laying the groundwork for improved and more cost-efficient health care in Western New York.

Commemoration of the 9/11 tragedies may trigger episodes of post-traumatic stress in people who suffer from the disorder, says Nancy Smyth, associate professor in the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. An expert on psychological trauma, Smyth says rebroadcast of news clips showing the tragic events could cause survivors to "relive" the events.

The Sept. 11 terrorists attacks have dramatically changed attitudes Americans have about themselves, their country and war, says Bruce Jackson, Samuel P. Capen Professor of American Culture in the Department of English at the University at Buffalo.

A nationwide shortage of pharmacists, entry-level salaries as high as $100,000 and the expanded role pharmacists are playing in health-care delivery have boosted interest and prompted expansion in the professional pharmacy program at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and similar programs nationwide.

The appetites and spending habits of American consumers have changed substantially during the one-year period after Sept. 11, according to an expert on retail strategy and consumer perception at the University at Buffalo.

The popular response to the events of 9/11 has been wholly appropriate, moving and important, says historian Michael Frisch, but now the "war" metaphor is being used at the policy level to justify actions whose consequences place the U.S. and its people in greater and greater danger.

The local branch of the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Insurgence (SPIR), an economic stimulus program based in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, provided an estimated $160,000 in project support to Western New York companies during its 2001-2002 fiscal year.

Monica B. Spaulding, professor in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, will discuss "Experiences with Athletic Drug Testing" at the first meeting of the semester of the Emeritus Center, to be held at 2 p.m. on Sept. 10 in 102 Goodyear Hall on the South Campus.

UB will remember the first anniversary of a national tragedy with a Sept. 11 Commemoration to be held at 3 p.m. Sept. 11 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus.

The Red Cross, the UB Blood Drive Committee and the Employee Assistance Program have scheduled several campus blood drives during the fall semester.