Vol. 61 NO. 65
ubspectrum.com
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
NYS Bill Would Subject UB Foundation to FOIL LUKE HAMMILL Senior News Editor For years, the UB Foundation has operated beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Law. But its days of opaqueness may be numbered. A bipartisan bill working its way through the state Senate and Assembly would subject SUNY-affiliated foundations and non-profits to the state Freedom of Information Law. There is over $2 billion in funds spread throughout the foundations. The bill would also require the foundations to adopt conflict of interest policies. UB officials declined comment on the bill, and the UB Foundation’s executive director said the organization has yet to take a stance. But the Business Council of New York State – a prominent business lobbying organization that UB pays $5,000 in annual dues to – is opposing the bill, saying it would require disclosure of trade secrets and otherwise damage the ability of foundations to do business. “Rather than a ‘welcome mat’ to opening [research and development] to collaborative investments, this bill sends a very strong ‘steer clear’ signal to what are very complex business-higher education relationships,” reads a statement on the BCNYS website. But Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said the FOI Law protects trade secrets and other confidential business information from disclosure. “The [FOI] law provides the protection that’s needed…I don’t believe [the BCNYS statement] clearly recognizes the ability to deny access to records that is provided in the Freedom of Information Law,” Freeman said. Many members of the UB faculty approve of the bill. “I solemnly support the bill,” said Professor of Economics Paul Zarembka, a member of UB’s Faculty Senate. “There’s absolutely no reason why the UB Foundation shouldn’t have the same disclosure as the rest of the university.” What’s the UB Foundation? continued on page 23
Spectrum Editor in Chief Gains National Recognition NEW YORK, N.Y.—On Tuesday, Spectrum Editor in Chief Matthew Parrino was recognized as one of the best student media leaders in the nation at the College Media Association Spring Convention in New York City. Parrino came in second place, beating over 50 other nominated leaders. The award – “Best Student Media Leader” – is one out of 15 categories included in The Apple Awards. “Matt’s business sense rescued The Spectrum from financial crisis,” said Jody Biehl, The Spectrum’s faculty adviser and director of the Journalism Certificate Program at UB. “We had so little money that in August we weren’t sure we could publish the first issue. Now we’re in the black again.” Biehl added that Parrino has made huge strides as a writer, editor, and leader since he took office this past summer, and this award proves that. The Apple Awards are a contest that recognizes traditional and nontraditional aspects of college media. The categories range from best newspaper (based on school size) to best tweet and best sex column. This year’s awards had the highest number of nominations in convention history. Any student-run publication in the nation had the opportunity to nominate its top leader for the honor. At least three staff members were required to submit either a video or a letter attesting to the “greatness” of their editor in chief or other respective leader, according to the convention’s website. Parrino was nominated via video submission, and the entire Spectrum editorial board endorsed him. continued on page 7
Weather for the Week:
Wednesday: Partly Cloudy- H: 79, L: 58 Thursday: Partly Cloudy- H: 75, L: 58 Friday: Partly Cloudy- H: 64, L: 47
Students, Co-Workers, and Mentors Mourn Passing of a Friend
UB’s Kevin Breen dies in car crash after leaving impact on many
ficer of the ROTC program, sat in the passenger’s seat. Breen was attempting to switch lanes when he lost control of the vehicle; the Jeep slid counterclockwise into a median and flipped numerous times, severely damaging the vehicle, according to the Pennsylvania State Police report.
BRIAN JOSEPHS Arts Editor On the Friday before Spring Break, Cadet Executive Officer Gregory Losee stood before his fellow ROTC students and gave the standard safety brief – precautionary advice given before any collegiate vacation. Losee ended it as he usually would.
Breen was pronounced dead soon after the crash from the head injuries he sustained. Richardson was treated for bruising and lacerations, but he has since recovered. The casualty was made official at approximately 2:15 p.m., and LTC Paul M. Baker – a Canisius professor of military science – was tasked with relaying the difficult news to Breen’s comrades and family.
“The last thing I said was: ‘By Monday…[we] want to see all of your faces back,’” Losee said. That comment would come back to haunt Losee a week later, because it was the last thing he ever said to junior history major Kevin Breen. Breen – a residential advisor at Spalding Quad, a member of Canisius’ ROTC program, and a member of the Pershing Rifles military fraternity – was killed in a car accident on Interstate 99 in Centre County, Pa. Sunday morning. The
Courtesy of Joshua Davison Kevin Breen (middle) – who served as a Spaulding RA, an ROTC member, and a Pershing Rifles brother – died last Sunday morning in a car accident.
Merrick, N.Y. native was on his way back from a Pershing Rifles convention in Baltimore, Md.
The junior was driving his 2004 Jeep Cherokee back to UB. Ian Richardson, the Squad Tactical Of-
“Imagine that you were doing something fun on a Sunday afternoon, and all of a sudden your uncle, your father, or brother…calls you up and tells you one of your friends is dead,” Baker said. “You get a lot of different reactions.” continued on page 17
Five For Guys, Free For Girls LYZI WHITE Life Editor The house looks different to each person that sets eyes on it. To some it’s just a dirty place to party for free and meet other college kids; to others it’s their property and source of income. But to a small number of students, it’s home. Fraternity houses are scattered throughout the University Heights. Despite common misconceptions, fraternity houses come in all different styles. While some are the disgusting, smelly, damaged buildings that people assume they are, there are some exceptions – it all depends on the tenants renting the house, not the fraternity itself. One problem that many landlords do find with renting houses to fraternities is cleaning up the disasters they leave in their wake. Jeremy Dunn, a landlord with University Apartment Rentals, has dealt with this problem on numerous occasions throughout the 15 years he’s worked in the Buffalo area. He even has had to resort to filing a lawsuit against a fraternity for the damage they caused. This particular fraternity did not just smash their oven beyond repair, rip out almost all of their kitchen cabinets and smash holes in the walls, they also left a going away present in the kitchen that Dunn and his workers found while working on the extensive repairs. “We just couldn’t get rid of the odor in the
spectrum file photo Fraternity houses are known for their red solo cups and pounding music but students sometimes fail to realize that people live in the house after they leave the party.
kitchen,” Dunn said. “When my carpenter was patching the walls, they thought they smelt the stink coming out of the walls so they decided to cut the walls open before they patched them to see what was in there. They guessed something must have been in there, and lo in behold,
they found in the lower part of the walls – below where one of these holes were in the wall – raw meat.” The fraternity had been throwing meat into the hole in their kitchen long enough for it to rot – continued on page 17
UB Student Wins International Urban Planning Competition in Russia MARK DAVIS Staff Writer UB senior Matt Wattles’ first trip to Europe was nothing close to the typical tour through wellknown cities and famous landmarks. Few travelers envision the Siberian city of Irkutsk as a destination over Paris or Berlin, or could spot Lake Baikal on a map.
to draft proposals for rejuvenating the city of Irkutsk. An international panel of experts, professors, and city officials then judges the students’ plans.
But that’s where Wattles went to participate in a world-renowned urban planning competition. And he won. On March 4, Wattles, an environmental design major and native Buffalonian, was the first American to win the International Winter University competition held in Irkutsk, Russia. The competition, in its 13th year, recruits urban planning and environmental design students from around the world
The competition lasted just three weeks, from February 11 until the first week of March. But three weeks of living in the Siberian city was a big first for
Wattles. Not only was he unfamiliar with traveling, but he also faced a much larger task than any project he had ever worked on in the urban planning studios on South Campus. For each year it’s been held, The International Winter University competition has had a theme. The theme this year was “Suburbanization: The City and Ecology”; Wattles had to explore the challenges facing a post-Cold War Russian metropolis on the brink of serious expansion. “Recently, the city has been expanding into the Siberian forest that surrounds it at an unsustainable rate,” Wattles said. “Unplanned suburbanization is a problem for many cities, because the lowdensity development requires more energy and resources to maintain it.”
I N S I D E courtesy of daniel hess Senior environmental design major Matt Wattles (left) stands with Professor Daniel Hess in Siberia, where Wattles placed first in an international urban planning competition.
Opinion
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