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HonorsInternational

N U M B E R X V X | S p r i n g 2 0 0 5UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO

The State University of New York

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We don’t receive wisdom;we must discover it for ourselves

after a journey that no one

can take for us or spare us.

MARCEL PROUST (1871 - 1922)

an you imagine the entire UB Honors studentbody, 1,000 strong, having the chance to studyabroad? That’s what we would put near the top ofour wish list.

That has always been our goal - even when theHonors Program was a fledgling operation twenty-four years ago when twenty exceptional freshmenwere admitted in 1981. Then-President RobertKetter established the Honors Program with avision to attract outstanding students to UB. Andit has done so with spectacular success. The pro-gram has grown dramatically, and the influx ofexcellent students to the campus has played a vitalrole in improving the academic profile of UB inrecent years. But we still have this vision that astudy abroad experience of at least one semesterwould be an extraordinary benefit for all students.

Now a generous gift from Jeremy M. Jacobs,Chairman and CEO of Delaware NorthCompanies and chairman of the UB Council,moves us a step forward in that ambitious goal.

For years, Mr. Jacobs has made an annual gift toUB in support of special university needs and proj-ects. Just prior to stepping down as UB’s thir-teenth president, President Greiner proposed, andMr. Jacobs agreed, to earmark a significant portionof that funding to support the Honors Programand specifically study-abroad scholarships for UB

Honors Students. This agreement established theJeremy M. Jacobs International Honors Scholarshipin honor of the Jacobs family.

Last year with the help of Sandra Flash, Directorof Study Abroad Programs, we launched this excit-ing opportunity. Interested Honors Studentsapplied for these scholarships, outlining their plansfor a study abroad experience. The UniversityHonors Council, our advisory group of faculty,staff, and Honors Students, judged the merit ofthese applications. In the pages that follow, youcan read about the adventures of Brian Bradfordwhose ancestors came over on the Mayflower; hereturned to his roots and traveled back to England.

Until now, only a small number of HonorsStudents have been able to travel to other countriesfor international study. Although many studentswere interested in overseas study, few could affordit. For those that could manage the financing, theirexperiences were transforming, giving the studentsa broader perspective on education and the worldat large.

Now we have high hopes that we are on the wayto making it possible for this experience to be anintegral part of the education for all HonorsStudents. The seed money provided through theJacobs gift will be dispersed to students over fouryears. During this period, we hope to find addi-tional gifts so that this remarkable beginning cancontinue.

Apropos of our new study abroad program wethought that we would focus this issue of the mag-azine on some international aspects of the HonorsProgram. You will find seminars, trips, and adven-tures highlighted in the next few pages. We evenhave an excuse to show a picture of the two of uswith international Olympic decathlon championBruce Jenner to whet your appetite.

KIPP HERREID & JOSIE CAPUANAAcademic Director and Administrative Director

The story’s inside...

C

Kipp and Josie share an Olympic moment with Bruce Jenner.

Honors International

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An Olympic MomentBrian DanielakDistinguished Honors Scholar, Class of 2007

Welcome Hadar Borden

Engineering the FutureBrian BradfordHonors Scholar, Class of 2005

The Uganda Village ProjectBrent AndersonHonors Scholar, Class of 2003

Questioning Enid Bloch PAGE 6Jessica (Seabury) DudekHonors Scholar, Class of 1994Assistant Administrative Director, Honors Program

Lice and Love in India PAGE 10Rachel RaffertyHonors Scholar, Class of 2006

Mezzogiorno PAGE 11Rita DiTondoHonors Scholar, Class of 2003

To Err is Human PAGE 12Daphne Bascom, SurgeonHonors Scholar, Class of 1988

The Art of Managing PAGE 14Chris Riedesel, Honors Scholar, Class of 1995

Fun and Fondue! PAGE 15Amanda Lohiser, Honors Scholar, Class of 2005

Alumni Updates PAGE 16What They’re Doing Now

HONORS TODAYEDITOR:

KARYN C. ST. GEORGE, [email protected]

UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM

University at Buffalo214 Talbert Hall

Buffalo, New York 14260-1700

(716) 645-3020

www.buffalo.edu/honors

From the Editor:Hello Everyone! I just

wanted to share some goodnews with you. In February,

I received my Ph.D. in Social Foundations

from UB!

On the Cover:Traditional Korean Dance

by Cho Heung Dong, performed at UB Center

for the Arts

Photograph byEnid Bloch

On the Inside...

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N U M B E R X V X | S P R I N G 2 0 0 5 1

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Welcome Hadar Borden!

2 U N I V E R S I T Y A T B U F F A L O

We met Dr. Capuana among thecrowds of Syracuse fans proudly wear-ing their blue and orange at the gate.There were massive swirls of excitementall around; something we were notexactly accustomed to seeing at ourfootball games. Three special ticketsand one crowded elevator ride found uswhere few student football fans ever getto tread: the good seats.

We were greeted at the door and invitedto mix and mingle with our fellow fansbefore the game started. The food, Imust say, was a delectable side of UB - a side they have apparently been hidingfrom me behind the mysterious andinexplicable jambalaya-style dishes towhich I’d grown accustomed. After aquick hello and a handshake withPresident Simpson it was time to sitdown and watch the show get started.

Our seats came with commemorative t-shirts, as well as commemorative pret-zels, commemorative dip, and a com-memorative referee reference card todecipher the awkwardly forced yet pur-poseful ballet of in-game calls. (Thepirouette and grand jete were conspicu-ously absent; I suspect they have fallenby the wayside in the face of ever-changing conference regulations).

The pre-game show had LeAnnWomack performing our NationalAnthem, as well as 1976 Olympic GoldMedal Decathlete Bruce Jenner runninga lap around the stadium in memorialof 9/11. The opening was capped offby a flyover of Hercules C-130s in for-mation. We could not see them fromour vantage point (the drawback of sit-ting in the box, perhaps) but theirthunderous presence was certainly felt.

The game proved to be thrilling with afantastic first-quarter performance byUB. Highlights included Buffalo’stremendous interception that broughteven Dr. Herreid to his feet, shoutingwith applause. Further great playsbrought out the vivacity of the moresenior alums next to me, putting myfootball fan skills to shame.

Cameos abounded as members of thecheerleading squad and even Victor E.Bull himself popped in to make appearances in the box. The highlightof the night, however, was BruceJenner’s appearance after the half. We lined up for photo opportunitieswith the Olympic legend. I had thechance to speak with him personally,and I suppose my only regret of thenight was not asking him to suit up forthe fourth and help us pull it togetherand win one.

BRIAN DANIELAKDistinguished Honors Scholar, Class of 2007

An Olympic Moment

From left to right: Brian, Allana, Bruce andJanet take in a UB football game.

Welcome Hadar Borden!“I’m very excited to become a part of the Honors community at UB.”

Hadar Borden joined the Honors Program this past fall as an Assistant Administrative Director. She replacesChristine Ryan who moved to Canisius College as Director of Academic Advisement. Hadar is a UB alumand has had a varied career with the school, first in the Office of Financial Aid and then with the Office ofAdmissions where she specialized in out of state recruitment.

Her background is in International Trade and she says, “I earned both my Bachelor of Arts and Master ofArts Degrees in Geography with a concentration in International Trade from the University at Buffalo. I pur-sued a career in the field in which I was educated, but missed working closely with and assisting students as I had done as a student assistant with the Office of Financial Aid. I look forward to working with HonorsScholars, as well as the faculty and staff that provide university-wide support to the Honors Program.

On a personal note, my husband Dave and I enjoy living and working in Buffalo but spend most of ourtime running after our one year old son, Elliott!”

hen opportunity knocks, I tackle it. At least, I did when presented with thechance to enjoy UB’s biggest footballgame of the season with the HonorsProgram Directors as guests of ourUniversity’s fourteenth president John B. Simpson. Along with me for the ridewere my fellow Honors Students JanetWerther and Allana Krolikowski.

W

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The plane descended towards the Abruzzo airportin Pescara, Italy. I saw the snow-covered ItalianAlps in the distance, the beach, and the bright sunin the sky. I knew that I had made one of the bestdecisions of my life by choosing to study abroad.

WThe Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Engineering the Future

BRIAN BRADFORDHonors Scholar, Class of 2005

hen I entered UB four years ago as afreshman, I had pretty much lived inAmherst, New York my whole life. Ihad gone to elementary, middle, andhigh school in Williamsville and hadnever really traveled, except for theoccasional vacation down the EastCoast. Between engineering classes,honors requirements and a part-timejob, my first three years at UB werebusy, and leaving the area (let alone thecountry) for a semester was not on mymind. Here I was on a side trip toItaly. How did it happen?

In my junior year I had a few friendswho went abroad and had a great expe-rience. I passed the Study Abroadoffice many times, but it was neversomething I considered seriously. Afterall, I had a rigorous schedule in theEngineering Department, and goingabroad for a semester would force meto take an additional semester’s worthof classes. Still, I starting thinking if Iwanted to spend any period of timeoverseas, now was the time to do it.The programs I looked at involved pay-ing UB tuition and had about the samehousing cost as I was currently paying,so I could be studying at another uni-versity overseas for roughly the samecost as staying at UB. The more Ithought about it, the more I wanted todo it. And when I was awarded theJeremy Jacobs International HonorsScholarship, I knew I was taking advan-tage of a great opportunity.

I chose England. It was an Englishspeaking country (no language barrier

to overcome), and it was the birthplaceof my ancestors. The University ofLeicester became my choice because ofits cost and central location (good fortraveling purposes, case in point: mytrip to Italy). But would I be able tocomplete any of the engineering classesI would have taken at UB during thefall 2004 semester? Fortunately, theUniversity of Leicester offered severalengineering courses that matched theclasses I needed to take at UB. I wasreally excited when I left in Septemberknowing that I was about to have theexperience of a lifetime while continu-ing my engineering education.

Despite sharing a language, the Britishand American cultures are distinctlydifferent (my first English breakfastconsisted of sausages, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, mushrooms and bakedbeans!). Never having been to Europe,I wanted to visit as many places as pos-sible, and with the aid of the JeremyJacobs Scholarship I was able to do justthat. I took trips to Ireland, Scotland,and Wales. And I roamed England:Stonehenge, Salisbury, Norwich, andLondon. And Paris and Italy! Smalldistances, excellent rail system, cheapflights - any destination was possible.

Living and studying in England wasalso important to me because I am adescendant of William Bradford, thepilgrim leader who sailed from Englandto America on the Mayflower in 1620.He became the second governor ofPlymouth Colony in Massachusetts,and oversaw the first Thanksgiving

between the Pilgrims and NativeAmericans. While I did not get achance to travel to Yorkshire, England(the birthplace of William Bradford), Idid have an ironic Thanksgiving dinnerwhere I, an American, was back inEngland carving the turkey!

Between my travels and my time inLeicester, I met lots of students from allaround the world. I found out aboutprograms that would not exist in theUS, like a law program combiningEnglish law and French law where stu-dents studied two years in each country.I gained a new perspective on my owneducation and considered new careeroptions. I loved my experience inEngland and I am looking into gradu-ate programs in Europe, studying in agraduate-level aerospace engineeringprogram, or even one day working forthe European Space Agency. Newoptions are everywhere!

Brian inside the ruins of an old house of an early Christian Monastic settlement in Clonmacnoise, Ireland.


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“O

“We would

come to discover

over the next

five weeks that

the story of

critical supply

shortages in

Uganda was not

limited to

defibrillators,

it applied to

everything:

school supplies,

clothing,

nutritious food,

and medical

supplies. ”


ne! Two! Three! Four!...Fifteen!” Kirklunged over the taxi’s back seat to administertwo deep breaths. While her heart was fad-ing, mine raced ahead as I dove in for thenext round of compressions: “One! Two!Three! Four!...Fifteen!”

“Where’s your defibrillator!” Kirk franti-cally shouted upon bolting into the hospitalER after administering CPR for an hour. I thought, “Isn’t it incredible that AlumniArena has 12 defibrillators to serve its low-risk student population, while the 191,000people of Iganga District, Uganda do nothave access to even one?”

We learned that the hard way. We rushedthe woman back to the taxi and continued todrive to the next district hospital, hopingagainst hope that the news would be betterthere. Somewhere along the line, the womanlet out a chilling shriek; it was like somethingyou hear in the movies when someone isabout to pass on. Forty-five minutes later, wefound ourselves approaching the gate of JinjaDistrict hospital, just a few blocks from thesource of the ancient Nile. Ba-boom. Ba-boom. These sounds were the greatest reliefof my life. The woman’s heart began to beatregularly again on its own. Kirk and I justlooked at each other under drenched browswith stunned amazement. It’s a good thingshe came back on her own, for when weentered the Jinja’s ER, they likewise, had nodefibrillator.

We would come to discover over the nextfive weeks that the story of critical supplyshortages in Uganda was not limited to defib-rillators, it applied to everything: school sup-plies, clothing, nutritious food, and medicalsupplies. Uganda Village Project is a publichealth initiative established in a region ofUganda that has significant shortages of gov-ernmental/non governmental organization(NGO) resources (virtually none). The project itself was started with Kirk Scirto(UB medical student), Alison Schroth (PennState medical student), and me. Planningbegan about six months before the initial tripwhich took place in the summer of 2003.

We contacted a local NGO operating inKampala that said it would be interestedexpanding with us into this rural region ofIganga. After we were there for a month, thevillagers, local government, and NGOsrequested us to end our “scouting phase,”and requested us to begin HIV and sanita-tion educational initiatives. They also led usto the main sources of water for the region,where we saw the stagnant ponds topped offwith a green, putrid ooze. “Nobody wouldREALLY drink this,” I thought to myself.Then along came a happy little girl who ranup to the edge of the pond. She croucheddown, and sure enough, started to fill herbucket. I looked on in disbelief. The statisticthat one out of 10 infants do not make it totheir 4th birthday suddenly became all too

The Uganda Vi

One of the many wells constructedthrough the efforts of the UgandaVillage Project.

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BRENT ANDERSONHonors Scholar, Class of 2003

real for me. “How much does it cost to build a

well?” I asked. Richard replied “Five hundred dol-

lars.” “Five hundred dollars! Why doesn’t

anyone build one here- it will save thelives of the children! The entire popula-tion would also be much healthier overtime.”

“Look at these villagers,” his handdirected my eyes toward the couple acrossthe street who were pounding a smallplot of land with their hoes, “how canthey ever come close to having that kindof money? They live off the land.”

When we began to see patients at ourmakeshift clinic, I came to understand.We saw children who had malaria forweeks. Parents knew that they had malar-ia, but they simply could not afford thetreatment. They brought them to us withhopes that our clinic would have themedicine they needed. How much doyou think it costs for a treatment regi-men? $50? $10? $1? ——- Fifteencents. That’s all. My heart sank when Irealized that Rose had suffered withmalaria for two weeks for no other reasonthan she lacked the ability to come upwith pennies.

The sense of community in the villageis the most vibrant that I have ever expe-rienced. It may be precisely BECAUSEof their simplicity that they have thistremendous community spirit. Everyoneis poor, no one is much better off thananyone else. What little they do have,they share. They are not attached tomaterialism, indeed, for them it is noteven an option. Their focus is centeredon people. In the village, we do not findformidable walls between strangers, but an attitude of hospitality and openness.

There is a freedom of village life that weoften miss- a freedom to welcome astranger and to celebrate life. When mysister (who made this leg of the trip withme) and I would play outside with thekids after a day of work, the spontaneousevolution into an all-out party with thewhole village complete with dancing anddrumming, became a regular occurrence.They may not have much, but they arefar closer to life’s true meaning than more“advanced” cultures.

This alone I found to be tremendous-ly hopeful. When we returned with ateam of thirty dynamic volunteers, withsuitcases brimming with $50,000 worthof medical supplies, that hope was rein-

forced. A physician, nurse practitioner,physical therapist, anthropologist, andseveral UB Honors Students (Amy Saleh‘03, Stacie Ward ‘03, Sarah Anderson‘05, and Elise Rumpf ‘06) addedimmensely to the leadership and facilita-tion of the 2004 “Uganda VillageProject” (UVP) official programs. Theykept a sharp focus on the empoweringimpact and sustainability of our pro-grams, and expanded our “train-the-trainer” educational initiative. The mostgratifying moment I experienced was

when we learned that the HIV educators(whom we had trained the year before)had brought the message to over 10,000people! The 2004 team made it possibleto expand our clinical activities fromthree free clinic sessions to 12, offer1,000 free HIV testing and counselingsessions, and provide improved sight for300 people through our eye clinic.

In spite of the tremendous success,contaminated water sources remain themost dangerous threat to life and health.Last year, we were able to finance theconstruction of four wells that serve apopulation of several thousand people.However, the needs are much greater,and the villagers have asked us to buildwells for the surrounding communitiesthat lack access to potable water. Eventhough it is only $500 per well, we areprimarily a student group and lack accessto sufficient funding to bring it tofruition. We have identified 20 strategicwell sites in conjunction with districtgovernment officials. I am hopeful thatpeople in the U.S. will continue to movetoward a broader awareness of the suffer-ing that exists beyond our borders, andrealize how something minor to us canmean life or death for a family who isseparated from us by a mere 12 hourplane ride.

Anyone who is interested in con-tributing to international health and education efforts through service as a volunteer or fundraising is encouraged to contact: [email protected] orhttp://www.ifmsa-usa.org/UVP/

da Village Project

“They have a tremendous community spirit...

Everyone is poor...what little they have, they share.

Their focus is centered on people.

A line forms to receive servicesfrom one of the Uganda VillageProject clinics.

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Questioning Enid Bloch

JESSICA (SEABURY) DUDEKHonors Scholar, Class of 1994Assistant Administrative Director,Honors Program

Photographs by Enid Bloch

Enid Bloch is inspired by questions. AnAdjunct Professor with the UniversityHonors Program, Bloch has taughtover 15 honors seminars, many origi-nating with her personal questionsabout the world and the human con-dition. In fact, Bloch says that she waspropelled into the field of political sci-ence by the overriding moral questionsof her generation. She describes goingto Saturday morning movies as ayoung girl and watching newsreelsabout the liberation of the Nazi con-centration camps in Europe. Bloch

recalls how in that darkened theatreshe clenched her fists and decided, “Iwill never be the kind of person whocould have let this happen. For therest of my life I have been studyinghow it is possible for things like this tooccur...for people to be so cruel toeach other. I’ve tried to learn what isneeded to keep a society free so that itwill not happen.”

After attending New Jersey publicschools, Bloch earned a B.A. inPolitical Science from Bryn MawrCollege and a Ph.D. in Government

from Cornell University. Before grad-uate school she studied at the FreeUniversity of Berlin on a German gov-ernment scholarship. During that illu-minating year abroad, Bloch spent“very little time inside the classroom.”The Berlin Wall still divided the cityand the Nazi regime had been inpower less than 20 years before; sherelished the chance to learn abouttotalitarian societies firsthand. AfterGermany she went on to Cornell,explaining, “I chose a graduate schoolthat was still very humanistic. For me,

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because of the questions that I dealtwith there, graduate school was evenmore thrilling than my undergraduateeducation.” However, after teachingPolitical Science and Political Theoryat Johns Hopkins, Bloch found thefield too limiting. She had marriedduring graduate school and while herdaughter and two sons were young shepursued other interests, including run-ning for local office, fighting drugs inher community, writing, and becom-ing an editor and photographer.

But for Bloch, it again came back

to the questions. She had always lovedphilosophy, even before she knew theword for it. As she says, “I had beenthinking philosophically since I was alittle girl.” But once she reached col-lege, Bloch realized, “Philosophy wasnot talking about the things that Ithought really mattered. It certainlydidn’t talk about the things that meantmost to me in my life, such as thesmile of a child. I began to wonderwhere philosophy had gone wrong.”In 1992 Bloch’s husband Aaron wasnamed provost of the University at

Buffalo and the family relocated toWestern New York. Bloch decidedthat the best way to tackle her ques-tions about philosophy was to beginwith its origins and read works in theiroriginal languages. She began study-ing classical Greek informally throughUB’s Classics department and did so“for three glorious years.”

Sadly, her husband died unexpect-edly in April 1995 at the age of 53. In his memory, his family has estab-lished the Aaron N. Bloch Scholarship,which is awarded yearly to an Honors

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student who demonstrates unusualcreativity and independence of mind,and who shows promise of benefitinghumanity within his or her lifetime.Following her husband’s death, theClassics department offered Bloch aninstructor position toteach undergraduatecourses in AncientPhilosophy and WorldCivilizations, a UBgeneral educationrequirement.

Numerous Honorsscholars have taken one of Bloch’s sec-tions of World Civ as an honors semi-nar. Her former students praise herdynamic teaching style and herbreadth of knowledge. Senior AndreaKoch says “The class I took with Dr.Bloch was possibly the most engagingcourse I have taken at UB. She wasan incredible resource...truly one doesnot encounter minds like hers veryoften. She is an excellent facilitatorand inspired many memorable classdiscussions. She is also extremely per-sonable, accessible, and encouraging.”Bloch is equally well regarded by thefaculty at UB. Dr. Peter Gold,Associate Dean For GeneralEducation, College Of Arts AndSciences, comments, “Enid’s WorldCiv sections were special because shetaught the course with a focus onbiography. Enid asked her studentsto study the persons central to theunderstanding of world cultures andintegrated their reports into the body

of the course. I particu-larly remember theinvolvement and supportshe offered her students.From her presentations[to the WorldCivilizations course com-mittee] about teachingusing biography, otherfaculty have since adoptedbiography as part of thesection syllabus.”

Outside of the class-room Bloch’s interests in

biography and philosophy—and herfondness for questions— led her toexamine the Greek philosopherSocrates. In particular she wondered:Had Socrates’ death though hemlockpoisoning occurred in the peaceful

way Plato described, or would thepoison have produced a far more vio-lent end, as scholars since the 17thcentury have argued? For three yearsBloch delved into botany, toxicology,neurology, pathology, ancient lan-guages and manuscripts, and the his-tory of medicine. In her chapter,“Hemlock Poisoning and the Deathof Socrates: Did Plato Tell the Truth?”(in The Trial and Execution ofSocrates, edd. Thomas C Brickhouseand Nicholas D. Smith, OxfordUniversity Press, 2001) Bloch con-cludes that Plato was completelyaccurate in his description; Socratesdid die “gently and peacefully.” Blochstates that the controversy over hisdeath stems from confusion betweenwater hemlock and poison hemlock.Her argument traces the linguisticand botanical origins and the uniquephysiological impacts of these twosimilar, yet distinct plants. Blochdescribes the experience as “very excit-

ing, bringing all of those differentfields together just to answer that onequestion.”

Bloch enjoys the freedom and ful-fillment that come with this interdis-ciplinary approach. She admits, “Icould never stay within one field...Ifollow the questions wherever theytake me.” Many of her honors semi-nars have allowed her and her stu-dents to explore timely questions.One such seminar, The Psychology ofTerrorism, (Fall 2002) arose fromBloch’s curiosity about TimothyMcVeigh, the Western New Yorknative convicted and executed for the1995 Oklahoma City bombing. “Inoticed that the terms that he usedand the way that he talked, despitehis right-wing orientation, sounded

the same as the language ofthe left-wing bomb-makers inthe radical 1960’s.” She won-dered if there was somethingabout the personalities of thepeople who turned to terror-ism that would be similar no

matter what the political point ofview. After the September 11 attack,she broadened her inquiry to includeforeign terrorists. Bloch found to herastonishment that, “As I studied ter-rorists in Japan or Europe or Egypt Iwould forget what country I was read-ing about because the people were sosimilar.”

“I began to develop ideas about thepersonalities of the people who areattracted to terrorism...and thought it was essential to teach about itbecause there seems to be so littleunderstanding of what makes a terrorist.”

Another seminar, Democracy andDictatorship (Fall 2003) studied thetheory of what constitutes a demo-cratic society and examined severalpast and present dictatorships. Blochremembers, “Some of the studentswere quite surprised at how enthusias-tic I was about democracy and ourform of government when it works


Questioning Enid Bloch continued

“I could never stay within one field...

...I follow the questionswherever they take me.”

Enid Bloch, self portrait.

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properly. They had been used to a kindof cynical approach....of criticizing ratherthan affirming.” Bloch’s appreciation ofthe democratic process solidified in col-lege, when she served as a White Houseintern during the Kennedy administra-tion, as well as an intern in the USSenate and the US Department of Labor:“What I saw of government functioningthen I thought was marvelous. The cul-ture of American politics was a wonder-ful thing to see. We have lost a lot ofthat culture...[but] we could regain it—democracy is resilient.” Bloch hopes topass this optimism and knowledge ontoher students. “That is why education isso important. Students need to knowthe great ideas that are behind democrat-ic life.”

Bloch’s life-long concerns with philos-ophy and democracy are brought togeth-er in her latest writing project. “Therenever has been a full philosophic explo-ration of democratic principles. Ourcountry desperately needs it, and so doesthe world. Finally I’m trying to addressthe questions that have haunted me allmy life.”

This spring Bloch will teach anotherhonors seminar titled The Tragedy of

Iraq. “I thought that it was important toexamine Iraq. Our country is there nowand if we can’t use our intellectualresources to teach ourselves about Iraq,what good is our education?” The stu-dents will study the complex history ofIraq, how the British went astray in thecountry and how “we are going astray invery similar ways, making many of thesame mistakes.”

Bloch likens her teaching style to jazz:“I walk into the classroom and I knowwhat the basic ideas are that I would liketo touch upon in that class, but it doesn’tmatter in what order or exactly how theycome out. I bounce off the comments ofthe students. I know what it is that I amtrying to say and I draw it out of them.This can only be done with very brightstudents who are able to recognize thepatterns.”

Junior Deepa Govindaraj looks at herexperience this way: “Professor Blochchallenged me to look at my own previ-ous conceptions of history and reevaluatemy line of thinking. Any professor whocan make a student see ideas and opin-ions in a new light has given that personthe greatest gift a teacher can give.”

ENID BLOCH

Enid Bloch's love of photographybegan with the birth of her children,who were her first subjects. After 30 years of shooting with black-and-white film, she recently converted todigital color photography. “My workstill reflects basically two colors,” shesays, “ but now they might be blueand gold or brown and red. I thinkit's the black and white way of see-ing, but with colors expressing wholeother dimensions of emotion.”

Bloch largely photographs naturalobjects and people, and her choiceof subjects reflects her humanisticphilosophy. “When I am photo-graphing a person, I am trying to get at what is it that is so wonderfulabout any human being — the mira-cle of this person's existence andwhat is it that we love about thehuman personality. Every face isbeautiful when you glimpse the soulbehind it.” Many of Bloch's nature photographs are taken from the frontporch of her cottage retreat on LakeErie. “A lot of them are sort of astatement of serenity, of my being atpeace with the world. I don't think I could have created these photo-graphs earlier in my life.”

Bloch is grateful for the joy that herphotography can bring to other peo-ple. “What I am trying to do throughmy photography is to reveal the dig-nity and beauty and mysrety of life.That's also what my philosophicwork is about, but pictures seem tocome closer than words are able todo. For me philosophy and photog-raphy are very much the sameendeavor: both create a tapestry ofwhat is important in life. That iswhat you are doing when you aimyour camera-you are saying, ‘This is important.’”

Photo:

Young ballet student rendered in “colored

pencil” through a Photoshop filter.


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7070 hours of travel via planes, trains, andlarge Tata buses. Thousands of strangers.Alien languages. Unfamiliar village streets.Constant exposure to infectious agents.Hundreds of dollars in preparatory medications, and thousands of dollars ofsupport to raise. To some, this may soundlike a horrific recipe of stress and fear. For me, these were obstacles that failed tostop me from spending June 23rd-July23rd of this past summer in Angamali,Kerala, India.

As a participant in this yearly trip,taken through Adventures in Missions (a missions organization based inGainesville, Georgia), I was one of twentygirls whose team purpose was to bothconduct Bible School programs for, aswell as medically treat, Angamali's 95-child orphanage. We also conducted street meetings throughout the village,visited and distributed food in the localleper colony, and spoke at local houses of worship.

The days were long and the work washard; I was taxed physically, emotionally,mentally, and spiritually in ways life inthe US - even college life - had not pre-pared me for. Daily tasks included playingfor hours in the ever-present heat with

dozens of children, long hot walksthroughout the village, washing clothes byhand, and setting up a makeshift medicalroom to treat ill children. When weweren't physically working, we werespeaking publicly, rehearsing dramas,crafting lesson plans, and connecting withother Indian contacts. Occasionally, wemade inter-village trips, some up in themountains. Sleep came late, and everynew day brought unforeseen challenges.

Yet despite all the effort, and occasion-al heartbreak, India became-and still is-aplace of hope and joy for me. I saw chil-dren, destitute beyond American imagin-ings and plagued with lice and scabies,look at me with love and joy in their eyeswhen I hugged them and played withthem. Nothing gave me greater satisfac-tion (or confidence in my future calling asa medical missionary, for which I am nowtraining at UB) than when I was able toheal their hurts. I saw lepers, abandoned by all of society and racked with disease Icouldn't cure. I laughed when I talkedwith them, and they were amazed thatsomeone cared. And it is those momentsin India that I remember as I study, takeexams, and push to make my medicaldreams a reality.


InternshipsWanted!For the last three years theUniversity at Buffalo HonorsProgram has offered a uniqueexperience to both its studentsand alumni. We have served as a liaison, connecting talentedundergraduate students with ouralumi in “real world” applicationsin the form of internships. Wehave been very fortunate andappreciative of alumni who have continued to support thisendeavor. Once again we areactively soliciting internships fromour alumni to increase the scopeand breadth of this aspect of ourHonors Program.

If you have research opportunitiesthat could use another set ofcapable hands, need meaningfulassistance in the day to dayendeavors of your field, or arelooking for the chance to open updoors of possibility for othermembers of the Honors commu-nity, this would be a great oppor-tunity to do that! We are lookingto increase opportunities for ourHonors Scholars to do research intheir prospective fields, to discov-er more about themselves, and to more accurately discern theircareer track.

If you believe that an internshipin your office may be feasible,please contact Nigel Marriner,Coordinator of the HonorsResearch and Creative ActivitiesProgram, at [email protected] or 716.645.3020.Additionally, if your office alreadyoffers internships, please don’thesitate to send that informationto us and we will disseminate itto our students.

Lice and Love in

IndiaRACHEL RAFFERTY

Honors Scholar, Class of 2006

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MEZZOGIORNO RITA DiTONDOHonors Scholar, Class of 2003

eventy-three years ago my grand-mother, Lucia Fini, set foot onAmerican soil for the very first timeand began a new life, a life that neces-sitated a blending of the old and thenew. Her family, as did many Italianfamilies, made the journey with thehope that in this young and growingnation they would find opportunitiesthat would enable them to build a bet-ter life. Two generations later I madethe same journey, in the oppositedirection, in search of different oppor-tunities. I parted not out of necessityfor survival, but in search of adven-ture, new experiences, and diverse per-spectives.

My grandmother left Italy to settlein Buffalo, New York. I came to thevery same city to study at theUniversity at Buffalo, and left itto return to my roots in Italy.Some of the most influentialsources of inspiration for mytravels have been the profes-sors in the UniversityHonors Program. I remem-ber every Honors seminar Itook with precise clarity, frommedieval Italian literature toUFOs to existentialism. I waschallenged and inspired by theintelligence, experiences, and encour-agement of these professors, and it wasthis type of inspiration to learn, toexperience life in diverse ways, and toexplore that brought me to Italy.

Five months ago, I set off to teachEnglish in a world thirsty for a lan-guage that globalization has madeinternational. At the beginning ofSeptember, I arrived in Milan for aTEFL certification course, and afterroughly a month and a half, I wasplaced in a school in Calabria, inSouthern Italy. I boarded a train alonewith all my belongings and set out ona journey that fourteen hours laterwould end at the Vibo-Pizzo station.I left with mixed feelings, in partbecause the news of my job placementhad been met by many with responsesreflecting misplaced attitudes towards

Calabria. Contrary to such opinions,I’ve discovered that I live in a regionthat is less known and less visited byItalians and foreigners alike, but inmany ways epitomises the traditionalideals of Italian culture, a region witha big heart and a big appetite.

My very first day in Vibo Valentiawas spent in typical Calabrese fashionwith more food than ten people canconsume let alone one, several espres-sos, and the assertion from the ownerof the language school that I was nowpart of the family. I had arrived in aregion where family and food are of

utmost importance and form the foundation on which everything else isbased. The Calabrese tend to put fortha bit of a tough shell at first, but a lit-tle persistence goes a long way, andonce you’re in, you’re in for life. Afriend would bend over backwards foryou and it doesn’t stop there, becauseif you know Maria, and Maria knowsAntonello, who knows a guy who canhelp you out, you are never left inneed of anything for long.

Calabria is a region steeped in tra-dition, and nothing exemplifies thisbetter than the vecchie donne, dressedhead to toe in black, with wrinklescarved deep by the hot, southern sun,and hands that contain the secrets of

age old culinary traditions. When I seethem hanging laundry, brush againstthem at the market, or catch a glimpseof them gossiping in doorways, I’mreminded of the warmth of my grand-mother’s hugs, her strength of charac-ter, and the smells of her kitchen.Food here is a means of expression andcommunication and these women, aswas my grandmother, are the mastersof every family’s culinary secrets.

Between half past twelve and oneo’clock, offices and shops close and thestreets empty as mezzogiorno beginsand everyone returns home for the cel-ebration of these culinary traditions.Everything remains relatively deserteduntil four o’clock, when the lastespresso is drunk, doors open, and the

people begin to mingle. Here foodis celebrated not only for its

intrinsic value, but also as ameans to share time withthose you love, most impor-tantly with family. It’s notevery once in a while thatyou sit down to enjoy a mealwith family and friends, but

every afternoon around twoo’clock. The priority for the Calabrese

that family and loved ones hold isrooted in the old ways, but continuesto exist in a society where there is avisible jockeying of position betweenold and new. In one sense, it’s thesame mix of old and new that theItalian immigrants coming to Americain the 1920s and 30s experienced, theblending of age old Italian traditionswith an ever-changing, fast pacedAmerican culture that in this time andage is exported all over the world. Thebeauty of this mix of old and new isthat something as simple as mezzo-giorno can bring to the forefront ofmodern society two things that areuniversally important in every cornerof the world, family and food. Thecharm of Calabria is that to enjoy bothyou don’t have to find the time, every-day you are given the time.

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“


Danielle rehearses with her castmembers in Germany.

I

Very quietly

I asked,

How many

of you have

ever made a

medical

mistake?”

You could see

the furtive

glances that

were passed

around the

room and

slowly hands

were raised,

including

my own. ”

concluded my lecture with a video clip fromthe television program ER. In this episode apatient is transferred to the emergency depart-ment from a rehabilitation facility. Notuncommonly, the list of the patient’s activemedications was not available and efforts wereundertaken to obtain the information.Unfortunately, a well intentioned medical stu-dent administered a drug to the patient, withlethal consequences. Who is to blame? Therehabilitation facility for not providing theappropriate information? The medical studentfor administering the medication without hav-ing all of the necessary information? The resi-dent or attending who supervises the medicalstudent?

At the end of the video clip I raised the lightsand glanced slowly around the room. Veryquietly I asked, “How many of you have evermade a medical mistake?” You could see thefurtive glances that were passed around theroom and slowly hands were raised, includingmy own. We are raised in a culture where mis-takes are not acceptable, a culture wherehuman lives are sacred. Yet as I glancedaround the room at these men and womenwith whom I lived and worked, I realized thatwe were all excellent clinicians whose only fail-

ing was that we are human. “To Err isHuman” was published by the Institute ofMedicine in the year 2000. One of the basicassumptions of this report, and those that fol-lowed, is that the people who make mistakesare not bad clinicians. Medical mistakes canmost often be attributed to system andprocesses that need to be made safer.

My foray into the medical profession beganduring childhood and consisted primarily of“research” with frogs and other neighborhoodcreatures. As an undergraduate student at theUniversity of Buffalo I had the privilege ofspending time in the laboratories of Dr. ClydeHerried and Dr. David Pendergast.

Following graduation from the UB HonorsProgram in 1988, I spent the next three yearsin a research laboratory at the University ofOxford. There I had my first exposure to theNational Health Service. Privatized medicalservices are available in the UK for those whocan afford them. I was able to see the benefitsof being able to provide care to those whoneed it without fear of financially bankruptingtheir family. What I didn’t hear were peopletalking about “suing my doctor...” for making“mistakes”. Is the “culture of blame” less in a

To Err is HumanDaphne Bascom, Surgeon

Daphne (left) puts her surgicaltraining to good use.

DAPHNE BASCOMHonors Scholar, Class of 1988

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socialized medical system?

After returning to the United States in1991, my immersion into medicine beganin earnest. During the year I applied tomedical school, I worked at a local hospi-tal in the Administration Department.This afforded me an opportunity to standon the other side of the looking glass andobserve my medical colleagues. “Who wasthe highest admitter?” “Who had thehighest liability insurance?” “Whosepatients complained the most?” “How canwe make the system better for all, clini-cians and patients?”

These questions resonated frequently dur-ing the next four years that I spent as amedical student at the University ofPittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), oneof the best and most rigorous medicalinstitutions worldwide. I was a member ofthe first class to experience the “NewCurriculum”, a patient-centric, system-based training program that focused onproblem-based learning. Our medicaltraining included anatomy, physiology,ethics, computers, etc. The curriculumwas challenging and provided us an oppor-tunity not only to read but also to interactwith our peers and discuss difficult clinicalsituations. In parallel with our problem-based learning we engaged with a clinicalmentor so that from day one we were ableto begin to apply our learning. It was anovel approach to medical training andone that has now been widely adopted.

After medical school I pursued a residencyin Otolaryngology - Head and NeckSurgery. This was followed by a fellowshipin Microvascular surgery at Oregon HealthSciences University and an assistant profes-sorship at the University Hospitals ofCleveland/Case Western ReserveUniversity. These were some of the mostgrueling and gratifying years of my life.During this time I was awash in a sea ofpatients with benign and malignant dis-ease of the head and neck; some of themost kind and courageous people I haveever met. I struggled to combine my loveof patient care with my desire to be a clin-ical scientist. It was not uncommon to see

patients with advanced cancer of thetongue or larynx. I would explain to themthat we were going to remove vital struc-tures, that the quality of their life wouldbe significantly impacted and yet knowthat we have not significantly improvedsurvival of advanced head and neck cancerin the past 20 years. I was able to sharewith the patients and their families thehope that this often radical surgical proce-dure would improve the quality of theirlife and provide them a chance at a cure. I was also able to be with them when thecancer recurred and to console the familiesof those who succumbed to their disease.

Over the next several years I struggled toreconcile my skills with my goals and aspi-rations. I was in a wonderful, growingpractice in Cleveland doing primarily headand neck reconstruction. I had an oppor-tunity to develop a Dysphagia clinic for alarge patient population with head andneck cancer who had swallowing disorders.I was teaching, trying to develop a researchprotocol with the help of advisors in theworld-renowned Skeletal Research Centerat Case Western Reserve. It is never clearwhat prompts us to make radical changesin life. However, it was at this time that Iapplied for and accepted a position withCerner Corporation.

Cerner Corporation (www.cerner.com) isthe leading Health Care InformationTechnology company in the US. Theyhave designed a person-centric electronic

health record that is designed to funda-mentally transform health care delivery.Recent reports suggest that there are atleast 7,000 deaths annually which can beattributed to medication error. The com-plexity of medication ordering, dispensing,and delivery combined with the complexi-ties of human physiology make the med-ication administration process complexand a key focus for error reduction.

I joined Cerner in July 2003. Over thepast year I have learned more about thepractice of medication than I ever learnedduring my medical training. My currentrole is that of consultant to AscensionHealth (www.ascensionhealth.org).

AscensionHealth is aCatholic, mis-sion-focusedorganizationand thenation’slargest non-profit healthsystem.AscensionHealth has a series of national strategic ini-tiatives that are reflected in their Call toAction, which aims to “improve clinicalexcellence and safety, create innovative,patient-centered healing environments,and expand access to care for the unin-sured and underserved.” CernerCorporation and Ascension Health haveentered into a strategic partnership thatwill allow them to develop a technologyinfrastructure to support the Call toAction. I am excited to be a part of thiseffort since it will provide the foundationfor a system that could change the wayhealthcare is delivered worldwide.

At a recent Clinical Leadership Forumsponsored by Ascension Health, I had thepleasure of hearing Sorrel King address theleaders from across the Ascension Healthministries. Sorrel King’s daughter Josie,died at the age of 18 months. Her deathwas the result of a series of medical errors.Sorrel King and her family established theJosie King Foundation (www.josieking.org).Their objective is to educate and create an

environment of patient safety thatwill hopefully reduce the numberof unnecessary deaths that resultfrom medical errors worldwide.As I listened to Sorrel King Iwept. I wept for this wonderfulwoman who by the nature of herwork would forever mourn thedeath of her daughter. I wept forthose clinicians and patients who

through no fault of their own would sufferdue to medical mishaps. My tears werenot only tears of sorrow, but tears of joy,for assembled before me was a groupwhose convictions and efforts would helpto realize Sorrel King’s mission. Do I missbeing a surgeon? Every day of my life!However, I know that the work I do todaywill impact the lives of my family, myfriends, my patients, and my colleagues; a much greater impact than I could haveever envisioned when I began my journeyas a pre-medical student at UB.

Daphne Bascom

“Fortunately the Honors Program had drawn

me to UB, where not only was the engineeringprogram first-rate, but so were a myriad of

other fascinating majors.”

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I left UB determined to carve out acareer producing movies in Hollywood,a determination that was quickly way-laid by Chicago. I spent three years inthe “City of Big Shoulders” hanging outwith friends and working a variety ofjobs, managing a wildlife art gallery,and working for a company that distrib-uted 16mm film prints of feature filmsto colleges, cruise lines, and prisons.Then, a two-month trip through Europereignited my once cherished goal of acareer in the film industry.

Returning to the US, I packed every-thing I could into my car and drovewest to LA, where the action is. Mattand Amanda, a couple of fellow UBHonors alums, took pity on me and letme stay in their place until I found myown. I obtained work as a ProductionAssistant on student and low budgetfilms, and as an intern in a producer’soffice. Unpaid work is the easiest workto find in Hollywood, thanks to thecity’s combined surplus of dreamers.I was able to scratch out some muchneeded money as a production manag-er on student films, an infomercial, andan extremely low budget feature film.I even became a professional televisionwatcher for a company that sold radioand television news clippings.

An ad for “Arts Associate” for theCity of Los Angeles captured my atten-tion; it triggered a memory of a conver-sation I had with Professor BarbaraBono, one of my Honors seminar pro-fessors. Noting my dual degrees inmedia study and business, she com-mented that few people were qualified

to manage within the arts and thiscould open up job opportunities forme. I had the experience and the inter-est; why not transfer my skills into artsmanagement?

That’s how I became involved in theArtivist Film Festival, and joined theproject as its Chief Financial Officer.The Artivist Film Festival’s mission wasto screen films made for activist purpos-es. Our 1st Annual Artivist Film Festivaltook place last April at the EgyptianTheatre in Hollywood. We screenedover 80 provocative short and featurelength films, including potential Oscarcontenders, such as “Bid ‘Em In,” “BornInto Brothels,” “The Corporation,” and“Super Size Me.” The festival wentbeyond films: we had an art exhibit, anevening concert series, and forum dis-cussions each night on specific arenasof activism as well as the use of mediawithin these arenas. It concluded witha gala awards ceremony honoring thebest of the films, activist organizations,and celebrity activists Ed Begley Jr.,Tippi Hedren, Mike Farrell and FranceNuyen.

Shortly after the festival ended, mycity job changed considerably: I wasappointed the interim manager of theLos Angeles Theatre Center (LATC).Built in 1916 as a bank, converted in1985 to a theatrical venue with five per-formance spaces, it is a unique place inLos Angeles. Due to the recent stateand city budget cuts, I was given thetask of running the LATC with no oper-ating budget and minimal staff - twosecurity guards and one part-time cus-todian. Despite these challenges, thecenter lives. There’s much to be done:booking and scheduling events, build-ing maintenance, even ordering janitori-al supplies! In my first nine months atthe LATC I have hosted plays, danceperformances, film shoots, and con-certs. In the near future the LATC willbe the location of the world premiereof a musical, “Shag With a Twist.”

It’s not what I imagined my careerwould be when I graduated from UB,but this has yet to stop me from reach-ing out in an attempt to make thedream a reality.

Left to right: Artivist Film Festival members Diaky Diaz (Founder), HeatherSchorr (Associate Producer), Chris Riedesel (CFO), and Bettina Wolf (VP).

The Art of ManagingCHRIS RIEDESEL

Honors Scholar, Class of 1995

The Los Angeles Theatre Center

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Honors Scholars share some laughs (and fondue)at Professor Stott’s home.


AMANDA LOHISERHonors Scholar, Class of 2005

Fun and Fondue!

Over the past few years, many of our alumni and friends of the Honors Program have generously contributed to our scholarship funds.Such giving has a long history at UB - many of our past and current Honors Scholars were the recipients of scholarships funded fromendowed gifts given to UB over 75 years ago. Those donors were investing in the future - providing fertile ground for the coming generations. We want to thank all of you who have supported and continue to support the Honors Program through your generousdonations - providing fertile ground for future generations to come! Thank You!43X79 FoundationManish K. AgrawalAkkil AliIrshad AliAlan S. AmbriscoDavid L. AndersonBethany ArberJohn A. AssadBrian C. AttwoodDavid J. AustElizabeth Bailey-SandsTodd M. BakerSeth H. BarlamMelinda (Karwan) BauerleinSteven C. BenderKathleen E. BethinTimothy J. BiehlerSvetlana BlitshteynKimberly A. Boyd-BowmanKaren (Hoffman) BrandauJustyna BraunStephen P. BuechiMeredith (Mau) CallaghanChristine E. CalviJosephine A. CapuanaJoan E. CarlettaRichard T. CarlmarkElizabeth N. Chilungu

Kevin P. ChughJon J. ClippingerKristan L. CorwinJulia M. CozzarelliSean P. CunninghamRobert J. DalyCindy L. DannerSteven M. DavisMarilyn (Pfahl) DeMeyerTimothy P. DennieTravis J. DeubellMatthew J. DevlinMichael L. DravesJames R. DomzalskiJulie (Madjeski) DonohueAnne Marie DunfordStephen L. DysonJohn A. DzikJason C. EhrlichJames R. EzickJanice C. FeigenbaumWilliam M. FeigenbaumAndrew G. FiorellaMarc T. FlemingDavid M. FordAndrew J. GallatinGE FundBret Gelber

Teresa A. GianniKristin HaddadMark HaddadJonathan HainesKimberly HainesRobert F. HawthorneChristine M. HayterDavid G. HilmeyJeremy M. JacobsGlenn R. JosefiakNicolle M. KarasGary L. KarlChristine (LaPort) KnabLinda J. KniepsKPMG Peat Marwick

FoundationJohn P. KusterLori H. KwanMargaretha J.

Lam-AndersonDamon D. LevineJerold C. LighthouseMarie V. LighthouseJennifer (Orton) LoftusAlberta J. LonerganTodd A. MarshCharles MarshallLaura A. McCarthy

Donna McGuireFrank McGuireMicrosoft CorporationRobert Z. MuirBenjamin R. Munson Jr.NCR FoundationNorthern Trust CompanyGregory P. NicholsonKaren (Weber) NicosiaJonathan C. NissenbaumSamuel R. OgieMatthew D. OrensteinMary Jo K. Kennelly-OrzechParag P. ParikhPark FoundationJames A. PascoeLaurie (Jennings)

PatenaudeFrank A. PellegrinoJames F. PhillipsMarcella A. PhillipsMargaret C. PhillipsCristina PieracciniProctor & Gamble FundWendy PyleDenis P. ReillyVictor and Corinne RiceChristopher J. Riedesel

Lynn C. RiversSteven E. RoachAndrew S. RoaldiRobyn (Steiner) RogersBemina (Atanacio) RohdeJeanine RonanRobert D. RondinelliMichael R. RosaAmy (Pitluk) RosenthalJordan C. RosenthalAndrew S. RossChristine (Fennell)

SadlouskosBruce SandersNancy SandersSteven M. SanfilippoEugene M. SetelSeana L. SickPhaelon H. SilvaJ. Paul SlavenasStephanie A. SloanMichael K. SoederSungeun SongMara SommerJoyce E. SoperDaniel A. SperrazzaRobert SpreadburyEllen Squazzo

Maya D. SrivastavaChristopher C. StriemerKenneth A. SzyszkowskiRobert W. TaharaHalin T. TavanoLawrence B. TentorWing L. TeoRegina S. ToomeyGarin M. TomaszewskiTriad FoundationLawrence TsaoCatherine J. TufarielloTimothy C. UmlandWilliam C. Van NostrandSteven WalfishStephen D. WarrenStephen T. WatsonJulie A. WattsPeter J. WeberKimberly (Grzankowski)

WestLaura M. WilliamsLaurie (Smith) WoodenJulie A. YacavoneJoann C. ZdimalKevin P. ZdimalJohn W. Zerr

s fondue bubbles merrily on thetable, several students line up to shoot anapple off of a professor’s head with a Nerfcrossbow. Emlyn the beagle watches, tailwagging, and a map of Switzerlandframes the evening’s theme.

Sound interesting?The Evening with Faculty hosted at

the home of Professor Stott in earlyNovember was interesting, as well asentertaining, educational, and most of all,fun! As students arrived for the evening,unsure of what to expect, they were greet-ed by Professor Andy Stott, his wife Josie,and Professor Scott Stevens. ProfessorStott moved here from London in 2002and is now teaching in the Englishdepartment at UB, specializing inRenaissance literature. Professor Stevenslived between the US and Switzerland for

four years, and is now teaching in UB’sEnglish department.

As we arrived, Professor Stottinformed us that we had an excitingevening ahead; one centered onSwitzerland and its atmosphere of neu-trality, good food, and interesting music!“The theme was my wife Josie’s idea,”said Professor Stott, “we wanted a theme,and Switzerland was the most neutral,and we like cheese!”

Neutrality and cheese, we all discov-ered, are a great combination!

Students enjoyed fabulous fondue andpotato casserole (garnished with theauthentic sides of pickles and even pick-led onions for the daring!) and afterintroductions, the evening’s festivitiesbegan.

Professor Stevens gave a fascinating

talk about Switzerland, highlighting thecountry’s history, political practices, andsome of the interesting experiences he hadwhile living there. Through his descrip-tions, funny anecdotes, and Swiss sou-venirs, we all learned a lot more about thecountry, and by the evening’s end, manyof us wanted to travel there ourselves!

Next, there were parlor games-theaforementioned William Tell reenact-ment, followed by “pin the arrow onSwitzerland!” Swiss chocolate was givenas a prize for the winners, and sumptuouschocolate fondue was available for all!

“I came this evening just to see whatEvenings with Faculty were all about,”said Talia Crofut, a Junior English major.“It was well worth it. I learned evenmore than I expected. I would definitelydo it again!”

A

HONORS ALUMNI AND FRIENDS 2003-2004

A Gift That Keeps on Giving

12690 ub honors 7/1/05 10:10 AM

1985JASON REBMANNJason is currently an air traffic controller at Tampa International Airport.

CATHERINE TUFARIELLOCatherine’s book, Keeping My Name, has been selected as a finalist for theLos Angeles Times Book Prize in the category of poetry!

1992LORISSA (SWINIUCH) SUMMERMATTERLorissa is living in New Hampshire with herhusband and four children, Max (11 yrs.),Evelyn (8 yrs.), Grant (6 yrs.) and Lydia (4 yrs.).

CHRIS VOLINSKYChris received a Ph.D. in Statistics at theUniversity of Washington, and is currently Directorof the Statistics Research department at AT&TResearch in Florham Park, New Jersey. He lives inMorristown, New Jersey with his wife Christine,and 2 year old daughter, Vienna...

1994BRIAN WALITTBrian is currently on staff at the Washington Hospital Center as a rheumatologist. The bulk of his work is clinical research, in particular pain disorders.

1996ABHILASHA (SINGH) JONESAbby and her husband, Dr. Michael Jones are happy toreport that there is life after residency! They live in thesuburbs of Chicago with their two dogs Elwood andStevie Ray. Abby has left Northwestern University and isworking in an Emergency Department on the west side of Chicago, whereher Spanish courses at UB are serving the population well! Abby andMichael in Sonoma County…

1997JEFFREY JULIANOJeffrey, his wife Paola, and son Jake...

KIMBERLY J. PUSTULKASince graduating from HarvardLaw School in 2000, Kimberlyhas been practicing as a corporateattorney, focusing on securities and mergers & acquisitions, in theCleveland office of Jones Day. She is also on the Board of Directors of UB’s Alumni Association and is President of UB’s Cleveland Alumni Chapter.

STAN SHIHStan and his wife Amy...

1999DANA GOLDSTEINDana is currently the director of vocal musicat Merrick Avenue Middle School in Merrick,New York. She is also currently recording andworking on her singing career. Dana recentlyrecorded two reggae tracks which are availableon the cd Dancehall Jump-up Volume 1 through Strong IslandRecords, under her stage name, Dana Gold (www.strongisland.com).

GLEN HINCKLEYGlen is finishing up his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University ofWisconsin - Madison and has been working in the lab of Dr. PerryFrey on the redox potentials of a unique iron-sulfur protein.

ADAM KUBIKAdam is currently the Catalog Librarian at Clayton College and State University in Morrow, Georgia.

CYNTHIA RUDINCynthia is a National Science Foundation (NSF) post doc at the NYU Center for Neural Science studying statistical learning theory.She is getting married in August 2005!

KARIN TOWNSONKarin is now living in the Denver metro area and owns a wellness cen-ter in Cherry Creek called Pilates Infusion. She is teaching rehabilita-tion and health and wellness to people of all ages as well as teachingdance and setting choreography around the country.

2000DAVID BENESCHDavid returned to UB last year and will be graduating from the Schoolof Management’s MBA program in May. He is majoring in financeand information systems & e-business. After graduation, he will bejoining M&T Bank in downtown Buffalo as an Executive Associate/Banking Officer with their Central Technology department.

MATT SHIPKEYMatt currently administers the Farmland Preservation Program forMonmouth County, New Jersey, which has preserved close to 10,000acres of farmland and expends anywhere from $5-15 million annuallyin combined State/County/Municipal funds. He lives in Jersey CityHeights.

AMANDA (SCHIFFERLE) SOULISKEAmanda is currently an English Teacher at Grand Island High Schoolin Grand Island, New York.

2001SARIM AHMEDSarim is currently enrolled at Upstate Medical University and will begraduating this May.

SEAN NEALONSean is working as a reporter at the Riverside Press-Enterprise, a newspaper in Riverside, California.

AlumniUpdatesWhat they’re doing now…


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2002ERIK ANSPACHErik is currently a graduate student in a Ph.D. Program in ComparativeLiterature at University of Washington.

JULIE KOFODAfter completing a Master’s Degree in Higher EducationAdministration and a graduate assistantship with the Office ofAdmissions at UB, Julie has taken a position at the University ofIllinois-Chicago as an Academic Advisor in the Graduate School of Business.

MEGAN RIEMANMegan is currently in her third year at the Illinois College ofOptometry. She was awarded a Navy scholarship and after graduationshe will be serving three years with the Navy as an officer and anoptometrist.

2003RACHEL LYNN BRODYRachel is currently working on her MFA in Dramatic Writing at QueenMargaret University College. Last summer, she wrote and produced“PLAYING IT COOL” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival directed byJoyce Stilson of the Alleyway Theatre. She has just been awarded agrant for the distribution of her short film “Muse Wanted,” and willsoon be submitting it to festivals and competitions internationally. She is also a staff reviewer for the British Theatre Guide (http://www.britishtheatreguide.info) and has organized a successful weekly scriptdevelopment workshop at Queen Margaret University College.

KEVIN COOKKevin is currently studying immunology at the University of Rochester.

ALESSANDRA DE YOT LOVO Alessandra has been a consultant with DELOITTE ERS practice fortwo years now and is up for promotion as senior consultant this sum-mer. Her main client is Tyco International and she is working onSarbane compliance in conjunction with the audit team.

MARINA DUKHON Marina is currently living in Seattle and working at Microsoft.

HEDVA KRAUZE Hedva is completing an internship at Boston’s Children’s Hospital andwill be receiving a Master’s Degree in Child Development from TuftsUniversity this May.

2004JEFF COLES Jeff is enrolled at Duke in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Ph.D. Program studying mechanisms of cartilage lubrication.

BLYTHE CRANDALLBlythe is working as a Gynecology and Urology RN at the ClevelandClinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

MICHAEL DRAY Mike started at Praxair this past summer as a Process Engineer.

VIKAS PATEL Vikas is currently a graduate student in theDepartment of Physics at UB.

NARASIMHACHAR PRATIVADISimha is currently a 1st year student at UBmedical school.

KATHARINE (SNYDER) TARKULICHKatharine was recently accepted into theMFA Program for costume design at CSU at Long Beach.

In MemoriamWe are saddened to report the death of CARRIE LYNN HOUSER(Special Studies – Dance, 1994) on November 23, 2004. Her life and career were a great source of pride to her family and friends, as well as to UB and the Honors Program.

MarriagesGRETTA (BAILEY) MILES (2003)Gretta married Jonathan Miles on October 16, 2004 in Liverpool,New York.

New ArrivalsJEFFREY CHAN (1993)Jeffrey and his wife, Rebecca welcomed the arrival of Lily on July 28, 2004!

DAVE (1994) and Korin GUGLIELMIwelcomed their 2nd daughter, Gemma Victoriaon November 1, 2004!

GLEN HINCKLEY (1991) Glen and his wife Michelle welcomed their son,Everett Ariosto Hinckley, in September 2004!

BRIAN WALITT (1994)Brian wecomed a new addition tohis family, his daughter AlexandraJustine.

Run Kipp, Run!

Kipp Herreid finishes his 2nd marathon! Are there more in his future? Stay tuned...


We would like to include a photoof you with your update in the nextmagazine! Photos will be returnedafter printing. They can be mailed to: The Honors Program, c/o Karyn St. George ore-mailed to: [email protected]

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HONORS TODAYUNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAMUniversity at Buffalo214 Talbert HallBuffalo, New York 14260-1700(716) 645-3020www.buffalo.edu/honors

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PAIDBuffalo, NY

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We hope you enjoy these photos taken at the Honors Alumni Reception in New York City in October.

It was wonderful to see familiar faces, share new stories, and reminisce about UB and Honors.

Keep in mind that we will be hosting an Honors Alumni Reunion in Buffalo in August 2006 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the program.

More information to come!

Max Skolnik (’97), Josie, and Melissa (Agudelo) Aggelis (’97)

Autumn (Schepis) Houseknecht and her husband Jamie

Matthew Gray (’95) and Cynthia Wachenheim (’90)

Amy (Pitluk) Rosenthal (’89), Josie, and Cindy (Horowitz) Laurence (’88)

Dana Lukin (’99) and Lisa Dos Santos (’99)

Christine (Fennell) Sadlouskos (’92), her husband Ted, and Marca Lam-Anderson (’91)

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