THE SPECTRUM VOL. 69 NO. 14 | OCTOBER 14, 2019
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950
Shoeless and shameless
“Halloweentown” hits
Continuing tradition
‘Barefoot Longboard Guy’ proves his toughness, defies social norms
The definitive ranking of the most important Halloween movie series, ever
Head men’s basketball coach Jim Whitesell’s journey to his new position
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Young the Giant brings high energy to Fall Fest New and returning performers impress at indie rock show
BENJAMIN BLANCHET
ASST. WEB EDITOR SENIOR ARTS EDITOR
ENGAGEMENT EDITOR
AlexAnder BroWn | The SpecTrum Sameer Gadhia, lead SinGer of YounG the Giant, performS at the center for the artS SaturdaY.
their tickets from the SA Box Office –– numbers which fall below half of the CFA Mainstage’s 1,700-person capacity. Marc Rosenblitt, SA entertainment coordinator, said the show cost roughly $170,000 total, with production costs approximated at $70,000 –– covering staffing, CFA rentals and other equipment rentals –– and talent costs at $100,000.
UB opens first biorepository facility in Western New York UB holds event Friday to celebrate facility opening BRITTANY GORNY SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
State audit report finds roughly $900,000 of ‘questionable’ UB transactions University says report ‘overstates’ findings’ impact
REILLY MULLEN, JULIANNA TRACEY
Fall Fest was Verzache’s first time performing for a live crowd. Ever. And although Young the Giant has performed at UB before, Saturday was the first time students bowed at the lead singer’s feet. The night of firsts wasn’t shaky, however, as fans and newcomers alike put on a stellar indie-themed Student Association Fall Fest at the Center for the Arts. Young the Giant’s lengthy and vivacious set was part of the second show in this year’s concert series. The band’s high energy, “indie-rock” performance –– its second at UB after Spring Fest 2015 –– was a sharp mood change from the mellow and wholesome opener, Verzache. But both performers brought out roughly 500 students of the roughly 700 who collected
UBSPECTRUM
tory is essential in advancing biomedical research. Roughly 100 faculty members and researchers attended the opening event Friday to hear how the center will benefit UB and the rest of the community. “There’s no doubt that this centralized comprehensive biorepository will set UB and Western New York apart when it comes to attracting and recruiting experts in translational science and precision medicine,” Michael Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said. General labs allow for conducting similar research, but the biorepository ensures samples are quality-controlled, barcoded and “more stable.”
UB opened its new biorepository facility Friday, providing “state-of-the-art” storage for research samples at UB’s Clinical and Translational Research Center. The UB Biorepository is a mechanized facility that collects, processes, stores and distributes millions of biological samples and keeps them in the lab at a constant -81 degrees Celsius. Committees have been working on creating UB’s “vital” biorepository for seven years. Now, UB is the first SUNY college to have a biorepository. It is open to UB researchers as well as researchers from other public and private colleges and universities, research centers and industry partners. The facility is the first UB research lab using barcodes –– instead of handwritten labels –– for patient samples, removing the “possibility for human error in sampling” and speeding up the process, according to Nina Johnson, research support specialist for Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships. Andrew Brooks, chief operating officer and director of technology development at Rutgers University and a consultant to the biorepository, says having BrittAnY gornY | The SpecTrum a centralized bioreposi- hamilton Star automated liQuid handler.
Throughout the show, Young the Giant exuded seductive confidence as the band worked the stage. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia was a firecracker, as he thrashed, jumped and danced around, taking the crowd through the group’s energetic set. Gadhia’s eccentric outfits –– which at one point included a cloak –– and captivat> SEE FALL FEST | PAGE 4
“[All sampling] is going to be done the same way, there is no question of anyone doing it differently than anybody else,” Johnson said. “Regardless of who puts a sample on, the programs are never going to change, everything is going to be handled the same way.” The biorepository also makes the sampling process much faster, according to Johnson, since everything is mechanized. “Instead of a person sitting there and eloquating serum samples repeatedly … now that everything is automated it’s all going to be the same,” Johnson said. UB’s biorepository has 14 machines in the facility, including environmental monitoring and storage systems, quality assurance machines, liquid handlers and nucleic acid isolation and tissue culture hoods. “What we have created, and will continue to cultivate, is truly an exceptional research [facility] for all of us,” Cain said. Email: brittany.gorny@ubspectrum.com Twitter: @BrittanyGorny
Roughly $900,000 of “questionable” UB transactions are the center of a new audit report issued by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) Friday. The report focuses on roughly $368,000 in transactions between UB and the UB Foundation (UB Foundation Activities, Inc.) and roughly $338,000 in transactions between UB and Corr Distributors, Inc. (custodial equipment maintenance). The audit reviewed transactions from April 2016 and Sept. 2018. The report’s key findings criticize UB’s business services for “poor monitoring of spending and contracting practices” which “resulted in potential lost savings and cost avoidance,” among other things. The report recommends UB follows procurement procedures, appropriately documents purchases and improves aspects of its contract-awarding/monitoring process. The report also criticizes UB for not getting “all information” to “ensure true lowest cost” in its contract-awarding process with Corr. The OSC’s report on Friday comes after its 2018 report which identified “questionable” transactions and detailed UBF’s lack of “documented policies and procedures for obtaining contracted services.” The university, in a statement updated on Saturday, said it appreciates the opportunity to review and respond to the OSC’s report and agrees with “some recommendations.” However, the university has “raised concerns that the draft report overstates the impact of some of the OSC’s findings,” the statement read. The university said while there “is an opportunity to improve documentation and internal processes, all identified purchases” indicated in the report “benefited UB and the UB community.” “There is no evidence that the purchases were inappropriate or fraudulent,” the statement read. The report reviews roughly $368,000 in UBF transactions and points to “internal control weakness” like “no formal agreement” being in place for purchases. The report states UB’s agreement with UBF did not cover “research-related administrative services.” UB, in a statement, noted the school interpreted “research-related administrative services” as being in its agreement with UBF and “believed that the OSC shared a similar understanding” due to its OK of $368,622 in “research-related administrative transactions” without an additional agreement. UB, according to the report, categorized UBF as the “sole source” for research-related administrative services. It changed this to “single source,” following OSC’s report. The report also highlights a “potential conflict of interest” with a UBF employee benefiting from “payments ... reimbursing > SEE AUDIT | PAGE 2