THE SPECTRUM VOL. 68 NO. 26 | DECEMBER 6, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950
UBSPECTRUM
DEC. 6, 1995 - Roughly 20 students spent the night on the Ellicott Complex South Terrace and raised $700 for The City Mission, a non-profit charity organization serving the homeless population in Buffalo. UB students organized a “Night Under the Stars” event and spent the night sleeping on cardboard while wearing their heaviest coats.
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HANUKKAH AWAY FROM HOME How Jewish students are celebrating the holiday at UB
BOWLING IN BUFFALO
Bulls look to conquer Troy Trojans in the Dollar General Bowl
A testament of faith Music faculty, students concerned with Music Library’s future UB Libraries, College of Arts and Sciences decline to comment on plans for library’s space BENJAMIN BLANCHET SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR
ALVIN ENGLISH | THE SPECTRUM On Monday, St. Joseph’s University Parish held a panel on how Catholics and the Diocese can move forward after the sexual abuse scandal. The Roman Catholic Church is in the midst of a sexual assault crisis, which has affected Catholics around the world and right in Buffalo.
UB’s Catholic community looks to religion, forums to grapple with Buffalo Diocese’s sexual abuse scandal BENJAMIN BLANCHET, JACKLYN WALTERS, THOMAS ZAFONTE SPECTRUM STAFF
Monsignor Patrick Keleher of UB’s Newman Center does not want Catholic students to lose faith, despite the reemergence of a
17-year sexual abuse scandal that has again rocked the Catholic Church. He’s been in the church for half a century and knows worshippers in the Buffalo Diocese, which has in the past year been consumed with a new string of abuse accusations and calls by prominent Catholics for Bishop Richard Malone to resign. He knows Catholics worldwide are undergoing a crisis of faith. But Keleher believes the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church will find its strength again. “We pray that the church can change,” said > SEE TESTAMENT | PAGE 7
Rooting for Renuka Ramanadhan Students recognize friend’s remarkable resilience after hitand-run injuries TANVEEN VOHRA ASST. FEATURES EDITOR
International student Renuka Ramanadhan bought a Calvin Klein winter coat last summer to help her survive her second Buffalo winter. But she hasn’t shown it off to her friends this winter. On Nov. 1 a car hit Ramanadhan near her Hadley Village apartment. Ramanadhan sustained traumatic brain injuries to her skull and pelvis and is still in the hospital, according to Zoya Atiq, a sophomore biomedical engineering major and Ramanadhan’s close friend. Today, the beige winter coat sits unworn in Ramanadhan’s Hadley Village apartment and her friends are looking forward to the day Ramanadhan can finally wear it. Atiq and other friends have regularly visited Ramanadhan in Erie County Medical Center and are hopeful she will return to UB soon. Ramanadhan, an only child, was born in India, but moved with her parents to Singapore at a young age. She spent most of her life in Singapore, attending Global Indian International School and Singapore Polytechnic institute. She moved to Buffalo last fall to complete
her undergraduate degree in the School of Management. Her friends, who refer to Ramanadhan as Rayne, talked about her gregarious personality and devotion to her school work. They said she amazes them with her ability to balance a full social life and still maintain straight A’s. “She always used to say to us, ‘Sleep is temporary, your GPA is forever,’” said Mridu Moitra, a sophomore biomedical engineering major. Ramanadhan’s friends bought a gray stuffed owl to perch near her hospital bed. She’s a night owl, said her friend
James Currie is worried about the future of UB’s Music Library. Since he came to UB 15 years ago, he said, he has seen dramatic changes to the library. Back then, Currie, a musicology professor, said the library had three staff members and a circulation expert. Now, the staff is down to one librarian. Currie isn’t the only person who wants a clear answer about the library’s status, he and others in the music department told The Spectrum. The 51-year-old collection –– comprising some material that can only be found at UB –– holds 224,000 scores, LPs and more in Baird Hall, and UB Libraries has recently been tracking how many people use it. Faculty members say the library’s resources are dwindling and believe the historic collection has seen better days. Interim Vice Provost for University Libraries Elizabeth Adelman declined to comment
Amrita, a sophomore business administration and finance major. Dancing is one of Ramanadhan’s longtime passions, Amrita said. She is classically trained in Bharatnatyam, an Indian dance form. In Singapore, she performed at the Bhaskar’s Arts Academy. Aside from classical dance, Ramanadhan also enjoys dancing to hiphop music, her favorite genre. Her favorite artist is J. Cole. Ramanadhan also enjoys listening to Korean pop music and watches YouTube videos of her favorite K-pop artists from her hospital bed. Ramanadhan loves to watch YouTubers like Manny Mua, who does makeup tutorials and reviews, according to Amrita. When she woke up from her coma in the hospital, she complimented > SEE RAMANADHAN | PAGE 5
COURTESY OF AMRITA Renuka Ramanadhan, a business administration major, is currently recovering in the hospital after being hit by a car outside her Hadley Village apartment.
on UB Libraries’ specific plans for the Music Library space. But Adelman, in an email, wrote that UB Libraries has discussed possible changes to library operations with the music department. “There’s no official statement on the intended objective for the Music Library and yet, resources have repeatedly been withdrawn,” Currie said. “It’s kept the library on hold and kept [the department] from being able to properly respond and defend the Music Library.” Currie is the chair of the Music Library Committee, which acts as a negotiator between the music department and the Music Library. He said issues with the Music Library began before this year, as UB Libraries began to “whittle away” at staffing. Currie said UB Libraries is “perfectly aware” that the music department has concerns over the library. “They’re aware that we have grave misgivings about their practice, and what they have decided and not decided to inform us about regarding the Music Library,” Currie said. “We’ve had this out in meetings before, quite fractured meetings between us and the faculty, in general, and the upper-level library administration.” > SEE MUSIC
LIBRARY | PAGE 6
University Police interview final candidates for chief of police Current interim chief of police is one of three candidates JACKLYN WALTERS ASST. NEWS EDITOR
University Police are holding forums this week, where three chief-of-police candidates will present their visions to the UB community. A search committee comprised of five university administrators started a national search for candidates in September. UPD formed the committee after the previous chief, Gerald Schoenle Jr.. retired in January. UPD is holding three days of community forums for each candidate to discuss their goals for the department and explain why they’re a good fit for the position. During each day, one of the candidates will present three times to members of the community who are interested in learning about their proposals. The first candidate, Chris Bartolomei, the current interim chief-of-police and only internal candidate, presented on Wednesday before two others present Thursday and Friday. He touched on the highlights of his resume and said his three main initiatives are “implementing the best practices, building > SEE CHIEF
CANDIDATES | PAGE 2