SUNY Binghamton's unsuccessful search for a new president could lead to a shake-up in the search committee, reports Jon Campbell at the Press & Sun-Bulletin:
In a letter obtained by this newspaper, [SUNY chancellor Nancy] Zimpher asked the BU Council to put a new Presidential Search Committee in place -- complete with a new chairperson -- as part of a revamped effort to find a permanent president. She and the SUNY Board of Trustees recommended Hinman, Howard & Kattell managing partner James Orband to replace Kathryn Madigan, chair of the BU Council, in leading the search. "Once a reorganized search committee is in place, I will be pleased, together with senior members of my staff, to join the committee for a formal relaunching of the search process," Zimpher wrote in her letter, which was sent Wednesday to members of the university council. Zimpher said the process will restart "in the very near future," and that a "number of highly qualified individuals from across the country" have expressed interest in the post.
UB 2020
University at Buffalo is going to have to scale back its ask for $5 billion for its UB 2020 plan if it wants to be successful, reports Tom Precious at the Buffalo News:
While much of the UB 2020 plan centers on university-community real estate projects, the power for UB to set its own tuition — and at different levels than other state campuses — is a tough sell in Albany. Assembly critics say tuition increases would hurt many families and have raised questions about the extent of the fiscal autonomy sought by UB that would weaken oversight established years ago during a fiscal scandal on a state campus on Long Island. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat whose conference has backed previous UB expansion efforts in Buffalo's downtown health corridor, also has raised questions about the lack of specifics on the projects intended under UB 2020, especially the downtown Buffalo plan. Questions have been raised over who holds the private land that UB now wants to develop.
Meanwhile, a tuition hike proposal is gathering momentum in the North Country, reports Brian Amaral at the Watertown Daily Times, as the SUNY Student Assembly successfully lobbies legislators to support it.
Research
An idea that gave hope to many multiple sclerosis suffers might not be effective, reports Henry Davis at the Buffalo News. A new study from the University at Buffalo looks at a therapy that relieves blockages in a vein in the neck in MS patients:
But a large study by Buffalo researchers raises doubt about whether multiple sclerosis is caused by blockages in the veins that drain the brain and, instead, suggests the blockages may be a result of the disease. The University at Buffalo researchers found that only 56.1 percent of the multiple sclerosis patients studied, and 38.1 percent of individuals who had experienced their first neurological episode, had the blockages known as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI. “While this may suggest an association between MS and CCSVI, association does not imply causality,” said Dr. Robert Zivadinov, associate professor of neurology at UB.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore at CNET reports that two Binghamton University professors are working with an enzyme to predict why some cancer cells grow faster than others:
Though they are not developing actual therapies, Susan Bane and Susannah Gal say their research could help further personalize targeted cancer therapies. "Potentially, we could put [a tumor sample] in our labeling system and say, 'Yes, that has a problem with the TTL system, and therefore you should be more aggressive with it,'" says Gal, whose work is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. "Or we could say, 'That's probably OK, so you can treat it with normal chemotherapy.'"
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