The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 3

zRHi COLOil BUSINESS TODAY: ord plans to invest $1 billion in 6 plants B8 CITYEREGTON The Buffalo News Tuesday December 26 2006 Stanley Evans Deputy Managing Editor 849 4444 sevansbuffnewscom BruceAmiriatch COMMENTARY Life lessons after a trip to Elmwood unruly fuels melee at theater By Brian Meyer NEWS STA REPORTER Dozens of police officers from three lo calities raced to the Regal Cinema on Elmwood Avenue on Monday night after multiple fights broke out among young patrons inside the theater and outside in the parking lot The first police calls at about 8:40 pm indicated that large numbers of teens were brawling at the cinema which is in a shopping plaza between Hertel and Hinman avenues Buffalo police from every district re sponded and they were helped by officers from Kenmore and the Town of Tona wanda Niagara rontier Transportation Authority officers also reported to the scene The ruckus disrupted traffic on Elmwood for a short time When tensions continued to flare po lice and Regal managers cut short some films that were being shown in the 16 screen cinema "It became a self feeding Police Commissioner II Mc See ight on Page B2 Harry Scull JrBuffalo News coco Siiivurcu WMg JM 7 M1' OIM'ONO 1 VSSK N'f Tilt MtlSIll irram EM fe HiMl usSak zS Dozens of officers responded to Regal Cinema on Elmwood Avenue to quell numerous fights that broke out Monday night outing was not a school field trip but it turned out to be an educational experience George Olmsted thought he was introducing West Seneca to the West Side He never imagined that in the process he would inadver tently unearth some of the biases that di vide the city and the suburbs Olmsted has been teaching history at West Seneca Middle School for six years which he does while coaching wrestling teaching rock roll and playing in a rock band himself (And yes he is a de scendant of the renowned park designer rederick Law Olmsted) Spend a few minutes with him and clear that he is a He said he is constantly looking for ways to bring his lessons to life A few weeks ago he found one had just finished a unit on industri alism teaching words like free enter prise systems entrepreneurship the American he said said There is a place in our community where this kind of thing exists in a more urban set ting: Elmwood So I asked them any of you ever been None of their hands wen He posted a sign up sheet and said he would meet whoever wanted to spend a Saturday afternoon hanging out on Elmwood and doing some holiday shopping to put their names on the list The kids had to get their own rides but parents were welcome to stay as well On Dec 2 about 45 kids and about 15 parents met up at Spot Coffee Olmsted and his wife Lysa proudly led the group on a tour between Bidwell Parkway and West erry Street explaining the neigh history introducing them to store owners and generally showing them a good time was about discovery about awareness of your community of choice and option and partially it was about doing something for the he said think students respond so well when a teacher steps out of the bounds and says Tm going to do something unique for And that pays off in spades I have them wrapped around my finger in the The blog buffalorisingcom posted a story about the day People began post ing generally positive comments Then Buffalo Pundit weighed in is now considered a field trip? Are you guys said Pundit who maintains his own blog Coffee is nice but I want my kid going to town to look at shops We can do that on our own In the blogosphere everyone can hear you scream So mini dia tribe began drawing responses pro and con Some kids wrote in to defend Olm sted Pundit posted an item about this on his blog and people posted comments there as well On the extremes the argu ment breaks down into two camps: The city is a crime ridden cesspool versus The suburbs are a soulless haven of big lawns and eight lane highways Leave your nuance at the door Pundit whose name is Alan Bedenko said in an mail interview that he had gotten his in a over what he considered the patronizing tone of several comments on buffalorising He was particularly unhappy about a thread that started when a writer went after the area near the Walden Galleria in Cheek towaga using terms such as ment of unadulterated In retrospect Bedenko said his com ments about Olmsted were partially based on a of the original piece he realize it had been done on a Saturday for example but he still like the idea Olmsted finds the whole thing a bit ironic His Elmwood outing was not a school field trip but it turned out to be an educational experience he said you do something that provokes people to react and you even know mail P' UK I I jA jzi The pursuit of a doctorate has taken Evan Bierman a 1996 graduate ofWilliamsville North High School to the South Pole to search for traces of the Big Bang Big Bang at South Pole Williamsville grad helps to focus on birth of universe By Mary Pasciak NEWS STA REPORTER The North Pole seems to get all the attention this time of year with all the tales of you know who and his crew braving the bitter cold to defy the laws of physics to zip around the globe on a single night But taking a look 12500 miles away at the Other Pole would re veal another guy with a beard or at least a stubble and a bright red coat toiling with his colleagues to conquer physics in another way That would be Evan Bierman Williamsville North High School Oass of '96 working at the South Pole trying to get a glimpse of the beginning of the universe As part of his work on a doctorate at the University of California at San Diego Bierman helped build a tele scope that operates on microwaves Work on the $22 million device funded through a National Science oundation grant and private donations started in 2001 Last year Bierman and some of his colleagues spent two months at the South Pole to set up the Background Imager of Cosmic Extragalactic Po larization The one of a kind tele scope is looking at the radiation left over from the explosion that scientists believe gave birth to the universe 135 billion years ago looking at the very be ginning of the universe the Big he said in a phone inter view from the South Pole "The leftover radiation from the Big Bang travels through the universe The light we get from die early uni verse comes to us virtually un touched looking for a pat tern been imprinted on this radiation to tell us how the Big Bang Scientists discovered this radia tion called cosmic microwave background radiation about 50 years ago or many years they be lieved this radiation had a uniform temperature throughout the uni verse 3 degrees Kelvin or about minus 454 degrees ahrenheit In 1990 a satellite detected deviations from that tem perature Bierman and his fellow researchers hope to study those deviations to help them figure out what hap pened just after the Big Bang the same thing as if you were looking at a light and someone cast a shadow and you were looking at the light and trying to determine what caused the See Pole on Page B2 1 "1 9 7 i a iw fl iwrM SQ a ft Evan work involves a telescope for microwaves Taking aim at problem tenants landlords raining programs for both suggested By Brian Meyer NEWS STA REPORTER Neglectful landlords and disrup tive tenants harm many neighbor hoods and a Buffalo lawmaker wants officials to look for new ways to target problem properties South Council Member Michael Kearns will introduce a bill at to day's Common Council meeting that encourages the city and Erie County to work on a joint offensive He cites a program in Rochester that requires some irresponsible landlords and problem tenants to undergo training in order to contin ue participating in social services programs Property complaints are among the biggest problems in the city Kearns said adding not always easy to pinpoint culprits a lot of finger pointing between tenants and landlords about who is actually causing prob Kearns said Monday He wants local officials to study a property management program implemented by the City of Roches ter and the Monroe County Social Services Department Kearns said the program requires property own ers with a history of housing code violations or police calls to go through landlord training He thinks many neighborhoods would see improved conditions if problem landlords were required to attend sessions that focus on screening tenants recognizing signs of drug activity and the eviction pro cess Likewise Kearns said tenants who are prone to moving a few times a year have multiple property damage claims lodged against them or have been targets of re peated police calls would be re quired to undergo life training They would hear talks on being responsible neighbors effec tive parenting and perhaps even See Housing on Page B2 Green Christmas due to turn white ByJayRey NEWS STA REPORTER OK so maybe that white Christmas you were dreaming of work out for you this year If any consolation there should be snow for you today As much as four inches of snowfall is possible today across the Buffalo region as a low pressure system pushes north from the Gulf Coast and ushers in colder air and low temperatures in the 20s according to the National Weather Service Rain is expected to change to wet snow this morning then turn into snow showers by the afternoon said meteorologist Steve IrSr a Is Derek GeeBuffalo News Volunteers Sue Chazen left aith Chvala and Leslie Garfinkel serve Christmas dinner at riends of Night People McLaughlin could get kind of nasty in the after noon on McLaughlin said people who are going to be out exchanging holiday gifts may have to deal with some wintiy While snow may have been missed Monday the green Christmas made for an easy time traveling to holiday gatherings and dinners including for an estimated 125 to 150 people who dropped in for an early Christmas dinner at the riends of Night People on Hudson Avenue will be a combination of homeless and working said Dr Steven Piv See Christmas on Page B2 INSIDE: Neighborhood News Page B3 Obituaries Pages B4 B5 Weather Page BIO Business Today Page B8 On the Record Page B9 Dilbert Page B9 COTiR i JURin EDU ION £41.