For the 2007-08 season, UB’s Distinguished Speaker will feature lectures by human rights activist and author Ishmael Beah; magazine editor and author Tina Brown; Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council; award-winning actor James Earl Jones; Steven D. Levitt, an economist at the University of Chicago and co-author of the bestseller “Freakonomics;” and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore.

 All lectures in the series will take place at 8 p.m. in Alumni Arena, North Campus, unless otherwise noted. Find out more.

Building on its reputation as a desirable destination for international students, UB has established a comprehensive exchange program with India’s Banaras Hindu University, the largest residential university in Asia. India already sends more students to UB than any other country, with over 1,000 students currently enrolled. The program is expected to include joint research activities, as well as the future exchange of both faculty and students.

An article in The New York Times on college expenses quotes Lewis Mandell, professor of finance and managerial economics, who says students who need loans should ask themselves if running into debt at a private college makes sense. “If I could get the same education at a state institution, I need to ask, ‘What is the differential? What am I paying for?’ “