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front-page article about the increasing noise levels in restaurants and what is being done about it interviews Paul Bataglia, adjunct associate professor of architecture in the UB School of Architecture and Planning, who specializes in acoustics. The time it takes for the sound to diminish is called reverberation time, he said, and when it comes to how it affects people’s happiness, research has shown reverberation time is an important factor, not just the sheer volume of the sound. “You want enough reverberation where it helps create a social atmosphere, where you sort of join in with other people talking and it all mixes together,” he added. “You want that at a decent level, but not overwhelming. You adjust that by dealing with reverberation time.”