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August 29, 2008 4:31 PM |
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Greening Terp Home Games McCain's VP Pick: UM Experts: Journalism Students Cover the Political Conventions UM Excels in U.S. News's 'Programs to Look For' |
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Highlighted News Items, August 29
Student Finds Calling in Learning Foreign Languages
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Maryland Moments, May, 2002
Towards Being Best: New Programs, Honors, Awards
Nine Baltimore high school seniors constitute the second class of Baltimore Incentive Awards Program scholars who will matriculate in August. Each participated in a competition within their high schools to receive the "opportunity, means and ongoing support for city students who have shown academic promise and a determined spirit in spite of adverse life circumstances."
The NCAA champion Maryland men's basketball team and athletics and campus administrators attended a reception by President Bush honoring the NCAA Men's Basketball Champion Terrapins. Also receiving the attention of the President, who once ran a baseball team, were the University of Minnesota-Duluth women's ice hockey team, the University of Minnesota's men's ice hockey team and the University of Connecticut's women's basketball team.
In an effort to help small businesses remain competitive in the technology sector, the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in the Smith School of Business launched a program that provides Maryland-based companies access to a new Web-based e-business system, a software program traditionally only available to large corporations.
A unique university exchange program to train Russian urban planners in American development techniques may help revitalize Russian cities. Based in St. Petersburg, the joint Maryland/Russian program has shown how U.S. building projects are planned, financed, and approved. "These young and mid-level professionals are the important people to reach," said Marie Howland, director of the program and chair of urban studies and planning.
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The Maryland Special Olympics took over campus May 31-June 2 as over 1100 athletes competed in six sports and were part of elaborate opening and closing ceremonies.
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History Day Has Distinguished Guest Educator
Education Secretary Rod Page spoke to thousands of young historians at National History Day, June 4, in Cole Field House. The Secretary explained the recently released U.S. History National Assessment of Educational Progress initiative.
Thomas Fretz, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, won the American Distance Education Consortium's Irving Award for outstanding leadership as chair of the group. It is the organization's highest honor.
Kristy Reynolds, a third year doctoral student majoring in analytical chemistry, received the $25,000 award to further her research in the use of mass spectrometry to rapidly compare complex protein samples. Her technique could offer an alternative in forensic screening of biological samples.
David Driskell, distinguished university professor of art, received the Governor's Arts Award for Arts Educators at the Walters Art Museum. The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora will be constructed on campus to honor one of the most influential African American artists.
Robert Henry, a graduate piano student in the School of Music, won the Atlanta International Piano Competition. Henry previously had won international competitions in both New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
Chi Chae, Class of 2002 in the department of cell biology and molecular genetics and a department honors candidate funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, presented the results of her research on the plant root rubricine at the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting in Salt Lake City.
A team made up of students from the Smith School of Business, MIT's Sloan School of Management and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business won a $50,000 cash prize plus an offer of $500,000 in funding for their entrepreneurial venture, NovOculi. Jeff Porter, an MBA student at the Smith School and partner Dan Burnett are biomedical engineers with an idea for a new laser eye surgery procedure.
Research, Signifcant Discoveries
Biology doctoral student Daphne Soares stumbled onto her discovery of a previously unknown major sensory ability in alligators when she was sitting on the back of a huge bull alligator in a pick-up truck, cruising through a Louisiana swamp. Her questions about the alligator's beard of pinprick sized holes led to the discovery of Dome Pressure Receptors, tiny mounds that give crocodilians the ability to detect the movement of prey in water. The discovery received world-wide notice.
UM students raised the walls and roof of a totally sun-powered house near campus parking Lot 1. The structure will be moved later to the National Mall for a collegiate solar house competition. Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon will see 11 college teams pit their construction against each other during a week long competition, beginning on Sept. 29.
The campus-based Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) Internet computer consortium and the Naval Research Laboratory announced the launch of the next-generation Advanced Technology Demonstration Network. ATDnet is a partnership of multiple federal institutions that include the Naval Research Laboratory, the Defense Intelligence Agency, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency.
The School of Architecture will play a significant role in a notable archaeological/architectural project underway in Castellammare, Italy. Dean Eric Hurtt, Associate Dean Stephen Sachs, professors Matthew Bell, Sidney Brower and Roger Lewis, and students Jeff Evans and Keif Samulski will help restore the ancient city of Castellmmare, destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
The research on face recognition by Yaser Yacoob, associate research scientist at the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, utilizes a technique called Principal Component Analysis . A discovery: A smiling face makes it easier for camera technology to identify someone, but it is not as effective as an angry, grimacing face.
Outreach: Campus People Aiding The Community
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta announced a $250,000 grant to the College Park-based New Markets Growth Fund, part of a new national program to provide $20 million in venture capital and technical assistance to small businesses in low-income areas. The Fund is managed by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Smith School of Business.
Programs falling under the federal TRIO umbrella of funded college prep initiatives for disadvantaged students have not traditionally focused on the digital divide. The university hopes ProjectLINKS may signal a new day for TRIO as a bridge across the digital divide. The university hopes the custom designed Web-based program will become a national model.
Team Maryland, a component of the Burns Academy of Leadership, conducted a leadership and community service seminar at the William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale. Leaders from the National Coalition of the Homeless gave a memorable message to students, who later toured the university and helped make sandwiches for the needy.
The David C. Driskell Center launched an art summer camp at the Langston Dwellings public housing in the District of Columbia. Maryland Newsmakers
The signing of an honor pledge when taking a test at the university is a new procedure initiated by student leaders to bolster the university's 12-year-old honor system. On every paper and every test, students swear they did not cheat. A Washington Post story and ensuing Associated Press wire story made this significant news both in the U.S. and in Europe.
The study of the fairness of the death penalty in Maryland being conducted for the state by Ray Paternoster, professor of criminology and criminal justice, is an on-going front page news item. Gov. Glendening's suspension of the execution of Wesley Eugene Baker until the study is completed later this summer earned both national and international attention.
Identical twin sisters Fasika and Tinsay Woreta, daughters of Ethiopian immigrants, won $400,000 medical school scholarships, and credited their parents' love and discipline for their success. The biochemistry seniors will attend Johns Hopkins Medical School.
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