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Maryland Moments, March, 2005 University Initiatives (New Programs, Appointments, Awards) President C.D. Mote Jr. continues his role as spokesman for the American Association of Universities on the issue of terror-related restrictive visa policies, which are making it difficult for foreign scholars to enroll at U.S. universities. He appeared before two education subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives. Inside Higher Ed: "The visa system and the signals of 'unfriendliness' that the country is sending through its intensified security is only partly to blame for those (enrollment) declines, said C.D. Mote Jr., president of the University of Maryland, College Park.... Another factor is the 'aggressive competition' being waged by universities elsewhere in the world, he said.... 'For a long time U.S. graduate schools were the only game in town, and no matter how badly treated students were, they came here anyway,' said Mote. That's no longer the case, he said, and foreign institutions are 'using the security situation to convince foreign graduate students to go elsewhere.' " The Smith School of Business's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship is ranked in the first tier of 13 schools in Entrepreneur Magazine's ranking of the best 100 entrepreneurial programs--the highest ranking available. In the three years of Entrepreneur rankings, UM made the first tier each time. (Entrepreneurship thrives not only in the Smith School, but in many UM programs like the Clark School of Engineering's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute. The business and engineering schools combine to oversee the uniquely successful Hinman CEO Program.) The Maryland Emergency Management Agency announces the creation of the Center for Agro-Security and Emergency Management, a partnership between the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and the state Department of Agriculture. Robert Halman of AGNR's Maryland Cooperative Extension is the director. "Our mission is to respond to natural disasters as well as man-made disasters—terrorism." The center will oversee prevention of attacks involving the food supply and farms. It will also coordinate communication and education to the public and farmers and work with federal, state and county agencies. Smith School, Zurich Schools Plan Global MBA Program The Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Graduate School of Business Administration Zurich announce a partnership that offers a dual-degree global executive MBA program. In addition to the degree program, the Smith School's part-time MBA and executive-MBA students in College Park will be able to take classes in Zurich, and faculty will participate in joint research, seminars and conferences. The annual Black Saga competition, founded and administered by Charles Christian, professor of geography, held a fiercely competitive final round on campus March 19. The Baltimore Sun: "Charles Christian... said he created Black Saga to enhance the way black history was being taught to pupils throughout the state and to supplement information in textbooks. 'What happens is that you begin to understand the African-American experience is not being presented in its fullness and you are a little bit upset, even dismayed. Why is it allocated to sidelines, footnotes?' Christian said. Black Saga, he added, 'is an unintimidating way to learn about the African-American experience.' " Approximately 600 Maryland elementary and middle school students packed the Stamp Union ballroom with excited competitors and equally excited adults. The Maryland Industrial Partnership Programs (MIPS), part of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute in the Clark School of Engineering, wins one of four 'Best Practice' Awards given by the U.S. Small Business Adminsitration. MIPS won for its technology transfer work, where innovation is inspired by a partnership between university researchers and the private sector. The program was selected among 44 applications and 19 finalists to receive the top honor. The Confucius Institute at Maryland, jointly established by the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Institute for Global Chinese Affairs at UM, is the first Chinese language and culture school in the U.S. co-sponsored by the Chinese government. The institute serves as the U.S. branch of the Confucius Institute. The Sydney Morning Herald: "Confucius Institutes are being set up with local counterpart bodies and are partly funded by the Chinese Government through its National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. The first opened in Seoul last November, and others will soon open in Stockholm, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and on the University of Maryland campus near Washington." Chemistry Professor Catherine Fenselau is awarded the prestigious Hillebrand Prize by the Chemical Society of Washington. She receives the annual honor for her "development of rapid biodetection methods based on mass spectrometry and bioinformatics. Such advanced systems will facilitate rapid medical diagnosis, monitoring and control of the spread of highly contagions diseases, and on-time recognition and identification of biohazards, particularly those associated with terrorism." An analytical process that weighs molecules, mass spectrometry can produce 'fingerprints' of a multitude of different proteins. Fenselau's lab, one of the most sophisticated in the Washington-Baltimore region, has developed techniques to help the FBI track the origins of deadly anthrax spores. Merill College of Journalism Honors Pioneer Journalist Edith Gaylord Edith Gaylord, who came to Washington to cover the Roosevelt Administration and its first lady, Eleanor, as one of the Associated Press's first female reporters, will have a $500,000 library and resource center named after her in the new Journalism Building of the Merrill College of Journalism. Gaylord, the daughter of The Daily Oklahoman publisher E.K. Gaylord, later established the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. "The capital city that Edith Gaylord came to cover more than 60 years ago was a completely male-dominated world," said Thomas Kunkel, dean of the journalism school. "The gender barriers broken by Edith and other pioneering women journalists paved the way for generations of women reporters. It's important for a modern journalism school -- especially one where female students make up nearly two-thirds of the student body -- to have a place that honors one of those trailblazers." Stacks of memorabilia--original scripts, press badges and a Peabody award--help bring the Taking a Leading Role: Women in Broadcasting History exhibit to life at the Maryland Room Gallery of Hornbake Library. The display is open through July and features the work of 16 women broadcasters. It documents the pioneering role they played during a time when many Americans felt women should be in the kitchen and not on the airwaves. UM students are able to legally download music for free for the first time under a university-sponsored pilot program. All undergraduates have access to more than 1 million songs that students can download and play on up to three computers an unlimited number of times. Songs can be bought for 99 cents and albums for $9.99, which would allow a student to transfer the music to a portable player or other devices. The service is provided by Cdigix, a company that offers the service at 21 other campuses nationwide. President George Bush nominates Gordon England, Class of '61, Clark School of Engineering, to be the Deputy Defense Secreatary under DOD Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. England, a former business executive and trusted confidant of the defense secretary, comes from within the Defense Department where he served as Secretary of the Navy. Michael Griffin, who earned his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Clark School of Engineering, is promoted to head NASA by President George Bush. Griffin most recently held the position of head of the space department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel. UM students and Steve Cohan, professor of practice in the department of natural resource sciences and landscape architecture, earn a feature in the Washington Post as the campus hosts the 29th annual National College Landscaping Competition. The Post described the heartbreak of competiton: "Eric Crist and Joshua Miller had just two hours, 13 pieces of wood and a box of tools to build a planter box. With 20 minutes left to go, it seemed the two were on track for a fast finish. That is until Crist slashed into the cord of his electric saw while cutting a piece of wood." Science & Technology
The Baltimore Sun visits the campus laboratory of biologist Kennedy Paynter, a scientist/researcher who enjoys enthusiastic support for his innovative research on oysters and the Chesapeake Bay from all parties--watermen, state officials and peer scientists. What prompts the visit is the state of Maryland mulling over the effects of introducing the Asian oyster crassostrea ariakensis into the bay. A good portion of the story is on student research in the Paynter Lab. "In the lab, he and his students are monitoring how much oxygen the native and Asian oysters use to determine whether they can survive in the bay's low-oxygen areas, known as 'dead-zones.' One student is designing a computer model to show how quickly native oysters might come back under certain conditions. Another, a former state fisheries biologist, is examining the organisms that live on an oyster reef.... His students say their work has real-world applicability. 'Oysters are really fun. They make the bay work,' said Mark Sherman, a senior. 'And right now they're in so much trouble that to restore them would be, like, a great accomplishment.' " According to research by the department of hearing and speech sciences, noise in some day-care centers and homes may interfere with a baby's language development. Rochelle Newman, assistant professor is the lead researcher; she says conversations directed at the children can sometimes blend into the background and go unrecognized in infants younger than 13 months. "This might potentially delay the onset of speech. Caregivers may think they're giving the right kind of language experiences, but all too often, the talk may be going over the children's heads." Eric Hackert, faculty research assistant at the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, and colleagues from the center research two El Ninos from the past and they catalogue significant differences in the weather makers. NASA: "Though the El Nino of 2002-03 affected climate around the world, it was much milder than the unusually large El Nino of 1997-98. What made one so much stronger than the other? University of Maryland researcher Eric Hackert and three colleagues... took a close look at these two El Ninos to find out. Using satellite data of ocean temperature and sea-surface height along with computer models, they analyzed the two events to determine how they were alike and, more importantly, how they were different. One of the things they discovered was that a particular kind of wave helped make one El Nino much stronger and longer lasting than the other." Raspberry, Ginseng Crops Recommended for State Farmers The Baltimore Sun: "State dairy farmers, tobacco growers and others struggling to pay their bills might want to switch to the production of raspberries or something even more exotic, ginseng, to boost the viability of their farms. That's the suggestion from two recent University of Maryland studies that conclude that the two high-value crops could take the place of other, less profitable products and significantly boost farm sales." Advising farmers are Harry Swartz, berry expert and breeder who is associate professor of natural resource sciences and landscape architecture; Russell Brinsfield, executive director of the Maryland Center for Agro-Ecology who hopes ginseng could become a valuable cash crop; and Marla McInstosh, professor of natural resource sciences and landscape architecture, who says it takes four years for ginseng to be ready for harvest. Society & Culture
A study by Ray Paternoster, professor of criminology and criminal justice, on the fairness of the death penalty in Maryland is used by lawyers to get a stay from the Court of Appeals regarding the April 18 execution of Vernon Evans Jr. Jacques Gansler, director of the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise in the School of Public Affairs, and William Lucyshyn, visiting senior research scholar, issue a study pointing out how the federal government became more restrictive in its release of official documents that were previously public. The two found the practice seems to go beyond living in a post-Sept. 11 world. Gansler, who formerly directed procurement at the Pentagon, said: "We gain enormously from having an open environment. Making security too tight can have serious costs." As the debate rages unabated about federal budget priorities, the Program on International Policy Attitudes in the School of Public Policy releases a poll that sought out how Americans feel about what the economic priorities of the nation. The poll indicates a majority of both Democratic and Republican respondents want cuts in defense spending, deficit reduction, and increases in spending on educaton, job training and veterans affairs. The Center for International Development and Conflict Management develops a political model aimed at identifying the world's fragile states. The International Herald Tribune: "Using about 75 variables from economic statistics to ethnic and religious discrimination, the model serves as a reference for the United States in anticipating instability in the world." Monty Marshall of CIDCM is quoted as saying 'state failure was a remote possibility in China at present, but that a gradual transition to democracy needs to accompany booming economic growth to safeguard stability in the long-run.... At the moment I don't think there will be a massive outbreak of violence or a collapse of the government. But there is a sense of fragility during this transition. It could go either way.' "
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 Information provided by the Office of University CommunicationsEmail University Communications at emailum@umd.edu |
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