MonthA news summary for the UVM Community

March, 2008 (Vol. 7, No. 4)

This Month's Top Stories . . .

Davis Center First in Nation with LEED Gold Designation (up^)
UVM's Dudley H. Davis Center is the first student union in the country to receive the LEED Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. The council's tiered LEED system recognizes buildings for exemplary environmental design and construction. "We're thrilled that the Davis Center has received this first-in-the-nation accolade," said president Fogel. "In pursuing our goal of being a premier environmental university, we wanted to set the highest environmental standard for this signature UVM building. We more than met our goal. The team of UVM staff, students, faculty, and external consultants who oversaw and executed the design and construction of the Davis Center deserve the highest praise for their creativity and hard work." The U.S. Green Building Council awards LEED certification at the Certificate, Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/theview/article.php?id=2616.

Applications Set New Record (up^)
Applications to the University of Vermont for the 2008/2009 academic year have risen 12 percent to a new record of 20,971, double the figure of just five years ago. The previous high of 18,631 was set last year. The quality of the applicant pool is also up, with average cumulative SAT scores rising seven points. Vermont applications numbered 2,079, level with last year, despite a 3 percent decline in the anticipated number of public high school graduates in the state in 2008. Diversity in the applicant pool also set a new record this year, with a 13 percent rise, to 1,793, in the number of applicants identifying themselves African American, Asian American, Latino/a, Native American, or multi-racial. ALANA applications have increased 172 percent in the last five years. Read more at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=11795.

UVM in the National News (up^)
The University of Vermont was featured in a number of stories in the national news media recently.
Daniel Mark Fogel, president of the university, was quoted first in a page one story in the March 9 Sunday New York Times on the demographic crunch that's coming to higher education: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/education/09admissions.html

The Boston Globe featured a story on March 17 on the global warming research of UVM plant biologist Brian Beckage:  http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/03/17/a_forest_of_change/
The March 10 Los Angeles Times carried an op ed by Robert Costanza, director of UVM's Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, on the quality of life recession the author says the United States has been experiencing since 1975: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-costanza10mar10,0,5591623.story

The Science Notebook column in the March 10 Washington Post led with a brief about a paper written by UVM sociology professors Nick Danigelis and Steven Cutler, along with a Penn State sociologist:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/09/AR2008030902093.html
The sociology paper was also the subject of a blog entry in the New York Times (see February 27 entry): http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/

Time magazine online carried a story February 28 on the work of UVM psychology professor and anorexia expert Jill Holm-Denoma:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1718069,00.html

Holm-Denoma's anorexia research was also covered by Reuters on February 28:
http://features.us.reuters.com/wellbeing/news/067EA752-E63F-11DC-956D-1B1C4C51.html

And a profile of UVM German professor and world renowned proverb expert Wolfgang Mieder appeared in the March 6 Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0306/p13s01-legn.html.

$1 Million Gift the Largest Ever to UVM Morgan Horse Farm (up^)
The University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge, Vermont, has received a pledge of $1 million from the Amy E. Tarrant Foundation. The gift, the largest ever to the historic facility, will be used to create an Amy E. Tarrant Endowed Fund for the Morgan Horse Farm, with $800,000 to establish the endowment and $200,000 designated for current operating needs. "We are so very grateful to Amy Tarrant for her gift," said UVM president Daniel Mark Fogel. "The Morgan Horse Farm is an important part of the history and culture of the University of Vermont and indeed the entire state and region. This endowment will give the farm a margin of comfort it's never had in meeting its annual operating expenses and investing in the maintenance of its historic buildings." The Morgan Horse Farm was given to the University of Vermont in 1951 by the federal government, which had operated the Morgan breeding program since receiving the farm from publisher and philanthropist Joseph Battell in 1907. Today, the UVM "government" line of Morgan Horse is considered one of the best in the world. Read more at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=11947.

Young Scientists Win NSF Grants (up^)
Matthias Brewer works on assembling complex molecules from simple starting materials, with an eye toward one day improving the way medicines are made. Frederic Sansoz studies the strength and properties of extremely small wires, an important piece of the revolution in "nanomaterials." Both are young scientists whose research promises to push forward on basic questions in science — and, in time, contribute a clear public benefit. That's why the National Science Foundation granted Brewer, assistant professor of chemistry, and Sansoz, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, Early Career Development Awards (CAREER), funding portions of their research for the next five years. Read more at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=11899.

Research Debunks Stereotypes of Aging (up^)
Winston Churchill is often credited with saying that if "you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain." Makes sense. Everyone knows older people are more conservative and set in their ways. But new research by Nick Danigelis, professor and chair of sociology, and Steve Cutler, professor of sociology and Distinguished Bishop Joyce Chair of Gerontology, strongly suggests that the long-held belief about older citizens being more rigid isn't true. Their findings, published in the October 2007 edition of the prestigious American Sociological Review, has sociologists and politicians alike rethinking the social and political leanings of older Americans. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=2613.

Sports Update (up^)
The men's hockey Catamounts won their first-ever Hockey East playoff series, defeating Northeastern 4-1 in the third and deciding game of a best-of-three series. The team advances to the Hockey East Semifinals at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. UVM will take on No. 2 Boston University at 8 p.m. Friday, March 21. The game will be televised on NESN and can also be heard in Vermont on WVMT-620 AM and on the Internet at SportsJuice.com. The women's basketball Catamounts will represent America East in the Postseason WNIT. UVM earned the invitation after Hartford defeated Boston University in the championship game of the America East Tournament. Hartford earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the Catamounts earned their WNIT berth for having the next best record in the conference at 23-8. Vermont will host Dartmouth in a first round game of the Postseason WNIT on Thursday, March 20, at 7 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium. The winner of that contest will take on Boston College on Monday March 24, at a site and time to be determined.

Campus Kudos (up^)

Carolyn Bonifield, assistant professor, and Amy Tomas, lecturer, both of the School of Business Administration, had a paper titled "A Different Reality: Considering Possible Selves in Virtual Worlds," accepted for the 2008 Advertising and Consumer Psychology Conference on Virtual Social Identity and Consumer Behavior.

DeMethra LaSha Bradley, assistant director for academic integrity in the Center for Student Ethics and Standards, has been selected as a 2008 Annuit Coeptis Emerging Professional. The Annuit Coeptis award was created by the American College Personnel Association to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Philip Tripp. Annually three senior professionals and five emerging professionals are honored.

David Jones, assistant professor of business administration, has been elected to serve as chair of the board of directors for the New Sudan Education Initiative, an organization founded and directed by UVM alums with the goal of building 20 secondary accelerated learning and leadership academies throughout southern Sudan by 2015.

Jennifer Kenyan, graduate student in the Master of Public Administration Program (MPA), will participate in the ENO Leadership Development Conference in Washington D.C. this May. The ENO Transportation Foundation selects 20 outstanding graduate students from throughout the country to participate in this conference.

Marilyn Lucas, assistant professor of business administration, published an article co-authored with M. A. Wilson from Arcadis Inc., "Tracking the Relationship between Environmental Management and Financial Performance in the Service Industry," in Service Business: An International Journal. The paper investigates the relationship between the implementation of environmental management practices and financial performance in the context of the service industry.

Garrison Nelson, professor of political science, wrote an op-ed article in the January 4, 2008, issue of the Boston Globe titled "Success for one Kennedy, but not the other." Nelson writes about the significance of the New Hampshire primary using Jack and Ted Kennedy's bids for the Democratic ticket as evidence. He was also quoted in a February 22 Boston Globe article on the appeal of the presidential candidates to moderates. Nelson co-authored an article in January appearing in Political Science & Politics. His article, "Middlemen No More? Emergent Patterns in Congressional Leadership Selection," explores a possible shift in the political profile of party leaders — from "middlemen" to politicians from the ideological extremes.

David Novak, assistant professor of business administration, had a paper accepted for publication in Decision Support Systems titled "Managing Bandwidth Allocations between Competing Recreational and Non-Recreational Traffic on Campus Networks."

Several members of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families in the department of psychiatry recently published two important journal articles. Dr. David Rettew, assistant professor of psychiatry, is lead author and Dr. Robert Althoff, assistant professor of psychiatry, Dr. James Hudziak, professor of psychiatry, medicine and pediatrics, and Linsay Ayer, graduate student in psychiatry, are co-authors of an article titled "Latent profiles analysis of child temperament and their relations to psychopathology and wellness" in the January 22, 2008 epub edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Rettew and Hudziak are also co-authors on an article in the February 1, 2008 epub edition of Behavior Genetics titled "Non-additive and additive genetic effects on extraversion in 3314 Dutch adolescent twins and their parents."

James Sinkula, professor of business administration and John L. Beckley Chair, had an article accepted for publication by the Journal of Small Business Management titled "The Complementary Effects of Market Orientation and Entrepreneurial Orientation on Profitability in Small Business." The article was co-authored with William Baker of San Diego State University.

In Memoriam (up^)

William M. Schenk of Richmond, Vermont, passed away on January 21, 2008, after a seven-year battle with cancer. Bill was hired by UVM as an assistant professor in the then fledgling theater department in 1965. In his 37 years of service to the university, Bill was instrumental in the growth of the UVM Theatre Department, overseeing the renovation of and move to its current home, the Royall Tyler Theatre, in the 1970s. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the William M. Schenk Award for Technical Excellence at UVM and/or the Vermont Respite House, 99 Allen Brook Lane, Williston, VT 05495. For more information concerning the William M. Schenk award please email Molly.Kurent@uvm.edu.

Dateline UVM Would Like to Hear from You: (up^)
Send comments, questions, and address changes to Dateline UVM Editor, Jay Goyette (jay.goyette@uvm.edu).
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