05.09.08
The Hartford Courant
New Leader Hired For UConn Health Center
The University of Connecticut Thursday named an orthopedic surgeon who simultaneously earned an M.D. at Harvard and a doctorate in chemical engineering at M.I.T to head its troubled health center in Farmington.
Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, 49, now chairman of orthopedics at the University of Virginia, will start Aug. 11 as the university's vice president for health affairs at the UConn Health Center and dean of the UConn medical school. Read more...
05.09.08
The Day
Eightmile River Finally Wild & Scenic
Surely the Eightmile River and its watershed are just as wild and scenic today as they were before Thursday morning.
But the stroke of President Bush's pen Thursday made all the difference in the meaning those words will carry in the language that governs federal dollars and actions.
... ”Finally, we can say this is a wild and scenic river,” said Anthony Irving, chairman of the Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Coordinating Committee. ... Irving's involvement began 14 years ago, when he agreed to be part of a group working with scientists from the Nature Conservancy and the University of Connecticut who wanted to understand what it would mean to protect an entire watershed, and chose the Eightmile for their project. Read more...
05.09.08
The Day
UConn graduation ceremonies begin Saturday
The University of Connecticut's commencement ceremonies will take place both Saturday and Sunday as the university experiments with holding separate ceremonies for its 14 schools and colleges.
The largest college, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will hold a ceremony for the more than 2,400 candidates for bachelor's degrees at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
Rebecca Lobo, a university trustee and famed basketball player who played on UConn's undefeated 1995 women's national champion basketball team, will address the college's students. Read more...
05.09.08
14 WFIE (Evansville, Indiana)
College Students: Finding an Internship
... Students can advance their status by participating in campus-sponsored clubs and organizations, by doing volunteer work, or by holding down part-time jobs. However, none of these will help them to realize their passions or prepare them more for stepping out into the "real world" than valuable time spent as an intern. ... According to Beth Settje, Internship Coordinator and Career Consultant at the University of Connecticut, "Employers have shared with us that they look for internship experience on a student's resume; additionally employers often prefer to offer full time positions to those who have worked for their organization in an internship, as the new employee is already vested and may have even been trained." Read more...
05.08.08
The Hartford Courant
State To Require Teachers To Take Test On Reading
Aspiring early childhood and elementary school teachers will have to prove they know how to teach reading on a test the State Board of Education has added to Connecticut's teacher certification requirements. The change, which was made Wednesday, comes amid worries about stagnating or declining student reading scores statewide and concerns that not all state teachers know the mechanics of teaching reading. ...
Richard L. Schwab, dean of the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, said the state board's adoption of an existing reading exam seemed like a reasonable step. Read more...
05.08.08
The Washington Post
WVU President Clings to Job After Faculty Vote
When he became president of West Virginia University last year, Michael Garrison seemed poised to use his political experience to help build the institution's national reputation.
Less than a year after taking office, Garrison is struggling to hold on to his job and contain a scandal, after the university granted an unearned degree to a longtime friend, the daughter of the West Virginia governor. On Monday, the Faulty Senate voted 77 to 19 in favor of a resolution of no-confidence in Garrison and demanded his resignation. ... It's the kind of debacle that strikes at the core of a university's mission, said Thomas Morawetz, a professor of ethics at the University of Connecticut Law School. Read more...
05.08.08
The Stamford Times
Economy is sending more kids to universities, community colleges
Local schools say they are not yet feeling the effects of the student loan credit crunch, although the economy is changing student behavior.
"Many parents are planning ahead," said Frank Barber, Ph.D., head of guidance at Stamford High School. ... According to Barber, Stamford High School hasn't seen any fallout from the loan crisis specifically, but he says that the economy has been affecting student choices for a few years now — top students who would have traditionally picked a small private college are tending to pick big public schools, like the University of Connecticut (UConn).
"It's very popular with top students," he said. "The honors program is very popular."
... Dolan Evanovich, vice provost of enrollment for the University of Connecticut, says that UConn tends to see a boom in enrollment when the economy tanks. Read more...
05.07.08
CBS News
Non-Democrats Influenced Ind., N.C. Vote
By Monika L. McDermott, assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut
Sen. Barack Obama sailed to an easy victory in North Carolina, while Sen. Hillary Clinton edged him out in Indiana. National exit polls conducted for CBS News by Edison / Mitofsky. Research show that each candidate retained the bases they have held throughout the primary season, with state characteristics making most of the difference.
The most intriguing story about the Democratic primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, however, is actually about non-Democrats - Independents and Republicans. Read more...
05.07.08
The Hartford Courant
A Better Blood Vessel
... Most patients experience some form of immune reaction when they receive donor blood. That reaction can be as mild as a slight increase in temperature or as severe and life-threatening as multi-organ failure, said Keith Samolyk, 48, founder of Global Blood Resources LLC, a 4-year-old Windsor company. ... Samolyk, a practicing perfusionist, is the inventor of the Hemobag, a patented medical device that returns the patient's whole blood in a concentrated form to him or her after cardiac surgery. ... The UConn Health Center in Farmington began using the Hemobag more than a year ago. Read more...
05.07.08
Broadway World
Bated Breath's A Doll's House Begins 6/6
Bated Breath Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Henrik Ibsen's A DOLL'S HOUSE, in a bold new version by Helene Kvale, at the Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St. New York, NY. Previews Begin Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. and the official opening will be on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. ... Helene Kvale is a Member of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab 2007 and founding member of Bated Breath Theatre Company. Based in London until 2003, she worked as an actor on numerous award winning productions in theatre, television, radio and film. ... Ms. Kvale is Assistant Professor in Residence at The University of Connecticut where she teaches acting. Read more...
05.07.08
Rapid City Journal
Horace Mann students get college knowledge
... Physical education teacher Jeremy Noyes began a project at the start of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, using college sports as a way to talk to the students about the importance of going to college and the challenge they will probably face in paying for it. ... As part of the project, the students each researched colleges throughout the country, picked one and sent off a letter describing their goal to go to college someday, and asking for something from the college to remember their goals.
"At first, the (students) were asking why we were doing this, but once the stuff came, the excitement picked up," Noyes said.
And the stuff did come -- posters, letters, jerseys, athletic bags, pom poms, T-shirts and banners -- from schools including UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, the University of Connecticut, Kansas State University and Belmont University.
"The response was awesome," Noyes said. Read more...
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05.06.08
The Washington Post
Malpractice Premiums, Rate of C-Sections Rise Together
As medical malpractice premiums increase, so do the rates of Caesarean sections, new research shows.
The study provides a small snapshot of the association, drawing on data from the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. The findings, while not national in scope, could further fuel the debate about whether higher malpractice rates boost the C-section rates, or visa versa.
"When I compared the malpractice rates to C-section rates prior to 1999, both were declining at a similar rate," says study author Dr. Jeffrey V. Spencer, a maternal-fetal medicine fellow at UConn. Read more...
05.06.08
The Hartford Courant
UConn's Neag School Of Education To Honor Alumni
UConn's Neag School of Education will honor several alumni May 17 at its annual awards dinner at the Rome Ballroom on the Storrs campus.
The awards and recipients are: Distinguished Alumni Award, Robert R. Spillane, vice president and executive director, Center for Education, CNA Corp.; Lifetime Achievement Award, H. Fred Simons, a retired UConn administrator who is considered a pioneer in multicultural education; Outstanding Higher Education Professional Award, David Mark Fetterman, director of evaluation, Stanford University School of Medicine; Outstanding Superintendent Award, Kathleen Binkowski, superintendent of schools in Plainville. Read more...
05.06.08
Scotsman.com
Radical measures vow to cut alcohol abuse
The Scottish Government yesterday promised "radical" measures to tackle the nation's damaging relationship with alcohol.
A long-term strategy on alcohol misuse is due to be published shortly and is expected to contain significant plans to cut alcohol-related harm.
But it is not clear if the measures will go as far as some campaigners would like, such as reducing
the availability of alcohol and raising the buying age from 18 to 21. ... Professor Tom Babor, a leading specialist on alcohol in the United States, recently visited Scotland to speak to doctors and ministers about tackling alcohol abuse.
Prof Babor, head of the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care at the University of Connecticut, said raising the alcohol purchasing age from 18 to 21, following in the steps of the US, would be a "good start". Read more...
05.06.08
Reuters
Needle-free device delivers pain-free analgesia
A new needle-free device that delivers a local anesthetic to the skin promises to help make delivering drugs and drawing blood less painful for children.
The system involves a sterile, prefilled, disposable device that dispenses lidocaine powder into the epidermis, the cells that make up the outer layer of the skin, lead author Dr. William T. Kempsky, from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, and colleagues explain. Read more...
05.05.08
Red Orbit
Is New England Ready for P-20?
A report card on efforts to expand the K-12 notion from preschool to grade 20. While New England schools serve the children of the affluent very well, many children from low-income backgrounds are left behind at key points in the non-system we perpetuate from preschool through college and beyond. ... We recently reviewed how the six states began persuading higher education to work with the early childhood and K-12 systems toward this "P-20" goal. What progress has been made, and what barriers persist? ... Connecticut. For more than 50 years, the University of Connecticut enrolled 3,500 or so "motivated" (and generally gifted) high school students annually in a cooperative program, now called UConn Early College [Experience]. Teachers at more than 100 high schools may offer college credit in calculus, chemistry, art and other subjects. Read more...
05.05.08
The Connecticut Post
College commencement season beginning
... Next up will the University of Connecticut, which is trying something different for its commencement Sunday. With nearly 7,000 students receiving degrees, UConn plans separate ceremonies for all of its schools and colleges rather than holding mass ceremonies in two sittings at Gampel Pavilion.
Michael Darre, chairman of the UConn Commencement Committee, hopes the change will result in more intimate experiences. Read more...
05.05.08
The Hartford Courant
Children Put Inventions On Display At UConn Convention
STORRS - — Hannah Kotler has always hated running after a soccer ball she just headed or kicked.
On Saturday, Hannah, 9, showed her answer to that problem. Hannah's Handy Header is made of PVC pipe, rubber cords and soccer netting. The invention — with balls connected for easy heading or kicking — allows someone to practice without a partner.
Hannah, a fourth-grader at Pine Grove School in Avon, was one of 525 students participating in the 25th Annual Connecticut Invention Convention. Students from 80 schools participated in the event at Gampel Pavilion at the University of Connecticut. Read more...
05.05.08
Hartford Business
Film Production Boom Spurs Program To Train Students
The state’s two-year-old tax credit program for film productions has generated a wave of new film projects here, but many of the jobs are filled by union workers from other states, typically New York.
That’s one reason the state Office of Work force Competitiveness is launching a $1 million program to train Connecticut residents in the production skills needed to serve the feature film industry. ... Pending state legislation would take film production work force development even further. A bill is proposing $1.5 million appropriation to the University of Connecticut to develop a digital media program, require the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, or CCCT, to submit monthly updates starting this June and expand tax credits for sound recording and production. Read more...
05.02.08
The Associated Press
W.Va.U. embroiled in scandal over degree for gov's daughter
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — This is not how West Virginia University wanted to build its national reputation.
Six months after his inauguration, President Mike Garrison is struggling to hold his administration together — and keep his job — amid a scandal that erupted after the school granted Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter a master's degree she didn't earn.
Two top university officials resigned last weekend over their part in the episode. Major donors have canceled plans to donate millions. ... "If you have smart officials, they know this would be one of the quickest ways to ruin the reputation of the university," said Thomas Morawetz, a professor and authority on ethics at the University of Connecticut law school. Read more...
05.02.08
Fairfield Citizen
Marks and Others Dig a Little Deeper
A resident's personal journey into Fairfield's past has turned up some spooky evidence, linking Melanie Marks' home with a cemetery she happened upon a month ago.
... State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni from the University of Connecticut took a look at the grave earlier this month and determined that the vandalism was more than a year old, the dirt removed from the grave having moss growing over it. He opined that the perpetrator most likely gave up digging before finding a coffin; this hypothesis was confirmed yesterday. Read more...
05.02.08
Anchorage Daily News
Former archbishop of Alaska dies
Archbishop Gregory Afonsky, retired Orthodox archbishop of Sitka and Alaska, died April 15, 2008, at home in Jackson, N.J. ... The son and grandson of priests, Archbishop Gregory was born George Afonsky in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 17, 1925. During World War II, he was taken by the German army to work in labor camps in Germany. In 1949, he emigrated to the United States, where he served as choir director at parishes in New Jersey and Connecticut.
After completing a degree at the University of Connecticut, he attended Saint Vladimir's Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y., from which he graduated in 1965. Read more...
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